Student-run radio station rides the airwaves

(From left to right) KSSU’s Tim Skallard, DJ Michael “Light-Skinned Creole” White, Robert Young, and DJ Catrina “Trina Latrine” Fernandez.

Student-run radio station, KSSU 1580 AM, got its start in 1989. And from the looks of its headquarters, a small room with dated couches, an ancient SEGA video game and open discussion between KSSU disc jockeys and staff about neon-colored spiral shoe laces and Moon Shoes, not much has changed since then. That couldn’t be farther from the truth.

What started out as a social group running a small radio station on the campus of Sacramento State has transformed into an award-winning station run by about 60 volunteers and staff personnel with listeners all over the world. And it still operates from campus.

“When you’ve worked from 1989 to get something off the ground, it’s so refreshing to get some acknowledgement,” KSSU manager Robert Young says.

That acknowledgement is the four College Music Journal awards that KSSU was nominated for, and won, this past fall in New York. Young describes the CMJ Awards as being “parallel to the Billboards giving out awards,” but at the college radio level. Sacramento State’s KSSU competed against college radio stations from all over the U.S. and Canada and took home titles such as “Best Music Director of the Year” and “Best Radio Station with Limited Resources.”

While they might be famous at the CMJ Awards and around the world—with people tuning into their live Internet stream from Japan, Australia and Germany, just to name a few locations —these volunteer DJs and managers don’t hesitate to reach out to their local community and University campus.

Most often KSSU DJs can be seen around campus at student activities or at sporting functions pumping out tunes, or working with the University Union’s UNIQUE Programs at concerts and events.  But they don’t just work with people from campus.

KSSU, which plays everything from indie and rock to hip hop and electronic, and local artists, has teamed up with El Camino High School’s radio station KYDS 91.5 to form a mentorship program.

“We work with students and teach them about the business,” Young says. “They say, ‘I want to come to Sac State to be a DJ.’”

And why not? Over the past four years, 10 to 12 former KSSU staff members have found jobs at major radio stations, Young says. But post-college careers are not all this radio station is concerned about. Students come first.

“I think that the fact we have a student-run station, it speaks to the voice of the students and gives them something to participate in,” Young says.

For more information on KSSU, visit www.kssu.com, or contact KSSU station manager Robert Young at 278-3343 or manager@kssu.com.