1993_03 Insight March 1993

              March 3,1993
Page 5
Fresno's first all-news radio station
+KMPH NewsRadio
format is one of only
three FM operations.
By Todd Lopes	
Staff Writer '
Fresno will get its first full time all-
news station on the FM band starting
the second week of March.
On Monday KCML 107.5FM wiU
change to KMPH NewsRadio. giving
Fresno its third news-oriented station.
It will be the only one on the FM
band and the only one solely dedicated
to news.
KMPH NewsRadio will program
news 24-hours-a-day employing
nearly 20 staff members.
According to James Rowtcn. general
manager, the staff will increase to 27
reporters, anchors and writers.
"We're excited about having this
format on ihe FM band since 70 percent of all Fresno radio listening is
done on the FM. We're going to be
the largest news-gathering operation
in the valley," Rowten said.
The station was recently acquired
by Harry Pappas, owner of KMPH
television Channel 26, for nearly
$500,000.
Rowten said.
The station has hired a consultant to
help get and keep the station on track.
"There are only two other FM news
stations in the country. A lot of folks
from major markets are keeping a
close eye on us," Rowten said.
'We're going to be the largest
news-operation in the valley."
—James Rowten, KMPH general
manager
Rowten says that KMPH
NewsRadio, in combination with
Channel 26's news operation, will be
the valley's largest news source.
"We've installed the cutting-edge
when it comes to technology and
equipmcnt.The company is committed to a long term news operation.
We're not in this for the short term,"
KMPH NewsRadio will be unique
in Fresno as an all-news station, since
no talk shows are planned.
However. KMPH NewsRadio will
have some competition. KMJ AM580
and KBOS AM 1340.
KMJ has historically been a strong
ratings and revenue-achiever in the
Fresno market using a news/talk com -
bination format
Al Smith, general manger, doesn't
seem too worried about his new
competitor. "If it ain't broke, don't
fix iL Our news/talk product is
established...it's a big world out
there, let them take their shot," Smith
said.
"Our product has evolved and is
refined....Rush (Limbaugh) has been
a big contributor. We're always
looking for ways to stay on the cutting edge," Smith said.
KBOS AM 1340 is Fresno's other
newsAalk station Just recently signing on this past January.
KBOS is predominantly a talk station , but should give some competition to KMPH NewsRadio.
KMPH NewsRadio, before Pappas
acquired it, was consistently changing.
Within six years, the station saw
six formats and seven sets of call
letters.
Rowten, a long time Fresno broadcaster, expects to win big in Fresno.
"We're focused, and in for the
long haul," Rowtcn said.
Campus poet devotes his life to art
1 4:05 a.m.
(20 minutes after taking 3 muscle relaxtrs)
each night a radio station plays
the sound of the surf
from midnight until dawn.
i listen with my head floating
on a shoreline pillow,
feel the numb soles of my feel   drifting
into the sea, until i am
no longer a man, but a mass
of wet hair, a spongy bed of kelp,
tubers of seaweed branched out over the waves.
lantern fish shine down in the deep
small globes of light, as a shoal offish
swims below-the scales of their bodies
shimmerlit in vertical strips of light,
their tailfins flashing through the shafts
slipping back into the cold, black shadow ofthe o
— Brian North
^English major uses
poetry as outlet to
express feelings.
By Lisa Driver	
Staff Writer
Brian North already worries about
the contribution he will have made to
our society when he dies, although he
has no plans of dying soon.
North, in jeans, a heavy brown
sweater, and a long earring with a
happy-face on a chain, wants to leave
behind his poetry.
As a leenagerhe began writing lyrics
for songs then eventually branched
out to writing poetry about five years
ago.
North,an English major, has written
about 25-30 poems so far, which he
says isn't much.
He has taken poetry classcs.-first at
Fresno City College from the late
Ernesto Trejo, then at CSUF with
Corrinne Hales and Philip Levinc.
He also plans to learn the Russian
language. Now that communication
is possible with the Eastern Block,
many ideas could be expressed
through their poetry, including their
feelings prior to perestroika .
A quiet man. North, 26,   hosts a
radio program on the last Friday of
every month on KFCF, 88.1 FM,
based in Berkeley.
His show, which begins at 4 p.m.,
features poets, usually from the Bay
Area. The Fresno Poets Association
makes arrangements for North's
guests to speak at the Fresno Art
Museum.
Even with the radio show. North
does not like to speak much,"I don't
like to talk so much, 'cause I like to
write."
Writingabookof poetry is North's
goal. He said he'd like to compile
several poems, with acentral theme.
The poems will not really be based
on a single character, but on the
"faces from the city," North said.
With his long light brown hair,
and casual style of dress, one can
assume North is a placid person.
He says he is not the stereotypical
poet who is suddenly 'inspired' and
rushes to write a masterpiece. Most
of the poems he has written are
based on people and events in towns
he has traveled to or lived in.
To write a poem, he must sit down
and force himself to write.
But he does have advice for budding poets. "Read as much as you
possibly can. Write as much as you
possibly can. Especially write."
Without writing, he said, there is
no means of personal expression.
