on WALT by WALT

I think we need WALT on campus as it represents the personality of the student body at Davidson. WDAV does not represent the student body here, and I think we would be swamped with requests and shows if we were able to afford an FM signal or an Internet broadcast. Let’s face it--people just don’t listen to AM, but even with the AM/FM problem, we have come along way in providing programming that is unique and informative and we will keep struggling to provide a student-run radio (like every other campus) that reflects the students’ points of view, concerns, music, programming, etc. I will continue to support WALT as long as the students want student radio.
--James Nash, WALT Student Advisor

The current WALT staff works its ass off for little or no visible improvement in the quantity of shows or an increase in popularity. We work with little or no free cash because we cannot get support from the student body. We will only get support from the student body if we spend money on an FM transmitter or more bandwidth or better production equipment, etc. The things I could do with WALT with just a little money--it is such an underused, underap-preciated little organization that could do so much. We just need one generous ATC allocation and their acknow-ledgement of the necessity to spend money on WALT without any restrictions based on popularity just one time. It’s a vicious cycle.
--Lauran Halpin, WALT Station Manager

WALT is a very young station. Originally WDAV was a student radio station, but due to various reasons they had to change their format. Most Colleges that have large FM stations also have a mass media major that was started in the seventies. Being a young station and not having an affiliation with a department are the two factors that keep WALT small. Now, instead of worrying about how many DJs we have or when we will have a powerful signal, WALT is going to be the best AM station that it can be with it’s present resources. Hopefully, when we show what we can do with the equipment we have now the school will be willing to invest more energy and money into the program.

The way we hope to improve our quality of programming is by having a more intensive training program and by paying the DJs. Incentive for the DJs is something that Davidson has never provided. Most schools either pay their DJs or give them a class credit for their time. We do not have that luxury. We have a group of shows called core programs, whose DJs went through an interview process to get their shows. They have to make every show and turn in a taped version of their show for review by the eboard in order to receive payment. We hope that this provides programming that the students will want to tune in on their radios. We don’t necessarily cater to the alternative scene. Students run our radio station, and they decide the format.

College Radio is not dying out. We might see an evolution to a digital signal in the next few years, but people will always want to share music and ideas with one another. Even if CMJ were to go under, labels would still find a way to get their product to college radio. We are the first group to give new bands a chance. --Rocky Charton, WALT Program Director