KSUL Alumni
Kim Amidon – KUTE, 1983-84; KHJ, 1984-85; KRTH, 1985. Currently: Mornings – Mark & Kim– KOST 103.5 – since 1985 – The longest running morning show team in LA Radio history.
“To be on the radio you need to do it. KSUL provided that opportunity for me and I will always be grateful for that.”
Mike Ballinger (Mike Modern) – "For those of you who weren't in the know, the whole radio scene for me was a self indulgent sham. After winning three consecutive and very prestigious Golden Mike Awards, I turned my back on radio forever. I went on to study dentistry at the University of the Pacific in San Francisco, graduated in 1987 and went on to immediately win the first of many Golden Tooth Awards the very next year. Really."
"I returned to SoCal and set up practice in Huntington Beach, where I still have my office today. I live behind the Orange Curtain as always but moved further south to Laguna Hills 3 years ago. My wife Robyn and I have 2 kids, a son whose 13 and a daughter whose 10. Their lives are my call to duty: coaching NJB Basketball / Scoutmastering for the Boy Scouts / Screaming senseless advise from the sidelines at AYSO soccer games / eccetera, eccetera, eccetera. I still manage to get together with my garageband buddies regularly (two of which I have to credit with sparking my interest in college radio, as they were jocks at KUCI themselves). Don't worry though, none of it isn't anything I can't shake off any time I want to with little bit of serious introspective binge drinking. You know, like we all used to do at the Nugget before our shows. Now, Really!"
Opher Banarie – “After CSULB and one semester at KSUL, I struck out for the big world of software development. That took me to Northrup Electronics, where HR offered me $50 a month more to work in the typing pool rather than as a programmer! (Sheesh, labor was once expensive!)
After five years at Northrup and eleven at ARCO, with a few shorter gigs in between, I took up software consulting (it was that or move to Bangalor) and traveled the countryside. Seven years of that got me a million American Airline miles and a quick trip to divorce court.
Now I'm settling into a real office job in Rancho Bernardo (San Diego), but continue to live near my two daughters in Aliso Viejo (Orange County).”
Bill Banks - KNAC, 1976-95; Liberman Broadcasting 1995-2002.
Pat Barr
– Pat Barr is best-known for putting
the Doctors Who Care radio comedies together in the early '80's (KSUL's
twilight years). Following graduation, he produced the Weekend Watch
entertainment review program for Pasadena cable TV in 1983 and worked with
EZTV Video Gallery in West Hollywood. Returning to radio briefly to write and
direct several radio comedies at KCSN, he spent most of the '90's producing
videos while serving as the A/V Technician for Los Alamitos USD.
When not working on his website, he serves as a System Administrator for the
Windows and Macintosh computer network at South Pasadena USD.
Craig Breit - teaching classes in speech and media at Norwalk's Cerritos College for over 20 years.
Steve Buck – “I spent 23 years with AT&T as a communications technician, engineer, project manager, supplier manager, engineering manager, and long-term planner. I obtained a Master’s Degree in International Business from St. Mary’s College in 1991. I moved from Walnut Creek, CA in 1991 to Lawrenceville, Georgia where I currently reside with my wife, Michele, and her mother Kim. I am now under contract with ADC providing services to AT&T Optical Network Management Operations. Current hobbies are; home improvement and maintenance, golf, and motorcycling.”
Dave Burchett (Dave Randall) - came in 4th in this years LARadio.com listener poll for LA overnight radio personalities for his fine work on KRTH, ironically beating out KKJZ (no personality named) -- they came in 10th.
Jeanne Chappe - : KNAC, 1974-75; KROQ, 1977-78; KGAB, 1979-80; KBBQ, 1981-83. Now lives in New Mexico.
Dennis Clare - along with his duties at WPMD.org as operations director, is working for the ABC Radio Network on various shows including the nationally syndicated Al B. Sure "Secret Garden" show.
John Clark - KBLA, 1967; KNAC, 1972-76; KWST, 1977; KROQ, 1977-1979; KNX, 1988-1991; KFWB, 1999-2000; KHJ/TV 1983-1988. Currently: John uses his real name, Andrew Amador at KERO/TV in Bakersfield.
John “J” Curtis – “I’m currently in commercial real estate, got tired of working for a living, and quit the broadcasting world in ‘04. Last gig was at a local station in San Luis Obispo, doing some engineering work and voice for spots and promos. I did voice over work from ‘85-03. Hope to hear from you and would love to know if there’s another reunion.”