Upcoming Events
March 4-April 25 "Twelfth Night"
at the Good Company Players
Second Space, 928 E. Olive Ave.
For more information, call: 266-
0660.
March 5 Texas Tornados at the
Fresno Convention Center Exhibit
Hall. 700 "M" Street, $16-S18.
For more information, call: 498-
4000.
March 5 McBride and the Ride at
the Hanford Fox Theatre, $12.50 -
$15. For more information, call:
584-7423.
March 13 Emerson, Lake and
Palmer at the Wamors Theatre,
1400 Fulton Street, $20 - $23. For
more information, call: 264-2848.
March 14 Peking Acrobats at the
Tower Theatre, 1201 N. Wishon
Ave., $19.50. For more
information, call: 485-9050.
GET YOUR TICKETS EARLY
April 27 David Copperfield at the
Wamors Theatre, 1400 Fulton
Street, $21.50 - $#24.50. For more
information, call: 264-2848.
May 18-20 "Jesus Christ Superstar"
at the Wamors Theatre, 1400
Fulton Street, $32.50 - $37.50. For
more information, call: 264-2848.
June 18 World Figure Skating
Champions at the Selland Arena,
700 "M" Street, $30 - $40. For
more information, call: 498-4000.
¥
Karaoke enjoyed by the young and old
By Sandy Sirias	
Staff Writer
It's almost 8 p.m., the crowd gets
bigger, lights get dimmer, one can
feel the excitement and tension growing stronger each passing moment
and then, the MC announces: it's
Karaoke time.
The crowd screams.
Thisevent was experienced by some
CSUF students Thursday night at the
Bucket.
For the last three Thursday nights,
the Bucket has contracted with RAC
Kelly Janizen/lNsiGirr
Before taking the karaoke mk hair designer Oly Sal date
reminded her friends that country singer Tammy
Wynette designed hair before her first hit record.
Entertainment to bring CSUF college
crowd Karaoke night.
There is no fee involved in participating, just enough guts to stand upon
stage and sing along to a favorite tune.
The Bucket has called these nights
the Karaoke Olympics because each
night's winner gets to take home a
"gold medal".
The second and third place winners
get their respective silver and bronze.
According to Debbie Guill, manager of the Bucket, the idea to have
Karaoke night began last semester
and it has proven to be a profitable
one.
"We did it last semester, and I had
so many phone calls this semester to
ask me to do it again," Guill said.
Guill said that if it keeps being as
popular as it has been, she will bring
it next semesteras well. However, she
is not offering it for more than four
times a semester for fear that the students will get burned out.
Rich Casanova has worked for RAC
for about a year and is now division
manager.He believes that Karaoke is
a fad and that it will probably plateau
within the next four to five years.
Moreover, he said that eventually it
might even become part of mainstream
America.
"I think Karaoke will become an
alternative to DJ.'s and live bands,"
Casanova said.
According to Casanova, the price
for putting on a Karaoke show depends on a number of factors such as:
size of crowd, props used, length of
time, among others.
On the average, a night of Karaoke
entertainment cost approximately
$350.
Guill thinks it is worth paying the
price just to see the bar full of stu
dents having a good time.
'To be able to have fun is part of
the college life," said Guill.
Tesse McDonald.23, a physical
education major, was one of the
brave ones in the crowd who got up
and sang with two of her friends.
"I just do it because it is fun,"
McDonald said.
Two other brave souls were Joe
Tabangcura, 21, a biology major,
and Tony Azevedo. 21, electrical
engineering major who sang while
they danced, if that is what one calls
it, to the Beatles.'Twist and Shout"
"I have been been doing it for the
last three weeks and it's fun to get
up there and act stupid," Tabangcura
said.
Acting stupid was not what the
crowd at Baja's restaurant had in
mind. The crowd there was small,
quiet, the oldest contestant was 56
years old and the music was not
quite as loud.
According to Davin Hutchins, DJ
at Baja's, the crowd there varies
every week. "You see people that
come here every day of the week for
about three weeks and then you
never see them again."
Tony Quale might just be one of
those. It was his first night there and
he said that he had never been anywhere before where he had so many
opportunities to sing.
Quale, a Karaoke contest winner,
said that he hopes more people find
out about Baja's because then he
will have some competition.
Sam Mongelli and Bob Ginsberg,
both 56 years old, are regulars at
Baja' s. They liketosingtosongsby
Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Andy
Williams. ■*
"It is not like I don't like today's
music, I just know the words to songs of
my time," Mongelli said.
The Bucket will present the students
with one more opportunity to show
their best or worst asset, which ever the
case might be, tomorrow night from 8
until 11 p.m.
Baja's is located al 1440 E. Shaw and
offers Karaoke nightTuesday through
Saturday from 8 p.m. until closing.
There are places in Fresno for those
star want-to-be's looking for an instance of fame.
If you can let go of your inhibitions,
seek them out and good luck.
■P ■*•*■*
IP      1
■JT
$
sL
c'fluH      1
^~^~ ™K
l^^a^H
Kelly Jantzen/lNsiGiiT
" I left my heart in San Franci sco" will take a few aback
as Sam Mongelli, a regular on Karoke Night at Baja's,
belts out an old favorite.