DJs stress over Capital District's Best
Despite significant budget cuts, UAlbany's radio station is still going strong after celebrating 40 years as UAlbany's radio station.
Jennifer Falcetano
Issue date: 4/2/04 Section: Local Music
- Page 1 of 1
Footsteps echo endlessly down empty corridors and up the inner stairs of the campus center. The sounds of conversations taking place in floors below fade with each additional step away from the bustle of student activity. The silence on the third floor is deafening. It's hard to believe a radio broadcast is going out loud and clear, entering the rooms, cars, and homes of the unknown across the Capital Region.
By 10 p.m., the SUNY Albany Campus Center empties, but across campus the radios are turned on and tuned in every night to WCDB Albany, 90.9 FM, the student operated radio station funded by the Student Association.
October 2003 marked WCDB 91FM's 40-year anniversary as a SUNY Albany radio station. Originally an AM station beginning in 1962, WSUA (State University at Albany) was piped into campus dormitory electrical systems. It was available only on campus before switching over to a FM station 26 years ago. After surviving for so many years, the station is in drastic need of repair.
From a half-hour long AM broadcast to the now familiar FM format, WCDB has had an interesting journey, and through it all, the SA has continually cut the station's funding year after year. As Victoria Korchanik started her Tuesday night broadcast a mechanical malfunction occurred in one of main room's amplifiers. "Alrighty folks, I promise this time I'll play something new but we're having technical difficulties," Korchanik announced to her listeners that night.
"Yay for the radio station," a voice in the background chimed in.
Korchanik is the station's program director. She's one of three people who run the station. The others, Andrew Horvitz and Jeff Harrigfeld, fulfill the general manager and chief engineer positions respectively. On the sidelines are 43 disk jockeys and 45 different shows.
The main broadcasting room has two walls of windows. The other walls in the room are covered with a mustard yellow fabric that, according to Korchanik, "must do something." The faded blue carpet floors have seen better days and look as if they've never been vacuumed. Their purpose is to hold and disguise the large amounts of dust that accumulate from every day activities. The door is held open with a cinder block and printed on the door are the words: Master Control. The letters are fading away as the paint around the door slowly chips off, revealing the previous coloring.
The station has seen nothing but neglect for the past 30 years and with the contrasting colors and mustard yellow hues, it appears that not much has changed since the '70s when those were once so popular. The main desk is made out of particle board and the corners are wearing away. The computer monitor is placed on top of a three-disc CD player and national broadcast emergency system. The window next to the computer screen allows the DJ to see what is going on in the alternative rock library. This library houses hundreds of CDs on makeshift shelving units. The glass separating the two rooms is dingy and yellow from years of dust and mistreatment.
"Did I bend that switch?" asked Ashley Robinson, a sophomore communications major at SUNY Albany. Immediately, she bent over to examine the amplifier at the end of the desk, as her red and white striped scarf, that matches her red and white Converse sneakers, brushes the floor. "Just keep pressing buttons," replied Korchanik as she leaned back in her chair and tapped her fingers to the music she listened to through the one working side of the only functional pair of earphones in the station. Despite her disappointment, she is very laid back, unlike the music she's playing for her listeners. Korchanik is the DJ for the show Random Mayhem where she plays hardcore metal music and her listeners call her Metal Vicki. Unlike the voices that scream in her ear, she's calm.
There is always something to be fixed, and with the budget decreasing each year, it is becoming routine to do without key machinery. Although Horvitz submitted the budget report months ago he's skeptical about getting the money the station needs to function on a daily basis. The vote for the student activities fund to be increased was not passed when the SA voted recently. The budget for the 2003-2004 year was decreased by $4,750. That money could have been spent toward repairs and advertisements for the station. Horvitz hopes to increase the budget by $12,000 for the 2004-2005 fiscal year.
Out of the budget the general manager, program director and chief engineer get stipends, totaling to a quarter of the entire budget. Dividing $7,000 three ways is not very much, and certainly not enough to pay Harrigfeld to travel from his Woodstock home to fix glitches in WCDB's equipment.
Horvitz was called from his room at 10:30 p.m. to fix the malfunctioning amplifier. As the general manager, he serves as the president of the station. Although Horvitz isn't entitled to fix all of the station's problems, he's dedicated. He's been a member of WCDB since 2001. Although he is graduating in May, he plans on continuing his role at the station if he continues his education here at SUNY Albany. "I want to get my doctorate," said Horvitz who wants to do something with political sociology. "I will help out in any way I can but not to the extent I do now."
Dedication is one thing that everyone at WCDB has in common, however, each DJ is as different as the music they play. Horvitz's show called Crashing Through Parlor Doors features alternative rock or, according to Horvitz, "a nice mix of everything you can think of with a guitar."
There isn't a DJ at WCDB that would dare name a favorite band. "I'd feel guilty. I'd be breaking hearts," explained Horvitz who enjoys every kind of music. When Horvitz was younger, music was something that brought him and his friends together. "One of the commonalities that fostered our friendship was music that no one else liked to listen to," he added.
