WESU Fundraiser Underway

Not every community is fortunate enough, these days, to have its own radio station.

Middletown can be grateful to have three. Two are commercial. WLIS/WMRD is a great local AM station which has hours of locally-programmed shows, combined with some syndicated shows (in a strange way, Joey Reynolds will always be a "local" show for me). And WIHS, broadcasting Christian programming.

The third, WESU, is an FM station licensed by Wesleyan University. For years, the license was held independently by the WESU board, comprised mostly of students, but including community members. Some of you may remember the controversey in 2003 when Doug Bennet, then Wesleyan University president, acquired the license for the university at a time of financial instability at the station.

WESU, which will celebrate it's 70th anniversary next year, is one of the oldest college radio stations in the country. Legend has it that early student broadcasters attached a homemade transmitter to the underground plumbing at the university in order to use the copper pipe as an antenna so the signal could be heard outside of the campus.

While the move did affect programming (NPR talks shows, emanating from WSHU, were the first to NPR daily talk shows broadcast in Central Connecticut and were augmented by other, progressive radio shows like Amy Goodman's Democracy Now), but the core of programming still comes from students and community members.

Over the next two weeks, WESU hopes to raise $35,000 in support of the station, towards an annual budget of $100,000. Program hosts will be asking listeners to support the eclectic, open, locally-programmed format of WESU.

If you're a regular listener, you'll understand what I say about the eclectic, alternative, always-interesting nature of the programming. Aside from the excellent public affairs and news shows, you're liable to hear your neighbors - I do a show every other Tuesday evening at 6:30, Councilman David Bauer is on the air every Monday at 4 in the afternoon, Jorge Arevalo Mateus takes the mic on Tuesdays, Stephan Allison hosts a show Thursday at 4. In terms of music, you're liable to hear just about anything, rockabilly, jazz, hip-hop, folk, funk, reggae, alternative rock and sub-genres like Asian folk-pop, hard techno, nerd-core, glitch-hop, punk, DIY, guaguanco and more.

You can support WESU by calling 685-7700 anytime during the fund drive over the next two weeks, or you can donate online. And if you donate the appropriate amount, you can be wearing one of those hip WESU t-shirts or sweat shirts you see around town.