The sounds are cutting edge - alternative, death metal, R&B, rap, reggae, hip-hop, electric jazz - and a little country thrown in for good measure. It's college radio, WIXQ-FM 91.7 Millersville to be exact, and this year marks a quarter century since the station's humble beginnings as an AM carrier current operator in the basement of the Witmer Infirmary, transmitting only to the school dormitories.

Caption: Steve Houdeshel mans the controls at WIXQ - the year, 1978.

Now a 150-watt FM station broadcasting from new (albeit still subterranean) digs in the Student Memorial Center, WIXQ has come a long, long way. Except for the noticeably young faces and the book bags tossed into chairs and corners, this could be any commercial radio station, its people focused and professional, its equipment high tech.

The state-of-the-art studio and its identical training facility have been custom-made by Nelson Keperling, who has been the station's consulting engineer for the past 12 years. Keperling, who owns a radio and television repair shop, says that his main interest has always been in radio and broadcasting. It has been WIXQ's good fortune that his interest and expertise have been directed at the station. "One of the first things that I did," Keperling says, "was to apply to the FCC for a power increase to 150 watts. Then around 1986 or '87 we converted everything to stereo." The next major step for Keperling was building the new studio, which he did virtually by hand in his garage to save the station money. "It was supposed to be my summer project," Keperling says. But it was November, 1991, before the equipment could finally be installed in its present quarters.

Caption: Nelson Kepperling, the stations consulting engineer for the past 12 years, built most of the stations present studio by hand in his garage to save money.

Dr. Ralph Anttonen - aka "Doc Roc" - has been the station's adviser since 1979 and can bear witness to the station's steady growth and development. Many would argue he is the driving force behind its success. Anttonen himself takes no credit. "The kids run it," he says simply. "I am strictly an adviser. I have no vote." Yet his daily involvement at the station is a given, as he ambles in around 11 a.m., greeting each person by name. "Kids always energize you," he says. His presence in a room has that effect, too.

Caption: Part of today's crew at WIXQ - Vince D'Ambrosio, station manager; Jamah "J-Force" Williams, Steve Weaver and Ralph Anttonen, adviser.

Diversity and the spontaneity are the defining elements of college radio, according to Anttonen. "The kids are always way ahead of everybody," he says. "They play the hits before they are hits." For that reason, he explains, new groups naturally seek out a college audience. "College radio stations are the testing grounds. We average 50 or 60 new CDs a week."

Caption: Going through the records at WMSR in 1973 are Jerry Beck (left) and Roberto Jenkins.

As far as the spontaneity is concerned, Anttonen admits it can lead to some loose ends. "But the beauty as I have seen it, " he says, "is it always works out. Kids have an amazing ability for making it work."

Rich Thomas, WIXQ's program director and Vince D'Ambrosio, the station manager, hold the major responsibility for making it work.

"Our strength this year," says Thomas, "is willing, hungry deejays who really want to be on the air. So there is a lot of competition to get better slots."

Thomas, who hopes to establish a career in radio after he graduates this spring, is in charge of all on-air time slots and public service announcements, and must constantly monitor the quality of the station's programming.

Thomas says he is not daunted by the stiff competition in the profession. He may even strike out for California. "If there is one thing I have learned at WIXQ," he says, "it's that you have got to go against the odds."

"College radio is a place where you can experiment with ideas," says D'Ambrosio, whose main responsibility as No. 2 man at the station is the training of new deejays. "I have listened to every show this semester," he says. He admits there have been some trouble makers in the past, but both he and Thomas are pleased with the current crop of deejays. "You learn quickly who's serious and who's not," D'Ambrosio says. "Occasionally, people don't come back."

"College radio provides a little place where you can experiment and learn and make mistakes," Anttonen interjects, "and not get totally clobbered." Yet it is serious business too. " We have a good taste policy," he says. "We are governed by the same FCC rules as commercial radio station. Everyone is responsible for his or her on-air behavior and we encourage everyone to preview their music. There is and executive council of about seven students who run the station. It is made up of the station manager, program director, music director, AM director, news director, sales director, and educational director."

