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New forum hits the airwaves

Date 12/4/2003 12:32 AM | Topic: Features

As their theme music (Johnny A-2 Wheeled Horse, for those of you interested) streams over the speakers, a voice sounds, "You're on the air with Ross and Evan on Luther Nightalk." A call comes in, and a debate ensues. This ten o'clock, Friday night talk radio show has gradually become one of the more popular programs on KWLC, Luther's radio station. The program's success has been a hot topic among students.

When Ross Brown ('07) and Evan Clagnaz ('07) arrived in Decorah this fall and became roommates, they both had no idea that this program was in their future. In fact, only Clagnaz was even interested in doing radio, and he just wanted to announce baseball games. Both Brown and Clagnaz are involved in band at Luther and played intramural soccer, in addition to their other jobs of "eating and sleeping." But a conversation in the cafeteria that started as a joke quickly turned into an enterprise. Both realized that they were opinionated young men who loved politics and critiquing political ideas.

They talked to Jennifer Cantine, instructor in communications and KWLC general manager, about their idea for a talk radio program. Despite their lack of experience, she decided to give them a chance.

Talk radio programs have not really been done before on KWLC. Talk radio programs on KWLC in the past had sometimes turned into an hour of joking around, but Brown and Clagnaz firmly say they are not on the air for that.

"We're here to talk about things that matter to us, and we take the job very seriously," said Brown.

"Basically, we talk about things that irritate us, and since we're both opinionated, that means we have a lot of material," said Clagnaz with a bit of a smile.

They get their material from many different sources, but mostly from newspapers, Web sites and television shows. A good portion of their material comes from community events as well. For example:

"The statue of Martin Luther on our campus is lit up at night, and should be," says Brown. "But then again, our American flag has no lights. Not only does that bother me, it is against the law."

The show also accepts calls.

"We really enjoy it when people call in and either add to a point that we've made or start a brand new discussion, because we're sure that sometimes people get sick of hearing what we think," said Brown.

They invite anyone who feels inclined to call the show about an article they have read, or to share their view on a subject. Most of the calls they get are usually well informed and are appreciated, but they've had a few odd ones as well.

"One of our friends called us one night and wanted to hear some Ozzy Osbourne. We politely told him no and hung up," laughed the hosts.

One of the more interesting calls they have received came after they had just discussed something having to do with Russia. Immediately afterward, a Russian man called and they had a conversation about what he had heard, and he corrected a few things.

"Like we said, we know we're not always right, and that call was a perfect example. If you have a different opinion or you know that we're incorrect, please, call us. We want to be as informed as anyone else," said Clagnaz.Although the show is only on the air for 45 minutes, the two students always have material on hand.

"We do our research during the week, whether it's reading, finding something online or just writing down our thoughts," said Clagnaz. "The worst feeling is being on the air and having nothing to talk about." This has happened to them on a few occasions. One instance was when their phone board went dead and they had been planning to do a call-in interview.

"All we could do was put music on and talk about subjects we had planned for later," said Brown. "What a nightmare!"

Interviews are something they would like to do more of, especially with students.

"We interviewed the managers of Wal-Mart and the grocery store in town and got their opinions on the new Super Wal-Mart that's coming to Decorah. Their opinions are very important to us, but at the same time, we want the students to be involved," said Clagnaz.

"It doesn't do any good to talk about these things if we're not going to do anything about them," said Brown.

The team has specific things they want people to get from the show.

"We want to get people thinking about our community and world events. Is it wrong? Is it right? You tell us! We want to hear your opinions," said Clagnaz.

How long would they like to do the show? Both confidently say, "All four years, if possible. It's a ton of fun, there's no reason to stop now."

"Ross and Evan - Luther Nightalk" can be heard every Friday night from 10:00 to 10:45 on KWLC-Luther College Radio, AM 1240.

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Fred Smith
Features Reporter

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