Anna Watson
Staff Writer
Thirty students are enrolled in the communication courses Basic Broadcast Announcing and Introduction to Radio Production, COM 141 and COM 142 respectively. Parkland’s radio station serves as a premise for these students to participate in realistic radio.
WPCD 88.7 FM plays indie/alternative rock music 24 hours, seven days a week. Students who title and host a show are called DJs. They go on air every week to talk between songs.
Each DJ has a theme to their show exclusive to their personality and goes hand-in-hand with their common interests.
Tyler Allen is a DJ who hosts a radio show on WPCD from 6–8 p.m. every Friday. During that time, he talks about sporting teams in between songs.
“I look up statistics on a website and then I talk about them on the show,” Allen said.
Allen gives updates on the National Baseball League or live scores from high school football games in the area.
Allen creates a script to prepare for his time on the air.
“There is a T.V. in the studio which is helpful to stay updated [on] sport scores,” Allen said.
Allen is majoring in audio/video production at Parkland, but in his spare time he is working on his start-up photography business. Allen said he hopes to pursue a career working in sports.
Elizabeth Brewer, another WPCD DJ, sees a future career for herself in radio. Her show is every Wednesday night from 6–8 p.m. She has been on the radio since last semester, but she is three weeks into hosting her own show.
“I wanted to be a communications [major] first,” Brewer said. “Then, I joined the radio and changed my major to radio.”
On air, she discusses any topic ranging from the weather to food. She also invites other Parkland students to join her on-air for games.
Brewer said the most enjoyable quality of the radio is being able to talk, helping to bring her out of her shell.
“I really, really enjoy it,” Brewer said. “I was shy in high school, but this is different.”
Parkland students use WPCD as a medium to communicate with a wide audience. Derian Schrodinger hosts a show every Tuesday evening from 6–8 p.m.
“All I really want to do is share the stuff I find out about music all the time with everyone,” said Schrodinger.
During Schrodinger’s show, he brings artists from the Champaign-Urbana area to talk about local music and perform their music live.
Local electronic music artist Snayl performed on Schrodinger’s show in August. Snayl’s music, best described as post-electronic, is created by Austin Duncan. Snayl posted a new single Tuesday, Sept. 18, coinciding with his Pygmalion performance on Sept. 21.
Etumu Elmari is an alternative musician who also appeared on Schrodinger’s show. She plays the ukulele and sings. Her newest release is a song called “Lagoon.”
There was another appearance from C-U band Blackmage on Sept. 9. Blackmage is a hip-hop/rap group whose members are Voldrega and Blackmage. Their music is influenced by famous artists like Kanye West and DMX.
“A mage is someone who uses magic,” the Blackmage Facebook page said, “and black harnesses the elements of the universe for destructive purposes.”
Their words described an image of battle-rapping, which is also how their music was initiated.
Isabella Rossi’s show “Ride After Work” is every Thursday 6–8p.m., and she talks about current trends and the news. During her show, she includes a segment titled “Izzy’s Favorite Things” where she mentions a new idea, thing or event that she loves.
“I talk about anything from make-up, T.V. shows, food, or workouts,” Rossi said, “I just say what I have been loving for the past week, month, and year.”
Rossi hopes to pursue a career in broadcasting on TV, however she said her goal didn’t start out this way. She planned to study education, but within a few weeks of the semester, she realized she hated it.
“I went into Adam Porter’s office because someone suggested him to me,” she said. Porter is a communications instructor at Parkland who works with WPCD. “I told him I really liked to talk and he said ‘good, I am going to change your major.’”
In a matter of two hours, Rossi’s career path was changed.
In response, she said, “It was awesome.”
WPCD’s frequency covers much of central Illinois, reaching a total of 200,000 people.