Robinson, a member of the station for almost two years, is about to begin her show. At midnight, Metal Vicki ended her two-hour segment. In that time span Horvitz appeared like the stations knight in shinning armor and quickly began working on the station repairs with Korchanik at his side. Robinson made the best of the situation and continued playing music as usual on her show, Filler, which consists of a little bit of everything. Like Horvitz, Robinson said that music is an integral part of her life, "I've been obsessed with music for the past ten years. That's why I'm here."
Although Robinson appeared to be talkative and very high in energy, her on-air persona is cool and relaxed, quite unlike Doug Schieder, a fellow DJ. Schieder, who has only been a member of WCDB for a little under a year, has quickly made his way up the ladder. He is training to become the station's chief engineer. He is a member of several bands and plays four different instruments. He was looking for things to do on campus and he "thought [he'd] have a lot of offer the station."
Schieder explained that being an engineer at WCDB is hard and isn't a job to be taken lightly. "There are so many wires in this place, thousands of wires and little things-- knobs, CD players, people fooling with things--they just fall apart." Hours later, Horvitz sits on the dusty blue carpet attempting to undue the damage Robinson's knee did to the only working amplifier in Studio A.
In the wee hours of the morning, the dim lights from Studio A could be seen and three students are worked diligently to get the studio working to full capacity. In the meantime, Robinson put on a CD and let it play as she helped Horvitz and Korchanik fix the problem she created. After 10 p.m. the station is allowed to play any songs the DJ wants. "From 10 [p.m.]-6[a.m.] is safe harbor where you don't have to remove the curses from songs," explained Korchanik as she held the amplifier steady.
Usually the station runs on a six second delay to allow time to correct verbal slipups from callers. A red button, affectionately called the dump button, creates a pause where fowl language once was. Occasionally, DJs do slip and allow curse's on air. "If anyone from the FCC [Federal Communications Commission] was listening we could lose our license," said Robinson.
In addition to being restricted by safe harbor, the station upholds a policy that no DJ can play any song that is on the top-40 list. "They can listen to any other station for those songs. We don't do that here," said Robinson. She quickly checked that the song she put on was playing correctly by holding a part of the mangled headphone set to her ear. "We buy hundreds of earphones and people drop them, run them over in the chair and take them for their own personal use," said Korchanik. "They always come back broken."
After two-and-a-half hours, the main broadcasting room had a working amplifier and on air DJs could hear what they were playing and when they needed to speak. Although Studio B no longer has an amplifier, it won't be needed for another week when the station airs Talk Show 91. "You learn to make due with what you have," said Horvitz as he brushed the dust off his hands.
It's all in a days work. The recent drama is nothing compared to what WCDB has dealt with in the past and it certainly isn't an indicator of what is to come. The only thing the station can hope for is enough funding to replace the equipment they've been using for the last three decades.
By 10 p.m., the SUNY Albany Campus Center empties, but across campus the radios are turned on and tuned in every night to WCDB Albany, 90.9 FM, the student operated radio station funded by the Student Association.
 Media Credit: Debbie Wells The WCDB logo is painted on the outside of the main door. |
October 2003 marked WCDB 91FM's 40-year anniversary as a SUNY Albany radio station. Originally an AM station beginning in 1962, WSUA (State University at Albany) was piped into campus dormitory electrical systems. It was available only on campus before switching over to a FM station 26 years ago. After surviving for so many years, the station is in drastic need of repair.
From a half-hour long AM broadcast to the now familiar FM format, WCDB has had an interesting journey, and through it all, the SA has continually cut the station's funding year after year. As Victoria Korchanik started her Tuesday night broadcast a mechanical malfunction occurred in one of main room's amplifiers. "Alrighty folks, I promise this time I'll play something new but we're having technical difficulties," Korchanik announced to her listeners that night.
"Yay for the radio station," a voice in the background chimed in.
Korchanik is the station's program director. She's one of three people who run the station. The others, Andrew Horvitz and Jeff Harrigfeld, fulfill the general manager and chief engineer positions respectively. On the sidelines are 43 disk jockeys and 45 different shows.
The main broadcasting room has two walls of windows. The other walls in the room are covered with a mustard yellow fabric that, according to Korchanik, "must do something." The faded blue carpet floors have seen better days and look as if they've never been vacuumed. Their purpose is to hold and disguise the large amounts of dust that accumulate from every day activities. The door is held open with a cinder block and printed on the door are the words: Master Control. The letters are fading away as the paint around the door slowly chips off, revealing the previous coloring.
The station has seen nothing but neglect for the past 30 years and with the contrasting colors and mustard yellow hues, it appears that not much has changed since the '70s when those were once so popular. The main desk is made out of particle board and the corners are wearing away. The computer monitor is placed on top of a three-disc CD player and national broadcast emergency system. The window next to the computer screen allows the DJ to see what is going on in the alternative rock library. This library houses hundreds of CDs on makeshift shelving units. The glass separating the two rooms is dingy and yellow from years of dust and mistreatment.
