College music and variety from the depths of Friley.

Nestled in the cavernous depths of Friley Hall, somewhere near Food Service, the laundry room and a cluster of vending machines, pulses the lifeblood of ISU’s own radio station: KUSR. Venturing downward toward the magnet of turntables, shelves of vinyl and plastic and energetic voices just made for the airwaves is definitely worth the trip.

The station, 91.5 on the FM dial, is a campus organization, supported by GSB and staffed completely by student volunteers. It, like other radio stations, is regulated by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and is on the air 24-hours a day.

Unlike most college stations, it boasts a schedule as varied as Elton John’s collection of eyeglasses, including oldies, alternative, jazz and urban contemporary.

“Every three hours, our program format changes,” Erich Grubert, assistant general manager, explained. “We’ve always done it like that. It provides more variety and more airplay for other stuff.

“Most college stations are alternative, and we do skew a little bit toward (that), but we’ve had a varied format for at least 10 years.”

Not just limited to tunes, KUSR offers several public affairs programs, Grubert said. Counterpoint will detail the latest controversy in GSB; Let’s Talk Sports is a chance for listeners to call in and spout off their opinions; Iowa Artists sends out music and live interviews with the best talent in the state, including locals, and some news plug-ins keep listeners updated on world events.

All of the disc jockeys and crew, in addition to pumpin’ some righteous tunes over the airwaves, carry full class schedules and loads of homework. Occasionally, their work at KUSR must take a backseat to their studies.

“This is an all-volunteer operation, so people have exams, conflicts, and if they can’t find a replacement, we have to close down for a while,” Grubert said. “Something always does come up; everyone has last-minute papers.”

Any student with Daniel Stern aspirations (ha) can apply for a disc jockey position. You should meander down to the first floor of Friley (room 1199, to be exact), fill out an application and find out what slots are available.

Most DJs will usually yield their powers and accept requests, as long as songs meet the FCC’s cleanliness guidelines. Their request line if 294-9292, and their business office is 294-4332.