Willing to Push the Limits: New Mass Media Center is an Invitation to Opportunity

"It's one of the greatest experiences I've ever had,” says Kyle Cosner, station manager of WTPL, the TC campus radio station, of his part in setting up the college's new Mass Media Center. "It's a vast improvement on our former facilities."

WTPL Station Manager Kyle Cosner spends most of his time at the new campus radio station, and plans to continue his participation in radio as he attends Tusculum College as a graduate student next year. At right is freshman Lanae Burkholder, WTPL traffic manager.

The center, which is located on the top floor of the new $12.5 million Niswonger Commons, is made up of both the campus radio station and the television studio, and replaces the much smaller facilities that students previously used. The radio station itself, where Kyle spends most of his time, now consists of a master control room, a studio and a production room. Almost all of the equipment for the station is new to the college, including an audio mixing board donated by local radio station WSMG.

Kyle and Wess duBrisk, professor of mass media at Tusculum, have been working since July, "building this from the ground up," as Kyle says. Frank Mengel, technical director for Theatre at Tusculum, also helped out with wiring for the Mass Media Center, while students Chad Martel and Dominique Borkowski, and staff members Dustin Machi and Chris Summey helped build the computer network for the fully-digital radio station.

A senior at TC, Kyle says the new center allows for still more hands-on learning for students interested in radio, whether as a career or as a hobby. Practice is "the best way to learn," he says, "and here you can get as involved as you want.” For majors, "there's studying involved too, but mostly this is hands-on, so you are involved to the degree that you want to be involved."

Learning about radio "isn't hard," he says, "it's just a commitment. If you're a creative person, radio comes naturally." As for the technical side of radio, Kyle says "you just have to know your stuff. You just have to make a commitment to learn….you have to work for the grade, and that's what I like about it."

Kyle credits a lot of his own success in the mass media program to Tusculum's block plan. "The mass media program exemplifies the block plan to the fullest of any department," he says. "If I were at another school, doing this for fifty minutes a day, three days a week, I definitely wouldn't be as involved as I am right now.”

Both mass media majors and non-majors have already begun increased participation in campus radio, thanks to the new center. According to Kyle, membership in the campus DJ Club, composed of majors and non-majors, is at its highest in several years. The focus of the Club is on student involvement in campus radio shows, quality program- ming, and on preparation and training. "It's working very well and we have high hopes," Kyle said.

The station manager believes that now is an exciting time for the radio station and DJ Club because students new to radio have a chance to help form the station into what it will be in the future. He points out that freshmen students are often appointed to positions of authority within WTPL because interest, enthusiasm and commitment are more important than class year or technical knowledge.

"Depending how hard you want to work, there are a multitude of opportunities. That's the good thing about Tusculum," he adds, "you can do anything you want to do.

"We look at the radio station as a tool for the Tusculum College community,” Kyle says. " In fact, as we say on our web page, we encourage every student to exercise his or her individual voice, because that's what radio is for. It's not just a jukebox; we don't just come up here and play music. We also try to use this for informative purposes."

To increase the station's role in the community, Kyle and Chad Martel have this year started a live, on-air discussion forum where students can talk about TC issues. Also planned is a new "Open Mike Night," which will be open to talent from throughout the local community.

It's all about "opportunity," Kyle says. "This is a newborn facility and it can be built into anything. It's clay right now, and it has the potential to be formed into anything. You can come in here and take a prominent role in the new radio station or the TV studio and what they are to become.

"We've set the groundwork, and now the capabilities are endless. You can be important right away."