kmsu - june2015

Greetings from the Station Manager

Let me start by saying, thank you! Through your generosity, KMSU

reached its $40,000 pledge drive goal, and now we’re ready to get the new

GatesAir 10KW solid state transmitter installed. This is a big step in KMSU’s

continued efforts in upgrading equipment. There are clear benefits this new trans-

mitter will bring: More power-efficient, less maintenance, better reliability, and

HD ready. Some listeners have asked if this new transmitter will result in a larger

coverage area. Probably not, at least not in terms of power output. We are li-

censed to be at around 20KW, and that won’t change. The new transmitter may,

however, be a cleaner signal than the old Harris we’ve been using for quite

awhile now. The Harris will become our backup transmitter, so we’ll have redun-

dancy at that critical point. Some other redundancies are being implemented at

no cost to KMSU, too. Because of the new Clinical Sciences building being

erected across the street from our studios, a new fiber optic cable had to be run to

our building. The existing cable will remain, so our studio-to-transmitter link will

now be bolstered by this redundancy.

On the programming side, I hope you have found our new 3:00 p.m.

weekday programs entertaining and informative. Monday: Embrace the Sound

with Steve Guse. Tuesday: Foxy Playground with Ruby and Maya. Wednesday:

Sessions in ¾ Time with Mark Martinez. Thursday: Variety Pack with Jameson.

Friday: The Way Out with Joe Tougas.

Please enjoy the fleeting days of summer and always feel free to contact

me with any thoughts or concerns.

Yours,

Gully

Jim Gullickson

Pledge Drive was a success!

The Maverick J U N E 2 0 1 5

T H I N G S T O

L O O K F O R :

Where are

they now?

KMSU-

sponsored

events

Who’s Wes-

ley Whatnot?

Our new

transmitter

T H E M A V E R I C K

You can also check out the newsletter on our website.

http://www.mnsu.edu/kmsufm/newsletter/

P A G E 2 J O I N U S A T T H E S E E V E N T S !


Lessons in Success for Wes

By Lamarr Sullivan

Motivation is described in the dictionary as a reason

for someone to act a certain way; or an incentive.

NBA star Lebron James, for example, is motivated

by wanting to be one of the greatest players ever.

These motives can be tangible or intangible but both

can hold significant weight within a person; a cliché

used to describe this would be someone having a

“chip on their shoulder.” One person that especially

holds true for is this summer’s Radio a La Carte host

and staff writer for MSU’s The Reporter newspaper,

Wes Huntington. Born on the autism spectrum, Hun-

tington has been motivated by numerous naysayers

who said he would never make it to this position in

his life, where his proverbial “chip” has catapulted

him to heights some didn’t believe he’d be able to

achieve.

Growing up on the spectrum

Growing up with autism can be difficult for some.

Grade school can be a cruel place without a disor-

der— but the tough times will usually come from

students, not in Huntington’s case.

“I took special education classes and speech

classes all the way until my seventh grade year,”

Huntington said. “In eighth grade I was told [by a

teacher] I would not be able to get a post-secondary

education.”

Huntington never wavered after hearing these

pessimistic claims; he used them as fuel to becoming

the successful guy he already is today. He’s already

earned a bachelors degree in creative writing from

Southwest Minnesota State University and is going for

another degree in mass media with a political science

minor here at MSU; motivated by a “chip” he said

started in eighth grade.

“They also told me I could never learn a sec-

ond language; I ended up proving a couple people

wrong,” he expressed joyously. (Cont. on page 3)

Radio a La Carte Weekdays—12pm to 1pm

this

month’s

free

events...

June 20th

Art Splash Art Fair

North Mankato Library

10:00 AM

June 21st

EZ Jazz Trio

First Presbyterian Church,

Mankato

10:00 AM

June 23rd

Jason Huneke's Juggling

Show

Blue Earth County

Library

10:30 PM

June 23rd

Habitat Night at the Man-

kato MoonDogs

Franklin Rogers Park

7:05 PM

P A G E 3


(Cont. from page2) “I’m going on my second bachelors and I took four years of Spanish in high school.”

From SMSU to KMSU

Although Huntington is new to KMSU, he is not new to broadcasting. While a student at SMSU, Hun-

tington worked for a student-run radio station called KSSU, where he had his own broadcast show, the Huntley

Hour, from 10 p.m. to midnight every Tuesday. He described the transition from KSSU to KMSU to be

“frightening” mostly because he didn’t know what to expect from a university radio station not run by students.

“I thought,‘I know students are probably here for mass media and probably want to learn broadcast-

ing,’” he said. “So when I found out that KMSU was not that, I was thinking to myself like ‘okay that’s a little

crazy.’”

