1. KRLX-FM and Carleton College
Presented by Cameron Nordholm
Station Manager, KRLX-FM 88.1
June 22nd, 2005

2. Outline
1. Introduction
2. Part of the liberal arts
3. More than a “student org”
4. Our plans and direction
5. Why your help is necessary
6. Conclusion

3. Introduction
What is KRLX?
 A not-for-profit, educationally licensed FCC station
 Carleton College’s largest entirely student-run operation
 One of Carleton’s oldest institutions, founded in 1948
 Headed by the Board of Directors
 Open to all Carleton students, faculty, and staff
 A source for music and educational programming
 A community-oriented production unit with local news
and documentaries in its repertoire
 A tremendous resource for academic departments, other
student organizations, and the college itself
 Available worldwide

4. 1. Introduction
2. Part of the liberal arts
3. More than a student group
4. Our plans and direction
5. Why your help is necessary
6. Conclusion

5. Part of the liberal arts
Supporting academic departments
KRLX supports, with air time and / or production facilities, the
following academic departments at Carleton College:
 Political Science
 Music
 Theater
 Spanish
 Russian
 German
 Chinese
 Japanese
 Cinema and Media Studies
 African American Studies
 Environmental and Technology Studies

6. Part of the liberal arts
Supporting academic departments
“Producing [Recycled Air] has not only enhanced my
communication abilities, but it has introduced me to a
whole new side of Carleton I did not understand
before….
Hosting the radio show has taught me how to ask the
right questions…. I have started to make some big life
choices and I now am looking into radio journalism.”
- Emily Schwing, ‘06

7. Part of the liberal arts
Providing education & tools
 Journalism and research
 Pre through post production
 Public speaking and reading
 Introductory training program
 The KRLX Operator and Production handbook
 Classroom taught training sessions
 Professionally-taught seminars

8. Part of the liberal arts
Free thinking, free acting
 The liberal arts demand independent media
 Exercise the right to BE the media
 Completely independent and non-profit
 Local and regional music
 Independent news

9. 1. Introduction
2. Part of the liberal arts
3. M ore than a student group
4. Our plans and direction
5. Why your help is necessary
6. Conclusion

10. More than a student group
Broader reach
1. KRLX involves more students than any other
student group. Over 200 are involved every
week.
2. Skills learned in radio will reach into the professional
lives of those involved
3. KRLX is accessible by the Northfield Community, current
Carleton students, prospective students, alumni, and
anyone with a high-speed internet connection
4. Involvement, whether as a DJ, assistant engineer, news
production team member, periscope production, or
member of the board of directors, is open to all
5. As previously noted, KRLX currently or has recently
involved 11 academic departments

11. More than a student group
Campus-wide involvement
1642 258
Over 13%
of the student body
Students involved weekly
Non-KRLX students
F2004-S2005

12. More than a student group
Broader reach
1. KRLX involves more students than any other student
group. Over 200 are involved every week.
2. Skills learned in radio will reach into the
professional lives of those involved
3. KRLX is accessible by the Northfield Community, current
Carleton students, prospective students, alumni, and
anyone with a high-speed internet connection
4. Involvement, whether as a DJ, assistant engineer, news
production team member, periscope production, or
member of the board of directors, is open to all
5. As previously noted, KRLX currently or has recently
involved 11 academic departments

13. More than a student group
Real world experience
“My experience at KRLX made me comfortable with
public speaking, broadcast equipment & technology. Due
to this I received two coveted internships at Portland
radio.
I later went on to work for Portland's PBS station then for
Bloomberg News in New York. The broadcast
experience also helped me when I forayed into TV with
Bloomberg and with my current position at Reuters
News.
Without the access to KRLX and the experience I gained
there, I likely wouldn’t have the career I have now.”
- Chelsea Emery ‘91

14. More than a student group
Real world experience
“KRLX is a significant part of student life and the college
experience. It creates an outlet for students to grow
personally and professionally as it allows for the
development of skills students can apply to future jobs
when they leave Carleton. It does not matter if they
choose to have a career in radio.
I'm a social worker now and feel that I utilize the skills I
gained while a DJ on KRLX every day in my interactions
with others.”
- Kasia Augustine '00

15. More than a student group
Broader reach
1. KRLX involves more students than any other student
group. Over 200 are involved every week.
2. Skills learned in radio will reach into the professional
lives of those involved
3. KRLX is accessible by the Northfield
Community, current Carleton students,
prospective students, alumni, and anyone with
an internet connection
4. Involvement, whether as a DJ, assistant engineer, news
production team member, periscope production, or
member of the board of directors, is open to all
5. As previously noted, KRLX currently or has recently
involved 11 academic departments

16. More than a student group
FM coverage
KRLX is available over the public airwaves for the entire cities of Northfield
and Dundas. Including outlying rural areas, the 100 Watt signal reaches an
audience of roughly 27,000 citizens in the community
Northfield Population (2000) 17,127
FCC contour map

17. More than a student group
Connecting with community
“KRLX is a unique institution at Carleton. More so than
any other Carleton student activity, it reaches beyond the
campus and throughout the surrounding community.
In theory, non-Carleton folk could attend plays, movies,
art exhibits and such on campus, but they are not
normally advertised very much beyond the campus
community. Radio knows no boundaries. It reaches into
people's homes, cars and lives.
Radio provides a way to connect Carleton with the
surrounding area, be it Northfield, St. Olaf or Dundas.”
- Professor Daniel Bass ‘95

