Voices Within and Without Coastal Radio and Waccamaw
CCU Radio A medium for Coastal students, faculty and staff DJs to create their own shows. In 2008, the Department of Communication assembled an interest group of student workers including Aaron Perry (first Station Manager), Justin Stolarski (Programming Director), Seymour Lewis II (Music Director), and Daniel Schoonmaker (Director of Marketing and Web Operations) to begin a CCU student radio station, which officially launched in January 2009. In 2011, Michelle Carolla hired station Manager Matt Paris, Program Manager Lindsay Chaves, and Advertising Manager Amellia Diemer. Their goal is to make sure that the radio has a stable foundation on which each generation of student workers can build. CCU Radio broadcasts 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, via its website: http://wccuradio.com. The Radio’s current shows include Zone 54, hosted by Jill Nico and IrAKAphro, which plays a variety of music from today and gives advice to callers and updates on what is going on at CCU; The Real Situation, hosted by Jungle George and Lhonnie Loco, which is a talk/comedy show that allows callers to comment on any topic being discussed; and ChantsTalkRadio, hosted by Ryan and Rhett, the only sports show on WCCU Radio. ChantsTalkRadio covers professional and collegiate sports, including Coastal Carolina athletics, providing commentary on the outcomes of games and any other new sports news. PNN @ CCU, hosted by Bobby Music and Killer Kyle, is the Positive News Network at CCU, a talk show that focuses on green, energy saving and positive events happening on campus. Hey! Wats Up?! is hosted by D. Weezy, and offers advice and music to get students involved; and Not Your Average Homework Mix is a music show hosted by Leah.
CCU radio is always open to new shows and sessions as well as production involvement from anyone at the university. Amellia Diemer reports, “We have two of the photo professors who are really interested in producing their own shows. Everyone is making it happen; we enjoy the support from the community as well as our current staff and on-air DJ’s and, of course, our advisor!” In January the station had a Benefit Concert to raise money for a new production system and program. CCU radio is currently revamping its website, but up-to-date information and schedules for CCU radio can be found at: Facebook.com/wccuradio and Twitter.com/ccuradio.
Waccamaw:
a Journal of Contemporary Literature A bi-annual online journal featuring contemporary poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction from voices outside of Coastal. Waccamaw was first launched April 23, 2008, by poetry professor Dan Albergotti with web design by Computer Science professor Jeannie French. Albergotti, the Poetry Editor and Editor-in-Chief, has been joined by professors Jason Ockert as Fiction Editor and Joe Oestreich as Nonfiction Editor. Occasionally other professors or student interns lend a reading or technical hand. The website aims to give a sense of reading “off the page,” so, unlike many online journals, Waccamaw uses a serif font against an off-white background, thus diminishing eye-strain. It also maintains editorial standards associated with respected print journals. For the first two issues, the team only published solicited submissions from writers they admired in order to establish that the journal was a place for high-quality work and artistic sensibility. Albergotti affirms, “That approach worked better than I could have dared hope.
Once we did open the doors for unsolicited submissions, we received excellent work from accomplished writers and the submissions have only gotten stronger with each subsequent issue.” While Waccamaw gives Coastal Carolina positive exposure (every day it gets 750-1000 hits and between 160-200 visits), it is also a great opportunity for writers across the country as internet publications typically reach more readers than even the best print journals. Work that has been published in Waccamaw has been selected for reprinting or special mention in Dzanc Books’ Best of the Web, Sundress Publications’ Best of the Net, and Verse Daily. Albergotti notes that you can find Waccamaw cited on the acknowledgments pages of a number of excellent collections of poetry published in the last few years, including two National Poetry Series winners and All of It Singing: New and Selected Poems by Linda Gregg. The last four issues have included features on such authors as Padgett Powell, David Shields, and Pulitzer Prize winner Natasha Trethewey, as well as videos of poets reading their poems by the banks of the Waccamaw river. The most recent issue includes an innovative “interview wheel,” presenting ten of America’s rising fiction writers interviewing each other in a circular sequence. Albergotti has hopes that the journal will grow along with the new Master of Arts in Writing, hopefully involving graduate students with its production in the form of courses or assistantships. Waccamaw will publish its ninth issue in Spring 2012. For more information as well as current and past issues: http://www.waccamawjournal.com/