Page 3 I uesday, Augusi 1,}j ttinued from Pay iverland, store let irget Aggieland,> stantial increased stomers and salesi: ee weekend, thing about not pair ikes people comeot: aid. "There is ap: sales because People like know joing to be taxed.” ‘11, marketing direc < Mall, said them another successfulia veekend. ive a substantial inoffi le year before," Bella; larger increase thisjei ' mall's extended hol es are having sales." s can find lists of theta ble items at www.wr smot Uinued from Page er system in each apar nkler system is activate iom temperature rise yees Fahrenheit, kler system, hvo seated on opposite side is area to minimizes case of emergency ■ been here at Me i September, I'm pi ve had no problems wif said. "We try to make® ife as we possibly cany mergency, our resident gh warning to safelyani if their apartments.” Tuesday, August 1, 2000 THE BATTALION No Requests# Please Album sales, not government or DJs, responsible for broad. ■ 4 -"•<**»«« •••»► rrection tly 31 article "Texas standardized sexual ams," SuelmaContr- stakenly cited as the of Chilifest, Inc.Contr- ly involvement coordi- Goose Creek Consoli- indent School District cn ICE AND d Dogs nations Treatments \le uters ments ting Hospital at Discount applies identify yourself order to receive jpointments will W I (Left) Darren Taylor performs the Afternoon Stretch for Mix 104.7; (top right) Rhino broadcasts live from GTE for Mix 104.7 Jason Bennyhoff The Battalion Deciding what is played on the ra dio is a lot like voting, but in this race, votes cost money. While radio station playlists may seem to be decided by advertising executives looking to make money, corrupt DJs or the Federal Communications Commission, there is a system ^ that gives radio pro- grammers the outline for their daily playlist. Terry Hunt, pro gram director for Aggie 96, said most radio stations use a system called Soundscan to help them decide what songs to play. * "Soundscan is a system that keeps track of what albums are selling in stores," Hunt said. "The service is provided to radio sta tions by record companies, and you can find out what is selling nationwide or in your local area. This helps when picking out songs to play." While Soundscan is a national service. Hunt said, sta tions can do localized research to find out more about their listeners' tastes. Hunt said the local research that goes into decid ing which songs will get air time depends on the ra dio station's format. "Most stations have a heavy, medium and light format," Hunt said. "Songs are played in an order by how hard or soft they are on the listener. When we get our songs into a regular rotation, we can do some research to see how they are doing." "There are two kinds of local market test ing we can do," Hunt said. "The first is audi- orium testing. In this, we call about 500 peo ple and probably come up with about 150 who fit the target audience. Then we have them come to an auditorium where they lis ten to song clips and tell us what they think of them." Hunt said auditorium testing is much slower and more expensive than its high- tech alternative. "The better way to test is online," Hunt said. "You just ask people to go to the station's Website, say, between Tues day and Thursday, and have them listen to clips and rate them online. This is a lot more cost effective because we do not have to take people out to do interviews. It is also a lot less painless because we might have up to 500 clips to listen to, and, online, the people do not have to do them all at once." However, these market testing methods are | not for every radio station. Mario Juan, an em ployee of KBMA radio, said his station relies on more intuitive methods to pick its tunes. "A lot of (music selection) is based on our gut," Juan said. "We listen to the new records that come in and try to pick the next big one." Juan said, despite the instinctive nature of his station's music choices, he also uses industry publications to select popular tunes. "Music industry sources play a big part in our music selection," Juan said. "We particularly use trade maga zines to see what is new and climbing the charts." Despite a radio station's need to attract a large audi ence in order to gain advertising revenue. Hunt said, ad vertising does not play a large part in the selection of music. "Our target audience at Aggie 96 is women between the ages of 25 and 54," Hunt said. "So our advertising caters to them. However, radio stations pick their for- * mat and then the advertising follows. Advertisers pick stations that will appeal to their targets; for ex ample, you will not find ads for Clearasil on a sta- fc tion that plays (classical) music for older people." Despite complaints that the Federal Communications Commission interferes in radio business, Michael Wagner, a supervisory attorney for the FCC, said his organization does not have any impact on what radio stations play. "We just license radio stations," Wagner said. "Qur job is to allocate bandwidth for radio stations and resolve com plaints that stations' signals are interfering with each other. That is as far as our influence on radio goes." Wagner said the Arbitron Corporatioh is responsible for rating radio stations' programs. Curious listeners can check the Arbitron Website at www.arbitron.com for ratings in formation on their local station. It seems listeners will have to stick to complaining about popular music in general rather than government conspiracies or DJ payoffs if they are unhappy about their local radio programming. Aniston, Pitt exchange vows Saturday MALIBU, Calif. (AP) — After months of rumors. Brad Pitt, 36, and Jennifer Aniston, 31, were married Saturday at a ceremony on an ocean bluff. About 200 guests attended the lavish sunset cere mony at an estate owned by television executive Marcy Carsey. Guests seen going into the Malibu estate included actress Cameron Diaz and Aniston's "Friends" co- stars, including Matthew Perry. Aniston wore a floor-length white satin silk gown designed by Lawrence Steele, according to a press statement. Her ivory-colored, suede high-heel sandals were designed by shoemaker Manolo Blahnik for Steele. The bridesmaids wore pale green silk chiffon slip dresses with pale tafetta mules. Pitt wore a black tuxedo designed by Hedi Sli- mane. His attendants wore black tuxedos designed by Prada. Helicopters buzzed overhead for days before the event as a large white tent mushroomed at the location to ensure privacy. The event cost $1 million, according to widespread media reports, including $100,000 for security, $75,000 for flowers and $20,000 for fireworks. A publicist did not immediately confirm those reports. Entertainment reporters and paparazzi who had been staking out the site for days were kept away by security. Part of Pacific Coast Highway was shut down to accommodate the guests and workers. Rumors the couple were engaged and planning a wedding have been swirling in Hollywood for months. Though the couple had never confirmed their engagement, their publicist on Thursday confirmed 2nd Annual *\flST featuring litor r editor Editor is ter University in the ; are in 014 Reed rhebattalion@hot- orsement by The r classified acker- hours are 8 a# dent to pick upe lions are $60 per month. To charge uring the fall and apt University hol- lollege Station,!^ irsity, 1111 TAMli brought to you by The Texas Aggie Yell Leaders and MSC Town Hall Friday • September 8,2000 8:00 p.m. • Reed Arena Tickets on sale Saturday, August 5th at All Ticketmaster Outlets, Reed Arena, and MSC Box Office. Student Tickets available at Reed Arena and MSC Box Office - $10 with Student I.D. LEARN TO FLY NOW At United Flight Systems THE EXPERIENCED FLIGHT SCHOOL AVIATION CAREER TRACKS El While working on your college degree, accomplish your pilot’s certificates at the same time Upon finishing your college career, you can secure a job as an airline pilot. 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The Battalion Online offers access to The WIRE news from The Associated Press The WIRE provides continuously updated news cov erage from one of the world's oldest, largest news services via The Bettalion’s web page, Stut daut Student Counseling etp£in The Association' MSC - 12@MAN 11.5.101111, tain®, Sports, Science, WoologyWeattier,Arts, Sperial Sections. VobAAXteerY Needed/ Welcome* There is still room in our Fall Training Class for YOU! Training is August 21-26, 2000 For more information call Susan Vavra at 845-4427 x133 or visit our web site at www.scs.tamu.edu/volunteert STUDENT COUNSELING SERVICE http://battalion.tamu.edu A department in the Division of Student Affairs