KUSF's 30th Anniversary
KUSF keeps on keepin' on, sending rad signals our way - Photo, Charlie RussoThe workroom of KUSF, 90.3FM has always looked just this side of combustible. It's a second home to the radio station's new-music volunteers, a tightly packed DIY office space papered with band posters from top to bottom. Ancient desks are pinned against each wall, one holding a beat-down stereo. Two huge metal-hinged lockers loom in the corner, monoliths stickered beyond recognition with archeological layers of rock 'n' roll's past. I stare at them and try to remember the exact location of a Barkmarket sticker I myself put up more than 15 years ago. No dice.
Down the hallway — KUSF is crammed into a lone walkway in the basement of Phelan Hall on the University of San Francisco campus — Program Director Trista Bernasconi is helping a cultural producer get his next show sorted out. Platinum records hang on the walls behind her, a reminder of the respect the noncommercial station has commanded from the musical community since its inception in 1977.
But high-caliber programming was almost no match for the university's management, which sought to sell its license in 2006. "Last year the university tried to sell us, and their main thing was that we were not connected to the students," says Bernasconi, a 10-year station veteran and former USF student. "It's hard because San Francisco is expensive and [students] have to work so many jobs, but there's been a major push to get more involved." more
Down the hallway — KUSF is crammed into a lone walkway in the basement of Phelan Hall on the University of San Francisco campus — Program Director Trista Bernasconi is helping a cultural producer get his next show sorted out. Platinum records hang on the walls behind her, a reminder of the respect the noncommercial station has commanded from the musical community since its inception in 1977.
But high-caliber programming was almost no match for the university's management, which sought to sell its license in 2006. "Last year the university tried to sell us, and their main thing was that we were not connected to the students," says Bernasconi, a 10-year station veteran and former USF student. "It's hard because San Francisco is expensive and [students] have to work so many jobs, but there's been a major push to get more involved." more
