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The Dominator once confessed to surprise, when he found that student radio had become meaningful since he was a student at the Michigan State University. Back then, the radio station tried to send its signal through the wiring in the dorm rooms. It didn't work out well for them. But by 2007, they'd upgraded to a transmitter that could send its signal halfway into the next county. They'd just play any rock music they liked. Since other Lansing-Michigan radio stations were mostly end-of-the-line corporate tools, the Dominator quickly found student radio irresistible.
In 2009, the Dominator found himself in Nashville-Tennessee. He found that Nashville had the Vanderbilt University, fairly big by the standards of anyplace outside Lansing-Michigan and the Big Ten Conference - and big enough to have its own student radio station. This station was more time-sliced; there were special shows by students who'd play one category of what they want. The Dominator got on speaking terms with the deejays of the Israeli music show, because they'd have Old Testament trivia quizzes.
Nashville had more than one university radio station. These mostly played talk or jazz for the benefit of non-students who sent donations, though. The Domination homeland of Chicago-Illinois had some of that too. But you can't call that student radio.
Before 2009 was over, after years of expedition, the Domination of Eiler expeditionary force finally retreated upon the Chicago homeland. There many student radio stations were discovered. Northwestern University has one (as might be expected for the Big Ten Conference), but so do Loyola University, Harper Community College, and the Glenview-Northbrook high school system! These stations crowd the dial in the 88-89 Mhz range - so much so, it takes a Domination-grade antenna to sort 88.3 FM, 88.5 FM, and 88.7 FM out. It seems the concept of student radio has actually spread.
Some stations have amusing lapses. Many have unpolished deejays. One university station goes off the air if a deejay doesn't show up, as might be expected during Spring Break. But most of the other stations just turn on the automatic music machines. That's actually the best kind in the Domination of Eiler.
Most of the stations have programming slots. For instance, an hour or two of talk radio every day. Eww. Others just switch between jazz and rock. The Domination of Eiler used to not like that. It doesn't like that in TV stations either; it just wants to switch on Headline News or the Weather Channel and always get news or weather. But those stations started doing repeats and special programs... Congratulations to them. The Domination of Eiler has now been trained to switch channels. Student radio is reaping the benefits.
Most of the stations have quotas of public service announcements to fill. From community college level on down, these are almost all about drunk driving. It's pretty amazing how many rock stars say, "I just have someone drive me." But the announcements about hard drugs are especially fun. Frank Zappa and Bugs Bunny each did one of those, back in the day.
The smaller stations are sometimes hard to find on your radio. Their signals have trouble crossing the boundaries of their home townships. Fortunately inside EilerBase, the main radio receiver has a good antenna.
The Domination of Eiler now commands its citizens to seek out student radio, toward the lower end of the FM range. It will be acceptable to avoid those stations if you ever don't like the music, of course. But you should at least try them. All hail the student radio of the Domination of Eiler!
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