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Fall/Winter 2001

Naked On The Air

WGRN 89.5 FM Radio

"Are you wearing pants, Evan?”

“No.”

Where was junior Evan Mathiasen when he gave this report of his scantily clad state? More importantly, how many people heard him? Mathiasen was working his usual shift as a campus security officer, when he and his co-worker freshman Tamara Richmond decided to make a detour to the college radio station to respond to a contest. In honor of a featured opera addressing the confused ownership of a pair of pants, WGRN radio show hosts offered a prize to the first listener to come to the station wearing another person’s pants. Evan valiantly sacrificed his pants, and Tamara rose to the challenge. The pair appeared in the studio to claim their prizes, and recounted their story live on the air.

The average person listening to such a broadcast would probably chuckle and chalk it up to the antics of college-aged humanity. But is such a situation just good old-fashioned fun radio, or does it push the bounds of good taste? These are questions that managers and announcers at WGRN, the student-operated radio station, have to wrestle with daily. First and foremost, WGRN serves as a learning lab to Greenville’s Mass Communication majors. With a listener base 80,000 people strong, WGRN provides a perfect opportunity for students to test the waters of broadcasting careers. However, the station also represents a Christian college to the community, and therefore has to keep a close eye on what goes out over its airwaves.

Which words are appropriate? What songs send a message that Greenville College can endorse? Should the playability of music be contingent upon the artist’s lifestyle? The answers to these questions may change from year to year, but WGRN has far and away the strictest codes of conduct in the greater Greenville area. Swear words are never acceptable, nor are references to alcohol, drugs, or sex (including the word “naked”). The regulations, written by Communication professor Cary Holman, who functions as the station manager are designed to help students balance Christian ethics with success in the entertainment industry, while simultaneously protecting Greenville’s reputation.

But does WGRN really teach students to respect station regulations and prepare them to contribute creatively to radio? Or, do such limitations prohibit free expression and stilt student’s creativity, making them less employable in the business? Most people involved with WGRN find it possible to strike a balance between respect and innovation, even though some have radically different ideas of where the line is drawn.

After a one-semester radio class, any student can host his or her own show. The shows range from high caliber, professional sound with slick production, to ad-libbed, informal shows with announcers who are, as one student host described, “just in it for kicks and giggles.” Joe Clark’s weekly two-hour program, Clark After Dark, is among the more professional operations. As a senior Mass Communication major, a production manager both at WGRN and at a medium-market radio station in Illinois, Clark knows the ins and outs of the radio business. He plays music as current as it comes. While preparing for a show one night, he mentioned, “I’m a little behind right now; I haven’t gotten any new music in maybe two weeks.”

He also keeps a state-of-the-art music editing program on his computer to edit songs for airplay, and each week he burns his show onto CDs, which he labels and gives away to listeners. Even so, the element of surprise is always key to his program, largely due to the number of guests he includes every week. “I try to get as many people involved as I can,” he said. His show always includes reports from Evan Mathiasen (“The Union Guy”), and comments from other students who happen to drop by the station. Other segments have involved calling random listeners live on the air, as well as impromptu songwriting by senior Communication major Andy Johnson. So how do the station regulations fit in with such spontaneous programming?

“I don’t censor anyone who comes on my show,” Clark says. “Most of them know what they can and can’t say. I just want them to relax and be themselves.” If a reference to sex or drinking slips out once in a while, the station does not self-destruct. In fact, Clark said, “WGRN isn’t real radio, because we don’t have to worry about money, [which is] the driving force for most radio stations.” When asked whether he thought it is more important for WGRN to serve as a learning lab for students or to represent Greenville College to the community, Clark replied, “I think it should be good radio, first of all.”

Juniors Mike Dando and Portia Kapraun host Anything That Grooves, which Kapraun describes as the “underground show” of WGRN. “We try to enlighten people on music they don’t hear on a regular basis,” she said. Indeed, the show features music that doesn’t usually receive much airtime, such as Boy George’s “Kharma Chameleon.” Interestingly, music manager junior Jeremiah Williamson has since pulled that song from the music rotation because Communication Department Head Veronica Ross believes the lyrics advocate transsexuality.

Kapraun disagrees: “I think it’s a song about someone who’s moody and changes from day to day.” Admittedly, Boy George is a known transsexual. But is the song itself truly offensive, or has it been unduly judged because of the artist’s reputation? Kapraun says she and Mike are sometimes frustrated by the strict language limitations at WGRN. “Some of the songs we want to play have a good message, but we can’t [play them] because of silly words.” She also notices that acceptable language depends on the artist it comes from. The LP Outsiders, a band originating at Greenville College, refer to crack and alcohol in one song that WGRN plays left and right, but the lyrics are overlooked because the song gives a positive message.

In general, Kapraun is of the opinion that if WGRN is truly a learning experience for students, “there needs to be more room for us to make our own decisions and mistakes.” Of course, the Federal Communications Commission sets rules that all stations are obligated to follow, but true to human nature, Kapraun says, “If all these [extra] rules are set upon us, we’ll want to break them.”

Professor Holman acknowledges this attitude among students. “When students are in high school and college, they’re trying to feel out borders—find the limits,” he said. He also mentioned that those who go on to work at a commercial radio station tend to become more conscious of what is necessary to appeal to the general public. “Once they enter the world of work, they tend to get toward the center and not push too close to the edge.” Over his twenty years as station manager, Holman has seen some problems that come when students break the rules. For the most part, he thinks such issues arise because announcers don’t exercise good judgment when deciding what to say. “It just never occurred to them how the material could be offensive to someone who wasn’t just like them. it’s not that they wanted to intentionally step over the line.”

GC students recognize that announcers at other stations get away with more than WGRN’s, but they still tune in. Shows are generally more popular than ordinary shifts, which consist of music played according to a general rotation schedule and periodic updates on time and weather. Of those listeners interviewed, no one had heard material on a broadcast that they would consider offensive. Many seem to hold the opinion that students should have the chance to express themselves creatively, while not going too far past the bounds of good taste. As freshman Mike Schurter commented, “You’ll find people who are going to complain no matter what you do, so you might as well be yourself.”

Jennifer Pierce

Last updated: July 9, 2001