Page 10
THE BATTALION
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 18, 1979
Planned in ’67
Prairie View A&M. radio station should open by 1980
By RICHARD OLIVER
Battalion Reporter
Prairie View A&M University’s
plans for a new radio station are fi
nally beginning to take shape, and
none too soon.
Prairie View’s station, KPVU,
first expected to open in May, is
now tentatively scheduled to open
Jan. 1, 1980.
The station is slated to be non
commercial and to operate at a fre
quency of 91.3. It will have 10,000
watts of power, according to Ivory
Nelson, vice-president of research
and special programs for Prairie
View A&M.
“They’re keeping the publicity
pretty tight, and I don’t know why,”
said Dr. C.A. Wood, the school’s di
rector of student publications and
official in charge of publicity con
cerning the station.
“They” are Nelson and Shirley
Staples, head of the Department of
Mass Communications at Prairie
View A&M.
“We haven’t released any infor
mation yet for the simple reason
that we are still in the planning and
development stages,” said Staples.
“When everything is ready to go,
we’ll put out some publicity. We’re
naturally holding off until that time
comes.”
Wood believes the station will
possibly be open as early as Sep
tember. but Nelson disagrees.
“We could possibly shoot for Sep
tember, but that’s being a little un
realistic,” he said. “Probably we ll
begin operations on Jan. 1, 1980.”
According to Health, Education
and Welfare regulations, the station
must be operating by January 1980.
HEW gave Prairie View A&M a
two-year grant of $125,000 on Jan.
3, 1978, to install a station. The
school was required to match the
grant with $44,351.
Asked if the opening date of the
station would miss the HEW dead
line, Wood was reluctant to com
ment. ,
“I don’t know anything about it,”
he said. “We should be getting
some publicity out about it soon.”
Staples, however, admitted there
might be some difficulty.
“There could be some problem in
meeting the deadline,” she said,
“but we’re very optimistic about it
all happening on time.”
Nelson was more specific.
“We’ll be cutting it razor close
any way you look at it,” he said. “I
don’t think there will be much prob
lem once we have everything here
and ready to go.”
Asked when everything would be
“ready to go,” Nelson replied he
wasn’t sure.
“We have many things up in the
air right now,” he said. “We’ve got
to get equipment, a staff, etc., and I
don’t know when all that will come
together.”
Staples said planning of the sta
tion had been going on for 12 years,
but every year has presented prob
lems.
“This whole thing goes back to
1967,” she said. “It has just been
one thing after another. Every year
we run into something to set us
back. There are deadlines to meet,,
rules to go by and decisions to be
made. It’s not an overnight thing by
any means.
“If it comes to that point where
we realized we would probably miss
the deadline, we’d apply for an ex
tension,” she said. “I think the gov
ernment only asks that they be
notified sufficiently ahead of time.”
But Prairie View A&M might not
be able to get that extension, says
Adolph Koenig, an official in the
communications division of HEW in
Washington, D.C.
“If this is a two-year grant stem
ming from Jan. 3, 1978, they have
until Jan. 3, 1980, to get it open,” he
said. “Of course, an extension can
be given, but it all depends on the
circumstances surrounding the de
lay. ”
Nelson believes the construction
of the station should cost about
$175,000. He also said once the
equipment arrives, the construction
should begin.
“We’ve ordered the equipment,”
he said. “This will be a first-class
radio station, and we’ve been work
ing on this for four or five years. It’s
a high-priority thing for us.”
The original operating budget
projected for the station for the first
year was $60,800, but Nelson is un
certain what the budget is now.
“We won’t know anything really
until the station is completed and on
A SYMPHONY
OF SALADS
SBISA DINING
CENTER
BASEMENT
10:30 a.m.-
1:30 p.m.
Monday
thru
Friday
If you have
money to invest
Optional Retirement Plan
Tax Sheltered Annuity
Deferred Compensation
Financial Planning
Call Hays Qlovar
GUGGENHEIM GLOVER,
ASSOCIATES
779-5555
BB&L pays the maximum rate on
6-month Money Market Certificates.
This week’s rate is
9.627%
BB&L pays maximum interest on Money Market Certificates.
No financial institution here — or in a metropolitan area — can pay you more on
6-month Money Market Certificates.
Call us today about a Money Market Certificate. It’s a 6-month investment for
$10,000 or more paying maximum interest.
Your savings institution
Money Market Certificate rate is
established weekly for the 6-month
term of the certificate and is subject
to change at renewal. Federal
regulations impose a severe penalty
for early withdrawal. Compound
interest is prohibited by law.
the air,” he said. “It really isn’t a
matter of cost for us, we just want
the station. When you want some
thing bad enough, it’s going to get
done.”
Asked the reason for the delay in
construction, Nelson said it all
amounted to a miscalculation.
“Because of the station’s fre
quency, we needed a special an
tenna,” he said. “We wanted a
larger station than just 10,000 watts,
but it would interfere with some sta
tion in Seguin, so we had to keep it
down. Also, getting together all the
equipment has taken a little more
time than we expected. We’ve got it
all on order, and we’ll have a staff
ready, so now it’s just a matter of
construction.”
According to Don Simons, man
ager of KAMU-FM in College Sta
tion, once the station equipment is
in and everything is ready to go, it
shouldn’t take too long to get on the
“Our equipment arrived in
January of 1977, and we (KAMU)
were on the air by March of the
same year, so it doesn’t take too
long,” he said. “If their deadline
isn’t until Jan. 1, 1980, they still
have enough time.”
