By George F. Lee Star-Bulletin
Blues DJ Victoria Hart and jazz/blues director Brock Pemberton
meet in the station's narrow hallway, crammed with
records and compact discs.
Power play
KTUH, the little station
By Burl Burlingame
that would, if only it could
Star-BulletinIt's somehow fitting that on the 50th anniversary of Chuck Yeager breaking the sound barrier, the University of Hawaii's KTUH is still trying to break its own sound barrier. The quest for power is as old as history itself, and whole generations of students have come and gone since the little station in Hemenway Hall began its quest for more signal wattage 13 years ago. As former employee Kit Grant puts it, the station's signal is "about as bright as a half-dead firefly."
Beginning yesterday, the annual quest for more power begat the "KTUH Radiothon" in which student disc jockeys pull all-nighter days, giving away prizes in exchange for pledges.
Ironically, the funds to boost the signal are there. It took more than a decade to set it aside from the annual radiothons, but they're ready. It's the UH that isn't ready. Approval forms for the upgrade have been in the facilities management office for several months, awaiting an OK before being sent up a couple more flights of stairs.
After that, it'll probably wind up next to the Lost Ark in the Great Hall of Government Bureaucracy.
"We have the money right now, about $50,000 to $60,000, and we're ready to boost the power -- after all these years! -- but there's no buffer," said General Manager Frank McPherson. "If it costs a thousand dollars more than it's supposed to, we're really screwed."
Engineer Dale Machado fears the station may have to reapply for the power boost. "It's been years since we filled out the FCC's forms and submitted them -- I hope they're not too old, or expired."
By George F. Lee Star-Bulletin
DJ Dan Sailers sets up another tune in the KTUH studio.
KTUH went on the air 28 years ago and became known as a place where new music and new ideas could be heard, but only in darkest Manoa. As a professional enterprise staffed by amateurs, it exists primarily as a hands-on learning experience."A lot of professionals have come out of KTUH," said McPherson. "Our most famous alumnus is Larry Beal. We're really proud of that."
The only paid employee is engineer Machado -- an FCC requirement -- and the rest receive stipends. "But for the most part, we do it for fun," said McPherson. "We do get some interns from the communications department who want hands-on experience."
Machado is the station's corporate memory. He began working there in the 1970s as an engineering student, became the station's engineer in 1980 and began getting paid in the mid-'80s.
"Most of the people who work there really aren't into radio, which is kind of weird," said Machado. "They're into MUSIC, and the station is simply the best way of getting that out."
Which is where the power lies. College radio over the last decade has become a closely watched proving ground for new bands. Since nonprofit campus stations don't have to follow pre-selected commercial playlists, the music stands or falls on its own merit.
"The whole genre of modern music industry is so vast, with many, many compartments, it's hard for bands and musicians. The alternative is college radio, which is always looking for what's new and interesting and groundbreaking," said McPherson. "Bands like Metallica and Green Day were college radio before they were mainstream. If you want to hear what'll be popular tomorrow, listen to college radio today."
The student DJs aren't told what to play. "As long as they do the legal identification and public-service announcements, they've got the freedom to program themselves," said McPherson.
Kit Grant was a jock at KTUH in the early '80s. She remembers her time at KTUH as "pretty anarchistic in a creative and positive way. We got to spend hours in the dark with the machines and blinky lights, making fun.
"I remember listening to new bands like REM and U2, and saying, 'OK, let's play them.' No idea they'd be the megahits of tomorrow. The mission of the station was to encompass everything. The DJs bring such passion to what they're doing that they're actually TEACHING the public. If you don't like what you're hearing on KTUH, it'll be gone in an hour anyway. The commercial stations, you know it'll sound just as awful in an hour from now."
By George F. Lee Star-Bulletin
KTUH general manager Frank McPherson smooths out a
technical problem in the studio with news director Kristi Higashi.
"I've never known more passionate people than college-radio people," said Mari Matsuoka, a music promoter and community activist who's helping KTUH with concert events. "That's because they believe in what they're doing. Where else can you listen to jazz that isn't wall-to-wall Kenny G?"Do you know that the hottest alternative station in Seattle is in a HIGH SCHOOL? Student radio. THAT'S where the trends start."
Without the constraints of staying solvent, the emphasis at KTUH is in ideas and trends -- some of which might not might meet community "standards."
Former KTUH General Manager Pam Westcott, now at Olelo public-access television, finds the two venues "very similar -- my experience at KTUH inspired me about freedom of expression and the benefits to the community.
"Feedback from the community affected us more than pressure from the administration," said Westcott. "We often wondered what will happen when people could actually hear us. What would they do to us outside the ivory towers of the university?"
Reaching more listeners was always the problem.
"It's the thrill of having a larger audience, of even having an audience for what you consider important," said McPherson. "The last time we did Arbitron, we had about 7,200 listeners a week, and most of our audience is hard-core, very faithful."
The change requires only a new transformer for the antenna. "There wouldn't be a problem if we weren't in a valley and there were no buildings. But it's still not much of a boost," said Machado.
The station is going from 100 watts -- the minimum that the FCC requires to keep a frequency -- to 3,000. If that sounds like a lot, an average radio station has about 100,000 watts, said Machado.
"We're a light bulb, man."
Thin coverage in Manoa will become clearer when the signal is boosted. The spotty signal everywhere else won't change much.
If or when you get KTUH's signal at 90.3 FM, should you listen?
"Let's put it this way -- how important are young people?" said Matsuoka. "By definition, they're looking at culture and society and the world with new eyes."
Pick up the KTUH spirit
at these eventsKTUH DJs will spin records tonight at Wave Waikiki, tomorrow at Mystic NightClub, Thursday at 1739 Kalakaua, Friday at Centaur Zone. Admission: $5 nightly.
Information: 956-9958
