Behind the scenes at the radio station

There's a new radio station in Cape Girardeau that is operated by students at Southeast Missouri State University. The station, 103.7 KDMC the Rage, is student-run and operated by the radio programming strategies class at the university.

When I first walked into the station, it was amazingly quiet. All that was playing was music, so there was no DJ in the studio and only a few people in other rooms. The student station manager gave me a tour of the entire radio premises, which consisted of several small closet-like spaces that had been transformed into offices for the student workers.

The studio had a table with chairs all around it and there were microphones for the DJs. On the far side of the room are several student desks and a small raised platform. The desks are used by radio broadcasting students who come to observe.

The student in charge is station manager Katie Mankus. Dr. Bruce Mims is the instructor of the class, and he supervises the overall running of the station, in a "big brother" sort of way. But that's all he does. The students are responsible for every function of the station, from arranging the playlist to trying to get the word out about the new station.

The Rage is a noncommercial station, accepting no advertising. However, the station runs public service announcements and station identification clips. The station plays alternative music, such as Blink 182, The Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Incubus, Green Day and REM.

The students who run the station are enrolled in the radio programming strategies course and are working toward a degree in mass communications with an emphasis in radio.

Two of the requirements for the class are to serve on the announcing staff of the station, performing one three-hour air-shift a week, and serve an hour a week of office duty in the KDMC Manager-Mentorship Program with an appointed KDMC management-staff mentor.

There are several jobs in the studio, from arranging the playlist so music will run from song to song without a hitch, to answering phones and manning the mics.

The station has one regular show, which airs from 7 to 8 p.m. on Mondays. The show, "3 Guys, 3 Mics and a Sports Show," focuses on professional, high school and college sports of all kinds. Mike Frazee, Rob Utoff and Justin Leanon run the show.

Right now, the students are just trying to let people know the station is on the air. Money is tight, since it's still a new venture, but in the future they hope for some bumperstickers and T-shirts advertising KDMC.

The station welcomes all sorts of calls. Everything from song requests to feedback and suggestions can be dialed in at 651-5123.

Mankus says the staff is open to new ideas and wants to hear the listeners' opinions so they can improve the station as much as possible.

Emily Hendricks is a student at Central High School.