Wednesday, January 25
Behrend Acquires AM Frequency
Station to be on air this semester
by Maria Plaza
Collegian News Editor
Behrend radio may soon be on
the air following the gift from
Burbach Broadcasting Company.
Last December, Burbach gave
the college the license, AM 1450
spot,. antenna, transmitter, a set
of broadcasting equipment, and
the building of their WEYZ
station.
Burbach, which also operates
WCCK KlO4 FM, is replacing
the 1,000 watt WEYZ with its
newly acquired 5,000 watt AM
station 1330 (formerly WRIE).
According to Dean of Student
Services Chris Reber, Behrend's
application has been sent to the
Federal Communications
Commission and a positive reply
Inside
Construction
Behrend Briefs 4
Editorial 5
History of Media 6
Supergroup 8
Working Poet 11
Tidbits From Earth 12
Superbowl Review 15
Men's Basketball 16
he '''':'''..,: . : r.:• . ..: . .: . . -' 0 e....,.. • ian
is expected within sixty days. At
that time, the station should
begin - operation under the
proposed call letters WPSE.
Reber described the transaction
as a gift/purchase arrangement. It
was largely a gift, he explained,
but the University provided some
remuneration for the equipment
valued at $250,000._
According to - Reber, the
acquisition was an "unexpected
gift." Behrend was planning to
begin another carrier-current
station, one that can only be
heard in Behrend buildings, to
replace its old station WBCR,
which went off the air in 1986
after being plagued with reception
and equipment problems.
The new AM station's
broadcast range will include all of
Erie County.
"Our hope in all of this
(transferring WEYZ to Bchrend)
is that this will continue to add
to the variety of programming
choices available to - Erie
listeners," said William Shannon,
vice president, of -the Burbach
Broadcasting Company.
According to WBCR assistant
manager Ken Bunting, the station
was origitially intended to be
non-profit, but the- application
was amended last week to request
commercial status.
Commercial status is
necessary to use new services
PENN STATE ERIE'S WEEKLY NEWSPAPER
such as CNN and CBS that
provide news in return for having
the commercials they've sold
aired.
Reber explained that it hasn't
yet been decided whether the
station will be non-profit or
commercial. "It could go either
way," he said.
A general manager will be
hired to run the station, teach a
related course, and advise the
radio club.
The station's broadcasting
format will be decided by an ad
hoc committee made up of Reber,
Bunting, Dean Lilley, Myron
Jones, owner and president of
WJET Broadcasting; Cathy
Mester, instructor of
communications at Behrend; and
Marlowe Froke, general manager
of University Park's AM
.station
WPSU.
The committee, which has
met once, is working closely
with the telecommunications
department at University Park.
Initially, the station will be
satellite fed, receiving news from
news services such as CNN and
CBS. Campus programming will
be gradually phased in.
Reber explained that market
niche—what's needed and wanted,
will be the committee's guide.
Reber said the committee has
Contd. on pg. 4
Minority Senator
Issue Defeated
by James Martin
Collegian Editor
Following many weeks of
debate and deliberation, a
measure to create a minority
senator position has been
defeated.
The position, known as the
HABIT Senator position, was
first introduced by Darron
Henry, president of The
Association of Black
Collegians.
The proposed ammendment
would have mandated the
presence of a minority member
on the Student Government
Association (SGA).
The debate on the issue began
heatedly in the fall of 1988 and
was characterized by strong
feelings and frequent verbal
exchanges.
The ammendment proposal
was ultimately called to, a vote,.
during the SGA's January 11
meeting. SGA President Steve
McGarvey said that
constitutionally the proposal had
to be voted on at the third
meeting at which it was read.
The proposal had actually
been considered at more than
Chisholm Urges
Civil Rights Revival
by Laura Weaver
Collegian Staff Writer
Former Congresswoman and
author Shilrlcy Chisholm told a
crowd at Behrend's Reed 117 that
the civil rights movment needs to
be revived.
Chisholm spoke before an
overflow crowd at 8 pm
Thursday, Jan. 19 as part of
Behrend's annual speakers series
on the topic: "Since the 1960's
and Toward The Future: Protest,
Order and Justice in America."
Educated at Brooklyn College
and Columbia University,
Chisholm was elected to
Congress in 1968 and blazed
trails for civil and equal rights.
Chisholm is also the author of
two books, "The Unbought and
Unbossed" and "The Good
Fight," which deals with her
historical run for the presidency
in 1972.
Recently Chisholm toured the
Country campaigning for Rev.
Jcssc Jackson during his
presidential bid.
When Jackson lost to
Dukakis, Chisholm gave her
support to the Massachusetts
Volume XXXVII, No. 8
three meetings but was read in
its final form at only three
meetings.
At the January 11 meeting,
McGarvey limited discussion to
15 minutes.
Discussion was limited, in
part, because all but one of the
SGA Senators were expected to
be at the meeting until 6 pm at
which time several had to leave
for classes. Several SGA
members had suggested as many
members as possible be present
when the actual voting took
place.
McGarvey pointed out prior to
the voting that the SGA was
voting for or against the
ammendment itself, not the idea.
"I think it's important
regardless of how any vote
would come out tonight...that
you've taken some initial steps
towards opening things up," he
said.
When discussion was
concluded Senator David Friend
made a motion to bring the
issue to a vote.
The vote was conducted by
secret ballot, with the issue
being defeated by a vote of eight
yes, and 12 no votes.
photo by Tracey Cross
Governor by traveling through
eleven states speaking on his
belhalf.
During Chishoim's rousing
lecture, she offered a
remembrance of the 60's and 70's
civil and equal rights movements.
In addition, she noted a
Contd. on pg. 3