KMNR
Encyclopedia
KMNR is a non-commercial, educational, FM
radio station
licensed to the Board of Curators of the University of Missouri. However, KMNR is fully funded and operated by students at Missouri University of Science and Technology
(formerly known as the University of Missouri-Rolla).
KMNR strives to provide educational, entertaining, and informative radio programming
as a public service to the students, faculty, and administration of Missouri S&T and for the people of Phelps County
.
" station. This means the on-air DJ chooses all program content, with the exception of standard educational productions, which KMNR airs to serve the public interest.
which was unofficially called KMFA — these letters standing for the original four buildings in the Quadrangle residential complex: Kelly, McAnerney, Farrar, and Altman Hall. Around 1962, Beckman suggested a campus-owned, student-run radio station to Student Council
officer Dale Marshall who brought up the suggestion to Dean Wilson one night at a meeting. Wilson requested Marshall to submit a project report, which was immediately approved upon review.
The project was on hold for one year while students brainstormed and developed the future radio station as well as familiarized themselves with the scrutiny of the Federal Communications Commission
(FCC). Finally in 1964, what was once a student prototype in the dorms of MSM, became a bona fide campus-owned student-run radio station with call letters of KMSM. It first started playing jazz
, easy listening
, and light and heavy classical music
in order for listeners to have an alternative venue to the rock and country music
played by other Rolla
radio stations. Dr. Wells Leitner became the first faculty adviser; Jerry Kettler was the first educational program director; Wayne Huckabee was the first music director; Mike DeVaney was the first business director; and Dale Marshall became the first station manager. The executive board hired its DJs, paying them a "princely" wage of fifty cents an hour. Today's KMNR DJs work only for the love of free format radio.
KMSM's call letters became KMNR in 1972. The "MNR" is a reference to Missouri S&T's mascot, Joe Miner. KMST, formerly named KUMR, is a separate public radio station on campus. KMNR's studio has had at least three locations. The first known location was in T-6, a temporary building between Harris Hall and the current Mechanical Engineering Extension. As T-6 was 'temporary' the university allowed the students who supported KMNR to personalize the interior not only with various rooms but also with elaborate murals painted on the walls. KMNR was located in T-6 from the early 1970s to 1997. In 1997 T-6 was demolished to make room for a parking lot and KMNR was moved to a leased building at the corner of 12th and Pine Streets that had formerly housed a bookstore and fitness center. The building's interior was gutted and reconstructed to modern studio standards and KMNR remained there until 2005. KMNR's current location is the first floor of Altman Hall at the corner of 10th and State Streets. Ironically, the station is now in the same building where its forerunner KMFA began.
FM broadcasting
FM broadcasting is a broadcasting technology pioneered by Edwin Howard Armstrong which uses frequency modulation to provide high-fidelity sound over broadcast radio. The term "FM band" describes the "frequency band in which FM is used for broadcasting"...
radio station
Radio station
Radio broadcasting is a one-way wireless transmission over radio waves intended to reach a wide audience. Stations can be linked in radio networks to broadcast a common radio format, either in broadcast syndication or simulcast or both...
licensed to the Board of Curators of the University of Missouri. However, KMNR is fully funded and operated by students at Missouri University of Science and Technology
Missouri University of Science and Technology
Missouri University of Science and Technology is an institution of higher learning located in Rolla, Missouri, United States, and part of the University of Missouri System...
(formerly known as the University of Missouri-Rolla).
KMNR strives to provide educational, entertaining, and informative radio programming
Radio programming
Radio programming is the Broadcast programming of a Radio format or content that is organized for Commercial broadcasting and Public broadcasting radio stations....
as a public service to the students, faculty, and administration of Missouri S&T and for the people of Phelps County
Phelps County, Missouri
Phelps County is a county located in south-central Missouri in the United States.According to the U.S. Census Bureau, it includes the mean center of U.S. population in 2000. As of the 2000 U.S. Census, the county's population was 39,825. A 2008 estimate, however, showed the population to be 42,205....
