If one were to tune into FM 101.5 KWVS sometime before December, they most likely would have been greeted with an endless loop of computer-controlled Christian music that could most easily be described as not very good. Sure, there was the occasional student- or professor-run show, but even then, all disc jockeys were saddled with a rule dictating that Christian music and only Christian music be played at all times.
Thankfully, this ridiculous rule has ended and K-Waves is now a radio station that is becoming one we all should want to enjoy. The new format of the station is of course still under Federal Communication Commission guidelines concerning obscenity and indecency, and DJs should be encouraged to provide Pepperdine-friendly material (it’s a safe bet that we all know what that generally entails), but the Christian-only restrictions are gone.
Five years ago, Pepperdine’s radio station was KMBU and wasn’t really a radio station at all. Like K-Waves, it was broadcast on Channel 6 throughout the Pepperdine campus but unlike the current station, it was not sent over the airwaves. KMBU was largely unregulated as student DJs frequently played and said whatever they wanted, including vulgarities that under FCC watch would have brought big fines.
Instead of regulating the station (which even at K-Waves is hard — who is going to listen to 24 hours of radio?), Pepperdine shut down KMBU all together and there was no radio station for five years. When the Center for Communication and Business opened in Fall 2002, the station was re-born and the University secured a low-power license from the FCC in 2003 and built a tower located 10 miles up the coast. Not only was there a radio station, it was a real radio station that could be picked up on something other than Channel 6.
Unfortunately, Pepperdine enforced an all-Christian format on its new student-run radio station. Much like the cancellation of the SGA-sponsored Sum 41 concert in Spring 2003, the all-Christian format that adhered strictly to Pepperdine’s mission was incredibly short-sighted and blind to its students’ actual tastes and musical interests. If DJs-in-training were going to have an audience at their own University, they needed to be able to play something that students had actually known. Sure, there would always be Creed and Switchfoot, but a majority of Pepperdine students had never even heard a Christian band before nor did they have any interest in listening to one. At the same time, students wouldn’t require unedited Eminem or Limp Bizkit, just something that was FCC-friendly and non-offensive to Pepperdine’s general beliefs.
Today, the new format should be heralded. But students should tune in for more reasons than just the possibility of hearing something they actually recognize. Station managers work hard, filling as much airtime as possible with student-run programming rather than the computer-controlled playlists.
Rome wasn’t built in a day, so it’ll take a while for K-Waves to be at the same level as many other college radio stations, but with the equipment available to them, there’s no reason why Pepperdine’s DJs can’t be some of the best in the country.
With a current line-up of shows highlighting a variety of different music, topics and interesting personalities, K-Waves is already a great station to listen to while stuck in traffic on PCH, sitting around the dorm or while cooped up in a certain newsroom. With a little time, effort, growth and maybe a more powerful antenna (the station frequently gets drowned out by a San Diego station with the same frequency), K-Waves can be something students tune in to out of habit, not by mistake.
We at the Graphic urge students to tune in and listen to our friends across the hall at K-Waves. They finally have the right format, now it’s time to show what they can do.
1-27-2005