-scorching up the air waves

Back in the '70s, college students held in their breath and squeezed together to see how many people could be crammed into a Volkswagen Beetle. Personal space was not an option. Legs and arms were shoved where room was found.

Until recently, the radio staff of WYBF was met with the same challenge as the "Beetle Packers." Working with a room roughly the size of the Volkswagen Beetle, the DJs had to contend with equipment, mountains of CDs and frequent guests. A room about the same size as the on-air studio served as the production studio.

"I liked it," Mike Killeen, a senior said about the old radio station. "It was homey. It was small and I could see things."

On Sunday, Oct. 22, a new radio station in the Communications wing was unveiled. If the old studio could be compared to a beetle, then this station could be compared to a fleet of luxurious limousines.

"You don't feel boxed in here," senior Dave Toia said about the station. "You feel like you can exhale."

"The most obvious difference [between the old station and new station] is that the new station is massive," Toia said.

Along with a new face, the radio station has been given a new name. Once called "The Edge," the station has been newly christened ''The Burn."

While the old studio served as the place for on-air, and storage, the new studio has two separate rooms for the DJs to do their radio shows and for the CDs to be stored. Additionally, the new production studio is big enough to serve as an overflow room.

The studio is equipped with new CD burners and CD players along with a new radio console, new microphones, and a new sound effects machine.

"There is more we can do with this facility both creatively and logistically speaking," Toia said.

Since there is an abundance of space, the radio station has plans to expand the format. "One of the formats that we wanted to try is radio dramas," Krista Mazzeo, general manager of the radio station, said. "It's equivalent to a TV show on the radio written in play format."

"We can do sonic sessions, like those on YlOO, with bands," Toia said. He explained that the bands could be hooked up to microphones in the television studio and the audio feed could be sent to the production studio. The production studio could then send the feed over to the main studio. The main studio could then broadcast the band onair.

"A few more talk shows catering around different ideas can be added now that people have room for guests," Mazzeo added.

"All the DJs are very excited about the new system and how professional we can sound," Mazzeo said, summing up the feelings of those involved in the radio station.

To get involved with the radio station, contact Krista Mazzeo. She can be found around the new radio station in the communications wing located on the second floor of Founders Hall in office number 256 or you can call her at extension 8363.