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KVSC Debuts St. Cloud Somali Radio

03/25/2013 - 9:00 AM

KVSC 88.1 FM has launched a 24 hours a day, 7 days a week webstream radio station dedicated to the Central Minnesotan Somali Community. Dubbed St. Cloud Somali Radio; this online radio station is housed in the KVSC studios on the campus of St. Cloud State University and funded by a grant from the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Legacy fund.

“The idea for St. Cloud Somali Radio started in the last two years,” said Jo McMullen-Boyer, KVSC 88.1 FM Station Manager. “After learning more about the rapidly growing immigrant population of Somali in Central Minnesota; it became clear there were very few artistic and creative outlets to learn more about Somali culture, customs, news and music.”

There are approximately 8,000 Somali immigrants living in St. Cloud and surrounding communities. St. Cloud Somali Radio aims to serve as the cultural and heritage hub of Somali music, feature programming and important cultural lessons including bi-lingual language translation for the region.

SCSU alumnus Ben Prchal was hired in September of 2012 as the Program and Training Coordinator of St. Cloud Somali Radio. Prchal has taken charge of the project by reaching out to the Somali community to create programming and assist with the technical programming to launch the online radio station.

“We are primarily using groups in the St. Cloud area as methods of outreach as we approach the launch of St. Cloud Somali Radio,” Prchal said. “Specifically, we have been in communication with the St. Cloud Somali Salvation Organization (SASSO), the Islamic Center of St. Cloud (ICSC), and the Somali Student Association at SCSU. As we ramp up to the launch, we will be working to spread the word about the station and share what we’ve spent our time building here.”

Once the station launches, St. Cloud Somali Radio will be increasing their efforts to recruit volunteers to create programming that will cater to the Central Minnesotan Somali Community.

Abubaker Kulletin, also known as Haji, started working with St. Cloud Somali Radio in early 2013 as a Project Developer. He met with Prchal and was interested in seeing the project become fully integrated into the Central Minnesotan Somali Community.

“We will work to bring people together,” Kulletin said. “Somalis can introduce themselves to the local population, and easily integrate; becoming a larger part of the communities in Central Minnesota.”

St. Cloud Somali Radio is accessible at www.kvsc.org/somaliradio and via a link from the kvsc.org home page. KVSC 88.1 FM, the voice of St. Cloud since 1967, is an educational public radio station licensed to St. Cloud State University. KVSC follows a commercial-free alternative music format and provides award-winning news coverage and community events.
 

 

KVSC 88.1FM Students Bring Home Midwest Journalism Conference Awards

03/24/2013 - 9:00 AM

Students and alumni from KVSC 88.1FM have won six first-place Associated Press awards along with five honorable mentions; they have also been nominated for four Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) Mark of Excellence awards. The KVSC 88.1FM students and alumni will collect their awards at the Midwest Journalism Conference April 12-13 in Bloomington, Minn.

KVSC’s News Director, Amelia Rowland, is the recipient of three of the Associated Press awards alone. “We did well in various aspects of the awards,” Rowland said. “Our staff works very hard throughout the year and to be recognized for our hard work is exciting. Not only was the News Department recognized, but our Sports Department was recognized as well.”

KVSC provides St. Cloud State University students the opportunity to apply knowledge gained in the classroom to live broadcasts and feature stories.

KVSC is a student-run educational and community radio station on the SCSU campus, and competes in the Minnesota Associated Press radio class one category designed for stations with one or zero full-time newsroom employees. KVSC broadcasts eight weekday newscasts and more than 75 SCSU sporting events throughout the academic year.

“Being News Director has taught me to be prepared for anything and everything,” Rowland said. “There have been multiple events over the course of my work that have taught me a lot about being a journalist. Whether it’s waiting five hours to listen to former President Bill Clinton speak on campus, or covering the death of a fallen officer, I believe these experiences have shaped me as a person and as a journalist.”

The Minnesota Associated Press Broadcasters Contest takes place annually with awards given to broadcasts from the previous year. The Midwest Journalism Conference plays host to the Minnesota AP Awards and is one of the largest regional journalism conferences in the country, attracting hundreds of journalists from Minnesota, Wisconsin, North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa and Nebraska. 

 

Happy birthday to us

05/07/2012 - 11:00 AM

St. Cloud, Minn. – St. Cloud State University’s public radio station, KVSC 88.1 FM will celebrate 45 years on the air May 10. The station first signed on May 10, 1967.  At that time the station was limited to a 10-watt signal, which covered a radius of about five miles.  Its original dial position was 88.5 FM. The switch to 88.1 FM came Feb. 8, 1983. The call letters KVSC were chosen as an acronym for the “Voice of St. Cloud.”

Today, the station broadcasts on 88.1 FM at a power of 16,500 watts (since Sept. 24, 1992) and reaches about 70 miles. KVSC-FM offers a blend of progressive rock, jazz, folk, reggae, world, blues, Minnesota music, educational programming like Minnesota History in 90 Seconds and Earth and Sky, eight daily newscasts and much more. 

In the past year the station has taken home nine Associated Press Awards and a Society of Professional Journalists Mark of Excellence award.  

The station celebrated its 20th year of Monday Night Live, a show that invites local musicians to perform live on the radio. The show is simulcast with video on UTVS Charter channel 21.  On April 23, Monday Night Live went “on the road” as Caroline Smith and the Good Night Sleeps performed for a live audience at the Pioneer Place on Fifth (in addition to the radio and TV broadcasts).  Additionally, the station held a show starring Minneapolis-based hip-hop collective Doomtree April 26. 

KVSC held its 33rd annual 50-hour trivia marathon Feb. 10-12.  This year’s theme was “Trivia Long Play 33 1/3, to reference the contest’s 33rd year and also the fact that the station still plays vinyl records.

Other milestones in KVSC’s history include:

1978 – Began broadcasting in stereo

Feb. 5, 1980 – The debut of Trivia Weekend

Feb. 8, 1983 – Moved to 88.1 FM and increased power to 5,200 watts

Feb. 1991 – 3,000 community members sign a petition to save the station from the threat of university budget cuts

1995 – KVSC.org is launched

1999 – KVSC begins streaming live on the Internet

Sept. 2008 – KVSC receives its first grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting

July 2009 – First broadcast live from an international locale (the Winnipeg Film Festival)

August 2009 – KVSC receives its first Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund Grant from the state of Minnesota.

More information on the station’s history visit http://www.kvsc.org/milestones.php and http://www.kvsc.org/history.php 

Multi-Track Makeover

01/18/2011 - 10:00 AM

 

ST. CLOUD, Minn. – Operations Director Jim Gray and his team of students and staff worked tirelessly over St. Cloud State University’s winter break to completely overhaul the multi-track studio at KVSC. The $45,000 upgrade was spent mostly at local businesses and includes all new equipment and furnishing. The main upgrade is the new 60-channel audio console with dual 46-inch monitors.

This huge upgrade was made on a tight budget and included extreme penny pinching methods in sourcing the equipment, including Black Friday/Cyber Monday deals and negotiations with vendors. The project would not have been possible without the $18,000 worth of equipment donated from alumni and others. 

Some of the key highlights include the ability to record 24 channels simultaneously into Pro Tools 9 Software, multiple monitor mixes and headphone mixes for performers and the new display monitors use an electronic lift system to maximize space and ergonomics.

The main purpose behind the multi-track studio is for live performances (namely Monday Night Live), recording and mixing for musicians and common audio productions. 

Interesting facts:

• • 21.7 miles of wiring installed
• • 392 connectors on the board
• • Hundreds of hours donated by students and staff
• • Audio board is nine feet long