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1 big. Once they start, they stay. It
gets in your blood."
Gross said the station group is
, like a close-knit family and tend
to stay friends for life. The lis
teners tend to become part of the
; family, too.
? The station is much more per
sonal than others, he said. Many
times, when a song is requested,
it may be one or two hours be-
; fore it gets played at other sta
tions, but at KANM it may be
? only one or two songs. Disc
; jockeys have their choice of
- what music to play, and no
) programming lists are made.
Being a DJ is very hectic. After
' selecting the records for the
program, the DJ is responsible
> for answering phones and keep-
l ing track of requests. Trying to
find a Leon Redbone album
; while getting other records
ready for play seems an impossi-
l ble task, yet the show goes on
- with few if any slip-ups.
Gross said callers often com-
, ment on how much they enjoy
> the station, and he estimates
? that when both cable lines are
clear, about 5,000 to 8,000 peo-
? pie are listening. But there have
> been times when one cable line
, was down and the other sound-
? ed bad,and Gross offered a free
- album to the first person to call
? in. No one did.
) Maybe the audience loves the
- station because the disc jockeys
- give the station name and re
quest line number only every 30
? minutes, or because there are
r only a minute or so of commer-
r cials a day, or because numbers
l one through 10 on the Top 40
- aren't played once an hour.
Or maybe it is a combination
t of all the things the station does
. differently from others.
New radio
5 by David Marchand
Battalion reporter
) If you turn the dial on your
radio to 104.9 FM when you re-
f turn in the fall, you might hear
r the newest and last FM channel
- in the Bryan-College Station
t area — if all goes well.
JohnL. Culpepper Jr. of Cul
pepper Plaza and Culpepper
Properties Inc. said he expects
the Federal Communications
Commission to grant a construc
tion permit for the new station
by summer.
Culpepper said construction
will then begin immediately,
and broadcasting could start in
conjunction with the beginning
of the fall semester.
There are currently three AM
and two FM stations in the B-CS
area, and a channel search,
started more than eight years
ago by Bob Bell of Scott and
Davis Enterprises, indicated
there is room on the airwaves for
only one additional station here.
Bell, who owns an AM station
in Paris, Texas and managed a
local station — KTAM — from
1973 to 1975, said he started the
channel search after "recogniz
ing the need for additional
media."
The search and permit appli
cation process has been drawn
out since 1975, he said. "Only
glaciers move slower than the
federal government."
In December 1982, Brazos
Metro Inc., seeking the rights to
build the new station, offered to
purchase the permit from Bell, if
and when it is issued.
The terms of the deal in
cluded hiring Bell as a consul
tant to the new station and reim
bursing Bell for about $100,000
in legal expenses that he incur
red pursuing the permit.
Although Bell had originally
planned to use a "good music"
approach, Culpepper said the
new station's format is undeter
mined. He will consult three
market research groups for
help.
"I think (the format) will com
plement what is being done (loc
ally) and will offer something
different," he said.
Culpepper said he plans to
attend the National Association
of Broadcasters convention in
Las Vegas in April where he
plans to negotiate for equipment
for the station.
Culpepper and associate Bar
ry Turner have also purchased
two stations, one AM and one
FM, in Tyler, Texas.
Culpepper, whose main busi
ness is commercial real estate,
said that besides being "one of
the hottest-growing media in
the country," radio offers him a
chance to diversify.
He said a radio station can
normally cost about $15,000 per
month to operate. He indicated
that he believed a station could
gross as much as $60,000 to
$70,000 per month.
"The long range success for
radio," he said, "is just tremen
dous."
KAMU-FM
by Susan Poole
Battalion reporter
Tired of Wailin' Willie? Does
Punk make you puke? For a
change of pace, how about some
jazz or classical music? Try tun
ing into KAMU-FM.
Amidst the twanging country
tunes and the steady beat of rock
ballads there is a mellow spot of
staff photo by Bill Schulz
Joe Ward
paradise to be found at KAMU-
FM. The announcer's smooth
voice flows easily out of the
radio priming the listener's ear
for jazz or classical melodies by
such artists as Chuck Mangione,
Oscar Peterson, Beethoven and
Mozart. And the best part is
there are no commercials.
But working behind the
smooth exterior is a diligent
staff preparing the programs lis
teners take for granted.
First, there is station manager
Steve Stits. He is responsible for
all aspects of running the station
as well as announcing live
shows.
"I enjoy working in radio be
cause it gives me the freedom to
try new things and new prog
ramming Stits says. "I like to
talk to listeners, find out what
they like and trv to incorporate
that into the programs.
"It gives me the freedom to
express myself in a creative
way."
photo by Lisa Phillpott
Randy Shackelford
Second under Stits is Melissa
Cotropia, program director. Her
job is screening program tapes
to decide which ones should be
heard.
Teamed with Cotropia is traf
fic director Rick Howard. Ho
ward makes sure the programs
picked by Cotropia are available
and schedules the order they are
to be played. He is also responsi
ble for writing the program logs,
making sure the night announ
cers know what is on the sche
dule and announcing live
shows.
Greg Rickard, production
manager and announcer, is one
of the full- time students work
ing at the station. He transfers
the programs borrowed from
other stations onto tapes that
can be used by KAMU-FM.
Rickard is a chemistry major
and is interested in radio be
cause "it is fun."
"Sometimes it can be a pain,"
Rickard says. "But every once
and a while I wonder how I can
get paid for doing something I
like so much."
KAMU-FM makes it a point to
hire students, Howard says.
Applications are taken all year
and when there is an opening
the station reviews them, choos
ing the student with the most
experience.
Although the students do get
paid, they can't receive college
credit for working at the station.
This could be due to the fact that
Texas A&M has no communica
tions classes dealing strictly
with radio, Howard says.
KAMU-FM is a non
commercial, public radio sta
tion. It is a National Public Radio
Network affiliate and is also a
member of the American Public
Radio Network and the Texas
Public Broadcasting Network.
Although KAMU-FM, lo
cated on campus in the Moore
Communications Building, is
funded partly by the University,
it depends on public donations
to keep it running. Therefore,
the station holds fund raisers,
lasting a week and a half, four
times a year.
He says the community re
sponse to the fund raisers is
great, and the station always
meets their goal. The response
comes from all parts of the com
munity, including businesses,
individual community members
and students.
Although the station is part of
Texas A&M, it is aware of its
dedication to the community
and trys to appeal to the people
of Bryan-College Station as well
as the students, Stits says.
Howard says, "We care about
the station and how it's run. We
offer an alternative to the regu
lar stations and our supporters
are growing."
staff photo by Bill Schulz
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