"One of the KSUL Newsies entered me in the CIPA (CA intercollegiate press asso.)finals for best DJ segment and I took 2nd in the state. Didn’t know it until after the fact and a little gold card showed up in my box. I guess they took an aircheck and entered it. Whether in jest or genuine I don’t know. Still it was a hoot getting it. That was an experience I’ll never forget, along with the very patient fellow broadcasters.
Jim Debaun – “I spent 13 years in the radio business, mostly in Indiana. I was a music director at a 50,000 watt FM rocker in Terre Haute, Indiana - the most powerful station between St. Louis and Indianapolis. I had the time of my life. I was also program director at WAXY in Rockville, Indiana. I came back to California in 1988 to teach radio/TV production for Long Beach Unified School District. In 1996 I went full time at Disneyland Security where I specialized in K-9 work.”
Kevin Glenn – “I have an abbreviated bio about me on our company's website....Go to http://www.videocam.net, after the animated intro click on "About", then "Client Team", then my name. You'll recognize the ugly mug. My stint at KNAC was from 1985 – 1987 - first year as Promotions Director and the next two years as Coop Advertising Director.”
“Let's forget that I worked at KLON, though I did as a board operator starting when they were at LBCC and until I graduated in 1983. Hey, it paid, it was almost radio, and it was on campus. I'll never forget the time the phone rang on a Sunday morning. It was Ken Borgers yelling at me for running a news story (produced by Luke the news guy in-house) where a guy scaled the side of a building in New York -- we recorded us singing the Spiderman theme song and ran the bed under the news story. :-)”
“I worked in the art business selling fine art for a gallery chain from 1987-1989.”
“My closest, lifelong friends came from my KSUL experience. The rest of my KSUL experience you've heard a million times from all of us. Nothing in my educational history was had more impact on my life. The many trips to Bob Soto's van also had a major impact, what I can remember of them.”
Mike Haile - 20 years at WKIO, Champaign, Illinois. Currently morning man at WHMS, Champaign, Il. From the WHMS website Mike writes:
"I have truly been blessed to have the opportunity to do what I do all these years. My father took me down to WHB Radio in Kansas City when I was five and from there I was hooked on a radio career. While a junior in high school, I was hired by the late Chuck Norman, a St. Louis broadcast legend, to work weekends on WGNU-FM. After graduation from high school I moved to California and got a degree at Cal State Long Beach. During my time in college I had the good fortune to work at KWOW in Pomona both on and off the air. It was there I got a real interest in the program management side of the business. After graduation I traveled around the country working with automated stations for Bloomington based Systems Marketing Corporation. Then it was another stop in California working at KFI and KRLA. I came to Champaign in the Spring of 1978 to work a group of stations that included K-104. Twenty-two years later I made the move to be a part of the team Stevie Jay put together here at WDWS/WHMS.”
“This is a special place to work as we continue our morning show that this year celebrates 28 years on the air. We are so lucky to have a terrific audience that has welcomed us every morning in their homes, at work or in the car. The rest of my day is balanced between my management responsibilities inside our building, being a part of a number of philanthropic projects as well as life at home with my wife Linda, daughter Jennifer and son Christopher.”
Thanks again for starting your day with Brian Barnhart, Carol Vorel, Dave Loane, Dave Shaul, Greg Soulje, Tony Clements and me."
Bob Harden - I was on staff at KSUL from 76-79. I spent a semester as Continuity Director and a year as Sports Director, along with a regular DJ shift for 3 years. I spent about three years doing various audio production and radio jobs after graduating in '79 and then decided to go to computer school. Today I live in Orange County, manage a group of computer programmers, and would rather be doing audio / radio work. I just couldn't figure out how to make a good enough living doing it.
John Hays – “I've been writing scripts (for no money! -- though one is currently a semi-finalist in a screenwriting competition) and working as a sound person on movies, TV, commercials and documentaries”
Ellen (Walker) Hoffman (Amber Rose) –“I have a 21 year old son in his soph year at UCI. I'm married for the 2nd time, happily this time, live in West Garden Grove, and still only about 15 min. from CSULB. I am in my 18th year of teaching Kindergarten for Garden Grove Unified School District.”
Phil Hulett – KLOS, 1981; KABC, 1981-85; KHTZ, 1984; KEZY, 1984; KNAC, 1985-94; KJAZ, 1994-96; KBIG, 1997. Currently: News Anchor KFWB 980, Public Address Announcer NHL Mighty Ducks
Tim Keenan - Owner of Creative Media Recording in Cypress California, an audio production company primarily serving video producers and business. Tim has now worked there over 30 years and owned the company for 28. For eight years Tim served on the Cypress City Council including two terms as Mayor. He offers a Voice-over workshop with KRTH's Sylvia Amerito. More information on the workshop can be found at: http://creativemediarecording.com
Steve Kindred - KMNY, 1987-89; KFWB, 1989-present. "I too worked at KSUL. First as a student while attending CSULB in the late 70's,..then later when it was KLON under Nick Roman. Currently I am afternoon anchor on KFWB News 980"
Rick Lewis – KWVE, 1981; KEZY, 1982; KMET, 1983-86; KPWR, 1986; KMET, 1986-87; KEZY, 1987-90. Currently: Mornings “Lewis & Floorwax” – KRFX “The Fox” 103.5
Valerie (Boolootian) McCaffrey – Casting Director, Producer.
