KALA celebrates 40th birthday
Tara Wellman
Issue date: 4/9/09 Section: News
It was a big day for KALA radio. Celebrating 40 years of service to the St. Ambrose campus and the greater Quad City area, KALA held an open house to introduce students and staff to the latest improvements to the studio on Galvin's second floor.
"Basically, in the spring of 1969 is when KALA began regular operation," director of SAU's communication center Ken Colwell said.
It wasn't the first time the 40-year mark was celebrated, however.
"We had a 40th birthday [on the date] when we first got our license," KALA operations manager Dave Baker said. "But really, the station had kind of a rocky start back then because they didn't have the antenna right and there were a number of technical issues, that didn't get us going until 1969, right about now."
So now was the time to celebrate, and there were plenty of festivities to show off the station in action. SAU president, Sister Joan Lescinski, PhD, was on hand to cut the birthday cake and to celebrate with KALA supporters. With free CDs, posters and cookies, students and staff were drawn to the station where they were also given tours of the latest improvements to KALA.
"Our main purpose is to basically get the campus community - faculty, staff, students - to come on over and see what we've done in terms of remodeling, redecorating, upgrading of the equipment and also [to] be able to tell them about future plans in terms of the power increase that, hopefully, will happen this summer," Colwell said.
"I think on campus sometimes people wonder, 'What is KALA?'" Baker said. "We just want to talk it up."
Student interns were also around to help pull off the event - one they had a big part in planning. The interns prepared flyers, planned events and shopped for decorations to make things look festive.
"I think the benefit is letting the campus community know about KALA and the changes that we've undergone," intern Johnna Klossing said. "They've been doing a lot of work up here to improve the studio [and] they're just really trying to make a lot of positive changes."
"Basically, in the spring of 1969 is when KALA began regular operation," director of SAU's communication center Ken Colwell said.
It wasn't the first time the 40-year mark was celebrated, however.
"We had a 40th birthday [on the date] when we first got our license," KALA operations manager Dave Baker said. "But really, the station had kind of a rocky start back then because they didn't have the antenna right and there were a number of technical issues, that didn't get us going until 1969, right about now."
So now was the time to celebrate, and there were plenty of festivities to show off the station in action. SAU president, Sister Joan Lescinski, PhD, was on hand to cut the birthday cake and to celebrate with KALA supporters. With free CDs, posters and cookies, students and staff were drawn to the station where they were also given tours of the latest improvements to KALA.
"Our main purpose is to basically get the campus community - faculty, staff, students - to come on over and see what we've done in terms of remodeling, redecorating, upgrading of the equipment and also [to] be able to tell them about future plans in terms of the power increase that, hopefully, will happen this summer," Colwell said.
"I think on campus sometimes people wonder, 'What is KALA?'" Baker said. "We just want to talk it up."
Student interns were also around to help pull off the event - one they had a big part in planning. The interns prepared flyers, planned events and shopped for decorations to make things look festive.
"I think the benefit is letting the campus community know about KALA and the changes that we've undergone," intern Johnna Klossing said. "They've been doing a lot of work up here to improve the studio [and] they're just really trying to make a lot of positive changes."
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