College radio stations, while deeply important to those involved, are not as important to a listening audience, according to the New York Times.  While college radio stations are occasionally the first to discover a new group or artist, funding for campus stations is being cut around the country because they just don’t have that many listeners.  The New York Times quotes one college radio producer who says after work, he only listens to his iPod.

Does college radio have a future?

Miguel Macias, Professor of Radio and Television at Brooklyn College explained that since Brooklyn College Radio does not own an FM frequency, they operate on a low budget and there is not a lot to cut.  They are mostly a web-based station.  Macias does not worry about how many people listen to their radio shows. 

“I do agree with the statement that college radio should be more about the people involved than the people listening. That is precisely why I don't worry too much about audiences. I worry about the quality of the shows. If people listen, that's great. But I would not like to see the programming change just to gain listeners unless that change is for the better. For Brooklyn College, our radio station is a place for people to meet, learn, spend time, find friends, get a nearly professional experience and have fun,” he said.

Meanwhile, the country is also trying to determine whether radio is a priority.  On Saturday, December 18, Congress passed the Local Community Radio Act, an act that opens up radio spectrum to many independent radio stations.

According to the Huffington Post, “Its passing will bring new choices and voices on the radio dial nationwide, but is especially relevant to a broadcast area reaching 160 million people who lived in areas where these stations had previously been barred from local airwaves.” Read more...

As heard on WABE, Atlanta.

By Dionne Humphrey

I’m in the band and the orchestra at my school and I’ve noticed some interesting parallels between these groups and our political parties.

Like the Republicans and Democrats, there’s definitely some tension between the marching band and the orchestra.

The marching band is really conservative, like the Republican Party. All band members dress exactly alike. We don’t show our personality when it comes to our uniforms. And there is a strict rule about respecting the drum majors, the same way Republicans tend to usually stick together behind their leaders.
Read more...

When I was in middle school, I started watching foreign films, particularly those from Asia. I'd like to think that, at the time, my choice in movies reflected a perspective independent from other teens my age. As I grew older and continued to enjoy watching Bollywood and anime flicks, then relatively unknown to US audiences, I persisted in viewing the world through an independent lens. For instance, I am now a vegetarian and refuse to shop at large corporations known to exploit their workers and/or use sweatshops, like Wal-mart and Forever 21. These movies literally opened up new worlds to me. And knowing that there were other cultures out there, other ways of seeing the world, other ways of telling a story, be it romantic or horrific, helped me see the alternatives available to me in my own life.