RC RADIO READY FOR AIR WAVES

Twenty-four hour entertainment with a Roanoke style will soon be broadcasted on 100.3 FM. WRKE-LP is a student-run radio station that has been in the making for over five years now and is almost complete.

During the Fall Term of 1998 Jim Goodwin '02 received permission to form a campus organization to broadcast over the college’s closed circuit TV station. This organization was known as WRCR radio which was used to broadcast in the 1970’s. Roanoke decided to move forth with the idea of a radio station and included a two-room radio station in the blueprints of the new Colket Center in October of 2000. Since then, it has just been a matter of getting the equipment and permits necessary to have an official radio station that broadcasts Roanoke College students’ unique ideas.

In this step by step process, led by Media Services Director David Mulford (right), many pieces of the equipment necessary have been donated. The on-air console, better known as the mixing board was donated by the owner of Q-99, Mr. Leonard Wheeler. In addition to this main piece of equipment, Roanoke College purchased two on-air microphones, allowing students to co-host a show or interview a small group in the studio. WRKE has all the capabilities of being a professional radio station, but the success of it will be left up to the interaction returned by the students of Roanoke College and the residents of Salem and Roanoke.

Throughout the years, Roanoke College students have proven that student interaction is the best way to produce a radio show. Student interaction allows the audience to get what they want by calling in and requesting music or by applying to have their own ideas put on the air. The students have a wide variety of shows and music depending on each DJ, giving each student at Roanoke College a reason to enjoy WRKE-LP.

WRKE-LP will soon be broadcasted on 100.3 FM for all of Salem and Roanoke to enjoy. As of now, WRKE-LP is airing on channel 65 and via the web with continuous music and entertainment for the RC community to hear. Help expose Roanoke’s new development with your interaction. Call in to discuss different ideas on-air or explore the radio station online at www.wrke.org.