We've been warned: Stop using KaZaA or any other peer-to-peer network to download music... or Else. And with "Else" entailing messy lawsuits and paying damages of up to $150,000 per music file illegally downloaded, Duke students have listened--or rather, stopped listening. Most students have either substantially curbed their downloading habits or have quit using Kazaa altogether. As seen on college campuses everywhere, the era of fast and free music is quickly approaching an end, and a lost generation of music-loving students has consequently emerged.
Perhaps nothing can replace peer-to-peer in the hearts of Duke students; however, alternative music sources fortunately do exist. In fact, given the unsatisfied demand on campus for affordable music, now is the perfect time to revive 88.7FM WXDu, the Union sponsored radio station. Not only does WXDU have the potential to satisfy students' demands for fresh music, but reinventing the station would also reap other substantial benefits for Duke. By creating a station that draws listeners at Duke and in Durham, not only would WXDU improve strained community relations, but it would also increase name recognition for the University and provide a convenient and long overdue forum for voicing student opinion.
Unfortunately, WXDU is in no state to assume the prominence on campus that it should. WXDU has been and continues to be virtually unrecognized at Duke and by the surrounding community. According to Kelly Quirk, general manager at WXDU, only 20 to 50 people tune in daily to listen to WXDU's webstream. With small, local community college stations, like WZIP of the University of Akron in Ohio, registering an average of 59,100 listeners a week, WXDU is essentially an embarrassment to Duke.
Luckily, it is an embarrassment no one knows about since no one exactly knows what WXDU is or even that it exists. Nevertheless, unless WXDU corrects two of its fundamental flaws--a weak signal and unmarketable programming--WXDU will never be the radio station that a school of Duke's caliber deserves.
Although the Duke University Union funds WXDU, any student on West campus who attempts to listen to 88.7 soon discovers that she pays for static. Because the station's broadcast tower is located in Hillsborough, none of West campus can receive a clear signal. Even if WXDU's signal could reach campus, I doubt any students would listen anyway. Put simply, WXDU's programming offers little mainstream appeal. Its schedule is far too complicated and eclectic with "Space," "Americana," "World," and jazz music haphazardly broadcasted at different times each day. 88.7 conveys no consistent radio personality and consequently cannot market itself to a base audience. Even worse, WXDU further alienates listeners by championing the extremist end of a progressive music movement. The songs on WXDU's playlist are not "underground"; rather, listening to the station's "Space" or "World" broadcasts for merely five minutes readily demonstrates why WXDU and its music selections remain obscure.
WXDU need not remain static in the ears of the Duke and Durham community. The Union only needs to take two corrective steps to revive 88.7. First, because FCC regulations currently constrain the strength and extent of WXDU's signal, The Union and Duke Student Government need to mobilize to lobby the FCC for a stronger or broader signal. If concerted efforts to generate a stronger signal fail, however, the Union should at least aggressively pursue a contract for a translator to create a duplicate station for West Campus and blackout spots in Durham.
Seven years ago, 103.5FM served as 88.7's twin station on West. In 1996, however, the contract for the appropriate translator was revoked without explanation by the FCC. WXDU should have sought out why their contract was not renewed. Instead, the station quietly accepted the decision and lost half of its potential listening audience. It's time for the Union to exert the pressure that a prestigious university like Duke affords on the FCC and ensure that WXDU takes advantage of all possible resources.
Second, the Union must reinvent WXDU's image. By simplifying 88.7's program to one core music genre supported by supplemental programming blocks, the Union can create a new, unified and marketable image of WXDU. The decision of what genre of music 88.7 ultimately broadcasts, however, should not be made by WXDU alone. Instead, the Union should dictate, according to campus preferences, WXDU's broadcast philosophy. Since Duke students ultimately fund WXDU through Union fees, 88.7 should be representational of what the campus desires. Fortunately, an expansion of WXDU's playlist beyond independent labels should not incur any additional costs for the station. Since educational radio stations pay a lump sum for its records, playing independent labels carries the same price tag as broadcasting Billboard hits.
Playing more mainstream music, however, does not translate into WXDU selling-out to pop-culture and becoming another Top 40s Clear Channel station. Rather, by striking a balance between the well known and the obscure, WXDU has the potential to create a distinct identity that students find appealing. Indeed, Duke students should demand no less from its radio station than it does from its daily newspaper. As many campuses across the country demonstrate, college radio can and should play an integral and positive role in daily campus life. Clearly, no such parallel can currently be drawn at Duke. Isn't it about time for the static to stop?
Tammy Tieu is a Trinity sophomore. Her column appears every third Wednesday.
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