A significant change is in store for Iowa State’s campus-run radio station KURE (88.5 FM).

On Thursday night, the Inter-Residence Hall Association, which has long controlled all of the funding for the radio station, passed a bill by a vote of 21-2-1 that will be shifting the financial burden of the station to the Government of the Student Body within the next five years.

The transition will be finalized pending approval from GSB, but IRHA President Dave Sims told the Daily earlier in the week that he’s fairly confident the bill also will pass GSB.

Talk of changing financial responsibility from IRHA to GSB has been around for a while, and it’s no wonder — it makes perfect sense.

Although KURE is still housed in Friley Hall, it’s not just for students who live in the dorms anymore. It hasn’t been for a long time.

KURE is an excellent campus resource, offering an alternative to commercial radio.

But as with any other campus media source, including the Daily, it has its problems. Not as many students listen to KURE as should for a station at a university the size of Iowa State.

Perhaps now would be a good time to address why.

Although the change in funding won’t change the content of KURE or how the station is run, this changing of the guard would be a good time to increase awareness of the station.

KURE has enormous potential to be the true radio station for ISU students.

Maybe a new promotional campaign would benefit KURE and increase the number of listeners.

The station is known for playing music that commercial radio stations don’t even touch, but maybe more could be done to diversify the play lists, in an effort to interest more students.

Who knows? Maybe a more active radio adviser would be a way to help the students out.

In any case, the most important thing for GSB to remember when it has official responsibility for KURE is not to mettle in the station’s affairs unnecessarily.

It wouldn’t be time for GSB to become power-happy and change a student organization that means a lot to many students.

But KURE is an organization that needs support, not just from GSB but from the whole campus.

GSB’s taking over the financial responsibilities for IRHA isn’t meant to be a life-preserver for KURE.

It’s just the first step toward better structure for an already valuable organization.

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Iowa State Daily Editorial Board: Sara Ziegler, Greg Jerrett, Kate Kompas and Carrie Tett.