By
Lora J. Mackel
Wildcats, we have yet another reason to love that feisty Arizona senator, our boy John McCain. Not only is he a hilarious opponent to baby Bush and a champion for the just cause of campaign finance reform, but he has also authored a bill that, if passed, could allow UA's KAMP Radio to get a low-power FM signal.
Instead of being broadcast to a few on closed circuit in dorms, the unique styling of college radio could be heard within a five-mile radius of the UA.
Saints be praised. There might actually be a radio station in Tucson that is not completely saturated in commercial blabber and preprogramming.
If there is one thing that every student can agree on, its that the local radio stations are incredibly lame. This town has its oldies station, its top 40s station, its rock station, its younger rock station, its hip-hop station, its hot adult contemporary station, its cold adult contemporary station, its jazz, its classical, and its "community radio" station. All are incredibly pre-fab, and fit neatly into their stereotypical boxes.
All these stations have their gimmicks, and play only to little niches. Take the morning show on the young rock station. KFMA (which could easily have its name changed to the angry male station, since a female singing voice has not been heard on it in years) has two run-of-the-mill male idiots talking non-stop for four hours about how funny farting, homosexuality, and "chicks' boobies" are.
Occasionally these two professional monkeys spin a tune by Limp Bizkit or Marilyn Manson. They are playing, and evidently successfully, to the crowd with the mental maturity of 13-year-old boys. Anyone else tires of them in less than a minute.
Every other high-powered FM station in town has a similar niche and similar gimmick they use to keep their demographic. KRQQ, the top-40 station, employs an incredibly dorky guy for their prime time slot to act "dope," so the kids will freestyle with him on the air. Yeah, we all believe the music industry has nothing to do with promotion and sales, and everything to do with "keeping it real."
Even the community radio station, though divorced from the commercial culture, is boring and only plays to a small segment of the population. It seems the bluegrass posse of Tucson has muscled its way into programming at the station, and all the other types of music take a backseat to fiddlin'.
What music lovers need and what they might get in the broader signal for KAMP is a radio station that plays a variety of music, but is not concerned with demographics or profitability. Hopefully, integrity in programming would allow the average listener to experience a broader range of music than they might otherwise hear. With students as dee-jays, there is much less blather and more music, and the experience is far more intimate.
Additionally, KAMP's broader transmission would signal the beginning of increased access to media, which has been too tightly controlled by large media conglomerates for too long. Increased access means an increase in perspectives, which is healthy for freedom.
Of course, college radio could also be considered its own niche, but as a whole, KAMP plays a better variety of music than any other Tucson station.
So a broader signal for KAMP will help non-UA patrons of the radio rock to something other than 13-year-old-boy blabber.
