WEXP approved to broadcast on AM airwaves

By Shannon Curley
Collegian Staff
March 1, 2006

WEXP, La Salle’s campus radio station, is proceeding with plans to create an AM station that will broadcast throughout campus. Dean of Students, Dr. Joseph Cicala, has approved the station’s proposal to install a short-band AM radio carrier with an antenna on top of the Union Building. Broadcasts are expected to be accessible from the North Dorms to the Communication Center.

This will not be WEXP’s first venture into the world of AM radio. The station, founded in 1972, initially aired on campus from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., with most of its programs focusing on student opposition to the Vietnam War. The station also covered basketball games and played oldies music.

Until 1980, the station operated without a hitch. In 1980, after a student installed a transmitter on the Union’s roof, the station could be accessed along the East Coast. WEXP received requests for songs from as far away as Albany, New York. The installation was in direct violation of FCC regulations, and the student was accused of ‘stealing’ airwaves. University officials feared that the FCC would impose a fine, or incarcerate the student for up to a year. The only consequence, however, was that the station was disbanded.

WEXP was reinstated in the late 1980s and La Salle was given the opportunity to purchase an FM station for $100,000. After the incident in 1980, distrust between the radio station and the Administration caused the Budget Committee to forgo the purchase.

In more recent years, WEXP has become a staple at La Salle. Broadcasting 24 hours a day and 365 days a year, it has acquired more original programming than most Philadelphia stations.

“We have one of the largest media groups on campus,” said freshman Programming Director, Cory Anotado.

The station plans to broadcast on AM radio by the beginning of fall 2006. Because of this, Anatado says that plans to broadcast on campus are moving quickly.

“We don’t need FCC approval because of our status as a University,” he said.

WEXP is also pushing to have the station broadcast in the Blue and Gold Commons and Treetops Café. There are also plans to have a news segment added to the broadcast lineup so that by this time next year students will be able to listen to world news during their lunch periods. The changes are expected to make WEXP competitive with Penn’s WXPN and Temple’s WRTI stations.

curleys1@lasalle.edu