Rocky Mount Telegram from Rocky Mount, North Carolina • 33

OPICS Prepare to tune in to WESQ NCWC's new student radio station pll yi.t''- vz I ill In I i w. i I Delayed in its effort Originally scheduled to begin broadcasting in September, the advisory committee has been delayed in its effort to obtain all the necessary equipment for transmitting a signal. At present, the station lacks a transmitter, antennae, studio transmitter linking equipment and a master control board. The college has already received a number of items through donations from radio stations throughout North Carolina. Initial startup costs for the station were estimated at $160,000.

The remaining equip- ment will cost approximately $40,000.. "We need money badly," said Advisory Committee Co-chairman Bob Manning, who has worked in radio broadcasting for 25 years. "We're going to have great difficulty getting on the air without some financial support. We're looking for some benefactors." The school is also in the pro-cess of collecting a music library through donations. After the 1986 closing of the Rocky Mount based radio station WSVP-FM, which formerly held the 90.9 FM position on the dial, the school applied to the Federal Communications Commission for a construction permit in 1988.

It took almost two years to secure the permit. For the last 18 months, the advisory committee has been working to raise the necessary funds and equipment to go on the air. The committee has secured use of a 629-foot radio tower located at Temperance Hall, about 18 miles from the campus. The signal transmitted from the campus will be received and boosted from the tower. Manning said areas as far away as Goldsboro, Greenville, Raleigh, Elizabeth City and Roanoke Rapids will be able to tune in to WESQ-FM radio once broadcasting begins.

Student opportunities College officials are looking to compliment coursework currently being offered at Wesleyan with the experience that the radio station will offer students. Under consideration is a totally new course in broadcasting. Vice President of Development Tim McDowell said the station will provide great op- By WILL ANDERSON Staff Writer TTazz, reggae, rock-n-roll I and classical are all possi-mJ bilities for the new radio station WESQ-FM in the works at North Carolina Wesleyan College. Add to that National Public Radio broadcasts, educational programming and Wesleyan College sports, and the station positioned at 90.9 megahertz on the FM dial will be an asset not currently found in the Rocky Mount area. For almost three years, WESQ-FM has been in the planning stages at the college.

The plan is soon to become a reality. At it's temporary location beside the Student Activity Center on campus, renovation work for turning an ordinary trailer into a broadcasting facility is continuing. Alfhniioh the nnwer switch iMnuvupu Mr has not been flipped yet. students on the radio station's advisory committee have some definite opinions with regard to the type of music that will be aired at WESQ-FM. For almost three years, WESQ-FM has been in the planning stages at the college.

The plan is soon to become a reality. "I'd like to get all different kinds of music represented," said Stewart Crank, one of two student representatives on the advisory committee. "If you get all different kinds of music represented, then it will have a greater cultural appeal." Crank, a sophomore theater major from Maryland, plays the drums and is especially fond of reggae and progressive rock-n-roll. But he believes the station should cater to many different musical tastes. He has proposed a block schedule in which student disc jockeys will gear their broadcasts to various music types.

Jazz will certainly be featured in some broadcasts, he said, because the college president likes jazz. Telegram photos by David Kidwell BECOMING A REALITY Sttwait Crank, front, at NCWCi nw $tudnt radio station, a facility lhat Jason Decker and Mlchle Owens will pavth way will offer a combination of music. the entire northeast portion of North Carolina will gain from the programming, said McDowell. "There is no public radio in northeast North Carolina," he said. "There is a market need." Wesleyan College will soon be supplying it.

Although the station will be operated exclusively by the students, McDowell said a faculty member will be appointed to oversee the programming. That could include hiring an additional faculty member. The station will not only benefit the students running it, but purtunities for all students at the college. "It's almost impossible for students without a college radio station to get on-the-air experience," said McDowell. "We certainly want the radio station to compliment the academic program." Already, students have ex- It is a modern Fine arts building will give cultural boost to area By WILL ANDERSON Staff Writer ressed great interest in work-ng for the radio station, McDowell said.

He said 20 or more students had contacted him regarding WESQ-FM. 4 "I don't believe we have that kind of involvement in any ac-tivity on campus," said McDowell. ir WESQ-FM will move TT esIeyanXolTege admini- strators are planning to VI II move the radio station WESQ-FM from its temporary trailer on campus to the proposed fine arts building scheduled to be completed in early 1994. Schematic drawings of the planned building have included a auditorium and a 154-seat recital hall. "It is a modern state-of-the-art auditorium," said Vice President of Development Tim McDowell.

"It will bring groups to the Rocky Mount community that have never been able to perform here before." As planned, the fine arts building is projected to cost an estimated $4 million. The college is currently in the midst of a campaign to raise $8 million. About half of that money will be used for endowment funds and campus $6.5 million has been raised so far. state-of-the-art auditorium. It will bring groups to the Rocky Mount community that have never been able to perform here before.

Tim McDowell "It's a tremendous investment that people have made in this facility," McDowell said. "We still have a lot to raise to begin building. All of that depends on how the fund raising goes in the next year." McDowell said the earliest that construction on the fine arts building could begin is about a year from now, or sometime next falL "We would not want a situa- from its temporary site to a larger complex money to the community. "It means a tremendous boost financially, not to mention the cultural boost it will bring," he said. McDowell said area businesses have shown a great deal of interest in the facility as a place for conventions.

And that could bring in a great deal of tion where we would have to go into debt to complete the building," he said. Not only will the building be used by the college, but.