KRCU RADIO GROWS WITH CHANGING NEEDS OF UNIVERSITYKRCU RADIO GROWS

Since its inception in 1976, Southeast Missouri State University's KRCU radio station has undergone many changes.

Until this year, when a 230-foot transmitter tower was erected, the station had only 100 watts of power, limiting its audience to parts of Cape Girardeau. The power was expanded to 6,000 watts this year. The station reaches into Perryville, Sikeston, Marble Hill and other area communities.

From cramped quarters in the first floor of the Grauel Language Arts Building, the station is in a more spacious quarters at 338 N. Henderson.

KRCU is affiliated with National Public Radio, which has improved programming and increased the station's potential listening audience. Equipment has been upgraded to improve quality and the station's ability to produce good programs for its own studios.

With all these changes, and more coming, the future is bright for a better-than-ever KRCU. The station is at 90.9-FM and is on the air daily from 6 a.m. until midnight.

Dr. Ferrell Ervin, chairman of the university's mass communications department, oversees the station and is its acting general manager. The manager's position has been vacant since last September. A new manager will be hired this month.

Ervin explained that one of the problems KRCU has is getting listeners to tune in so they can find out about the variety of programming offered.

Ervin said people often think of public radio as playing only classical music. But KRCU also offers jazz, show tunes, and big-band programs, as well as the NPR news programs.

About a dozen students work for the station. About half of them major in mass communications. The station has an operations manager, engineer, and office manager-secretary who serve on staff. In addition, the station has several temporary part-time workers who are not students.

Greg Petrowich, operations director, said all of the announcers are students. Generally, students working at the station are juniors and seniors, but only about half are mass-communications majors.

"If mass-communications majors want to work, there is an opportunity for them here, but there is not an academic tie between the station and department at this time," said Petrowich.

Eventually, Petrowich said the station hopes to develop a news department, which could use more students in developing news broadcasts. So far budget restrictions have prevented establishment of a news department.

"As soon as the budget allows, we want to hire a news director to work in news and with students," said Petrowich.

Recent fund drives conducted by the University Foundation have included an effort to upgrade the station.

With a new studio in place, Petrowich said the station hopes this fall to have local artists perform on the air. The artists would be from the community and from campus.

Lance Lancaster, a student from Cape Girardeau, is one of the announcers. He is not a mass-communications major, but is majoring in music and applied for a job.

"We play so many types of music, but the classical music we play on the air is interesting to me," said Lancaster. "The fact that I have been exposed to that in other classes gives me an advantage announcing classical composers and their works."

Before students can become announcers they must undergo a training period that includes observing the work of others, working with an engineer, and doing voice work in the production room.

The last step is receiving a FCC license so they can do shifts on their own.

"I think people would be surprised by the variety of music we play and what we have to offer," said Lancaster.

"This is a good place to work and a very good experience."

KRCU has a potential audience of 75,000. Plans call for installation of repeater stations, which would extend its range into the Bootheel, Poplar Bluff area and Mineral Area.