By Erin Miller

Editor in chief

WCAL's studio is empty most days, except for the piles of CDs that sit, many unopened, all over.

But whenever unofficial General Manager Jenna Beckman sits in the studio, working on homework, students stop by asking about the possibilities of having shows and listening to the station.

``There's a lot of student interest still,'' Beckman said. ``If they were able to correct the problems, student interest would more than pay off.''

For most current Calvin students, the existence of WCAL, the on-campus radio station, has been more fable than fact. While the station has existed for years, the last year the station was broadcast over the airwaves was during the 1999-2000 school year. Last year, student shows were heard over the Internet, but when no one applied for the position of general manager last spring, even that came to an end.

Beckman, who is dating Calvin grad Steve Swanson, the 1998-99 and 1999-2000 general manager, decided to take on the job only after it became clear that no one was stepping up to replace outgoing manager Rowley Kennerk.

``Steve suggested that I be general manager so [WCAL] wouldn't die,'' Beckman said. ``Unfortunately, that didn't quite work.''

The problem, said John Britton, assistant dean for student development and general overseer of student organizations, was that Beckman came on too late for an interview with the Media Sub-Committee, a branch of the Student Life Committee. Because she was never interviewed, she was never officially named General Manager. That interview was supposed to take place last fall, but, because of illness, Beckman's schedule and the committee's schedule never really matched, and Beckman was never interviewed.

The result was a radio station with a provisional charter, dependent upon the naming of a general manager. In November, the Student Life Committee went one step further, revoking WCAL's charter as a student organization for an indefinite period of time.

This year was not the first year in which WCAL was lacking for leadership, Britton said. To run a radio station, as with other student-run media organizations, requires almost more time than students have to devote, even if they are fully committed to creating a quality product, he said, adding that this problem is neither new nor unique.

``I don't think it has ever been a quality student-run station,'' Britton said. He pointed out that at many larger colleges and universities, student stations receive more faculty support than did WCAL.

That leads to what many students who have been involved with WCAL as well as members of the Student Life Committee all see as a possible solution: more faculty support, preferably from the Communication Arts and Sciences (CAS) Department.

The Student Life Committee has approached CAS several times over the past few years to see if there is any interest in becoming involved with the station. CAS has declined the invitation every time.

``They expressed from the beginning that they don't have time resources - time and finances - to do this,'' Britton said. ``I don't think it's on the radar screen. The college, financially, would have to step forth.''

But lack of time and financial resources are only a part of the situation as a whole. Missing and broken equipment also plague the radio station. More interesting is that, when Beckman went home last spring, the station was in working order. When she returned in the fall, even if she had had students lined up as DJs, she still would not have been able to broadcast.

``I actually came in with the expectation that our studio was in working order,'' she said. ``Over the summer, someone came in and it was tampered with.''

Who that was, Beckman does not know. Since then, other pieces of equipment have disappeared.

``I'm not sure where all the equipment went, because various people were allowed in [to remove it],'' she added.

If WCAL recovers its equipment, finds consistent DJs and student leadership, one final obstacle must be overcome: When the station was only available online, some students complained about paying to listen to the radio. Eventually, the station should be broadcast via the airwaves again, not just on the Internet.

To do that, however, would require a license from the Federal Communications Committee (FCC), and getting that license requires something WCAL does not have and Calvin is not offering, money for a lawyer to represent the station when applying for the license.

Three years ago, WCAL was broadcasting at a low frequency that was supposed to only be heard on campus, but even that came perilously close to violating FCC regulations. It was with the discovery of those near violations that WCAL began broadcasting online.

Where does all of that leave the station? Currently, it means an empty station without a budget (although budgeted $5,000 for the year, with the revocation of the charter, that money was redistributed to other student organizations in early February as a part of the re-budgeting process), an unofficial general manager who would like to see the station running again.

Even Britton and the Student Life Committee are not opposed to the idea of a functioning radio station.

``I'm not willing to determine what the future holds for WCAL [but] I'm not willing to push it through [just] for the sake of having it,'' Britton said. ``No students have committed to long-term success. If students spoke up and individuals made that commitment, that would be the bare minimum.''

Beckman is more optimistic about the future of WCAL, even if it is only because she believes it serves the college well to keep the station running.

``It's not in their best interest to cut out a huge chunk of programming, especially when there are students willing to take the initiative and take over,'' she said.