PUBLIC RADIO: SEMO PLANS TO BOOST STATION TO 2,300 WATTS

When it comes to National Public Radio, the signal of KRCU, 90.9 FM, is coming in loud and clear, but only over a relatively small area.

But officials of the radio station on the campus of Southeast Missouri State University are hoping to change that situation. Plans are under way to boost the radio station's signal from 100 watts to about 2,300 watts.

Ferrell Ervin, chairman of the university's mass communications department, said that the radio station could be operating with a more powerful signal by Jan. 1.

"It means that it will reach from Perryville on the north (end) to Sikeston on the south," said Ervin.

Currently, the station's signal can be picked up only in Cape Girardeau and the immediate surrounding area.

"In really good times, I can get it at Fruitland, and I consider that a great coup," said Ervin.

The university, he said, is in the process of obtaining a new antenna and transmitter to boost the power of the station's signal.

On top of that, the university is in the process of purchasing $125,000 worth of studio and production equipment through a grant.

Ervin, in the absence of station general manager Susan Westfall, is supervising the station operations this academic year while recently hired acting operations manager Greg Petrowich is handling the day-to-day management of the station.

Westfall currently is participating in a public radio fellowship program at Ohio University.

Petrowich, 22, graduated in May from Southern Illinois University-Carbondale, where he worked extensively with the public radio station on that campus.

Since converting from strictly a campus station to a National Public Radio (NPR) station last fall, KRCU has expanded its NPR programming.

Last Nov. 15, KRCU ushered in NPR programming in this area, picking up the satellite feed of NPR's "All Things Considered," a radio news magazine show.

Since then, the station has added NPR's morning news show, "Morning Edition" and "Performance Today," a classical music program.

The station also broadcasts classical music programs, in particular jazz and Big Band programs, said Petrowich.

As part of the effort to upgrade KRCU, the station last year moved from cramped quarters in the basement of the Grauel Building to new studios in a former apartment building at 338 N. Henderson.

Two of the three floors of the building have been renovated, with production facilities housed on the lower level and offices on the ground floor. The top floor has been left unfinished for now, said Ervin.

The radio station is on the air 18 hours a day Mondays through Fridays from 6 a.m. to midnight. On Saturdays and Sundays, the station broadcasts from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.

About 15 people, mostly students, have a hand in the day-to-day operation of the NPR station, said Petrowich.

Ervin said about 450 Southeast students are majoring in mass communications. Approximately 30 of them are majoring in radio.

Ervin said KRCU has grown over the years from a strictly student endeavor to a professionally run station.

The station's classical programming has been well received, he said. But he doesn't worry about audience size. "There is always going to be only a limited number of people in any market that are interested in classical music and news programming," he pointed out.

Ervin said the radio station and its community advisory board will host a performance of "The Nutcracker" at the Show Me Center Dec. 10. Proceeds from the classic holiday ballet, which will be performed by the Tulsa Ballet, will benefit the radio station.

"The Tulsa Ballet Co. is considered one of the up-and-coming ballet companies in the nation," said Ervin.