CSUN Students Plan a Hipper Radio Station

Hoping to offer Cal State Northridge’s 24,000 students a less-stuffy FM alternative, University Student Union directors Pablo Maya and Rachel Braver are pursuing a noncommercial educational radio license from the Federal Communications Commission.

The application process is in its preliminary stage, said Maya, who expects to have the license application finished this week. From there, the project is in the hands of the Federal Communications Commission, which has “only limited slots” for licenses, he said.

If a license is issued, Maya said, the student-run station would be a counterpoint to KCSN--the campus public radio station that prefers Tchaikovsky to Coolio.

The new station, based in the University Student Union, might include “Top 40, rap, Spanish music, salsa, a community calendar, athletics . . . and student talk shows and call-in shows,” Maya said.

Braver and Maya estimate that starting up the station could cost anywhere from $10,000 to $120,000, depending on the transmission radius and the amount of equipment purchased.

But they aren’t certain of funding sources for the station.

“We may have to do some fund-raising, but we won’t take money out of any student programming,” Braver said.

Money could be generated or saved by selling ad time or offering radio, television and film department students credit rather than salary to intern at the station, she said.

The duo, both juniors, said they hope to have the station up and running by the end of the fall semester.