In response to the recent attacks to the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, local radio stations have temporarily changed the songs they are playing.

“With the attack on Tuesday, [Sept. 11], we were all wondering what songs should be pulled off the air, said Bobby Hacker, Channel Q 105.1 program director.

Hacker said MTV’s Web site reported radio stations across the nation were censoring song selection to accommodate sensitive listenership. Stations like Channel Q 105.1 and Des Moines’ Lazer 103.3 made the decisions to refrain from playing certain songs to suit their listeners.

Hacker said there is no nation-wide list of banned songs. The decisions were made by the 105.1 staff.

Clear Channel, the company that owns Channel Q and KISS 107.5, sent its stations a suggested list of songs. Hacker said the staff decided which songs shouldn’t be played for the station’s local audience.

“It was never an issue of censorship,” he said.

“It was sensitivity to the situation.”

Sean Elliott, program director at Lazer 103.3, said the station chose eight to 10 songs that may have been inappropriate as well.

“We just felt some were inappropriate in the wake of the tragedy,” he said.

Channel Q determined “Bodies” by Drowning Pool and “Learn to Fly” by Foo Fighters would not be acceptable following the attack. Hacker said the lyrics like “let the bodies hit the floor .” from the song “Bodies” actually refer to a mosh pit. But because the lyrics could be interpreted differently, it was temporarily removed from the air, he said.

Channel Q doesn’t want to play any music that may promote anger and retaliation, Hacker said.

The staff realized they have listeners that attend the university and refrained from playing songs that may have encouraged discrimination towards the campus’ international students, he said.

Foo Fighter’s song was only off the air for the day of the attack and the following day. “Bodies” was not added to Channel Q’s play list until this week.

Elliott said Lazer will slowly add some songs back into the playlist selections, but he said some may not return in the near future.

“In the next six months to a year, we are going to be dealing with these kinds of issues,” Hacker said.

Channel Q plans to accommodate to its listeners’ sensitivity but everything else is “business as usual,” he said.