Like its commercial counterparts, WIXQ is the sum of its individual on-air personalities. Jamah Williams - air name "J-Force" - worked to get rap music firmly entrenched at the station. Williams, who is a senior and a co-captain of the MU varsity football team, has been with the station since he was a sophomore. He saw a potential audience for rap and began establishing contacts with record companies to get materials. While he acknowledges the controversy surrounding this musical form, Williams will tell you with a straight face that for the most part, rap is getting a bad one. "A lot of rap is just story-telling," he contends. "The artists are just telling what is really going on."

William's show has been tremendously popular with students, and he receives up to five CDs a day from companies trying to promote new music and artists. He considers his experience at the radio station a natural tie-in to his studies in communication and business marketing.

Business major Heather Musselman shares a spot with Mary Kane playing strictly country music called "Country Juke Box." Musselman sought out work with the station just for the learning experience. "But it has been a lot of fun, too," she says now. "Since we are the only country format, we can play whatever we want." A spot having two deejays presents a different dynamic. Musselman and Kane, who are good friends off the air, seem to mix well. "We have developed the ability to play off each other," Musselman says. "And not that we are more comfortable with the equipment, we can relax and have fun with it."

Jamal Kenyatta Odem, who describes his midnight slot as slow R&B, has drawn a large following , both on campus and off. During the course of his show the station's phone lines are jammed with callers leaving good night messages for a special someone. These messages, which have been dubbed "tuck-ins" are a popular nightly ritual for college and high school students alike. "I think that's the good thing about college radio," Odem says. "You know you're actually getting through."

Anyone with a taste for nostalgia can tune in Saturday afternoons when Anttonen and his wife Judy - "Doc and Mama Roc" - dish up sounds of the '50s '60s and '70s with the ease and comfort of a favorite pair of slippers. "I always say I stopped at the Beatles," quips Anttonen, whose keen interest in the students seems not to extend to their current musical fare. Mama Roc, who handles the turntables like a pro, says she enjoys their weekly spot together, although the idea needed some selling by her husband at first. "He used to work with students," she says, "but they kept graduating and leaving him." This partnership, on-air and off, has been a successful long-term arrangement.

Caption: "Doc and Mama Roc" - aka Dr. Ralph Anttonen, WIXQ's adviser, and his wife Judy - serve up comfortable sounds of the 50s, 60s and 70s on their Saturday afternoon program.

Just as Doc and Mama Roc sign off with Johnny Mathis or the Supremes, Rich Rivera - "Rico" - quietly glides into the studio from his job in the city at a fast food restaurant. With a few minutes to spare, Rico deftly organizes his tapes and CDs, which he explains are the sounds of a free-style club or Latin club, with artists like Coro and Lizette Malendez.

The music, which Rico describes generically as Latin rhythms, is very popular with the Hispanic community in Lancaster. A Lancaster native and English major, Rivera draws listeners from the city as well as from the campus.

Caption: Deejay Rich "Rico" Rivera specializes in what he calls Latin rhythms, drawing listeners from the city as well as from the campus.

For all its current success, WIXQ owes much to the early players at WMSR-AM, who saw the station's potential for growth.

Caption: Jim Kresskey was in charge of news and sports at WIXQ's predecessor, WMSR-AM, during 1968, when the signal was still broadcast over the telephone lines to the residence halls.

Caption: Larry Everett is the only person identified in this 1973 photo of the WMSR-AM studio.

Terry Kile is paramount among those players. Joining the station his freshman year (1972), Kile helped initiate the early growth and change at the fledgling station. "At that time the men's basketball team at Millersville was in the NAIA championship," Kile remembers. He and fellow student Bob Zaborowski broke new ground by traveling to Kansas City to broadcast a play-by-play of the championship game back to the campus. The interest in sports got the ball rolling and drew new blood to the station.

"The job at the beginning of every year," says Kile, "was to attract incoming freshmen. "We were very serious about developing the station - to make it part of the intercollegiate broadcast system."

It was in 1975 that Kile, who was by then working part-time for WGAL-AM/FM, began to push for FM status. The cause was championed by Dr. Gary Reighard, vice president for student affairs. "I personally felt at the time," Dr. Reighard says, "that it would provide a greater opportunity for the students to learn from real life, over-the-air experience."

