Many students who were fortunate enough to work and train at KSUL have gone on to work in all aspects of radio. This page is an attempt to show the value of a radio lab that was taken from the students of CSULB to be replaced by, questionably, "the most listen to Jazz station in America," a station that has been in debt to the University for most of it's existence, alienated CSULB radio alumni and degraded the Radio/TV/Film degree.
Visit the KSUL Alumni page to find out about the status of you're favorite KSUL staff member.
Today, just a few miles from the campus of CSULB, the spirit of KSUL continues at WPMD.
WPMD on the Internet and WPMD-AM 1700 originates from the campus of Cerritos College, Norwalk, California, home of the best college radio curriculum in Southern California. WPMD features an eclectic programming mix of news, talk, sports and music, presented by students, Cerritos College community members and radio professionals. Professor of Communications, Craig Breit built WPMD using KSUL as a model. Craig was a former General Manager for KSUL while a student at CSULB. Currently, former KSUL staff members Dennis Clare and Mike Stark both are involved in the WPMD operation.
If you were a student who worked or listened to KSUL send your E-mail address to mikestark@mikestark.net for information about an upcoming KSUL reunion.
1975 KSUL Staff Photo
KSUL was the student
run campus radio station at California State University Long Beach. It was a lab
for radio students, a voice for the University and an outlet for new music in
the mid-70's and early 80's. In 1980, the university, then under the leadership
of former California Congressman Steve Horn, decided to acquire, from Long Beach City College, KLON. Horn's administration felt that a new "professional" station would bring prestige to the campus and that the student station would have to go. Radio students fought to the end to keep KSUL on the air, sighting the valuable training that the station provided. Friday, March 20, 1981, KSUL left the air. The following is an editorial that appeared in the Long Beach Independent Press Telegram the following week:
Do you remember the sick feeling you had the day of your high school
graduation? The way you could hardly hold back the tears? As you looked
around, you couldn't help but think that you might never see some of your
friends again.
Six years after that, I can say I've been through something worse. It
happened last Friday Night.
Although not many people knew it, the Cal State Long Beach radio station,
KSUL, went off the air. I was part of that station for my three years as a
student, and for a year after I graduated. I was attached to it because of
the energy within the students on the staff. You couldn't help but admire
and
love them. Some were better than some Los Angeles professionals.
Here we were, trying to get into a business in which it is extremely
difficult to "make it", especially in this area. Yet countless hours were
put
in every day by the students working at KSUL. The last disc jockey didn't
leave until after 1 a.m. What kept them going was love for the station, the
feeling of contributing to a winning effort, and the hope of turning this
opportunity into a successful career.
Today, for most of these members, that chance is gone. And they weren't
able to do anything about it.
Many of them were at KSUL for the last evening on the air. As it got
closer
to 1 a.m., when we knew KSUL would be going off the air for good, the laughs
and smiles and all the one-liners ended. The faces were sad. There were
lumps in throats. Some people were crying.
The last song was the Doors' tune "The End".
The students knew the station purchased by Long Beach State, KLON, was
strictly public affairs radio, now to be run by the administrators. No
chance
to unleash the musical creativity inside. No chance to get the invaluable
experience of being on the air. It reminded me of the days when rock radio
first became popular and the adults revolted against what the kids thrived
on.
The Long Beach State administrators may not have thought that the KSUL
staff
knew much about radio programming. If so, they were dead wrong. But the
only
way they would have ever known was to have been there to see the students
practicing in production rooms and not quitting until it sounded right, or
listening over and over to tapes for flaws to correct. That takes inner
drive, incentive, and love.
That's all gone, and so is the staff that ran one of the best college radio
stations in the state.
J.D. Morrison
Long Beach
See a "scan" of the above
"letter to the editor" by clicking here.
KLON (now KKjZ) became the premier jazz station for Southern California, with students
being relegated to intern positions. The Radio/TV/Film department became "Film
and Electronic Arts" and slowly phased out most radio classes. The Radio classes
that remained soon became "Audio" courses, focusing on sound for TV and Film.
Articles from various publications about the "demise" of KSUL:
Daily 49er Editorial - 1/26/1981
1977 KSUL Staff Photo
1980 program guide with "where are they
today?" notations.......
2006 KSUL On the Air Reunion (mp3) - includes clips from the stations history.
2006 Reunion
MORE TO COME.....STAY BOOKMARKED AND TUNED........