Leading the kick-off meetings held each semester was the Program Director (PD), an upperclassman that the faculty advisor thought demonstrated the knowledge, skills, and ability to oversee the day-to-day operation of the station. The PD would be the student with final say on the sound of the station as far as music, production elements, and other content was concerned, and would critique students during and at the end of the semester (i.e. grading). The PD was, in essence, the boss.
The PD for my freshman year was Helen Miles. I have absolutely no recollection of Helen now and I would have forgotten about her by the time I stepped into the PD role four years later had it not been for pictures of student management from previous semesters hanging on a wall. I'm sure she was at the kick-off meeting and I'm sure I may have been introduced to her, but since I only did news in the early morning hours I’m sure our paths must not have crossed much.
She would have busy, though. Even though the position was held by a student, the position didn’t bend to accommodate so-called “student time” – the radio station was on the air 18 hours a day, seven days a week, and the PD was responsible for it all.
On average the PD put in 16-20 hours each week, but in horrendously irregular and inconsistent shifts. Somewhere in there Helen probably had regularly scheduled office hours, in which she maintained the program logs (a record of what non-musical items were played and when); the transmitter logs (a record of the transmitter readings); and the Public File (a series of documents maintained about the station’s programming and operations, as required by our friends in Washington – the FCC).
Other duties included developing the semester schedule based on input received at the first meeting; training the announcers (thankfully with assistance from the other directors); scheduling vacancies when announcers don’t show up; attending the weekly management meetings (essentially a meeting of the “class” that student managers enrolled in); as well as a number of other tasks. Above all, the PD monitored the station for programming quality and professionalism.
The position was almost always bestowed upon a senior, a fitting way for someone to be rewarded prior to graduation for all the time and effort he or she had committed in years past. Likewise, the tenure of all the directors (Program, Music, News, etc.) was one school year (two semesters); however, for a number of off-the-wall reasons, the Program Director position fluctuated each semester while I was an undergraduate.
Let’s see...I think six bosses in four years.
That’s a lot of boss.
- - - - - - - - - - - -
Boss D.J.
(Sublime)
Sublime
From the album Robbin' the Hood
1994
there's a steel train comin' through
i would take it if i could
and i would not lie to you
because sunday mornin' soon will come
when things will be much easier to say
upon the microphone like a boss dj
but i won't walk up upon the sea like it was dry land
a boss dj he ain't nothin' but a man
no trouble, no fuss, i know why..
it's so nice, i wanna hear the same song twice
it's so nice don't wanna hear the same song twice
rumors are spreading all over my town
but it's just stones and sticks
upon the microphone is where i go to get my fix
just let the lovin' take a hold cuz it will if you let it
i'm funky not a junkie but i know where to get it
no trouble no fuss i know why
it's so nice i wanna hear the same song twice
it's so nice i wanna hear the same song twice
oooee girl
oooee girl
oooee girl
ooee girl and there really ain't no time to waste
really ain't no time to hate
ain't got no time to waste, time to hate
really ain't no time to make the time go away
so mister dj don't stop the music
i wanna know
are you feelin' the same way too?
i wanna rock it wih you-oo girl,
you-oo girl, you-oo girl, oooooo
mmmmmhmmmhhmmm
don't stop
'cuz it's so nice i wanna hear the same song twice
it's so nice i wanna hear the same song twice
nowadays all the songs on the radio they all
all drive me crazy
