For those tired of mainstream radio, there is hope. Iowa State’s student-run radio station, KURE 88.5 FM, actively pursues a different sound.

“We don’t want to be Channel Q; we don’t want to be Lazer,” said Carl Adams, KURE general manager and senior in history.

The station’s deejays play an enormous variety of music.

FYI decided to delve into the inner workings of KURE and discover the history behind it.

The studio

The core of KURE’s studio, located in 1199 Friley Hall, is what Adams describes as an “ancient mixing board,” which serves as the deejay’s control panel to manage all the input sources and the microphone. Connected to the mixing board are two CD players, two turntables, a MiniDisc player and a rarely used tape deck.

The MiniDisc player also comes with an input cable that allows deejays to play tracks from their own computer or MP3 player.

In addition to the main studio, the station also has a Studio B and a production room. Studio B is equipped with four microphones and hookups for instruments and is intended for running talk shows or in-studio concerts. The production room is continually being refurbished and is used to record public service announcements and bands in the studio.

Transmission

KURE’s transmitter sits atop Physics Hall and is regulated by the Federal Communications Commission at 250 watts of effective radiated power. The station’s broadcast range encompasses all of Ames and can reach out to surrounding communities such as Huxley and Nevada, but reception is somewhat spotty that far out.

KURE also has a webcast, mirroring the standard broadcast. It is accessible at the station’s Web site, www.kure885.org. The webcast currently works with no problems on campus but requires a technical fix to work properly for off-campus listeners.

History

Iowa State’s student-run radio began in 1949 as a carrier current AM station that was broadcast out of a closet in Friley Hall, making it receivable only to the other dorms on campus. It then made the switch to the FM station KPGY during the 1970s. Several iterations followed; the most recent was KUSR, until that station had licensing difficulties and had to reapply for an FCC license. Upon reapplying in 1997, the station received the call letters KURE.

Despite the station’s call letters resembling the word “cure,” the letters are always pronounced singly. This is simply tradition – even Adams doesn’t know why.

Format

KURE’s aim is to be completely independent of mainstream radio. The station hires deejays who show interest in diverse genres of music, shying away from what can be heard on standard stations. Currently, there are shows specializing in indie rock – the station’s flagship genre, metal, electronica, jazz and hip-hop.

Deejays are assigned one two-hour time slot in the weekly schedule. While it is encouraged to play new music and stick to certain genres, deejays are allowed to play whatever they like.

KURE has hosted talk shows in the past but does not currently have any on the schedule. Adams said this was because of the difficulties of running a quality show. The station discourages inexperienced deejays from even trying.

Organization

KURE is an ISU student organization and follows Iowa State’s rules for any club. While the station receives the bulk of its funding from the Government of the Student Body, it also supplements this aid with grants from local businesses.

The station cannot run true advertisements because of its status as a student station.

The general manager serves as the club president and performs all tasks not delegated to another member of the current 13-person board of directors. Each board member is either a current or former deejay and performs a specific role in keeping the station running smoothly.

All deejays and board members must be students. No training is required to apply for a deejay position – only knowledge of, and interest in, music.

If students are interested in applying, the station is currently hiring deejays – simply pick up an application from the main office or at www.kure885.org.

Automation

In the past, KURE would sign off when there was no deejay in the studio, fading to dead air. But, for the last two years there has been an automation system installed that can continue playing music even when there is no deejay present.

The system has had several technical issues, however, and is no substitute for a human deejay.

“We definitely see it as a necessary evil,” said deejay and online director Michael Roberts, senior in computer science.

Music

Although deejays are allowed to bring in and play any music they choose, the station also maintains an extensive selection of music. In the main studio there are over 5,000 CDs and 1,000 records, with more in storage. KURE receives a great deal of free promotional CDs from record companies – one-and-a-half postal crates each week.

However, before any station-owned CD can be played, it must be reviewed by one of the station’s reviewers. Each CD is then marked with a label giving an overview of the CD, a list of similar artists and a list of the best tracks. Tracks that should not be played because of language are also indicated.

KaleidoQuiz

KaleidoQuiz is, in the words of Adams, “a 26-hour trivia marathon.” Held every year since 1967, the first version of KQ lasted only 12 hours and was so popular it clogged up the campus phone system. Teams of students, varying from small groups of friends to entire dorm floors, compete to answer bizarre trivia questions announced on the station. Past questions have involved finding friends of deejays, traveling to Janesville, Wis., and looking up the answer to Question 150 on the station’s Web site.

Prizes for the winners vary immensely – one year the winners received two free large orders of Pokey Stix from Gumby’s Pizza each week for a year. The largest – and in Adams’ opinion, dumbest – prize ever awarded was the old KURE van, complete with a custom sound system.

This year’s KaleidoQuiz runs from 4 p.m. March 2, until 6 p.m. March 3. Teams may apply at any point until then. Applications are available at the station.

For more Information:

Location: 1199 Friley Hall

Request line: 294-9292

AIM screen name: kuredj

Web site: www.kure885.org