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By Beth Fertig
AT ITS BEST, radio can serve
as a valuable form of enter-
tainment and information.
At the University's Campus Broad-
cast Network, radio takes on a more
unique and colorful meaning: It
provides the community with the op-
portunity to tune into some extraor-
dinary, original airwaves - the likes
of which one has most likely never.
been exposed to before arriving in
Ann Arbor.
The University of Michigan's on
campus broadcasting began back in
1948 with WUOM, a professional radio
station. Soon after, however, a
student-run station congealed from
the scattered networks which had
begun springing up in the dormitories,
and in 1952 the Campus Broadcasting
Network - WCBN - began broad-
casting officially. In 1972, WCBN went
FM and WRCN (later to become what
we now know as WJJX-650 AM)
became the new name for the AM
station.
Enough for history. Suffice it to say
that there are now three stations at
the University of Michigan: WCBN
(88.3), WJJX (650 AM), and WUOM
(91.7 FM). Both WJJX and WCBN are
entirely student run and are located in
the basement of the Student Activities
Building. WUOM, however is a
University owned professional station
which exists on the fifth floor of the

LA imu D .nu 1s, au n w . -
part of the campus community. While
these three stations share this
University/Ann Arbor community
and even some facilities, they are
nonetheless completely separate en-
tities in many other ways, and are
therefore deserving of more in-
dividualized attention.
WCBN-FM
To quote one of the station's DJ's
and loyal devotees, "Nobody could
listen to WCBN for six hours and not
like it."
Indeed, this statement seems to
sum up the WCBN-FM programming
quite well. The student run FM station
describes its format as "freeform," a
term which is somehow miraculously
loose enough to encompass the
limitless varieties of music one is
likely to hear on this unique station.
"Freeform" means being able to
take full advantage of the station's
15,000 plus record library, its produc-
tion facilities, and anything else the
creative DJ wants to experiment
with. Thus, you're likely to hear an
endless variety of sounds during a
time block (usually three or four
hours long) over the course of the
station's 24 hour broadcasting day.
You could hear gospel, rock, R&B,
folk, bluegrass, opera, classical, jazz,
or reggae music. Or anything else, be
it an interesting aural texture or
speciality programs such as "God-
zilla Theatre," "The Rockabilly
Show," "Cacophony," or the ever

Daily Photo by ANDI SCHREIBER

WCBN-FM Music Director Gretchen Lindensmith in action during her on-air shift.

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popular "Jazz 'Till Noon," which runs
every weekday from 9:00 a.m. until,
yes, 12:00 noon.
Says WCBN Program director,
Vicki Jean Beauchamp, "Bascially
we're here to offer a large variety of
music to a large variety of people who
would not normally be exposed to that
because that's not what's on the
radio." In fact, about 90% of the
station's programming consists of in-
dependently produced records or
tapes - music and sounds which are
not found on most commercial
radio, and certainly not MTV.
But there's more to do than listen to
WCBN. Students can be trained to DJ,
receiving their broadcasting license
after doing the following: Completing
two hours of general training produc-
tion, producing a sample tape in the
station's production studio, and then
receiving their "FM training"
session. While this might seem like a
bit of work, it is necessary, and offers
a laid back, out of the classroom,
educational experience.
WCBN also provides students with
the opportunity to learn all other less
"visible" (aural?) aspects of station
work, such as production, soundboard
usuage (recording live music for
future broadcasts), publicity, and
news shows. The Campus Broadcast
Network's newsroom churns out
several speciality shows in addition to
its daily newscast. Recent programs
have included "Women's Rites and
Rhythms," interview specials, or
features of community interest.
WCBN-FM owns all of its equip-

ment and operates with a grant from
the University. However, to sup-
plement this income (which barely
pays for the phone bill, according to
Beauchamp), a Fundraiser/Benefit
Concert is held every February. This
event is what really brings the station
its most publicity-however, it looks
that with the recent FCC power in-
crease (which went into effect this
summer) from a former 10 to now 200
watts, the Ann Arbor area will
literally be hearing more of WCBN-
FM.
WJJX-AM
WJJX, although it operates out of
generally the same office area and
shares the same record library,
newsroom, and production facilities,
is quite different from the FM station,
yet equally unique. The station
operates on a carrier current, which
means that it can only be heard in
University buildings. This might
seem a limitation, however it serves
to focus the station to a University
student audience (mostly dorm
residents), whereas WCBN is con-
sidered to be an Ann Arbor com-
munity station.
Programming Director Jim Lamb
describes the WJJX format as
"mostly AOR and pop." However,
this is open to lenient interpretations,
be it Top-40, rock and roll, or anything
else along that current.
Lamb says, "I like to be closely in-
volved with the University, especially
because not many people know about
JJX." The station certainly plays a
vital role in the coverage of the