Terri Moore - Terri hosted the Weekend Watch cable TV series for AVI in Pasadena in 1983 and began working in public relations the following year. She currently lives with her family in Riverside.
Marcy Morrison
- After graduation, Marcy Morrison interned in the KNXT (now KCBS) news
department when their best-known anchor was Connie Chung. The mid 1980's found
her living in the San Francisco Bay area where she landed a position with FRN.
The small, Christian radio network has been a generous employer, allowing her
to work from the home she shares with her radio-exec hubby, Matthew and
daughter, Madeline (born in 1994).
Currently studying interior decorating, she, like most of us, tries to keep a
youthful outlook, despite occasional lapses. "Last night I witnessed perhaps
my surest sign of middle age yet." she related in 2002, " I dreamt I was
Kristi Yamiguchi's mother."
Kevin O’Brien – “My experiences at KSUL and Long Beach State helped me land my first pro job in Radio shortly after graduating: as a DJ and sportscaster in Las Vegas, calling UNLV basketball from the late 70’s through the early 80’s [editor’s note: That first job came as a result of a recommendation from legendary Laker announcer Chick Hearn after hearing Kevin do sports on KSUL], covering pro boxing, tennis, golf and auto racing for ABC, becoming Program Director for the station, and winning the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association award in 1980. While I’m proud of the work, I know that the opportunities that the school and KSUL presented played a huge role in helping build the skills and confidence I needed to get my career started.”
“Starting with my first KSUL air shift in September 1975, and moving through several markets, I’ve now been involved with Radio for almost 29 years in positions ranging from the ones I’ve already listed to Account Executive, General Sales Manager, Director of Sales, General Manager and, since starting Broadcast Adventures, Inc., as a radio sales and management consultant with clients across the U.S. and in Canada.”
“I still love Radio and know that without KSUL and the Radio-TV/Film department at CSULB I might never have had the chance to find that out.”
John Palminteri – Currently: KEYT-TV reporter, KJEE 92.3 & KCLU 102.3 News Anchor, KFWB 980, Santa Barbara correspondent.
Michelle Petersen Palmer
- I transferred to CSULB from LBCC in 1979 and started
taking journalism and radio/tv classes. I joined the KSUL news team with Marcy
Morrison, Dave Burchett, John Palmenteri and others. I have many fond memories
(some a little fuzzy). I do remember I filed the station’s first (and perhaps
only) international news report from Zimbabwe. My funniest memory was when Marcy
and I decided to co-anchor a newscast. I think Kevin Glenn was DJ at the time.
One of us had a Freudian slip and we started to lose it. Kevin tried to get us
to pull ourselves together by telling us to “stop laughing”, which only made
matters worse. We both then totally lost it and ducked under the counter leaving
Kevin (or whoever it was) to explain what had happened…
I continued on at KLON as a reporter and then news director for 7 years. I then
transitioned into PR and worked with the Long Beach Convention & Tourism Bureau,
Paine&Associates and Esprit Communications before starting my own PR consulting
business – Petersen Public Relations. In 2004, I was diagnosed with breast
cancer and that was a huge wake up call for me. I’m coming up on my 7-year
survivor anniversary! I am now a stay-at-home mom living outside Austin, Texas
with my husband Michael and my son Ryan (11) and Gracie (8). My oldest son, Rob
(18) chose to stay in California.
Kevin Poore - “After years in corporate America (lastly @ Directv as a Director) six years ago I began doing creative stuff full time. I have 3 novels available (buy a copy won’t you?), write features for a few local magazines and monthly reviews for AVREV.com (the #1 audio/visual web site in the world). I’ve co directed two incredibly stupid animated movies, written for film, scored (music) various projects and none of this good stuff would have happened if 25 years ago I’d have been signed (as part of a sick comedy duo) to write and perform comedy bits for a local show (they decided to go with an Erma Bombeck style thing instead of me, SUCKERS!). I live in Long Beach. My wife is much more successful than I am and that’s good else we’d only eat on Wednesdays.”
