Sunday night the WSA voted to support the WESU Board of Directors in opposition to President Bennet’s proposal to bring NPR programming to the radio station. Jesse Sommer ’05, the general manager of WESU, and Luke Snelling ’05 presented their plan to improve WESU without introducing NPR programming and to ask for continued support from the WSA.
WESU, founded in 1939, is the second oldest college radio station in the country. After years of broadcasting from the basement of Clark Hall, the station is now based above Broad Street Books. This distance from the center of campus has, according to Sommer, caused general disorganization at the station.
“I told Bennet we needed some sort of help organizing the station and making sure the DJs were trained, and he came back with an NPR proposal,” Sommer said.
According to Sommer, Bennet’s goal is to make the station financially autonomous while making the programming more campus oriented. WESU serves the student body and the community simultaneously, Sommer argued, by bringing programs such as Democracy Now. If Bennet successfully introduces NPR programming, these programs would most likely not be aired because they are not specifically related to Wesleyan students.
“We need your support to get this proposal passed now,” Sommer said. He argued that even if Bennet turns down his proposal and the student body protests NPR, Bennet may still eventually get his way due to the turnover rate of students.
Some students asked why WESU is having so many problems with its infrastructure, when organizations such as the Argus are student-run and seem to have fewer problems. Sommer suggested that part of the problem is due to the inherent differences between the two genres of media. The Argus, he said, generally reaches a more geographically limited area and group of people, and follows a stricter format than the radio, which broadcasts different DJs and radio shows every day.
The debate also touched on ownership of WESU’s transmitter.
Jeremy Abrams ’05, Vice President of the WSA, argued that if the WSA owned the transmitter, then they would not turn it over to WSHU, the Connecticut NPR member station whose programming WESU would air according to Bennet’s plan.
Some WSA members, including WSA President Emily Polak ’05, suggested that prestige might become a factor driving Bennet to consider using NPR programming if he thinks it would give students a more professionalized image of how to run a radio station.
Bennet’s proposal does give some needed organization and security to the radio station, students argued. By bringing in NPR, Bennet, a former NPR President, hopes to not only decrease WESU’s dependence on WSA money, but to educate the students on how to run a radio station. Students working at WESU would build important skills for learning how to run a radio show, and hopefully decrease liability for the University.
Sommer and Snelling argued that their resolution, which they only were given a week to draft, can achieve Bennet’s goal while still keeping the radio station free from NPR. According to their plan, WESU would, through fundraising alone, gain about $27,000 annually. The proposal includes pledge drives and underwriting.
Sommer and Snelling also presented long-term plans for the station, which include bringing in full-time professional help and reforming the management system. Eventually they hope to hire fulltime help; essentially reforming the entire organization of the station.
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