"Did I bend that switch?" asked Ashley Robinson, a sophomore communications major at SUNY Albany. Immediately, she bent over to examine the amplifier at the end of the desk, as her red and white striped scarf, that matches her red and white Converse sneakers, brushes the floor. "Just keep pressing buttons," replied Korchanik as she leaned back in her chair and tapped her fingers to the music she listened to through the one working side of the only functional pair of earphones in the station. Despite her disappointment, she is very laid back, unlike the music she's playing for her listeners. Korchanik is the DJ for the show Random Mayhem where she plays hardcore metal music and her listeners call her Metal Vicki. Unlike the voices that scream in her ear, she's calm.
There is always something to be fixed, and with the budget decreasing each year, it is becoming routine to do without key machinery. Although Horvitz submitted the budget report months ago he's skeptical about getting the money the station needs to function on a daily basis. The vote for the student activities fund to be increased was not passed when the SA voted recently. The budget for the 2003-2004 year was decreased by $4,750. That money could have been spent toward repairs and advertisements for the station. Horvitz hopes to increase the budget by $12,000 for the 2004-2005 fiscal year.
 Media Credit: Debbie Wells Ashley Robinson is a disc jockey at WCDB. |
Out of the budget the general manager, program director and chief engineer get stipends, totaling to a quarter of the entire budget. Dividing $7,000 three ways is not very much, and certainly not enough to pay Harrigfeld to travel from his Woodstock home to fix glitches in WCDB's equipment.
Horvitz was called from his room at 10:30 p.m. to fix the malfunctioning amplifier. As the general manager, he serves as the president of the station. Although Horvitz isn't entitled to fix all of the station's problems, he's dedicated. He's been a member of WCDB since 2001. Although he is graduating in May, he plans on continuing his role at the station if he continues his education here at SUNY Albany. "I want to get my doctorate," said Horvitz who wants to do something with political sociology. "I will help out in any way I can but not to the extent I do now."
Dedication is one thing that everyone at WCDB has in common, however, each DJ is as different as the music they play. Horvitz's show called Crashing Through Parlor Doors features alternative rock or, according to Horvitz, "a nice mix of everything you can think of with a guitar."
There isn't a DJ at WCDB that would dare name a favorite band. "I'd feel guilty. I'd be breaking hearts," explained Horvitz who enjoys every kind of music. When Horvitz was younger, music was something that brought him and his friends together. "One of the commonalities that fostered our friendship was music that no one else liked to listen to," he added.
Robinson, a member of the station for almost two years, is about to begin her show. At midnight, Metal Vicki ended her two-hour segment. In that time span Horvitz appeared like the stations knight in shinning armor and quickly began working on the station repairs with Korchanik at his side. Robinson made the best of the situation and continued playing music as usual on her show, Filler, which consists of a little bit of everything. Like Horvitz, Robinson said that music is an integral part of her life, "I've been obsessed with music for the past ten years. That's why I'm here."
Although Robinson appeared to be talkative and very high in energy, her on-air persona is cool and relaxed, quite unlike Doug Schieder, a fellow DJ. Schieder, who has only been a member of WCDB for a little under a year, has quickly made his way up the ladder. He is training to become the station's chief engineer. He is a member of several bands and plays four different instruments. He was looking for things to do on campus and he "thought [he'd] have a lot of offer the station."
Schieder explained that being an engineer at WCDB is hard and isn't a job to be taken lightly. "There are so many wires in this place, thousands of wires and little things-- knobs, CD players, people fooling with things--they just fall apart." Hours later, Horvitz sits on the dusty blue carpet attempting to undue the damage Robinson's knee did to the only working amplifier in Studio A.
In the wee hours of the morning, the dim lights from Studio A could be seen and three students are worked diligently to get the studio working to full capacity. In the meantime, Robinson put on a CD and let it play as she helped Horvitz and Korchanik fix the problem she created. After 10 p.m. the station is allowed to play any songs the DJ wants. "From 10 [p.m.]-6[a.m.] is safe harbor where you don't have to remove the curses from songs," explained Korchanik as she held the amplifier steady.
 Media Credit: Debbie Wells WCDB has a large selection of music collected over the years. |
Usually the station runs on a six second delay to allow time to correct verbal slipups from callers. A red button, affectionately called the dump button, creates a pause where fowl language once was. Occasionally, DJs do slip and allow curse's on air. "If anyone from the FCC [Federal Communications Commission] was listening we could lose our license," said Robinson.
In addition to being restricted by safe harbor, the station upholds a policy that no DJ can play any song that is on the top-40 list. "They can listen to any other station for those songs. We don't do that here," said Robinson. She quickly checked that the song she put on was playing correctly by holding a part of the mangled headphone set to her ear. "We buy hundreds of earphones and people drop them, run them over in the chair and take them for their own personal use," said Korchanik. "They always come back broken."
After two-and-a-half hours, the main broadcasting room had a working amplifier and on air DJs could hear what they were playing and when they needed to speak. Although Studio B no longer has an amplifier, it won't be needed for another week when the station airs Talk Show 91. "You learn to make due with what you have," said Horvitz as he brushed the dust off his hands.
It's all in a days work. The recent drama is nothing compared to what WCDB has dealt with in the past and it certainly isn't an indicator of what is to come. The only thing the station can hope for is enough funding to replace the equipment they've been using for the last three decades.
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