Southwords
January 1975
Dial 88.5 for the Maine line: Pick up some good vibrations
"We're on. Dial 88.5 for the Maine line--WMTH--and pick up some good vibrations weekdays from 10:30 AM to 5 PM."
WMTH is the Maine Township radio station--student-run, faculty-sponsored, and owned by the Maine Township Board of Education.
The station's programs reach all of Maine Township and touch Chicago "if there's a good strong wind blowing toward the lake."
Mr. Otto Kohler, social science department chairman, Mr. Darin Woodfield, and other Maine East faculty established the station in 1958. Radio-promoters coaxed the Board of Education into obtaining a license along with a transmitter and necessary equipment. Maine East is the master station, but all the Maine schools share a portion of the broadcasting day.
WMTH airs 40 hours a week casting news and sports, delivering commentaries, and programming music.
Eye-opener news begins at 10:30; international, at 10:35. Local news enters about 10:35 followed by the 10:40 sports cast. The station also forecasts the weather and gives the time. Brief news intervals occur every hour, and at 4:50 the station concludes with the news round-up.
Late sleepers can wake to music at 12:30, the easy-listening WLAK style program. 1:05 is time for great composers--classical music performed by various orchestras around the world. Broadway hits and pop-music air at 2:05, followed by "Music from the Underground"--FM hard rock.
Top-40 music known as "Chicken" rock or "bubblegum" rock comes on at 4:04. The station signs off at 5 PM.
The station helps student interested in communications break in to radio work. "I'm an advocate of learn-by-doing as opposed to learn-by-reading,: related Mr. Wagoner, WMTH sponsor. "With first hand experience, it puts them in a better position to know what's going on."
Students are encouraged to earn a third-class engineering license from the FCC--the Federal Communications Commission. "One girl--Nancy--music director of the station--has earned a first-class license which is considerably more advanced than a third-class license." Mr. Wagoner pointed out, "They are qualified after leaving here to legitimately say they worked for a radio station>"
Each staff member reports to PA-102B during an open study. About 35 to 45 students comprise the staff, and each period should have a crew of announcer, writer, engineer, and producer.
"I don't do anything--if anything goes wrong, I kick Dave, the program director," asserts Mr. Wagoner.
The station will current accept membership applications--future Lujacks can pick up an application in PA-103A, the student office.
"Thanks for listening ... stay tuned to 88.5"
.