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September, 2010
Dear WUVA Alums:
WUVA is nearing completion of its new on-Grounds facilities in Alumni Hall!
Instead of a small space in the basement of Newcomb Hall, which we were using during the last academic year, we now are installing ourselves in a large space on Alumni Hall's second floor.
We plan to move our entire operation into this one location on the Grounds.
Why there, why now?
WUVA saw the Newcomb space as a place to create a satellite studio, where students could record voice-tracks that would be used on the air, and work on our anticipated Internet streaming, podcast and video production facilities. The actual FM broadcasting and sales operations would have remained at our rented space on Arlington Boulevard next to Barracks Road Shopping Center.
In recent months, however, three changes occurred:
- The University's student activities office informed us in February that Newcomb Hall's basement would be renovated starting in May, much sooner than anticipated. WUVA and other student media would have to vacate, even before we got our operation up and running.
- Worse, from WUVA's perspective, when the Newcomb basement renovations were completed, only shared digital production facilities would be available. Shared facilities are unsuited for a licensed radio station, because (among other reasons) we are obligated under FCC rules to maintain tight control of our operations.
- We learned in early April that the Alumni Association had a suite of rooms to rent – space adequate for WUVA's studios and offices – which became available when the Jefferson Scholars Program moved to its new building. The association's executive director, Tom Faulders, made it clear that WUVA would be welcome; the Alumni Association wants students in Alumni Hall.
Alan Williams, our station engineer in Charlottesville, working with alumni engineers Bill Gentry, Lee Whitney, Dave Wilson, Mike Hulme and Andrew Dickens, will soon finish installing our first studio in Alumni Hall, in a large room facing US-29/Emmet St. Williams is building a U-shaped table top for the console, microphones and studio equipment, under a design that he has used for other stations. For its initial operation, the air studio will be populated with equipment from our present production studio on Arlington Blvd. The objective is to establish the new studio as capable of going ON AIR when a changeover date is determined. Until then, we will continue broadcasting from Arlington Blvd.
Alumni Hall presents an enormous upside with respect to our recruiting and training missions and our move into the vastly important domain of Internet operations that is now integral to radio. The Arlington Boulevard location, well off-Grounds, has always made it hard for us to attract enough student staffers. At Alumni Hall, we will be in the heart of the University, in an iconic, welcoming place that is not subject to the vagaries of Newcomb Hall space allotment.
We will, however, need help to make it happen.
The nation's economic situation has continued to put WUVA under strong pressure. Advertising revenues are improving, but not enough to pay for the shift to Alumni Hall. Our present landlords, who have been wonderfully cooperative, will have to find a new tenant before we can gain release from the lease that commits us through May 2012. And even if they do, WUVA doesn't have the cash to pay for this move.
More money is needed. We're renewing our request to you for financial assistance. The donations that many of you have made so far will go to the same purpose: putting WUVA on Grounds.
Volunteers are needed. We'll also need physical help with the move, which is happening roughly between now and Labor Day.
In addition, we need alumni volunteers to help reconstitute our training program and re-acquire much of the nuts-and-bolts broadcasting tradecraft that we've gradually lost since leaving the Grounds. This month we are recruiting and training the new first-year class and offering enhanced training to the returning staff. There is much to do. Contact Steve Taylor at taylorsa@comcast.net if you're interested.
Locating in Alumni Hall will make our business model work as it has not since we left the Grounds in the 1990s. It will mean larger recruiting classes, which will make for a better WUVA. A better WUVA will generate the advertising revenue that will finance our eventual transition to digital media – a change that all student media must make if they are to survive. And we will serve Charlottesville and the University community even more effectively.
As alums, we have an opportunity to do something tangible for WUVA. All contributions are welcome. Donors of $250 or more enter The Lefevre Circle, to honor that dear, dusty space on McCormick Road. For leadership donations of at least $640, we have established the 640 Club to remember our carrier-current frequency. Donors of $1000 or more go into The Gold Record Club.
We hope you will join us.
To donate, please click here for instructions about making contributions.
Sincerely,
Members of the WUVA Alumni Group:
Eugenia Halsey, College '78
Jen Kerby, College '91
Kathleen Kirby, Commerce '81
John G. Macfarlane, College '07
Mike Moose, Commerce '71
Mike O'Brien, College '07
Henry Swett, College '66
Steve Taylor, College '74, Chairman
WUVA, Inc. is a Virginia non-stock, nonprofit corporation. The Internal Revenue Service has determined that WUVA, Inc. is exempt from taxation as a charity under IRC Sec. 501(c)(3) and is not a private foundation under IRC Sec. 509(a). Neither WUVA, Inc. nor the WUVA Alumni Interest Group can give tax advice to contributors. Alumni and friends should present the fact of these determinations to their tax advisors in evaluating the tax consequences of contributions. |
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