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MICHAEL GOETHE
MOVINO ITS GROOVES
AFTER U YEARS
the clock struck midnight on
Wednesday, Dec. 11 in the DJ
booth at WUOG, a motley crew
of students, faculty and alumni from the last
36 years gathered together to celebrate the
end of a great era in the station's history.
With a collective shout of "90.5 is WUOG
Athens!" the nostalgic crowd of past and pres
ent disk jockeys and staff members identified
the station over the air for the last time at its
original home on the fifth floor of Memorial
Hall. Over the winter break, WUOG will be
transferring its operations from Memorial Hall
to the Tate Center, ushering in the beginning
of a new chapter in the life of the station at
the start of the spring semester.
Amid the revelers was alum Lee Echols, the
station's programming director from 1981-
1982, who learned some shocking news dur
ing a conversation with some current WUOG
student executives. "You guys have never been
on the roof?" asked Echols, "Until you've done
that, the station isn't really part of your soul."
It's this kind of adventurous free-spiritedness
that has characterized Wuoggers since the
station's first broadcast in 1972. But don't
worry, even if this generation's Wuoggers
haven't scaled Memorial's treacherous peak,
they've still found ways to become one with
their 26,000-watt soulmate. In fact, the mark
they've left on the station is literally written
on the walls.
An abundance of amateur graffiti, gener
ally drawn using the timeless sharpie-on-wall
technique, covers the DJ booth from floor to
ceiling, and depicts any number of subjects
including an inexplicably angry muffin, a
plethora of creative tags left by bands that
have passed through, and even a lengthy mus
ing about the sexual orientation of Death.
The crudeness and simplicity of the scene is
definitive of the WUOG lifestyle and philoso
phy that has developed over the years. It
represents authentic college radio at its finest;
smart, unapologetic and, above all, concerned
with putting the music first.
But with the imminent move looming over
the upcoming months, Wuoggers and listeners
alike are wondering if the transition will hurt
WUOG's reputation as one of the last remain
ing sources of pure, independent college radio
in the nation.
To assuage any fears felt by the commu
nity, Sarah Colombo, the station general man
ager, stated in an open letter to Flagpole last
week that WUOG "will continue to bring you
as much college radio debauchery as you can
handle—we will just be doing so from a new,
less aloof, position."
The move is a result of departmental reor
ganization by the university in preparation for
the upcoming completion of the Tate Center
expansion. WUOG's current location
will be reallocated as office space for
the UGA Student Services department.
However sacrilegious that may seem, the
new WUOG site at the Tate Center does
offer many distinct advantages over the
current digs, the greatest of which are
increased visibility and recognition.
One of the main issues plaguing
WUOG in recent years has been the
struggle to maintain station philosophy
while increasing listenership and interest
within the student body and the greater
Athens community. Many university stu
dents and Athenians are predisposed to
stereotype WUOG as an "elitist" media
outlet due to the station's strict music
philosophy, which is designed to give
exposure to lesser known local and
national artists by prohibiting the rota
tion of any songs that have reached the
Billboard Top 200.
By relocating to a more modern,
highly trafficked area of campus, the
WUOG staff will be able to establish the
station as a growing, evolving entity of
the university in the eyes of the student body
while gaining access to newer technology and
shedding any misconceptions about the goals
of the station's philosophy. Increased vis
ibility, enhanced by the clear glass walls that
will separate the new location from the main
lobby of the Tate Center, will hopefully lead
to greater interest and listenership, allowing
WUOG to take large steps forward in its quest
to more thoroughly serve the student body the
freshest, most notable new music the world
has to offer.
New: that's the key word, really. All of the
volunteers at WUOG, from the highest mem
bers of the executive board to the greenest
freshman DJs, can appreciate the value of
something new. They understand the worth of
something exciting, something unexpected,
something risky and uncertain. The station
was founded on the belief that the public
should always have access to a source of new
media that other outlets fail to deliver, and
with that in mind, the Wuoggers responsible
for making this transition will undoubtedly
continue to put the music first as they settle
into their new home. And with any luck, the
next 36 years will bejust as entertaining as
the last.
Cameron Raines
WUOG alums share memories at Memorial Hall.
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DECEMBER 17, 2008 ■ FLAGPOLE.COM 19