Summer Orange - May 26, 1983
SU students speak out on WAER incident
By Pat Louise
WAER-FM88 has undergone much change and controversy since January, culminating with the firings and resignations of 11 senior staff members on April 22 and 25.
The station has been off the air, with the exception of Syracuse Chiefs' baseball games, since 3:18 p.m. April 22. Station Manager David Anderson announced that June 1st, the station will return to the air with a new staff and a new format.
Four professional staff members and Anderson will assume the managerial duties that previously were handled by students. The senior staff members, along with ABC's Nightline announcer and WAER alumnus Ted Koppel, have said repeatedly to let the students run the station, thereby gaining valuable experience that could not be taught in a classroom.
They are not the only ones who feel this way. Many Syracuse University student said that the station should be used as; learning place for students and not as profit-making station for the University
"The station should be kept as a place for students to learn and the University should stay out of it," English major Roz Burkart said. "The school makes enough money on a lot of other things."
Many students said they felt the University was interested in only making money and did not care enough about giving students the opportunity to learn by experience.
"The endpoint of the station should be the student, both in terms of learning and listening," Tom Tomasik, a psych major. "Why the station and University are switching from an 18-24 year-old range to a 25-35 year-old one just makes no sense."
Some students, however, said that the staff of WAER should be geared toward making money. Larry Hadcock, a computer engineering major, said the station will now be more like ones in the professional world.
"It will be close to being like a regular station, one that aims at making a profit," Hadock said. "It will help them in the employment market if the students can say that they have experience at a profit-making station."
Hadcock also said he thought the senior staff should have stayed at the station. "Nothing goes right all the time for - anybody," he said. "They should have fought more. By leaving, they just made Mel (Chancellor Melvin Eggers) happy."
Andy Sopchak, a physics major, said that he thinks the resignations will not affect the University's stand on the station. "They may have left to prove a point but the station manager will just find more people to fill those positions." he said.
Some students said they saw the six senior staff resignations as a stand against the University. `'It was good to see that some people still believe in sticking up for their morals," Peggy Klein, pre-med major, said. 'They were justified in choosing their values for the station over their own personal experience."
Marketing major Beth Bornhurst said that she supported the senior staffs attempts to keep the station a student run one. "The school has so much apathy that it is nice to see some people come on strong for something they believe in," Bornhurst said.
"The station shouldn't worry about ratings. The students should be able to learn by making mistakes and do it without the risk of losing their jobs," she said.
Tomasik said that the problem seemed no longer a question of format but one of students vs. University policy. "I'm glad someone stood up to the University because the firings were just dirty pool by the University," he said. "Not only do students now lose a chance to listen to what they want, but they also lose a form of their student voice by losing control over WAER."
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Last Modified October 14, 2005 |