At 2:22 p.m. on Feb. 22, a new sound echoed through campus'the voice of WSUM, 91.7 FM, the student radio station.
While WSUM has been broadcasting over the Internet since the late 1990s, this event marked its debut over the airwaves, an accomplishment that did not come easily to those involved.
About 20 miles away from WSUM's downtown office stands a tower that transmits the signals for broadcast. It is located in the town of Montrose, which battled with the university through the court system for years, mainly for aesthetic reasons.
But on Oct. 15, 2001, a judge refused to issue an injunction to stop construction on the tower, thus granting WSUM the right to build the tower.
WSUM General Manager Dave Black said in January that one of the station's goals is to allow DJs to play more alternative music and not necessarily follow mainstream sounds.
\We don't have to worry about following trends,"" he said. ""The great thing about college radio is it sets trends.\