University's athletic organizations.
WJJX broadcasts every home game,
and is the only station in Ann Arbor
that covers all of the "away" hockey
games our team plays.
Starting this fall, Lamb says there
will be a more structured way of
training future DJ's. He says that
they will be required to take a two
hour training session. After this
training session, they will be given the
chance to either take an unoccupied
shift, or else broadcast during the
hours of 1:00 and 8:00 AM when the
station normally uses an autopilot.
In addition to the production,
broadcasting, publicity, and news
aspects of the station, WJJX - unlike
WCBN-is a "commerical" station.
Thus, there is also a sales department
open to student involvement. Lamb
says this department is growing, and
allows students the opportunity to
learn about commercial production.
WUOM
WUOM-FM is the forefather of all
official campus-based broadcasts.
Located on the fifth floor of the LS&A
Building, the station has played an
important, active role in University
radio.
Although the station is a
professional one, owned and salaried
by the Regents, it does offer and en-
courage student internships and
volunteer services. Its format is
mostly classical music or "Fine Arts,
Programming" (with jazz on Satur-
days) mixed in a "60/40" ratio with
talk radio. WUOM is also a member of
National Public Radio, and often
broadcasts special features, lectures,
and series.
The University owns two other
similar stations, WVGR and WFUM,
in Grand Rapids and Flint, respec-
tively. Each of these carries our
WUOM generated broadcasts, adding
up to a potential WUOM listenership
of 80% of the state of Michigan.
WUOM is a listener supported
station, not commercial. Each fall
and spring one should keep on the
lookout for their annual pledge drives,
which are a vital part of the station's
support.

By Louis Goldberg
n OVIES PROBABLY didn't
ean a great deal to you while
growing up. You had other concerns,
and television, in reducing films to
micro-sized, abridged, and commer-
cial-filled shells of themselves hardly
made them look pleasurable.
But life's a little different now.
During four years in this town, you'll
be asked to buy a lot of things. They'll
try to sell you run down places they
call student housing, and run down
ideas they call facts of knowledge.
You'll have a lot of experiences, and
you'll meet a lot of people, some of
them even friendly. And while sear-
ching for what you came here for, be
it an education or a hot tub, you'll un-
doubtedly discover culture.
The plays, the parties, the bands.
and the bars will push their flyers at
you, each asking for your time and
your money. You'll indulge because
there's much to indulge in, and
hopefully you'll meet with good
results. But should you reach the point
of total bewilderment and alienation,
the point where college dissolves into
four years of post-adolescent
alchoholism, remember: There is
something more.
Ten minutes with the Marx
Brothers can even cure colds. While
other forms of substance abuse only
distance you from reality, the energy
and wit of films make you fall back in
love with humantiy. They are the only
form of reality distortion available
that lets you wake up the next mor-
ning without a spinning head.
In order to survive what can seem
like a nightmare existence, you must
enter into a different kind of darkness,
a darkness wherein romantics, with
their visions of elegance, send you
starbound and neo-realists, with their
daily routines, bring you back to ear-
th. Humphrey Bogart, James Dean in
Cinemascope, and Jean-Pierre
Leaud in a freeze-frame are just three
of the joys inside. It's doubtful you
need to be sold on movies, but you
may need some first-hand convincing
to overcome your prejudices to age,
subtitles, or the absence of color.
Ann Arbor is one of the finest towns
for filmgoing in the country. If this
claim sounds outlandish consider the
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evidence. New York and Los Angeles
may screen larger amounts of current
domestic and foreign films, but their
revival houses seem reluctant to ex-
plore more obscure older titles. While
houses in the larger cities are expen-
sive and situated far from one another
(making it impossible to go on time
from one film to another elsewhere),

Ann Arbor offers 14 inexpensive
screens within walking distance from
one another. Excluding all the other
theatres in town, the campus film
societies screen an average of 1,400
films a year.
The large number of films screened
on campus gives you the rare oppor-
tunity to view much of cinema's

"basic repertoire." Four years in this
town will offer you repeated showings
of classics like The Big Sleep, Rebel
Without A Cause, and The 400 Blows.
Yet, as with most of life, there is a
choice. Standing in line to see
Casablanca just rates a C average.
During each term, in addition to the
classic favorites, a small minority of
more obscure, "graduate-level" titles
tries to make its stand.
Understandably, you have limited
funds and even more limited time, so
it follows that you'll choose to see a
film you've heard about over one you
haven't. But don't ignore the "forgot-
ten" titles. your best memories of film
in Ann Arbor may come from sitting
with only six or seven other risk
takers discovering such gems as
Scandal, Toni, Club De Femmes, The
Naked Kiss, Johnny Guitar, and
Woman On The Moon.
During the '70s, Ann Arbor showed
a much larger variety of films. Direc-
tors like Frank Capra, Samuel Fuller,
and Jean-Luc Godard were enticed
here for visits. Today, students, go to
fewer movies, the same films show
term after term, and large festivals or
directors' visits are unheard of. And
what made the still-impressive Ann

A dramatic moment in Jean Eustache's The Mother and The Whore. Just one
,of the many foreign films that has been on campus in the last few years.
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Page 6 -- The Michigan Daily - Thursday, September 4, 1986

The Michigan Daily - Thursdc