Campus Radio Upgrades Equipment to Meet Industry Standards

General Manager Travis Box believes these changes will give students a competitive edge in the industry today. “The purpose was to give students more options and give them the ability to be creative and make being a part of the station fun and rewarding,” Box said.

Box gives much of the credit for this progress to previous management. “They secured the funding to make this happen.” The project, in total, will cost The ‘Burg approximately $30,000 and was funded by CWU’s Services and Activities Fee Committee in the 2012-13 academic year.

“One big question was, how do we make their lives easier?” says Broadcast IT Specialist Don Davis.

The station acquired two VoxPro all-in-one on-air broadcast production units. These units allow volunteers to record phone calls, edit and play audio clips to enhance their show. “It used to take 26 steps to record a phone call,” Box said. “With the new system, it takes three.”

New music trafficking software will allow volunteers to create better reports of what the station plays to record companies. “We used to report what the station played by hand,” Box says. “Now we insert a start and end date and hit print.”

“Everything is going to be automatic, less buggy and is just going to be so much better,” says Volunteer DJ Jacob Hendrix.

New music scheduling software will make it easier for students to plan their shows. “Volunteers can just come in, make their show and not have to worry about it until it starts,” said Chief Engineer Nick Elliott. “They also don’t have to find a [substitute] if they can’t make their show. They come in, record their bits (stories and breaks), schedule their music and save the show. The show is then loaded into the system and played during their show time. It sounds just like they’re in the studio operating the board.”

Box expects the project to be completed by the end of October. “It’s the students’ station,” Box said. “We get them what they need to succeed.”

“Everyone at the station gives 150 percent,” says Hendrix. “The culture is easy to fit into and everyone cares about each other.”

Due to the improvements and a focus on student achievement, 88.1 The ‘Burg was featured on College Broadcasters Inc.’s (CBI) website on June 19 as a spotlighted program. To view the spotlight, go to www.askcbi.com.

88.1 The ‘Burg is a nonprofit program administrated by the Department of Campus Life at

Central Washington University. Last year, The ‘Burg had about 60 volunteers who clocked approximately 4,500 hours of shows, events and promotions. For more information about the program, its staff, how to get involved or gain online access to broadcasts, go to www.881theburg.com.

TOP PHOTO: CWU student Jacob Hendrix, left, performs his first live radio show at 88.1 The 'Burg, on June 23, 2014 as CWU student and head trainer Tyler LaMont looks on. (Scott Kazmi/CWU)

ABOVE PHOTO: Nick Elliott, a CWU student and chief engineer at 88.1 The 'Burg, has a Sunday evening country music show. (Scott Kazmi/CWU)

Media Contact: Scott Kazmi, Public Affairs, 509-963-1295, kazmis@cwu.edu

June 25, 2014