KRUA
Encyclopedia
Station History
KRUA is a Non-commercial educationalNon-commercial educational
The term non-commercial educational applies to a radio station or TV station that does not accept on air advertisements , as defined in the United States by the Federal Communications Commission . NCE stations do not pay broadcast license fees for their non-profit uses of the radio spectrum...
College radio station in Anchorage, Alaska
Anchorage, Alaska
Anchorage is a unified home rule municipality in the southcentral part of the U.S. state of Alaska. It is the northernmost major city in the United States...
, broadcasting on the FM
Frequency modulation
In telecommunications and signal processing, frequency modulation conveys information over a carrier wave by varying its instantaneous frequency. This contrasts with amplitude modulation, in which the amplitude of the carrier is varied while its frequency remains constant...
band 88.1 and online at kruaradio.org |. The station is operated by students at the University of Alaska Anchorage
University of Alaska Anchorage
The University of Alaska Anchorage is the largest school of the University of Alaska System, with about 16,500 students, about 14,000 of whom attend classes at Goose Lake, its main campus in Anchorage....
. It is the only student-run station in Anchorage. Originally designated KMPS in 1987, the station ran off of a small transmitter donated by Augie Hiebert of Northern Television, Inc. KMPS was a carrier current station, and the signal was restricted to telephone lines. This left the signal's range at only a number of target locations such as the on-campus housing complex. The original broadcast schedule was sporadic as the station relied on student volunteer DJ's to host programs on-air. It wasn't until the school year of 1990-91 that the UAA
UAA
UAA may refer to:* UAA , a genetic stop codon* Uniform Adoption Act, a proposed model law in USA* United Artists Associated, a former distributor of theatrical feature films and short subjects for television...
department of Journalism and Public Communications along with the local FCC offices and the Anchorage Associated Broadcasters, Inc. began the documentation to create a non-commercial, educational station.
During 1991 KMPS was given authorization to initiate the construction of a tower-site for the fledgling station. 88.1mhz was provided as the station's broadcast frequency and after student media fees from UAA were raised, KRUA was able to gain its FM status. The original broadcast from KRUA took place at roughly 5 p.m. on February 14th, 1992 with a transmission of R.E.M.
R.E.M.
R.E.M. was an American rock band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1980 by singer Michael Stipe, guitarist Peter Buck, bassist Mike Mills and drummer Bill Berry. One of the first popular alternative rock bands, R.E.M. gained early attention due to Buck's ringing, arpeggiated guitar style and Stipe's...
's "Its the End of the World" being heard across Anchorage. In February of 2007, KRUA celebrated fifteen years of FM broadcasting with musical guests Cursive
Cursive
Cursive, also known as joined-up writing, joint writing, or running writing, is any style of handwriting in which the symbols of the language are written in a simplified and/or flowing manner, generally for the purpose of making writing easier or faster...
and The Paperchase.
As part of KRUA's licensing agreement and obligations, the station is available as an educational institution within the department of Journalism and Public Communications at UAA.
Volunteers
KRUA is run by student staff and a body of volunteers who are students and citizens of Anchorage. The show schedule format varies widely, KRUA has volunteer programs that cover a large range of genres. Such genres include everything from indie-rock and heavy metalHeavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
to dance
Dance
Dance is an art form that generally refers to movement of the body, usually rhythmic and to music, used as a form of expression, social interaction or presented in a spiritual or performance setting....
and electronic music
Electronic music
Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
.
The types of volunteer positions available and their requirements follow beneath.
Student Volunteers
Students who wish to be volunteers at KRUA must satisfy a number of requirements before being allowed to host an on-air program, any student attempting to be involved must currently:- Be enrolled at UAA with no less than 3 credits per semester.
- Be in good academic and disciplinary standing with UAA.
- Have a cumulative GPA of at least 2.0 or higher.
All current or returning volunteers must achieve these standards each semester.
Failure to meet these qualifications will result in a student volunteer being released from duties at the station. Student volunteers are required to fulfill a 3-hour-a-week obligation, and may not exceed more than 20 hours per week of volunteer work at the station. On-air volunteer conduct must adhere to all FCC/station policies. Trained student volunteers will be the first in line for open on-air positions.
Community Volunteers
All community volunteers will be required to undergo the same on-air training as student volunteers, adhere to the same FCC/station policies and must pay an amount equal to the student media fee taken with UAA tuition. After completion of training, they will be offered on-air positions only after the opportunity has been made available to student volunteers.Alumni Volunteers
Former employees and volunteers of KRUA who left in good standing can return as alumni at their previous level status after completing on-air training. Alumni volunteers are held to the same FCC standards as all others, but are exempt from paying the student media fee. Alumni will be offered on-air positions only after the opportunity has been made available to student volunteers.Intern Volunteers
Intern volunteers-those individuals who have been sent to the station to fulfill academic or vocational requirements will be required to complete the same on-air training and follow the same FCC/station guidelines as any other within the station. All interns will be required to work 6 hours a week.Staff
KRUA's student staff make up the entire body of workers at the station.Positions include:
- Station Manager (Manager of station)
- Program Director (Coordinates broadcast programs)
- News Director (Directs station news room and News, Sports & Public Affairs Director)
- Volunteer Coordinator (Assists volunteers with training and orientation)
- Production Manager (Produces promos, PSA's, Legal ID's and other broadcast material)
- Music Manager (Collects and categorizes music given to station)
- Production Assistant (Assists Production Manager in producing station-related material)
- News Reporter (Works under News Director to produce 1-2 news stories weekly)
- Underwriting & Traffic (Representative to community organizations and outlets for financial support)
- Sports Reporter (Works under News Director to produce 1-2 sports news stories weekly)
- Public Affairs Producer (Produces a weekly news show with news team)
Funding
As KRUA is non-commercialNon-commercial
Non-commercial refers to an activity or entity that does not in some sense involve commerce, at least relative to similar activities that do have a commercial objective or emphasis...
, it is funded through student media fees and donations through underwriting.