Rocky Principé - Currently can't be located. A KSUL program director that went on to work at several LA radio stations including "Ten-Q". Clck here to read an LA Weekly article about Rocky's influences while working at KSUL.
Leif Reich - Instructional Design - MA '77 is an instructional designer for a division of Boeing Aircraft Company in Long Beach.
Ellen (Glassock) Reiner – After working in Paris in the 1980's, she traveled extensively in the South Pacific. "I moved to Australia in August 1986 with two suitcases and a tourist visa. Nearly 20 years later, I am married (1990 California) with two children - Max (1991- 14 yrs) and Naomi (1993 - 12 yrs) and have dual citizenship. We've lived in Queensland the whole time - the first 14 years on the Sunshine Coast, north of Brisbane and the last 6 years further north in Mackay - 'Gateway to the Whitsunday Islands' ". Her husband, Ric, is a doctor.
Jeff Sanders – Jeff joined KSUL in the Chris Ervin era of the late '70's. He served as Production Director and can be heard on a few episodes of the Lunacy Lane comedy show.
Jeff and his family recently relocated to the Simi Valley after living in Santa Barbara for a while and, time permitting, performs at local venues on acoustic guitar. You can learn more about Jeff than you may have wanted to know by visiting his homepage.
Paul Sakrison – Currently: Director of Engineering – KFWB 980 & KNX 1070
Chet Simmons - "I had the dubious distinction of being the last station manager of KSUL-- before the folks in the white towers egos got the better of them. Luckily, the few who loved the medium, Dr. Balen the Bohemian, among them, taught me enough to land a job writing for CBS before the ink had dried on my diploma. From there I became copy supervisor for the Federated Group. Yes, the world of advertising seemed like a silly way to make a living, so I became a creative."
"As luck would have it, I put much of my knowledge to work gained at KSUL and climbed the corporate ladder. Owing to the entrepreneurial spirit that KSUL fostered in creating something out of almost nothing, I went on to open a small production company. I've been doing it for a number of years...they do seem to fly by... "
"f I had a title today, I guess you could say, I'm a Producer/Director with a passion for the ever changing world of media. KSUL was instrumental in making it happen. Yes, I'm sure the current radio station offers exciting internships. But there is a difference between interning and actually being in charge."
Ray Siri – “I've been back in San Francisco for about 15 years now after spending 12 in the radio business in Texas and Washington, D.C., I've been in the bar/restaurant business predominately since then and I do quite a bit of carpentry on the side. It beats wearing a suit!”
Bob Soto - Currently can't be located. Bob was the final jock on the air at KSUL His last known location was as a part-time producer at KABC-AM.
Mike Stark – KNAC, 1989-95 Currently: Producer, nationally syndicated, Tom Joyner Morning Show – since 1995.
“It was the "radio lab" setting of KSUL that made that station something people still want to celebrate 25 years later.”
Gena Stinnett - did some DJ-ing in the late '70's. She can pick-up the story from there: "I was a Special Major-- Radio/Television Production and Engineering. I took courses in radio and TV (but not film) and IA courses in electronics - the best combination I could create to qualify myself in the up and coming area of electronic broadcasting. I graduated in 1979, worked for KNBC-TV and then KABC-TV as a videotape editor for their local newscasts. I was elected President of NABET-CWA Local 57 in 1994." (The National Assn. of Broadcast Employees & Technicians represents people employed in the technical world of broadcasting.)
Daryl Supernaw - owns an ad agency in Long Beach
Clint Webber - "The KSUL experience
remains one of the most special times of my life. There's a saying I read once
that says that we have many acquaintances in our lives but few friends. That
has certainly been true for me. The one period in my life where I've met and
truly "bonded" with a group of people was during my time at Cal State Long
Beach's KSUL. The chemistry between all of us was, in a word, magical. I've
honestly never felt that kind of kinship since (no regrets!)."
"After graduation, I managed one professional gig: One year in Eagle Pass,
Texas as DJ, commercial voice-over announcer and production advisor (thanks,
Ray Siri). Unfortunately, that was it for my radio career. From there it a few
years in retail followed by almost 20 years as handprint wallpaper craftsman
for one of the finest wallpaper companies in the country (Bradbury.com)."
Gloria Wong - An enthusiastic actress, Gloria was the second to play Barbara in the Doctors Who Care series. Her on-air D.J. name at KSUL was Suzi Creamcheese (after a Frank Zappa character) and she went by the name of Sue Mink on KNAC in the early 1980's. Ever-ready for adventure, she played alongside Rick Leddy as a beatnik in John Hays' "Death Sentence" in 1984. Sue (yeah, the name stuck) lives in Southern California with a husband and one kiddo.
Steve Zepeda – LA Music promoter