Excitement for student-run radio

Amber Matha, Opinion editor

Every Tuesday night, while the editors of The Merciad are slaving away all night to put together the pages for printing, I tune into 91.7 The Ville radio online.

The Ville is the student-run radio station for Millersville University, a rival school for a few of our sports teams.

Before I am judged too harshly from die-hard Lakers fans, I must admit that I have emotional ties to this particular show, and that explains why I listen in.

When I heard that Mercyhurst’s radio station was going to become student run, and thus have a change in music choice, I was ecstatic.  If we could make our radio station anything like The Ville, I think people, especially students here at Mercyhurst, would listen in.

If you are like me, the only time you listen to the Mercyhurst radio station is when you are riding in one of the school vans, when you are in the bookstore, or when an embarrassing parent, while driving through town, puts it on for the sole purpose to humiliate you.

The music played is so dated and obscure that even my parents have never heard the songs.

Having a student-run radio station would be just what this school needs for an upbeat atmosphere.  Millersville is not the only school with a radio station better than ours

Gannon University projects their radio station through the middle of their campus, offering upbeat, Top 40 music for sluggish students on their way to class in the morning.

One of my favorite features of The Ville is the request feature and I hope the new Mercyhurst radio will have the same feature.  This allows me to interact with my friends from 300 miles away.  It is also cool to hear people I know on a radio show.

There are some differences that will make Mercyhurst’s student-run radio a challenge for the DJs.  We are a private institution and therefore will probably be deterred from playing many current hit songs due to explicit words and content.

I think that despite this drawback, allowing students this opportunity to experience what radio is like is a great idea.  The Ville has a DJ in the booth at all hours of the day and it is an extracurricular activity for those students.

I believe that if we offer the same opportunities to Mercyhurst students, we might have a radio station to be proud of.