Maroon

              The Maroon ESTABLISHED 1923 VOL. 73 NO. 7 FRIDAY, OCTOBER 21, 1994 Loyola University New Orleans WLDC struggles for money, listeners By ELIZABETH KEENAN Staff writer For the past 10 years, not much has changed at WLDC, Loyola's broadcast radio station. The station broadcasts on 640 AM to the three residence halls and Loyola's Cable Channel 8. For the majority of students, there are'not many listening opportunities, according to Jim McPartlan, WLDC general manager and communications senior. In the Danna Center, WLDC is limited to three televisions. The station is not allowed to broadcast on the television in front of the bookstore. "We're trying, by flyers and other means, to gain a little bit larger audience, but a lot of it's going to be word of mouth, just the way this campus is," McPartlan said. McPartlan said the key to turning the radio station around is student involvement. He also said that the university needs to support the station. "They're saying, 'What's the pur- Dose of the radio station, no one's listening to it, so why should we fund it?' But if they never fund it, no one is going to get the chance to listen to it," McPartlan said. "It's like public broadcasting. The public broadcasting audience is small, but the government deems it necessary as part of the whole communications picture. 'They use it to promote this school, and that promotion helps bring students and supports the whole school in general," he said. WLDC is still without a Federal Communications Commission license and frequency, and the university does not plan to change the situation any time soon, according to William Hammel, communications department chairman. "We would obviously love to have a license so that we would be a real broadcasting operation, but that takes money that is not forthcoming," Hammel said. "I would like to see Loyola have a radio station that could be some source of pride to the student body, the faculty and the entire university, and we just don't have that right now." The communications department does not have money to provide the station with new equipment or new music, according to Mary Blue, WLDC faculty advisor. "We don't even have the money to get the equipment we need for classes," she said. 'The radio station is just part of a huee problem." Blue said the university does not support the radio station. "It's just the same old story for so long, nothing would surprise me. If they said, 'Let's turn it into firewood,' I wouldn't be surprised," Blue said. In addition to lack of funds, WLDC does not have a business manager, who would be responsible for selling ads to generate more income for the radio station.McPartlan said that businesses are reluctant to advertise on WLDC. "It's a two part circle. The advertisers don't want to advertise because no one's going to hear it, and we can't improve unless we get money from advertising," he said. Broadcasting only in certain buildings and on Cable Channel 8 presents its own problems, according to Blue. "People do not turn on their television to listen to the radio," Blue said. "Also, our transmitters are sitting in rooms where people turn them off. We've got to constantly monitor that." Despite the many problems, McPartlan remains optimistic about the future of WLDC. McPartlan said he was considering changing the format to include more specialty shows. "If we could do it, it would be broken up by different styles. I think that people will get excited," he said. "It'll bring more cutting edge music, therefore more people will listen to it." This year, WLDC plans to broadcast away basketball games, which McPartlan said he hopes will increase WLDC's audience. "We're trying these little things, and hopefully they'll generate more people listening to [WLDC]," he said. "Also, with basketball, if people listen to away games, then maybe they'll tune in to other things." Some WLDC disc jockeys said they are looking forward to the rest of the year at the station. Kaiti Trimble, WLDC disc jockey and communications junior, said that she believes the radio station will improve this year. "I'm hopeful this year. We have good freshmen interest and a new general manager to provide leadership," BY TODD CARROL Maria Novo, communications freshman and WLDC disc jockey, reads an advertisement during her show. The station is currently facing financial difficulties, while trying to interest a diverse student body. Committee to aid Loyola's multicultural efforts By STEPHEN STUART Contributing writer Loyola is forming a new group titled the Committee on Multicultural Affairs, which will be responsible for making sure the university is responsive to issues of diversity on campus. Vincent P. Knipfing, vice president for Student Affairs, said that the idea for the committee originated from a study conducted by the Student Affairs Multicultural Task Force in the spring of 1992. In a letter to the Rev. James C. Carter, S.J., Knipfing recommended that "the committee should have as its mandate to coordinate the development of an institution-wide plan for diversity. [It includes] diversity in hiring faculty and staff, recruitment and retention of students,students, curriculum development and reform and programming outside the classroom. "A secondary function could be to oversee the multicultural climate on campus and offer advice and assistance if an incident occurs." In addition to assisting in disputes involving race or ethnicity, Carter said that "education will be one channel. The committee will see if the education program is sufficiently multicultural and if the campus environment is sensitive enough to the needs of other cultures." Furthermore, since students come from many different parts of the world. Carter said that the committee will promote communication among cultural groups as a whole at Loyola. "The committee might come up with ideas for programs designed to educate Loyola students and faculty about multiculturalism or adopt programs similar to those in use presently at other universities," Carter said. "The first thing which the committee must do is to decide what is needed in the Loyola community."  The 14 member committee will consist of two people from Student Affairs, the director of International Student Affairs, three members from the administration, business/finance and Institutional Advancement. The rector of the Jesuit community will also appoint one member. The remaining three positions will be filled with student representatives from the Black Student Union, ISA and the Student Government Association. Some students agree that the creationcreation of such a committee will enhance the Loyola community. "A lot of people need to learn more about other cultures and lifestyles," said Letitia Carter, accounting freshman. "The committee will also cut down on people's ignorance concerning other cultures." Mary Brown, pre-med/biology freshman, agreed. "I think [the committee] will help everybody to understand others more. They will be able to learn to live together and accept things that they don't understand," Brown said. In addition to understanding new ideas, Jeff Peters, computer science freshman, said that "learning about other cultures will help to eliminate some of the prejudices which people have." Some of the faculty members also think the multicultural committee is a good idea. "I certainly favor the creation of a committee or any other mechanism that has as its purpose the enhancement of the conversation within the Loyola community on the subject of multiculturalism," said English professor Ronald Foust. 'The idea or mission of the university is to liberate the potentiality of our students. The university is the institution where dialogue, ideas and values can be freely exchanged," Foust said. In addition to discussing ethnic issues, English professor Katherine Adams said, "We can all make more efforts to leam more about each other. The committee would be a positive step and would raise the awareness of the multicultural community at Loyola." See RADIO, Pg. 6 ■ Caution first Week teaches students responsible drinking. kimwesag Champions! W'ns seconc'anniial 'To be or to be' in the quad is Loyola's question.