Tag: 2010s

Our most recent alums shared their experiences in the station during the 2010s. With new equipment rolling into the station and the radio starting to broadcast online, our community continued to grow off-campus. Our neighbors, out-of-town family members of DJs, and past alums still tune into the station from wherever they are now!

 

Thanks to all the alums who shared their stories. Interested in sharing yours? Add to the People’s History of WDCV!

Javan Howard ’10

Jimmy Wilkinson ‘11, Patrick “Skip” Stevenson ‘11

Stephen Whittaker ‘13

Ben Breuninger ‘14

Lauren Bobyock ‘17

Manny ‘18

Javan Howard ‘10

What was the name of your radio show and what time slot did it air?

“Charmz in Effect 10pm-12am”

What was your involvement with WDCV?

“On air DJ Fall 2005, Hip Hop Music Director 06-10, & Station Manager 2008”

Do you have any stories, memories or secrets related to WDCV that you would like to share with us?

“WDCV Station retreats were always awesome, CMJ in NY was also something all execs should experience. Live on Britton Plaza, I love those events.”

 

Jimmy Wilkinson ‘11

What was the name of your radio show and what time slot did it air?

“Originally it was “Tears of Rage”, then I hosted with James Riley and it was called “Not Top 40 Enough”. I then did “Tears of Rage” as a community DJ and lastly combine with Chris Bratton to do “Tears of a Cactus”.” 

Do you have any stories, memories or secrets related to WDCV that you would like to share with us?

“Too many!

I renamed my show not too 40 enough because when James and I were doing some event on Britton plaza a kid asked us if we had any top 40 music because he didn’t recognize anything we were playing.

I think Chris Bratton had us do a pie-eating competition once?

I DJ’d when families were arriving during move-in weekend and that was always a good time.

I remember hearing so much bluegrass on WDCV when I first got to Dickinson courtesy of Davis Tracy. I now really enjoy bluegrass and even picked up the mandolin thanks to some of that inspiration!

My good friend Miles Nelson did an entire science fiction space opera over the radio. It was a multi-part series. It was called Jack Sparks. I played some German scientist. We did the final episode live over the air and it was awesome to have the whole gang there!

The manatee John Lithgow PSA changed my life. Chris Bratton even bought the book for my son last year thanks to its influence.”

Some Colleges have sold their broadcast licenses in recent years.  We are grateful Dickinson still supports us and cares about College Radio.  Do you think college radio is still important?  Tell us why!

“YES! So important. By the way I run the coffeehouse music program at Carlisle high school and think it would be super fun to get those kids to the station to check it out sometime…”

Any parting thoughts?

“I still have a WDCV bumper sticker on my front desk in Carlisle High School!” 

 

Patrick “Skip” Stevenson ‘11

What was the name of your radio show and what time slot did it air?

“Live and Unabridged with Keith Rodgers (3-5 Fridays?)” 

Do you have any stories, memories or secrets related to WDCV that you would like to share with us?

“I was a co-founder of the 50 Hours for Autism Marathon to benefit the Doug Flutie Jr foundation with Keith Rodgers.  Doug visited with us when he received his honorary doctorate from Dickinson”

Some Colleges have sold their broadcast licenses in recent years.  We are grateful Dickinson still supports us and cares about College Radio.  Do you think college radio is still important?  Tell us why!

“Yes, a student-led station is a key part of the college community and can serve it for entertainment and service purposes all while giving students valuable experience at planning, performing, and public speaking.  Being a radio host along with opportunities from Professor Sloat, who formed the Center for Public Speaking, afforded students like me tremendous opportunities to hone one of the most valuable life skills you can build:  communicate ideas effectively in front of a live audience.”

Do you have any WDCV memorabilia hidden away that you might want to share with us?  Please tell us what you think you may have and we will find a way to get a copy to us.

“I still have my Doug Flutie Jr Foundation t-shirt”

Any parting thoughts?

“At the time (2000-01), internet broadcasts of WDCV were just coming onboard and it provided an opportunity for my father to listen to our basketball games when he couldn’t drive out to see the team in action. The evolution of webcasts for WDCV and small college athletics has been huge for family and alumni to stay connected. 