18. More than a student group
Internet listening
Internet listeners
Over 8,000 off campus listeners
reached in 15 months from 6
different continents
On Campus
Off Campus

19. More than a student group
Internet listening
Internet listeners
20000
18000
16000
14000
12000
10000
8000
58,32
listeners in 15 months
6000
4000
2000
0
0
Spring '04 Fall '04 Winter '05 Spring '05

20. More than a student group
Internet listening
Internet listeners
16,000
On Campus
14,000
Off Campus
12,000
10,000
8,000
6,000
4,000
2,000
0
Spring '04 Fall '04 Winter '05 Spring '05

21. More than a student group
Representing Carleton
“My name is Eric Rivas and I am a prospective Carleton
student from Waikiki. On Sunday night I was listening to
the Carleton radio station on the Internet and you played
a song that I fell absolutely in love with….
I want to work for KRLX if I am accepted to Carleton.
How difficult is it to get your own radio show? I eagerly
await a response! I love your radio station.”
- Erick Rivas, Prospective Student
Waikiki, Hawaii

22. More than a student group
Broader reach
1. KRLX involves more students than any other student
group. Over 200 are involved every week.
2. Skills learned in radio will reach into the professional
lives of those involved
3. KRLX is accessible by the Northfield Community, current
Carleton students, prospective students, alumni, and
anyone with an internet connection
4. Involvement, whether as a DJ, engineer, news
production team member, periscope production,
or member of the board of directors, is open to
all
5. As previously noted, KRLX currently or has recently
involved 11 academic departments

23. More than a student group
Broader reach
1. KRLX involves more students than any other student
group. Over 200 are involved every week.
2. Skills learned in radio will reach into the professional
lives of those involved
3. KRLX is accessible by the Northfield Community, current
Carleton students, prospective students, alumni, and
anyone with an internet connection
4. Involvement, whether as a DJ, engineer, news
production team member, periscope production, or
member of the board of directors, is open to all
5. As previously noted, KRLX currently or has
recently involved 11 academic departments

24. 1. Introduction
2. Part of the liberal arts
3. More than a student group
4. Our plans and direction
5. Why your help is necessary
6. Conclusion

25. Our plans and direction
Education, philosophy, and focus
 Emphasize and actively recruit professors and students
to host education-focused programming
 Share Carleton resources and values with the
community via the public airwaves
 Present the college in an accurate, positive manner
 Broadcast Carleton convocations, concerts, seminars,
and even selected classes live on-air
 Obtain a membership to Public Radio Exchange (PRX),
possibly in conjunction with the CAMS department
 Capture the classical music audience left by WCAL by
employing the music department to a greater extent

26. Our plans and direction
Information & delivery
 Install new information delivery computers in FM studio
 “Podcast” all production and news pieces to be on the
cutting edge of broadcast technology
 Upgrade our current internet streaming capabilities and
lay the foundation for the eventual shift towards time-
shift broadcasting and network delivery
 Create online to on-air community content delivery
service
 Aggressively advertise services to the school and
community

27. Our plans and direction
Facilities and resources
 Obtain additional production and office space
 Obtain wire news service for the news department
 Upgrade production computer system and add an
additional workstation
 Install computer-based playback systems to compliment
digital audio editing
 Install remote audio mixers and microphones
 Install audio switching capabilities for remote lines
 Install a transmitter controller & logging printer

28. 1. Introduction
2. Part of the liberal arts
3. More than a student group
4. Our plans and direction
5. Why your help is necessary
6. Conclusion

29. Why your help is necessary
Financial breakdown
Over 70% of KRLX’s annual budget goes directly to
engineers, legal representation, and equipment costs
Equipment
Engineering
Legal
Other
Funds allocated to KRLX-FM 2005-2006 by the
Carleton Student Association totaling $9,800

30. Why your help is necessary
We have fallen behind
 The KRLX budget, from 1985 to 2003, fell from over
$13,000 to just over $3,000
 This fall in the budget represents a loss of tens of
thousands of dollars that should have been used to
upgrade and repair equipment and facilities over the
years
 Streaming capabilities and digital audio editing were only
made possible by the Alumni Association
 KRLX is in need of digital audio delivery systems, a
reliable year round operation mechanism, and up to date
FCC logging equipment

31. 1. Introduction
2. Part of the liberal arts
3. More than a student group
4. Our plans and direction
5. Why your help is necessary
6. Conclusion

32. Conclusion
KRLX is important
 Academic support
 Educational training
 Real world experience
 Outreach into the community
 Independent, Carleton media
 A legacy

33. Conclusion
KRLX needs help
 Carleton radio must enter the 21st century with new
equipment and ideas in order to remain relevant
 A paradigm shift is now possible but must be backed by
a significant change in the way it is perceived by the
school, namely as more than just a student group
 We seek to implement capital improvements with the
help of the college and establish a set of costs that are
more appropriately funded by the college as they do not
fulfill specific student activity functions.

34. Thank you

35. Strategy for development
1. Build support for change
2. Formalize philosophical statement
3. Implement programming directives
4. Get the word out