By TAMARA BACKER
Copy Editor
 

Consisting of a staff of about 120 Bates students and Lewiston/Auburn locals and broadcasting 13 shows per day, WRBC is on the air 24 hours a day, seven days a week during the school year. This may seem like quite a feat for a student run station, but the Board of Directors, consisting of ten Bates students, along with the Bates and Lewiston/Auburn communities, provide more than enough energy and support to keep it going.

Board Member and Programming Director Amanda Prendergast '99 compares the shuffling of shows and styles of music to a Rubics Cube. In order to achieve her goal of as much diversity as possible within the time constraints of staff members, Prendergast aims to keep a semi-formatted daily schedule that offers a different specialty every night.

For those listeners who are into experimental music (and according to listener feedback, there are a lot of you) Monday night is the time to tune in. Tuesdays consist of some new and mellow melodies which stand in contrast with Bloody Wednesday's lineup that features Heavy Metal and Hardcore. Thursdays offer a more varied selection of music and Fridays specialize in Hip Hop, R&B, and Rap.

Saturdays offer a chance for listeners to air their opinions on a variety of talk programs. In regard to his show Extreme Championship Radio, Host Nick Dealy '99 states, "We do not play crappy Phish bootlegs. Our Program breaks your ribs." Curious? Tune in from 7:30 to 9 p.m. when controversial issues are raised and opened for discussion by Dealy, Voice of Reason Jason Fortin '99 and producer Gary Piandes '99

Another opportunity to make your voice heard is from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturdays when organizations are invited to discuss any issue. This week, Cornel West's speech and commentary was broadcasted during this time. You will also be able to tune into Bates football games on Saturday afternnoons.

After a busy weekend you can relax to what Technical Director Jon Shultz '99 refers to as the "smoothest Sunday night line-up in the history of Bates radio." Jazz lovers will be fans of the line-up which features such styles as straight-ahead jazz, reggae, funk, soul, blues and "the beatnik poetry thing."

You may wonder how such an eclectic collection of music is acquired. All of the CDs have been donated as promotions by record companies. But that is not to say that WRBC has no need for an adequate budget.

WRBC spends much of its budget on a chief engineer required by FCC (Federal Communications Commission) regulations. Money is also spent on CMJ (College Music Journal), which gathers information on music popularity from 300 college stations around the country. In response to the sparse budget that WRBC receives, Station Manager Keith Gauger '99 can only say, "Aaahh!"

Even so, it is apparent that WRBC is a successful operation with a promising future. Much of that success is dependent upon the support and experience of local DJs, many of whom have played a role in the station longer than the average student is at Bates.

WRBC has also proven to have an interesting past.

The idea of Bates Radio was born in a rhetoric class with Brooks Quimby in the mid-40s in which students aired a program over WCOU, the local station at that time.

Several years later WVBC, the Voice of Bates College, was broadcasted throughout campus (with the exception of the health center) via powerlines. Having undergone a couple of changes in name, along with a few technical changes, those within a 20 minute driving radius can enjoy the tunes and talk of WRBC.