I am married to Kristie Stevenson (Siracuse) ’01 who now teaches physics and calculus after 17 years in the cancer field as a medical physicist.  After 5 years on active duty in the service, I have been in the business world for the last 14 years and I am currently the VP of Information Systems at Keystone Automotive Operations (LKQ).  However, the only titles I care about are Husband, DAD, and Coach.  Kristie and I have two wonderful sons, CJ (11) and Paul (16).  Who knows- maybe they will be Red Devils one day?”

 

Stephen Whittaker ‘13

What was the name of your radio show and what time slot did it air?

“Long Nights on the Road – and it bounced around a bit, but was ultimately 4-6pm on Thursdays I think? Conceptually, it was a music show, but I radically changed genres every 3-4 songs (simulating driving down the highway late at night and having to keep jumping stations).”

What was your involvement with WDCV?

“Well, I actually started DJing in high school (we had a limited power station), but I joined WDCV as a first semester freshman in 2009. Served on the Exec Board 2012-13.”

Do you have any stories, memories or secrets related to WDCV that you would like to share with us?

“My fondest memory would probably be from senior year. I was hosting my weekly show and going through a particularly eclectic run of music. Got a call to the booth phone from Davis Tracy — a station legend — who told me he had been regularly listening to my broadcasts and wanted to let me know I’d been doing a ‘helluva job. Made my month.”

Who was the WDCV advisor at that time?

“Brenda Landis – think she’s still got the gig!” 

Some Colleges have sold their broadcast licenses in recent years.  We are grateful Dickinson still supports us and cares about College Radio.  Do you think college radio is still important?  Tell us why!

“It’s hugely important. There aren’t a lot of mediums left for creating live content in a structured, (semi) professional environment in the media landscape. We’ve moved onto vlogging, short video production and podcasting — all of which are vital in their own way — but radio is what got us to them all and we still have a lot to learn from it. For me, it was not only a creative outlet as a music lover and audiophile, but an opportunity to hone important comms and public speaking skills at my own pace. College radio offers students a rare learning environment in which they set their own agenda and learn management skills in a truly organic way.”

Any parting thoughts?

“I don’t tune in as often as I once did and will hope to do so more often (online from NYC). Hope it’s still an eclectic group leading the charge day to day — keeps things fresh and interesting that way.”

 

Ben Breuninger ‘14

What was the name of your radio show and what time slot did it air?

“”Oh Hi Mark,” a two-hour showcase of eclectic nuggets that aired on various weekday evenings, usually around 8 or 9”

What was your involvement with WDCV?

“I bumbled along to WDCV during pre-orientation and was greeted by James Riley and Jimmy Wilkinson, whose beard and The Band t-shirt (respectively) made me feel immediately at home. I signed up to do a show right away and petitioned to join the exec board immediately as well, which I think took the other board members aback slightly — normally there was a “who’s interested” round up in the spring semester, but I had somehow managed to find the application on the station’s website in, like, October. I had just broken up with my high school girlfriend (who also went to Dickinson, at least initially) and was all kinds of depressed, so I needed something to sink my energy into.

I remained on the exec board throughout my time at Dickinson (minus a year abroad at UEA) and became co-station manager with Dan Plekhov in 2013-14. We were at the helm when Taylor was hired and when they tore down the Depot. I also remember the exec board meeting when WDCV’s Instagram page was launched — Indira Chakravarti was sitting across the table and said “we should make an Instagram profile,” and by the end of the meeting she said “Okay, I created an Instagram profile.””

Do you have any stories, memories or secrets related to WDCV that you would like to share with us?

“I remember that for my very first show, I couldn’t get my iPod (lol) to play the first track on my playlist, so James Riley (again) reached for the heavy rotation pile and played Belle and Sebastian’s “I Didn’t See It Coming,” which was fitting.

I remember a very tumultuous series of events during the fall of my sophomore year that involved a large number of people hanging around the station unnecessarily, a guitar being played live on the air, and a Jones Soda bottle being mistaken for a beer. This turned into a weeks-long scuffle involving most of the exec board and some disgruntled DJs and their friends.

I remember many a Live on Britton Plaza during which we’d try to give away free CDs, which obviously never worked.

I remember dealing with some sort of microphone issue during orientation one year, and when I managed to get it working I opted to inform the other exec board members (who were in the lounge listening on a boombox) by going live and speaking the words “It’s fucking working” into the mic. A few minutes later a concerned citizen called to inform us that someone had sworn on the air, and I pretended to not know what they were talking about.

