KCSN Rebound Sends Strong Signal to a Shaken Community

The day of the quake, radio station KCSN became homeless.

The theater arts building on the Cal State Northridge campus that housed the station was hit hard when the Pretty Big One rolled through.

Before the inspectors declared the building unsafe to enter, station engineer Mike Worrall had gone in to assess the damage. The situation was not good.

Compact discs were all over the floor. The equipment was in total disarray. Later that day, station manager Teresa Rogers decided that the station would go back on the air.

“It was the thing to do. It would give our listeners a needed sense of normalcy. We had a job to do and we were going to do it,” she says.

But that would not be easy without access to any of the equipment. Still, the next day the station was up and running.

Radio stations KABC, KFWB and KCSN’s sister station at Cal State Long Beach donated tens of thousands of dollars worth of equipment, Rogers says. The equipment was brought to the station’s new headquarters in a tent on the CSUN soccer field. It was enough, along with the items Rogers had to buy, to get them going again.

“A listener loaned us a micro dish so we could receive the feed from National Public Radio,” Worrall said. “KABC loaned us another dish so we could send our signal to our transmitter, which was not damaged.”

The music played was any compact disc the staff brought from home. The news department finally got its wire services back on line and was operational. Then the rains came.

There was also a problem with the Orange County Search and Rescue contingent that was lodging its animals directly outside the station’s tent. “Every time we had an open mike situation, people could hear the whinnying of horses,” Rogers says.

That was followed by the noise of helicopters, to be followed by the trucks rolling the modular classrooms in.

After several weeks, the station was moved to a two-bedroom student housing apartment in Bougainvillea Hall.

Rogers says the only real difference is that the station is now broadcasting updated news to CSUN students about the situation around campus. It also airs public affairs shows, entertainment and music, including bluegrass, show tunes, contemporary jazz and blues.

Rogers says the biggest challenge now is the membership drive scheduled for late March or early April. “We need the money now more than ever before,” she said.

One problem is that the station, which also receives money from the university and from grants, has no access to the membership rolls that are in a computer in the drama building. “We hope we will be allowed to go in for a few minutes and retrieve the list,” she says.

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Before coming to KCSN, Rogers, 37, owned and operated a small station in northeast California that she says she built from the ground up. That experience will help her in rebuilding the only Valley-based public radio station. “We are just going to get it done,” she says.

The station is manned by 15 professionals, about 50 volunteers and about 70 students. Rogers says she is particularly proud of the news department, which won five awards at January’s Golden Mike awards competition for professional radio personnel.

Keith Goldstein is the director who works with students in producing the station’s news programs. He was left homeless, as were others at KCSN, after the quake.

“At this point we are not certain what is going to happen. We don’t know where we are going to be housed or when we can get back in to the drama building to retrieve what we can salvage from our former studio, or what kind of shape anything is in,” Rogers says.

What she is sure of is that the homeless station has a strong base of listeners and friends who will help KCSN keep on broadcasting, and that she is grateful to all those who pitched in to keep it on the air.

Woofer and Tweeter Can Go Ballistic

If you think your pets don’t freak out during earthquakes, you are barking up the wrong tree.

And, like their so-called masters, their disposition plays a big part in how well they retain their cool, Michael Steinberg says.

Steinberg and Steve Applebaum own and operate the Animal Behavior Training Assn. in Newhall. The facility serves pet owners from the Santa Clarita Valley to West Los Angeles.

“Animals get shaky, nervous and can stop eating after something that upsets them like a big earthquake,” says Steinberg, who has a master’s degree in behavioral psychology.

“Part of that is their natural response from the quake, and part of that is the anxiety they pick up from their owners.

“In extreme cases they may need to be taken to a veterinarian and given a mild tranquilizer if symptoms persist.”

Cats have been know to stop using their litter boxes. Dogs will bark continuously or start to chew anything in sight. Birds may flutter around or start to peck themselves. A little understanding is called for, says Steinberg.

Here is what he suggests:

“Try to keep as normal a routine as possible. If you used to walk the dog twice a day, keep doing that. Feed animals what they are used to, and don’t try to tempt them to eat something new that you think is more enticing. Don’t overindulge your pet or it will want to have the special attention continue long after the crisis is past.”

Steinberg also says that if you have to move, be particularly careful to treat your pet with consideration. Even though it is a difficult time for you, it will make everyone’s life easier in the long run.

“Try to take the pet to the new home before you move in for a look-see. And, if you work, try to move over the weekend before you have to leave the animal alone,” he says.

Steinberg says that in doing future earthquake preparedness, don’t forget to include your pet. “Make sure you have ample food and water stored, and that someone in the neighborhood knows to look after it if you are not home,” he says.

And, be certain to have a license and identification tag on the pet’s collar. “You couldn’t believe how many animals showed up at the shelters after the last quake without,” he says.

Overheard:

“So I guess Vice President Gore was on what’s left of the campus Wednesday. Let’s hope he left bread crumbs to find his way out.”

One CSUN student to another looking over the general post-quake confusion of people trying to find their way about.