By Brian Hennessey and Jessica Voas
WXPL 91.3 Fitchburg State University Radio held their annual elections for the executive board last week. The current DJ’s of WXPL cast votes in anticipation Thursday at the weekly meeting after the candidate’s recited their electoral speeches. With Matt Veil and Steve Ward running for the only contested position of Program Director.
General manager, Assistant General Manager, Business Manager, Secretary as well as Public Relations Director were also on the ballot. “For the most part the candidates with no contest seemed fairly relaxed,” said Elise Luskin a DJ at the station.
Matt Viel and Steve Ward faced off head to head for the position of Program Director. Both candidates fielded questions concerning the future of programming by the room of DJ’s as well as the current e-board. A topic of debate that had arisen several times during the Q and A session dealt with the ongoing issue of streaming WXPL’s broadcast online.
Neither candidate could give a definitive answer due to copyright laws and FCC policy that is the present hindrance to an online broadcast. “Both Matt and Steve provided adequate answers, this is going to be a tough decision,” said Aishling Farrell, a public service announcer for Under The Radar a show on WXPL.
“I feel as program director, I will not only help with scheduling shows, but rather promote the station to everyone on campus and inspire people to join the station” said Matt Viel in a private interview after the debate. Steve Ward could not be reached for comment.
“We have worked tirelessly to get this station to be what it is today,” claimed Jess Sawyer the current secretary, 2 years running. “The board just wants to make sure its trend of excellence is continued.” Along with Jess, G.M. John Wentworth, Program Director Brandon Menninger, Business Manager Alexis Dexter, Public Relations Dave Donahue have been the working executive board this past year.
Once the votes are counted and the numbers are in the new executive board for WXPL Fitchburg State University Radio will be announced on their website www.wxplnews.herobo.com this Thursday April 29th 2011.
As a student attending college, how is it that you can find time to explore new music? In this fast-paced learning experience, it’s difficult to set aside time for such things. Luckily, there are students who care about music as entertainment, and find the time to show it to you.
This is where WXPL comes in. WXPL is the Fitchburg State University radio station, which has unique shows that are hosted by various students. “It is run by all students”, explains Razz Beley, one of the hosts of the many different shows on this station. “The name of our show is Slamacow. Online it says we play Indie and Swing, but we play Indie, we play swing, we play pop punk, we play dubstep, and we play fifties and sixties music. I’ll mostly play whatever I want.” Slamacow can be heard on Mondays from 5-6 P.M on the station 91.3 FM, at a convenient time after classes.
“We also have Public Service Announcements, (PSAs) just to inform the public about things like Planned Parenthood or anxiety.” This incorporates services to help students, as well as be a steady source of entertainment.
With this kind of freedom of airwaves and the appropriate censorship, students can share music tastes. Not only does WXPL play on the radio, but they “host events like coffeehouses where bands can come to play. We’ll join with FAB to bring bands to the school.” This year, they had brought the band Foxy Shazam, but in past years were able to bring bands as big as Jimmy Eat World. WXPL also brings liveliness to events by playing music at them.
Slamacow is just one of the many different shows that Fitchburg Radio hosts. Different shows and events being held can be viewed at their website, http://wxplnews.herobo.com.
