This section is under construction and should be considered in draft form.  Your input is invited.  If you want to add material, make suggestions, correct the record, etc, please email us at wwuh@hartford.edu.  And if you have photos to share of your time at WWUH please let us know that as well.  While we strive to present information that is as accurate as possible please consider the information below for entertainment purposes only.

Results from the February, 1971 election: Ken Kalish - General Manager; John Michael, John Eppler - Station Manager; Brian Lord - Program Director; Philip Cabot - Business Manager; Charles Allen - Chief Engineer; Michael Joy - AM Sales; Sherman Novoson and Michael Ditkoff - Members-at-Large.

          Partial list of staff: Charles Allen, Philip Cabot, Tom Canaday, William Grant, Charlie Horwitz, Bob Katz, Michael Joy, John LaBella, Brian Lord; Ken Kalish, John Michael, Marilyn Nabors, Roger Stuass and Rob Weitz

 Advisor:  Chuck Wansley.

    WWUH alum Charlie Horwitz was Program Director during some of the time period (‘69-71), and in 2007 he submitted this recollection of one of his shows in the early seventies.

“One of my favorite recollections was one I shared alone. It was the time when Hartford's connection to the sea and whales in particular was getting air airplay and local ink.  In fact a local group had recorded a sea chant of sorts that we played and I think the station had done an interview with them. Their name escapes me.

“Well one night, after my Gothic Blimp Works show, I was determined to incorporate that song into a PSA about Saving the Whales. I put in several hours to get 60 seconds of moderately coherent information and put the whole project to bed on a nice new cart. Leaving the Gengras Center just before dawn, I was struck by the sounds of whales whistling down the empty hallways. Now I know that it was just the wind whistling through the opened doors and not the voices of thankful whales but I checked those doors and there were all properly closed. So I went outside and meditated with the ghosts of those voices and have felt very in tune with their song ever since”.

Gabby Parsons recalled in 2007: “I had spent 3 years hanging around the station; watching it being built and seeing my friends go on the air. I almost auditioned for a folk music show, but got involved in the theater department and never followed up. I was supposed to graduate in June 1971, but had one more semester to go. As I always had a work-study job, I managed to get assigned to WWUH for the summer. I was there the Friday of Memorial Day weekend 1971 working on cataloging the classical library, all pre-computer of course. I'm not sure who came in, but I think it was Ken Kalish who asked me if I ever thought I could do a female, easy listening type of program. I said if I did a show it wouldn't be easy listening and he said, great, you go on in 15 minutes. YIKES! I learned the 5-channel Sparta board pretty quickly and since I had spent many hours hanging around, I had a sense of what was supposed to happen. Ken assured me (as there was NO ONE ELSE in the building at the time) that he would be there if I had any problems. SO off I go. My first song at 11:00 AM was Stage Fright by the Band. And except for forgetting to turn off the mike (but potting it down) and taking off my headphones and thinking I was sending dead air out when I wasn't, I did OK.  UNTIL, about 25 minutes into my show, when Ken came in and said a tower light went out and since it was a top blinking one, he had to go to the tower ASAP to change it. I was doing great, so I said, see ya! Of course, about 10 minutes later, I lost cue in the right hand turntable and spent the rest of my shift only playing the first cut of the record because I could see to cue it up. Brian Lord was program director that summer. And for some strange reason, he liked what he heard and offered me midday’s for the summer. I still have my play lists and I will e-mail a sample day to you at another time.

“I have an old air check from my second week on the air and I have NO IDEA why Brian put me on the air!

          “My most memorable day on the air was the day the draft lottery numbers were announced. I remember playing long cuts so we could gather the info from the wire to read on the air. That was the year my kid brother was in the lottery... imagine how I felt when his birthday came up as number 8....and I still had to be professional and read the rest of the dates. (He turned out to be 4-F from an old skiing injury, but that's another story for another place).”

          A special series of programs produced by Pacifica was broadcast in February.  This included “Dissent and Alternatives in Israel,” “Politics and Televsion,” “National Liberation Front,” “Pornograhy, Obscenity and the Law,” “Law and Order,” “Consciousness in Plants,” “TV and the Minorities” and “A Case of Dallas Justice”.

          The ECOM frequently discussed funding sources during the early years of the station.  The station needed $15,000 for operating expenses over the next 12 months, and while the F.C.C. required the station to be on the air 36 hours a week, the ECOM determined that it would need to be on the air 48 weeks a year to qualify for any grants, so steps were taken to expand the station’s broadcast day by adding more shows.

 

          The ECOM also discussed the possibility of and requirements for qualifying for Federal Corporation for Public Broadcasting grants.  They voiced concerns about the possible loss of student power and participation that might occur if “outsiders” were allowed to run the shows.  There was also much discussion about whether a paid staff would be in keeping with the purpose of the station.

         

          Marilyn Nabors was appointed as Program Guide Editor, and a decision was made not to have advertising in the first issue.

 

          The station also planned for a fund-raising Marathon in April, the first on WWUH, with a goal of $1,700.  The programming department would use this money for tape decks, tapes and records. It was later postponed until the spring of ’72.

