A return to the radio waves

The radio frequency 730 AM was blasting static last semester.

But after an eight-month hiatus, Penn's student-run radio station is finally back on the air. The transition, however, has not been easy.

WQHS -- completely separate from Penn's professionally run radio station WXPN -- suspended all broadcasting for the spring semester during its relocation to Hollenbeck Hall, located by the South Street Bridge, from their old home in Wayne Hall on campus. With such programming as an all-Beatles show, an all-80s show and a hip hop show that mixes its music live, organizers say the radio station is making a comeback.

"We still have lots of work to do," WQHS Program Manager Bob Jobin said. "It's been a pretty good semester so far."

The College senior said that the station suspended broadcasting last semester because of difficulties related to the move as well as efforts to secure newer, better equipment -- efforts which Jobin said have not proven very successful.

However, simple technological advances have allowed WQHS to broadcast a high-quality stream via popular music program iTunes.

"We've been able to update our capacity so the quality of the stream is much better than it was last year," Jobin said. He noted that the quality of the iTunes stream has increased six-fold to a quality comparable to that of MP3 files.

Jobin said he is hopeful that things will improve for the radio station, whose difficulties have included aging equipment, lack of student awareness and logistical issues.

One such logistical issue resulted when Kelly Connell -- a Penn alumna with a master's degree in human sexuality education -- attempted to start a WQHS show dedicated to sex called "Sex Talk with Kelly."

The show was suspended after one broadcast because Connell, not being a current student, had no way of gaining access to the radio station in order to host her show.

Jobin said that he and Connell are still trying to work out the kinks in her broadcast, but he expects that Connell's show will air full-time starting in January. It will feature calls from listeners, contain sex trivia games and have plenty of music.

Connell said that she decided to start a show after discovering that many Penn students engage in risky sexual behavior.

"I've been trying to find an avenue for sexual issues and sexual health," Connell said. "There is a lot of misinformation out there."

In order for shows like Connell's to affect Penn students, Jobin acknowledged the need for WQHS to reach out more to the Penn community.

Many students, such as Wharton sophomore Slavena Bardarova,seem to have no idea that Penn even has a student-run radio station.

"If I knew it existed, I would definitely be interested" in listening, Bardarova said.

Jobin said that more should be done to increase student awareness of the station, but that right now he and the rest of the staff is mainly focused on getting the station up and running consistently.

"This semester we've gone on [Locust] Walk a couple times," Jobin said, noting that WQHS staff passed out programming schedules, fliers and bumper stickers.

The station has many long-term goals -- such as the creation of an in-studio performance space for live bands to play on the air. But for now, Jobin said that he is just looking forward to finishing unpacking all the equipment from the move.

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