Ive been informed that the university has elected not to continue the radio program. Obviously, this is extremely disappointing to not just myself, but also to a lot of other people, including faculty, staff, students, and people not at all associated with IUK except that they listen to the station. At least two of the DJs working the station are communications students, one of whom who chose IUK specifically because of its radio opportunity, as it is the career he hopes to pursue; hes now considering whether to continue on at IUK--he feels that if the university is no longer going to provide him this opportunity his money might be better spent at another university that will. The other was an IUPUI graduate student who was seriously considering enrolling in classes here because of the radio program. Personally, I had never considered a career in radio, but the last year and half has given me the confidence that it is something I could do... because of this program. Ive worked for almost a year and half to turn this station into something that would be a beneficial and useful tool to the IUK community, as well as something to be proud of. Its been slow and difficult at times, but gains have been made. On one level, I have been able to offset some of our music acquisition costs by develop relationships with record labels to send us music by their artists for free. Ive got at least a half dozen of those labels doing so at this time. We also get regular submissions from underground and unsigned artists. Ive driven the station to be more involved in campus life. We have actively participated in the student activities fairs, the Midnight Madness event last spring, the cookout last spring, Megan DJd the Homecoming dance last fall. Ive actively recruited from the student body, taking steps towards working with the various student clubs as well as the campus departments and offices and getting them involved as well. Last year, the FCC approved our application for an FM license, which would have been a HUGE step forward for not just the station, but the university. We would have covered the Kokomo area with true FM broadcasts, and given the opportunity to acquire the equipment necessary, it would have allowed us to broadcast Cougar sports to the community, market the university locally for FREE, and more importantly, continue to attract new students. There would have been a fairly substantial initial investment needed by the university to get the tower and transmitter set up, but after that, the operating costs for the station would have been no greater than they are now, and as I mentioned before, Ive been working to cut those costs where possible. Costs which come out the student activities fees, which is paid by my tuition. The local existing FM stations have been using RFK as a recruiting tool. We have had several students get jobs at WWKI and WMYK locally, and other stations outside our area, because of the real, working experience that this program offered them. Weve been approached by members of the community to be involved in their activities, most recently the Lantern Festival that is taking place on March 6 as part of the Kokomo First Friday initiative, which by the way, is something that the ENACTUS club and students of the New Media program are also involved in. RFK was invited to do a remote broadcast at that event. RFK is listened to by people all over the country, and I know for a fact that at times Ive had listeners tune in during my broadcasts from all over the planet (members of the military serving abroad in places like Korea). Take a look at the RFK page. Look at the posts and the reviews that are posted there. There are far more positives to seeing this program continue and grow than there are negatives. It is a recruiting tool that other area colleges and universities dont offer (in fact, IU South Bend contacted us recently about getting a similar program set up there). It is a marketing tool that the school could use to demonstrate that it is part of the community and to recruit new students. It could be used to boost our athletics programs, and probably even the donors to those programs as well as others and the university in general. It provides students of all programs an opportunity to learn and work in an environment that can make a difference in getting a job after graduation, regardless of their major or their chosen career. Radio offers broad experiences that are applicable to a wide field of work--RFK offers something that almost none of the other clubs offer: job experience. This station could be a POWERFUL tool for the growth of this university and its campus, and for its future graduates. Its saddening and disappointing to see that a student organization is cut off so easily. I wonder how many other programs that do less than we do or could for the campus and the university, and the greater Kokomo area are being viewed and treated? I wonder how their budgets compare to ours? I really hope that this is something that the university will take a very close look at, and very seriously reconsider. Cutting this program before giving it a chance to really develop and reach its full potential is a mistake in my opinion. It needs to be viewed with vision and foresight, and what it WILL be, if given not just the chance, but also the support it deserves. I would greatly appreciate any support that I can get in making the university aware of how important this program is. The university may have made its decision, and we, the students of this program may lose in the long run, but we are prepared to approach the university respectfully and reasonably to make a case for continuing and growing the program. Radio Free Kokomo is nothing but a win for Indiana University Kokomo. Respectfully, Rob Salem Trlak Station Manager, Radio Free Kokomo New Media major facebook/radiofreekokomo
Posted on: Mon, 26 Jan 2015 22:09:51 +0000
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