 

          The station held is annual staff banquet at Valle's Steak House in Hartford on May 14.  The cost was $6.50 per person, which included dinner.  The speaker was the News Director of WWDC in Washington, DC, one of the top news stations in the country.

 

          The ECOM voted to draft a letter to the Federal Communications Commission outlining the station's position on recent FCC concerns about the mention of drugs in the lyrics of songs.  The station felt that any restrictions based on the lyrics of a song would be a clear violation of the first amendment by the federal government.

 

          The topic of changing the station’s constitution was discussed.  A proposal was made to change the section that said "a person must be actively involved in the station and also be a student in order to be an active member."  Discussion centered on changing the policy so that people who were not students could become active members.  The staff at the 3/9/71 General Staff meeting ratified this change.

 

         

 

         

Fall 1971

 

          The ECOM voted that “dope” was not allowed in the studio, and that guests needed prior permission. The station also acquired a large safe, nicknamed Hector.  Originally kept in the office, it was too large and gave people the feeling that they weren’t to be trusted, although tools and equipment had a way of disappearing. It was finally moved down the hall.

         

          In September, the ECOM met and focused on ways to convince Mr. Patricelli, owner of WTIC, to offer WWUH space on its Avon Mountain tower to place WWUH’s antenna.  The ECOM also decided not to pursue Connecticut Public Broadcasting qualifications for fear of losing student interest by hiring a paid professional.  In addition, operational costs had increased to about $15,000 a year.  The ECOM stated that it was looking for a more definite commitment for financing from the University, along with a request for more space in Gengras.

 

          The ECOM voted that “dope” was not allowed in the studio, and that guests needed prior permission to visit. The station also acquired a large safe, nicknamed Hector.  No one can recall where it came from, but several reliable sources said that the elevator cables were stretched after the heavy safe was brought up to the third floor of the student union.   No one has been able to say what was originally kept in the safe or why it was kept in the office, it was too large and gave people the feeling that they weren’t to be trusted, although tools and equipment had a way of disappearing. It was finally moved down the hall.

         

 

          To increase funds, members made efforts to sell underwriting at the rate of $5 per hour, with commissions for the Salesman, Business Manager, and Underwriting Coordinator totaling 15%.  Underwriters would be acknowledged twice per hour on the air. The staff also made a decision not to use national PSAs unless they applied to the local area, nor PSAs that asked for money.

 

          Chuck Wansley was appointed by the Black Peoples Union as an advisor to WWUH.

 

          A constitutional change was made on October 14 to remove the AM Sales Manager position from the ECOM, to be replaced by a Second At Large member.  Tom Canaday and Rob Weitz were elected to these positions. Brian Lord undertook a study of the feasibility of having Spanish language programming on WWUH.

                            

          The new programming schedule featured the following weekday programs:

          7:00 – 9:00 AM - Light music

          9:00 – 11:00 AM - Classics

          11:00 – 11:15 AM - Children’s Corner

          11:15 – 2:00 PM – Recess Rock

          2:00 – 5:00 PM – Afternoon Roll

          5:00 – 8:00 PM - "Stereo Classics"

          8:00 – 8:30 PM - UH Presents

          8:30 – 9:00 PM - NPR or Pacifica programs

          9:00 – 12 Midnight - Accent on Jazz

          12:00 – 3:00 AM - Gothic Blimp Works

 

Specialty shows were:

          5:00 – 8:00 PM Fridays – Folk

          8:00 – 12:00 Midnight Friday and Saturday - Soul

          5:00 – 8:00 PM Saturday- The "Katz Meow," featuring engineering Guru               Bob Katz.

          1:00 – 2:00 PM Sunday - Composer’s Forum from NPR

          2:00 – 5:00 PM Sunday - Contemporary and Modern Music

          5:00 – 6:30 Sunday - Radio Theatre

          6:30 – 9:00 PM Sunday - Opera

 

 

SPECIAL EVENTS:

          Live remotes from the Suisman lounge featured the Hartt Jazz Band.   In March the station’s Opera Masterpieces program broadcast the Thomson-Stein Opera.

         

         

ENGINEERING:

 

          In May, the engineering department discovered that the present stereo generator and exciter would not pass the mandated FCC proof-of-performance.  The ECOM allocated $3,200 for replacements. At this time, the station purchased a state-of-the-art Wilkinson solid-state FM exciter to replace the old tube type RCA unit.  It also purchased a Wilkinson stereo generator.  When installed, these units greatly improved the sound and reliability of the station's signal.  The ECOM also approved $5,000 for two Scully tape recorders, $120 for speakers and mikes, $600 for a portable reel machine, and $350 for five AM transmitters to be installed in the dorms for WWUH-AM.

 

SPECIAL EVENTS:

          Live remotes from the Suisman lounge featured the Hartt Jazz Band.

 

Major News Stories during 1971:

          Nixon ends the US trade embargo against China. (Apr. 14); US Supreme Court rules unanimously that busing of students may be ordered to achieve racial desegregation (April 20); Pentagon Papers published (June 13); twenty-sixth Amendment to US Constitution lowers voting age to 18. (June 30).