Staples said KPVU, like KAMU,
will be partially funded by school
funds and partially funded by the
community.
“We’ve been looking for other
ways to fund the station,” she said.
“There are perhaps some other fed
eral grants we could receive. It’s
really not wise to think the station
could exist without legislative fund
ing. Also, KAMU had a very suc
cessful auction recently, so we may
go that direction.”
Staples and Nelson are both un
sure of the total mileage range of a
10,000-watt station, but Simons said
it will be more than 60 miles.
“It all depends on the height of
the tower,” he said. “Our 3,000-
watt station (KAMU) can reach
about 21 miles, so I imagine KPVU
will reach 60 miles or more.”
He also said he believes the sta
tion would probably reach Texas
A&M.
Nelson said once the station is on
the air, it will be housed in the
Communications Building on the
Prairie View A&M campus.
When asked the reason the ft
tion was being built, Staples saiii
was really a matter of necessity
“The station is being built to ms
the needs of the community,Mi
said. “There is no other tele*
munications outlet within a 35-mil
radius of Prairie View that can'""
the needs of the community, s
are basically a rural area. Peopl |
who are somewhat isolated
pick up most radio stations. Pee
all have specific needs, and will
first-class radio station, wecanbra^— .
excellent programming to mti ..
those needs. Umv€
“The station can serve with ps hold it
gramming covering education,]d day ar
lie affairs, farm and market report (jj ||( | (1|
community opinion forums a ^ rs j^
community group concerns, with ■
being too political. We can also pi £
the kind of music they wanttohij
from country-western to progress
jazz to rock.”
"Liberated sow’
gets own awari
Wednesday Night 7-12
[TEXAS HALL OF FAM
presents
“The Debonaires
United Press International
BATON ROUGE, La. -
Carl Gunter, D-DeVille, wasteii
time at the start of the legisl
session Monday in retalial
against a woman who gave himil
“Oink-Oink” of the year awadl
opposing an equal community pcf
erty bill in 1978.
Holding aloft an 18-by-24 incif I
cr
5 5
painting of a piglet trying ted cat ion
food from its mother’s
Cunter declared it the “Sow oil
Year” award for Marty Beasley, nal act
AGGIES GET IN
WITH CURRENT I.D. CARD
ALL OTHERS $2.00 PER PERSON
$1.75 Pitchers of Beer
— SATURDAY NIGHT 8-1 —
Louisiana Tech University
sor.
Explaining the picture toil
House, Gunter said, “You will i
she is so liberated she doesntl
her piglet nurse.”
Gunter said he just wanted
point out that if he were goingtol
the “Oink-Oink” of the year,
Beasley would get the liberated
award.
icapp.
mainst
Beir <
“The Jimmy Carter Band”
$3 per person
Now you know
No Reservations
United Press International
Horseshoe crabs are not crabs I
MONDAY EVENING
TUESDAY EVENING
WEDNESDAY
SPECIAL
SPECIAL
EVENING SPECIAL
Salisbury Steak
Mexican Fiesta
Chicken Fried Steak
with
Mushroom Gravy
Dinner
Two Cheese and
w/cream Gravy
Whipped Potatoes
Onion Enchiladas
Whipped Potatoes and
Your Choice of
r w/chili
Choice of one other
One Vegetable
Mexican Rice
Vegetable
Roll or Corn Bread and Butter
Patio Style Pinto Beans
Roll or Corn Bread and Buttef
Coffee or Tea
Tostadas
Coffee or Tea
Coffee or Tea
One Corn Bread and Butter
Now Better Than Ever. You Will Be Pleased
These Carefully Prepared and Taste Tempting Foods.
Each Daily Special Only $1.79 Plus Tax.
“Open Daily”
Dining: 11 A.M. to 1:30 P.M.—4:00 P.M. to 7:00P.M.
[“if
mains
loulc
th
educa
ucai
T 1
.she
ial
c
iecia
me
ents t
compi
cati
lath
into a
grams
nts.
Hul
wa
a
se,
thei
in
‘Yo
Ci
e t
long ;
pal
line
T
r
c
THURSDAY EVENING SPECIAL
Italian Candle Light Spaghetti Dinner
SERVED WITH SPICED MEAT BALLS AND SAUCE
Parmesan Cheese - Tossed Green Salad
Choice of Salad Dressing - Hot Garlic Bread
Tea or Coffee
F,
IV
F
U
U
FRIDAY EVENING
SPECIAL
BREADED FISH
FILET w/TARTAR
SAUCE
Cole Slaw
Hush Puppies
Choice of one
vegetable
Roll or Corn Bread & Butter
Tea or Coffee
SATURDAY
NOON and EVENING
SPECIAL
Chicken &
Dumplings
Tossed Salad
Choice of one
vegetable
Roll or Corn Bread & Butter
Tea or Coffee
(“Quality First”)
SUNDAY SPECIAL
NOON and EVENING
ROAST TURKEY DINNER]
Served with
Cranberry Sauce
Cornbread Dressing
Roll or Corn Bread - Butter-
Coffee or Tea
Giblet Gravy
And your choice of any
One vegetable
Main Office: Bryan 2800 Texas Ave. • 779-2800