Ideas of creating a Webcast in the honors program are in the talking stages.

“I’m not really doing anything right now other than just talking with some students in general to see what kind of interest there is,” said Dr. Jeff Martinek, assistant director of the honors program.

He said there have been efforts made at Missouri Southern over the years to develop a student program on 88.7 KXMS.

“I think the feeling [of the administration] is that it would be inappropriate,” Martinek said. “They would want it (KXMS) to represent the best and most professional face of Missouri Southern in the community. I can certainly understand that and support that.”

Martinek thinks Webcasting would be a way around that with the technology available now.

“You can do that on a single computer now and considering that we have Wi-Fi on campus,” Martinek said, “students could conceivably listen on their laptops.”

Martinek thinks in the next years, students could have the ability to listen through their cell phones.

“It is possible that you could have a podcast kind of situation where students could go to a computer lab,” he said, “and plug in their MP3 players and download their favorite shows and listen to them.”

He said Webcasting is an idea “worth exploring.”

“I’ve talked to some of the students that I know that I deal with through the honors program,” Martinek said, “and they’ve been interested in it. They are interested in hearing some alternatives to what’s on the regular radio.”

He said he would like to see something like Webcasting at Southern. As of right now, there is nothing formal.

“I haven’t spoken with [the] administration and haven’t done anything,” Martinek said.

As part of the Webcasting, Martinek said he is learning the technology aspects.

“It seems to me that it would be, from a technology perspective, pretty easy,” he said. “All you need is a little bit of server space and the OK of the administrators of the computer network here. You could really run it off a single PC.”

He said one could also have a semi-automated station with a large database of music and one could insert station identifications.

“Gradually, as you got more and more people involved you could substitute more and more live programming,” he said, “or conceivably nowadays students could create their own programs completely on their own laptops and then just come in and the station could just be a single computer where students created their programming using microphones and sound mixes and you just plug in and download it and put in the queue for programming.”

Martinek said some structure would have to be created in which cost and broadcast/webcast licenses would be determined.

“We would have to have a group of students who would want to form a club and get recognition,” he said. “It would have to be student effort.”

The school and students would benefit from this, Martinek said.

“It could certainly help getting more of a sense of activity and life on the campus,” he said.

Martinek is willing to be a sponsor for the club.

“We need some people who would really want to be ready to do it through the long haul and who would be willing to do some of the less glamorous work of getting it off the ground,” he said.

He said he is offering his own experience with student broadcasting as an undergraduate and graduate student.

“In both cases, I was lucky enough to be in schools that had stations where students could participate in their own programs,” he said.

Martinek said both schools had a main station like Southern’s station, but they also had a second station devoted to students, which was only available on campus.

“I remember in one situation it was you had to literally take your antenna off your radio and hook it up to like a pipe in the dorm room and get the station on the radio,” he said.

He said he had the chance to be a disc jockey.

“For me it was a great way to develop a speaking voice, to just learn to handle situations in which you have to be on top of things and be able to speak,” Martinek said.

“I think it’s both fun and educational.”

If any student is interested in participating in the Webcasting, contact Martinek at 625-9583 or e-mail him at [email protected].