Dan's Papers - August 17, 2007 - Radio Station, 1st Class, Lingers on the SUNY Southampton Campus

Wally Smith, the genial head of Long Island University's Radio Network, said that when they, WLIU, move from their palatial studios high atop the campus of Stony Brook Southampton, that's all they will leave "because if they left anything else behind, the new owners of the campus, SUNY "would cause us to throw everything out as they did with the clean-up of the campus at the end of the sale transaction" in October of last year.

This startling statement continues the seemingly never ending saga of Long Island University's pathetic history of inept and misbegotten behavior when the Southampton campus is involved. The day that Stony Brook University took control of Southampton College -- October 6, 2006 -- the campus was strewn with enormous piles of chairs, desks, file cabinets, book cases, pianos, athletic trophies, pool tables and hundreds of student files containing personal and financial records that never should have been left open to public scrutiny. Sadly, all of this could have been donated to some worthy organization in need of these serviceable items. Not to mention the electrical wiring and lighting fixtures torn from the ceiling of the auditorium. No one told LIU to chop up the pianos or toss the trophies into the trash pile. It was just pure malice.

WLIU, formerly the Southampton College radio station, has morphed from a small, campus-only (sometimes not even that), student-run basement startup in the early 1970s to a real, full-time station that features professional talent. It is on the air 365 days a year and has a signal that can be heard from Montauk through western Suffolk County and all the way into southern Connecticut. It broadcasts the best jazz around and, as a member of NPR and Public Radio International, broadcasts Morning Edition and Market place, as well as being the sole radio broadcast source for the News Hour with Jim Lehrer. It is one of the few remaining stations committed to a regular schedule of Jazz, Rhythm and Blues and music from the Broadway theater. It is a great station if you love good music. It is also the cause of constant personal conflict for me.

I love Jazz and the first thing I do when we arrive at the house in Southampton is turn on WLIU and listen to some music. On the other hand, it churns my stomach to know that LIU spent all that money to build and create that superb setting for those six sound studios. Half of the second floor of Chancellors Hall was created with the Radio Station in mind. It is a luxurious, glass-enclosed space that has the best view of the campus, a library, a conference room, six spacious broadcasting studios, a small kitchen and dinning area and lots of offices.

It is almost criminal to think that while the campus was literally falling apart, the grass was growing untended, equipment was left to rot for lack of funds to repair it, faculty was being cut to save funds and there was barely enough money to occasionally clean a classroom or a bathroom, the radio network did not have to skimp on anything.

No one at the radio station, to my knowledge, was laid-off due to the failure to raise money to help the college survive. There was no giant sucking sound of failure when the college was sold. Indeed, we were told at the time that the radio station had a separate budget from the college. But, the money still came from LIU. LIU found the money to keep the radio station going, pay all salaries, expenses and add new programs as the college floundered.

Agreements being what they are, WLIU will have to vacate the premises by September of 2009. The station head, Mr. Smith, is currently searching for a replacement site that is within fifteen air miles of the current location. The 25,000-watt broadcast tower will remain on campus as there is a negotiated eighteen-year contract for the use of the tower. Dr. Smith stated that the studios were constructed to be portable, so all the equipment will move with them to the new home. "Nothing will be left except the countertops and the carpet."

Dr. Smith said that nothing will change with the move, except, perhaps, the staff may not find the new facilities as convenient to reach. Listeners will not notice anything different, as the music and other programming will be the same. Only the source of the original microwave signal will be different. As far as listenership and contributions, he reiterated that there has been steady growth in both areas and the conflagration over the sale of the campus had little or no affect on either. Nor did he expect that it would have any affect in the future.

I for one disagree. I am loath to contribute anything to Long Island University, but again, it is a sad conflict. We do not want to the music to stop.

Stony Brook Southampton will take over the former radio station's space in September of 2009 and this time, I hope that students can use the space and enjoy the space that has been kept behind locked doors all these years.