I remember being delighted to discover that the station’s vinyl copy of Dizzy Gillespie’s “Digital at Montreux 1980” included a brief song called “Get That Booty.””

Some Colleges have sold their broadcast licenses in recent years.  We are grateful Dickinson still supports us and cares about College Radio.  Do you think college radio is still important?  Tell us why!

“I kept my love of radio long past WDCV, and began volunteering at CJAM-FM in Windsor, ON when I moved to Detroit after graduating. Now that I live in Cincinnati I’m trying to figure out what station I can con into giving me airtime.

But needless to say, campus/community radio is very important to me, and I’ll go on record as saying that it’s a vital (if somewhat old-school) service in a fragmented media world. Everything about campus/community radio is analog, hands-on, grassroots, and meaningful; the people who do it do it because they have something to share, say, or play; the people who listen are invested and passionate about the connections that radio can make.

Nowhere else on the dial are you going to find people playing city pop or yacht rock or niche metal or pre-Tosh reggae or ambient drone just for the absolute hell of it. That’s because you wouldn’t be *allowed* to do that anywhere else on the dial. It’s a beautiful, valuable slice of space that’s reserved for humans to do fun, weird human shit for other humans who will appreciate it. The stereotypes about shows airing at 3 am or DJs being unintelligible or a total lack of actual listening audience are all, in fact, pretty spot-on, but they’re a feature, not a bug. On college radio you don’t have to “break through” the Spotify algo to get your very own playlist in front of people. On college radio you don’t have to convince people that your taste is good, or relevant, or important, or well-researched, or humane — you just get on the mic and go for it anyway. On college radio you have the freedom to do your thing.”

 

Lauren Bobyock ‘17

What was the name of your radio show and what time slot did it air?

“The Smorgasbord at 10pm on Wednesdays”

Do you have any stories, memories or secrets related to WDCV that you would like to share with us?

“So many fun memories going to see live music with the exec board and hosting bands sponsored by WDCV! And many fun collaborations with the Trellis and Arts Collective (is the Beaux Arts Ball still a thing?!) We always had the best time djing for campus events and connecting with other groups on campus. Plus we loved starting the 24hr live event and the Pop-Up Record shop (Dennis is amazing!!)”

Who was the WDCV advisor at that time?

“Brenda and Taylor! They are the BEST!!”

Some Colleges have sold their broadcast licenses in recent years.  We are grateful Dickinson still supports us and cares about College Radio.  Do you think college radio is still important?  Tell us why!

“College radio is so valuable! It personally helped me gain confidence and leadership skills. It’s also so important to give people an outlet to share thoughts and music, and WDCV specifically is a great way to bridge the gap between Dickinson students and Carlisle residents who also host shows! Music brings people together!”

Any parting thoughts?

“It’s been too long since I visited (I can’t wait for the 60th Anniversary!), and I still frequently think about WDCV and the wonderful friendships and leadership skills I gained from my years there. I focused more on the radio than on my classes some weeks! I hope the station has continued to provide joy, great music, and a safe space for students as it did for me. Thank you to all of you for your hard work at keeping WDCV amazing!”

 

Manny ‘18

What was the name of your radio show and what time slot did it air?

“DJ Manny Fresco”

Do you have any stories, memories or secrets related to WDCV that you would like to share with us?

“I used to promote my campus parties on air for all my Dickinson party people. My parties used to bring everyone out. By my junior year, I couldn’t post flyer of my events because Dickinson Police would crack my events down. My advertisements during my live WDCV shows would be the plug.”

Some Colleges have sold their broadcast licenses in recent years.  We are grateful Dickinson still supports us and cares about College Radio.  Do you think college radio is still important?  Tell us why!

“Very much so. I’ve been a DJ since I was 15 and it’s weird when people call themselves DJs just because they have a radio show. BUT, it’s a good foot in the door. I think the platform is a special place to reach people that you otherwise couldn’t reach.”

Do you have any WDCV memorabilia hidden away that you might want to share with us?  Please tell us what you think you may have and we will find a way to get a copy to us.

“I wish I did. I actually still have the Pioneer DJ controller I used during WDCV shows.”