Huntington loved having free reign over his KSSU

show but he hated the terrible time slot because it was so late at

night and his family was never really awake to hear it. Doing

Radio a La Carte show, which airs weekdays from noon to 1

p.m., he loves because his dad can listen in every day.

Learning from Mistakes

Even with the success Huntington has enjoyed in his

college years, he has had some missteps along the way that have

allowed him to become a better writer, broadcaster, and person.

One instance that surely humbled him was a time back at SMSU

where he was a staff writer for the SMSU Spur, where he had

added quotes into an article about an upcoming play that his

interviewee didn’t actually say, in order to reach his word count

limit.

“The story was done on a Friday, and I had gone home that weekend so I came back the following

Tuesday to my editor in-chief and an academic advisor wanting to speak to me,” he explained. “They said the

drama club read the article, thought it ridiculous, and called for me to be fired among other things.”

Huntington then had an ultimatum; either be fired or stay on staff and risk a possible expulsion under

plagiarism parameters. Well he chose the former, something that has taught him that misrepresentation of

someone’s words is a huge no-no in the media world.

“I’ve learned if I want to make sure that I haven’t done anything wrong, I’ll send the story to the inter-

viewee first to make sure I don’t misquote them at all. I just don’t want a repeat of before,” he said.

The Wesley Whatnot Show

Learning from these mistakes, Huntington said, has made him better broadcaster. He cites Karen

Wright as someone who has been very helpful in his growth on the Radio a La Carte show.

“I remember she told me to watch my use of “ums” and “ahs” and said I couldn’t say the word ‘suck’

on the air because it doesn't sound professional,” he said.

Along with help from Karen, he also said other things that help are the fact that his dad listens to the

show every day and gives him pointers on what he can do better, and also he records one show a week just to

see how he can improve himself.

“I’ve slowed down and I’ve gotten rid of my nervous laugh,” he said. “I don’t do that nearly as much

as I used to.”

Huntington didn’t discover his love for broadcasting until stumbling upon the Huntley Hour while at

SMSU. His growth and resolve beating the odds and proving people wrong have made him someone destined

for future success. Some people just need a little motivation to take them a long way. In Huntington’s case, it

propelled him to a bachelors degree in creative writing and now going onto another degree.

Radio a La Carte (continued) Weekdays—12pm to 1pm

P A G E 4

Our brand new transmitter! Out with the old and in with the new!


Check out our new

GatesAir 10KW

solid state trans-

mitter!

No more old,

outdated

nonsense

P A G E 5


Nate Simpkins

KMSU Experience

2008-2010 – News re-

porter

How did KMSU

influence you? “KMSU was such a

great experience. I loved working there and be-

ing a part of the team. Over the past few years I

still have contact with some of the members of

the Southern Minnesota News Project. While I

enjoy my current job and it pertains to my educa-

tion I am still actively pursuing my career in the

music business.”

Where is he now?

Nate worked as a general manager in marketing

and promotions for the Skyway Theatre/Bar Fly

Nightclub in Minneapolis until 2014 when he

moved to San Francisco to do booking and mar-

keting for the DNA Lounge. He is now working

in Los Angeles doing business development for

Frequency, a platform that aggregates digital

content throughout the entire web into an easily

manageable application with content providers

such as network television stations, magazine,

blogs, multi-channel networks, and top-level

YouTube channels.

Melissa Saigh, nee

Specken

KMSU Experience

2001-2005 – Re-

porter and news di-

rector

How did KMSU

influence you? “You're pretty much a "one man band" in

small markets like KMSU, so you have no

choice but to learn very quickly. I had the

opportunity to dabble in many areas of radio,

which provided excellent experience for my

future career in media!”

Where is she now?

Melissa worked as a reporter and weekend

anchor for KAAL-TV-6 News in Austin,

Minn. and Rochester, Minn. for two years,

and as a producer and reporter for Twin Cit-

ies Live at KSTP in Minneapolis. She is cur-

rently living in Singapore with her husband,

three-year-old daughter, and another baby

due in November 2015. She works as a TV

lifestyle contributor, freelance writer and

Mommy-blogger for Minnesota Baby which

she started in 2011.

FORMER KMSU STUDENTS IN THE REAL WORLD

P A G E 6

JOIN US AT THESE EVE NTS!



Phone: 507-389-5678

Fax: 507-389-1705

E-mail: [email protected]

KMSU The Maverick

AF 205

Minnesota State University

Big Ideas. Real-world thinking.

kmsu - june2015

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