Spring Break
Freshman plans on-campus radio station
Audrey Leon
Issue date: 5/1/08 Section: A & E
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The student, Danny Dyer, said that he wants the station to be student-controlled while still being endorsed by the University. He has created a group titled "St. Thomas Radio," on the social networking website Facebook to gather support.
Dyer said that he is currently building a website for the station in order to have a working prototype to show SGA president Joshua Gautreau by this summer. In the interim, Gautreau said that SGA is trying to allocate money in next year's budget to get the project off the ground.
Dyer said that he would like the station to become self-funding through advertising.
"I think it would be kind of cool to have something run by the students, for the students and not necessarily have to have University permission to play explicit music," Dyer said.
Vice President of Student Affairs Steve Sutton, said that, while it is too early to determine what music cannot be played on air, ultimately, the music will have to fit in with the University's core values.
Dyer said that he would prefer that the radio station be endorsed by the University. "I would like to see a link to [the station] on the school website," Dyer said, "But, I don't want it to be university controlled."
However, Gautreau said that it is likely that the station will have to make certain concessions on the type of content aired on the station in order for it to obtain University approval.
"There couldn't be complete [student] control," Gautreau said. "Content would have to be within reason."
Sutton, who previously sat on the board of Rice University's radio station KTRU, said that several factors will help the University decide whether to assist in governing a student radio station.
"If University resources or administrative time is being used, then we have to set up some type of board," Sutton said. "KTRU is a student-run radio station. They decide what music to play; they staff it; they pay the bills. But there is still a corporation, a board that oversees the operations. It really helps to make sure the University's interests are represented at the table."