"From the inception of the paperwork to the engineering studies to the budgeting process, it took two years," Kile says. The 10-watt FM station signed on in September 1977, later boosting power to 100 and finally 150 watts. "From the beginning," he remembers, "It took on its own persona."

His interest in communication and the radio station kept Kile involved at Millersville even after graduation. He noted the station's progress under the advisorship of Ralph Anttonen. "Doc Roc has really taken the ball and run with it from the administrative side," Kile says, adding that Anttonen has fought for resources and essentially given the station its structure.

Kile's own career has evolved in the area of communication and media management, and he views his years at the radio station as an on-campus internship. "The work I did for college radio was definitely instrumental in getting me started in local commercial radio," he says.

His wife, Zoa Bashline Kile, had a similar experience. A student at Millersville from 1975 to 1979, Bashline Kile began working at the station as a freshman and was the first woman to become station manager at WIXQ. An art major who went on to a career in broadcast journalism, Bashline Kile says now, "I think I put more work into the radio station than I ever did in my classes." But she maintains the practical experience she gained was invaluable in her later jobs in radio and television. "I learned how to work, how to be an employee and an employer in small, but significant, ways. And I think it's still the case," she says. "If you can get some practical experience before you graduate, you have so much more going for you."

Caption: Zoa and Terry Kile, shown here with their children, Meredith and Taylor, were instrumental in developing the station's programming during the mid and late 70s.

Rob McKenzie ('84) became involved at WIXQ his sophomore year, when out of curiosity, he tagged along with a friend to see what the station was all about. By his junior year, McKenzie was elected to the position of sports director and parlayed his own interest in sports into some innovations that more sharply defined the station's sports broadcasting.

For a while McKenzie even toyed with the idea of a career in radio. "The reason I went to grad school was to continue with college radio," he says. Although McKenzie attended Penn State, he didn't become involved with college radio there. "But it got me back in school," he says. He received his Ph.D. from Cal-State, Bernadino in 1990. Now teaching speech/communication studies at East Stroudsburg University, McKenzie, who has never outgrown his love for college radio, is adviser to the university radio station.

"I think there are several thing that make it attractive," McKenzie says of college radio in general. "First, it breaks in new bands. It is the last bastion of how radio started out in this country." Also, he points out that it is the only type of station with real diversity today.

"If you listen for 24 hours," McKenzie maintains, "you can hear about every type of mistake." But he adds that it is exactly this type of amateurish quality that is so refreshing and draws a wide listening audience. For his part, McKenzie says his years at WIXQ helped him develop competence, confidence, and a good sense of humor. "Most important," he says, "it was the most fun club on campus." Known as "Mr. Rob" during his radio days at Millersville, McKenzie says he is probably remembered most for always playing the Rolling Stones, still his all-time favorite group.

Many Millersville grads cut their teeth at WMSR or WIXQ and went on to careers in commercial radio. Tom Richards, WROZ deejay, was at the station from 1975 to 1977. "We had a late night spot called 'The Nightmares,'" Richards remembers. "We were part of the group that fought to get the FM station, but never had the chance to be on it." Richards has worked in radio for the past 17 years and is also an assignment editor for WGAL-TV.

Keith Ranck '91 worked his way up at WIXQ from promotions director and finally station manager in his senior year. Now the midday man at WIOV-FM, Ephrata, Ranck says his experience at the Millersville radio station locked in his career choice. As he puts it, "IXQ was the definitive reason why I got into broadcasting."

Caption: Again, it's before the Big Chill - 1973 to be exact - and the WMSR staffers shown in this photo are (left to right): Charlie Ricci, Dave Wanner, Tim Steeley, Don Murtaugh, Tina Koch and Bev Kline.

As WIXQ has grown and diversified over the years, its listening audience has grown and diversified with it. But, for those who hesitate because heavy metal's just too heavy, and alternative's just not their thing, tune in on a quiet Sunday afternoon. You just might catch a little of Nat King Cole's "Stardust." The element of surprise - that's the beauty of college radio - that and the irrepressible energy and enthusiasm of youth.

Caption: WIXQ-FM: 25 years of serious fun.

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