WUML
From Free net encyclopedia
WUML is a non-commercial College Alternative radio station in Lowell, Massachusetts.
It was started in 1952 by a student named Ed Bonacci. Bonacci built a receiver for his dorm room stereo system that actually turned out to be a transmitter. The station eventually moved to a carrier current in the dorms of the Lowell Textile Institute (now UMass Lowell), and then to AM before moving to its current frequency at 91.5 FM.
Since its formation in 1952, WUML has grown into a large, self-sufficient organization that continues to be entirely student run. The station's active membership is over 50 students as well as 100 additional alumni and community members.
The policy of the undergraduate student organization that runs the station is to play music in a variety of genres that is not on anybody's top 40 list, including artists who are just getting a start and local artists. Live music can be heard every week on "Live from the Fallout Shelter" at 8:00 p.m. Mondays.
One of the longest-running shows on air is "Blues Deluxe", running for about 26 years.
The broadcast week includes programming produced by UML students and by community hosts who represent the ethnically and linguistically diverse community that is Lowell. Among the languages that can be heard are Khmer (the language of Cambodia), Spanish, Portuguese, Laotian, Armenian and French. Non-English-language programming is clustered on weekends and in the hour from 11:00 a.m. to noon Mondays through Fridays. For example, the celebrated South Asian music program "Gunjan" airs from 9:00 to noon on Saturday, and "Cafe Latino" airs from midnight to nine Sunday morning. Labor, Community and Environmental news and views in English can be heard Monday through Friday from 10:00 to 11:00 a.m. Monday through Friday on "Thinking Out Loud". Comedy music is featured on "Coffee and Cartoons", Fridays at 2:00 p.m.
A newer addition is the morning show "Lowell Sunrise". It is produced by paid professional staff and is under the control of the University itself, rather than the undergraduate student organization that controls the rest of the broadcast schedule. From 5:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. Monday through Friday, following a format somewhere between that of National Public Radio and commercial morning drive-time talk shows, the Sunrise show provides listeners with local news stories and updates on activities and events at the university, including some good interviews with University faculty, student leaders and community members.
The station also features streaming internet audio of its content through links given on its webpage. The streaming audio is available in MP3 and OGG formats.
Previous call letters
- WLTI
- WJUL