Displaced DJs look to Administration for help

Seeking to reverse the recent programming overhaul implemented by their station's executive board, WYBC members have taken their case to the Administration. On Mon., Jan. 19, the heads of the three formats jettisoned by WYBC's new programming schedule met with Dean of Student Affairs Betty Trachtenberg and Assistant Dean Philip Greene to ask for their intervention.

LIZ OLINER/YH WYBC DJs met Dean Betty Trachtenberg in an effort to reverse the station's format change.

"The deans support us and feel our complaints are justified," former Frequency format head Christine Michalopoulos, TC '98, said. "But they could step in only if violations of the station's bylaws had occurred."

If enough student DJs resign in protest over the executive board's actions, the station would find itself in violation of its own bylaws. Since WYBC rules state that the station's overall membership must strike a 3:2 ratio of students to non-students, a walk-out could force the station to dissolve.

"It's a last resort, but it's a definite power we have," Frequency member Sean Collins, CC '00, said. General Manager Mike Corwin, however, SM '99, disagreed: "If the ratio were thrown off, it would just mean that no community members could come on until the balance was restored," he said. Still, Greene affirmed that "if students walked out en masse and the proportion of students dropped below 60 percent, the administration would be compelled to do something."

Michalopoulos and other opponents of the executive decision also protest that they currently do not have access to a list of the station's student members, though such a list must be maintained according to both WYBC bylaws and FCC regulations. "That list is a public document and should be made available to us," Michalopoulos said. Both Corwin and Greene affirmed that the tally of students is in the process of being compiled.

To WYBC members disgruntled about the executive board's decision, the student membership list is important not only as a bargaining chip in winning the Administration's active support, but also as a means of impeaching program director Emad Abdelnaby, DC '99. Abdelnaby's removal from the board requires a three-fourths majority vote, which can only be made if an official tally of members is available.

Abdelnaby initiated the switch, effective Dec. 15, 1997, to the "contemporary hits radio," or CHR, format, a turnover that abolished timeslots for the Frequency (indie rock), Heritage (folk), and Blues formats. "Emad ostensibly controls programming, so it's our hope that if Emad is impeached then we can restore things to the way they were," Blues format head David Drewes, PC '98, said.

WYBC members allege that Abdelnaby repeatedly lied about imminent programming changes. Michalopoulos said, "Emad told me, `Christine, you have nothing to worry about,' when obviously we all had everything to worry about."

Abdelnaby defends both the executive board's decree and its same-day approach to informing the staff of the format change. "If we'd informed [the staff] a week in advance, we would have run the risk that DJs would be on the air trashing the station all week," Abdelnaby said. "If you have a disgruntled DJ using inappropriate language...you run the risk of losing your license. It's especially a risk with DJs who have a history of not following regulations."

Abdelnaby claims that Frequency DJs in particular were guilty of infractions, including "trashing the on-air studio" and failing to identify the station's call-letters at the beginning of each hour. The board wants to distance itself from what it considers unprofessional behavior of the past. Abdelnaby explained, "As of Dec. 14, if you were coming from WYBC, you were a joke. You wouldn't be taken seriously in the market. That's not the case anymore."

WYBC's new professionalism is inherent in its adoption of a consistent musical format, which executive members hope will appeal to Yale students and New Havenites alike. "There is a place for eclectic programming at college stations which receive school funding," Corwin said. "But we are a commercial station with an obligation to the community." Some DJs report that they have been dissuaded from saying "Yale" on the air. Still, Corwin cautioned, "Of course we're proud to be Yale-affiliated, and I would never tell anyone not to say `Yale.' We just have to be sure not to alienate our community listeners."

Many of WYBC's members have expressed suspicions that money is the motive behind the station's move to the CHR format. Several DJs speculated that the decision came as a result of pressure from classic-rock mainstay WPLR. WYBC has a joint selling agreement with WPLR, set to expire in 2000, under which WPLR sells for its own profit the college station's advertising in return for a sliding-scale payment.

"There's been lots of talk that these changes are driven by ratings and money," Abdelnaby said. He maintains that the payment scale is tilted so far in WPLR's favor that "our ad revenues could explode and we still wouldn't make out very much."

This is one reason why the board's decision is "a very weird move," according to Collins. "The whole reason we struck the deal with WPLR was so we could still have a few hours a day when challenging music could stay on the air," he said. "This is putting the cart before the horse."

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