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WAER
- FM 88 Syracuse University - Syracuse, NY The End of the Alternative - 1980-1983 WAER FM 88.3 in Syracuse, NY is the nation's oldest college radio station. In 1947, General Electric gave an FM radio transmitter to the Physics Department of SU. The station was licensed as WJIV. Sometime later, the Physics Department relinquished control of the station and the call letters were changed to WAER as a reflection of Alpha Epsilon Rho, the broadcasting honorary. The University tied the station's operation to classes offered in the School of Visual and Performing Arts, and then the Newhouse School of Public Communications. Broadcasters trained at WAER include Dick Clark (who started a radio program called Orange Bandstand in 1948) and Ted Koppel of ABC News. These are but two of the hundreds of distinguished members of the broadcasting profession who worked at the station. WAER became a "Student Run" station when the campus was in turmoil in the early 1970's. The station adopted an "Alternative" style, and the management of the station was completely organized by students. The station had a musical format of new age rock'n'roll, Jazz of all styles and R'and'B. The station also broadcasted news, sports and public affairs from many different perspectives. This style continued virtually undisturbed until 1980 when Syracuse University decided that the station should be "better controlled" in order to "best reflect the University community". This is the story of how the University took back control of the station. During this period, Chancellor Melvin Eggers was subjecting Syracuse University to its greatest expansion since the reign of Chancellor Tolly. Chancellor Eggers saw WAER as one more "property" that he would renovate as part of his plan to improve the University. The University hired a professional station manager and started a campaign to gain control of the station. It took the better part of three years, but eventually the University shut off the station and fired five of eleven senior staff members. They turned a free form, alternative station into a University showcase complete with a professional staff, Corporation for Public Broadcasting affiliation and donors willing to give money to sponsor its operation. The University got what it wanted. The students who have worked there since will never know what it was like to have the freedom enjoyed by those who worked under the student run administration.
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