WRLC 'The Thunder' gears up for fundraisers

by: Jennifer Basch

There are about 40 students on campus involved as disc jockeys on the student-run radio station in the Communications Building this semester.

Mondays through Saturdays the station can be heard on 91.7FM up to 15 miles away from campus and anywhere around the world through its website.

The executive staff including Stephanie Robinson, the station manager; Sabrina Edington, the director of underwritings; Justin Ossont and Myles Biggs, the assistant managers; Michael Tonart, public relations and Mark Shuman, adviser, work hard by keeping the station active. Each of these people are very passionate about their roles as staff members.

Not just communication students but any students, regardless of experience, are able to start a show. Training sessions are available for new DJs. Students may play their favorite music ranging from country to rap and hip-hop to classical music.
Ossont said, “The shows are going great and we are really happy with the crew we have now, they are a great bunch of talented radio hosts.”

Students can have a show for two hours a week, either two straight hours or they can split it up another day. Scheduling also is very flexible; the students schedule a time when it is convenient for them. Students can do radio shows in pairs, which makes it less stressful.

There are many events that disc jockeys are involved in. One is “Millions of Pennies.” The students involved go around to the dorms asking for spare change they would like to donate to Aids Resource.

“Last semester we raised $600 with the ‘Millions of Pennies’ event,” Robinson said. “We plan to do another ‘Dorm Storm’ to raise money the week of March 28.”
As a corporate communications major, Ossont, sophomore, enjoys his duties as a staff member.

“My other title besides assistant manager is now Sports Broadcasting and this division of the radio station is to get students involved with announcing Lycoming Athletics. We have been working on this for some time now and will probably be in full swing next fall,” Ossont said. He is optimistic for the future and his passion for the radio is evident.

“As of right now we are aiming to do two football broadcast in the fall, the homecoming game and one other home game, as well as hopefully both mens’ and womens’ soccer as long as we have the proper equipment in place to broadcast a great show. Then we will be aiming to do men’s and women basketball and men’s and women's lacrosse in the spring. Over all there is some work that needs to be done but I'm hoping by the end of the semester and a quick warm-up in the fall, WRLC will not only play the greatest music but also bring Lycoming Athletics across the country and world with the radio station,” Ossont said.

A new asset for the WRLC staff is their delay system.

“We just recently bought a 7-second delay system so callers can go on air,” Robinson said. “We raised a couple of thousand dollars from other fundraisers and underwritings to buy the system,” she said. The request line for music is 231-4054.
Another event that the staff is very enthusiastic about is Relay for Life. WRLC will be playing music for 12 hours straight during this event on March 25-26.

WRLC holds weekly meetings at 7 p.m. Thursday in the Communications Building.