Nicholls’ student radio station, KNSU, suspended its secondary format, and now, in an attempt to better meet the students’ needs, is conducting a survey asking students what they would like to hear by voting on a new secondary format via University e-mail. Students were sent an e-mail Oct. 5 informing them of formats and bands that define each format. The formats listed are available through College Music Journal, an organization assisting mostly college stations. It helps stations contact record labels to get promotion materials, free music and other services.
In the e-mail students are asked to vote for a secondary format. The formats include: Radio 200, Hip Hop, Loud Rock, Jazz, RPM, New World, Triple A, CMJ Radio Select, Independent-only Radio Select and Loud Rock select. Each format contains a variety of artists, and the chosen format will be played during regular airtime along with the primary Alternative format.
The currently suspended secondary format is Loud Rock. Lance Arnold, KNSU adviser, said many people around campus knew nothing about the format and did not listen to that genre of music.
“We’re trying to make things diverse,” Kendrick Davis, computer science sophomore from Paradis and KNSU’s Web designer, said. “It’s important that students choose. It’s not us who decides the second format. It’s the students.”
Danny Callais, computer information systems senior from Kramer, said he does not listen to KNSU because he “is not a fan of the type of music they play.” He said he would like to hear Classic Rock.
However, CMJ allows only “certain” formats, Davis said.
This is not the first time KNSU has attempted to change their secondary format. Arnold said last year he read the minutes of an Student Government Association meeting that claimed KNSU did not care about students and never did any polls to ask students what they would like to hear.
Arnold met with SGA to find out complaints and see what could be done to meet students’ needs. They reached an agreement to administer survey in January of this year.
“In January I turned over some questions to the SGA that would gage student interests about what music they wanted to hear,” Arnold said. “To my knowledge, the SGA didn’t do anything with the questions.”
There has been a good response so far, Davis said.
Arnold also said the SGA e-mailed him, commending him for giving students a chance to vote for their choice of format.
“We’re going to leave it open for a while to give everybody a chance to vote,” Arnold said. “There is no end date yet. As soon as we close voting and tally the votes, we can change the format right then.”
Arnold said he hopes the students get on the Web site and vote.
“We’re willing to change, if students are willing to express what they want,” he said.