.
Programming
KMNR is a "free-formatFreeform (radio format)
Freeform, or freeform radio, is a radio station programming format in which the disc jockey is given total control over what music to play, regardless of music genre or commercial interests. Freeform radio stands in contrast to most commercial radio stations, in which DJs have little or no...
" station. This means the on-air DJ chooses all program content, with the exception of standard educational productions, which KMNR airs to serve the public interest.
Personnel
KMNR is staffed entirely by students. Programming is provided by sixty to seventy volunteer DJs. Station administration is performed by a seven member executive board that is elected once per year from the body of DJs.History
The first inkling of a Missouri S&T student-run radio station was conceived in the early 1960s (when the school was known as Missouri School of Mines (MSM)). Some MSM students, including Roger Beckman, fabricated a make-shift radio station in the dormitoriesDormitory
A dormitory, often shortened to dorm, in the United States is a residence hall consisting of sleeping quarters or entire buildings primarily providing sleeping and residential quarters for large numbers of people, often boarding school, college or university students...
which was unofficially called KMFA — these letters standing for the original four buildings in the Quadrangle residential complex: Kelly, McAnerney, Farrar, and Altman Hall. Around 1962, Beckman suggested a campus-owned, student-run radio station to Student Council
Students' union
A students' union, student government, student senate, students' association, guild of students or government of student body is a student organization present in many colleges and universities, and has started appearing in some high schools...
officer Dale Marshall who brought up the suggestion to Dean Wilson one night at a meeting. Wilson requested Marshall to submit a project report, which was immediately approved upon review.
The project was on hold for one year while students brainstormed and developed the future radio station as well as familiarized themselves with the scrutiny of the Federal Communications Commission
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
(FCC). Finally in 1964, what was once a student prototype in the dorms of MSM, became a bona fide campus-owned student-run radio station with call letters of KMSM. It first started playing jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
, easy listening
Easy listening
Easy listening is a broad style of popular music and radio format that emerged in the 1950s, evolving out of big band music, and related to MOR music as played on many AM radio stations. It encompasses the exotica, beautiful music, light music, lounge music, ambient music, and space age pop genres...
, and light and heavy classical music
Classical music
Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...
in order for listeners to have an alternative venue to the rock and country music
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
played by other Rolla
Rolla, Missouri
Rolla is a city in Phelps County, Missouri, United States, midway between the larger cities of St. Louis and Springfield along I-44. The population in the 2010 United States Census was 19,559.It is the county seat of Phelps County...
radio stations. Dr. Wells Leitner became the first faculty adviser; Jerry Kettler was the first educational program director; Wayne Huckabee was the first music director; Mike DeVaney was the first business director; and Dale Marshall became the first station manager. The executive board hired its DJs, paying them a "princely" wage of fifty cents an hour. Today's KMNR DJs work only for the love of free format radio.
KMSM's call letters became KMNR in 1972. The "MNR" is a reference to Missouri S&T's mascot, Joe Miner. KMST, formerly named KUMR, is a separate public radio station on campus. KMNR's studio has had at least three locations. The first known location was in T-6, a temporary building between Harris Hall and the current Mechanical Engineering Extension. As T-6 was 'temporary' the university allowed the students who supported KMNR to personalize the interior not only with various rooms but also with elaborate murals painted on the walls. KMNR was located in T-6 from the early 1970s to 1997. In 1997 T-6 was demolished to make room for a parking lot and KMNR was moved to a leased building at the corner of 12th and Pine Streets that had formerly housed a bookstore and fitness center. The building's interior was gutted and reconstructed to modern studio standards and KMNR remained there until 2005. KMNR's current location is the first floor of Altman Hall at the corner of 10th and State Streets. Ironically, the station is now in the same building where its forerunner KMFA began.