I am a former show host at

the radio station on ArtStreet.

I recall waking up at 7 Saturday

mornings to walk down and play

my music through the rain, snow,

ice, cold and heat. It wasn't the

most kept-up station on Earth;

CD's were scattered in no partic-

ular order in the racks, one of the

microphones was completely out

of commission, and at one point

the station's main computer was

shut down for a month. This did

not faze me though, as I had my

own supply of records, CDs and

Ruckus downloads to choose from

and play at will. It was a beauti-

ful job for a music lover like me.

Sadly, this can no longer be

the case. Outside pressures have

been trying to take one of our

frequencies by any means neces-

sary, calling 'foul' toward any-

thing potentially inappropriate

to the FCC. To correct this, the

station has effectively removed

the personal and eclectic tastes

of music that one tends to ex-

pect from a college radio station.

They have asked that the radio

personalities to choose what they

play from a pre-determined play

list, compiled of rock, pop, and

rap music (which were the top

three genres chosen in a recent

survey). I know for a fact that

my show could never fit inside

the bounds of rock, pop and rap

music, no matter how broad or

generalized those genres could

become. Trust me, moving from

Dijerido's and Gregorian Chants

and Romanian Techno to "Soulja

Boy" and "I Kissed Something"

and "I'm So Rich, Buy My Al-

bum" music.

I understand why the station is

doing what it is doing but in my

opinion, it has lost. It has lost

its fans who want to hear variety

and not the same old music you

can get in better quality from

another commercial station. It

has lost the dedicated show hosts

who took their hard-earned mon-

ey and time to find and compile

their music for the world to hear.

It has lost what it once was: a col-

lege radio station.