Say “M-R-E” fast enough and you’ll start to
hear “Emory.” Just like when you turn on EmoryVision
Channel 26.

WMRE, Emory’s student radio station located the basement
of Longstreet Residence Hall, faces the unique challenge of being a
radio station without a signal. Originally broadcast on a carrier
current using Emory’s electrical systems on AM 590, WMRE has
been broadcast through Emory’s cable television network since
the early 1990s and streaming on the Web since 1998.

WMRE General Manager and College senior Spencer Koch said WMRE
is trying to acquire a low-power signal receivable only in the
Emory area, but currently does not have enough money.

Because Emory does not have a communications program, WMRE,
unlike WRAS at Georgia State and WREK at Georgia Tech, does not
receive large amounts of Student Government Association or
University funding. Koch also said that WRAS and WREK acquired
their radio signals when radio in Atlanta was less expensive. He
said WRAS’s radio tower was “right in our
backyard” and would interfere significantly with any
low-power broadcast of WMRE.

Promotions Director and College senior Rachel Gottschalk said
not having a radio signal or a University department mandate gave
WMRE a number of advantages. She said WMRE is largely free from
major FCC regulation and also does not have to play as much Top-40
or “Heavy Rotation” music as other stations, which need
to keep closer ties to the music production industry and attract
higher-paying advertisers.

WMRE also broadcasts live video of the studio, the use of which
varies widely. Gottschalk, whose show, “Naked Radio,”
receives frequent requests for nudity and often teases the lusty
callers, plans to wear her “nude bodysuit at least once
before I graduate.” College sophomore Chris Daresta said his
show has featured a “pretty hot” Hostess Ding-Dong
costume on a number of occasions. Last year, WMRE featured a
make-out contest for Valentine’s Day, and the winners were
rewarded with prizes from Insurrection, an adult novelty store.

But torrid sex, or the slim chance of it, does not generate all
of WMRE’s appeal. Music lovers, enthusiastic freshmen and
others “[who’ve] got the ‘oomph’ [to give
their opinions] generate WMRE’s programming as DJs,”
said Program Director and College junior Trish Harris. Call-in
shows take up much of the airtime, and Harris and Gottschalk
divided the callers into three groups: the DJ’s friends, the
drunken and people doing work who want to make requests or
shout-outs.

Some may think that a station without a signal would lack
purpose and have trouble filling the airtime, but Koch points out
that there are approximately 100 WMRE DJs. One “just gets a
cool feeling, knowing other people are watching,” he
said.

“Being a DJ appeals to many people because [it is] like
being in charge of the car stereo,” he said.

Harris agreed that many DJs “are dedicated to spreading
the music they love.”

Koch added that most DJ applicants plan to play music
that’s not “crap.”

“DJs who mostly play music are usually the kind of the
people who sit in their room and listen to music for two
hours,” Gottschalk said.

The result is that WMRE plays about 80 percent non-mainstream
music. Talk, sports, mainstream music shows and the “heavy
rotation” required for music industry connections fill the
rest.

Although a number of DJs have gone on to work in the music
industry, Koch said WMRE’s mission is changing to be
“not just fun to watch but fun for DJs,” and said this
year’s WMRE will be “different and more
exciting.” WMRE’s comic T-shirts this year feature an
election theme and a call to “legalize
awesomeness.”

On Oct. 5, WMRE sponsored an Open Mic night at Park Bench.
Student performances ranged from violin to spoon percussion to
guitar and voice. The winner received a neon beer sign.

Koch added that WMRE is hosting another Open Mic night tonight
at 10 p.m.

On Friday night, four DJs began Elimidj, a competition of pure
disc-spinning endurance. With only five minute breaks every two
hours, the jockeys sat in the studio with no homework, no food, no
phones and only WMRE and the taunts of Emory students to amuse
them.

Wheel Assistant Entertainment Editor and Elimidj winner Brooke
Marshall said, “It was a hellish experience and I’m
damned glad I’m getting an iPod out of it.”

On Nov. 7, WMRE is hosting an indie rock festival.

Starting around 3 p.m., local bands Blame Game and Untied States
and three Emory bands will create an indie rock festival
culminating in a concert with Elf Power at 7 p.m. White Hall 208
will serve as the mainstage for the local bands and Elf Power, and
a nearby lobby will serve for the Emory bands.

The Student Art Corps will set up a show in another venue so
that “all afternoon people can look at art or listen to
music,” Gottschalk said.

Gottschalk explained best the motive behind Emory’s
underground underground music scene.

“People that do it, do it for themselves, rather than a
résumé line,” she said.

Koch added that DJs’ love for their music has taken WMRE
from the “fuzzy AM static of the 1980s to today’s
Web-streamed festival organizers.”