WIUX to hold pledge drive to raise funds, spread community awareness about station

In order to raise needed funds, WIUX, IU's student-run radio station, will hold an in-studio, open-house pledge drive from noon to 10 p.m. Friday. During the 10-hour period, interviews will include local recording artists, IU professors and IU women's soccer coach Mick Lyon. Students and anyone else interested in pledging support to the embattled station are welcome to stop by WIUX's station house at Eighth Street and Woodlawn Avenue or the station's remote broadcast outside Ballantine Hall. \nWIUX Public Relations Director Eliza Erxleben said the idea for the pledge drive was not directly related to the station's recent petition to stay on the FM frequency they have occupied since January. Instead, the drive is meant to provide more general support to the station, especially in restoring equipment. \n"The pledge drive has two main goals," Erxleben said in an e-mail. "First (is) to provide a day of great programming for our listening audience. The second goal is to raise some money for the station. The money we raise will be going towards upgrading equipment or fixing or replacing items that are broken around the station."\nSenior Zach Pollakoff, the WIUX Station Manager, said his only major concern about the pledge drive was that the station had never undertaken such a project before.\n"It turned out pretty well, I think," Pollakoff said. "It's just something we've never done before, so we weren't really sure what kind of support we'd get."\nErxleben said the station will accept cash and check donations. The minimum donation amount is five dollars, but the station hopes to raise $1,000. \nTo aid the pledge drive, several local businesses agreed to play WIUX's broadcast Friday. Mother Bears Pizza, The Runcible Spoon and Mixed Greens are among several Bloomington establishments who will be pledging their speakers to the cause. \nPollakoff said the businesses agreed to play WIUX throughout the day in exchange for having their names mentioned on the air. \nPollakoff said Erxleben and a small committee brought the pledge drive together for the most part. He said they went "door-to-door" to find businesses that would support the pledge drive. \nErxleben said she believes the pledge drive is important because WIUX wants to show Bloomington it is an active part of the town, not just IU. \n"Because our presence in the community as an FM radio station is still relatively new -- we've been on FM for less than a year -- we hope to show Bloomington that we are an important part of the community," she said. "Even if we fall short of our monetary goals, we will be able to give people a glimpse into what we do and how we help our town."\nPollakoff said he hoped the pledge drive would convey a message to the Bloomington and IU communities that transcends monetary donations.\n"It would seem obvious that I would say the $1,000 (is the ultimate goal)," Pollakoff said. "But really I think more important is that we sort of send out a message of community support from the radio station and hopefully receive that. I think that it's a way for us to reach out to the community and a way for the community to respond."\nWIUX has been embroiled in recent battles to keep its 100.3 FM frequency. WYGB, "Korn Country," out of Columbus, Ind., is trying to expand its broadcast range on that frequency, and WIUX will be forced off the frequency if the country station is successful. \nPollakoff said the station has been told unofficially that the Federal Communications Commission will take around six months to review WIUX's petition to stay on FM, giving the student station some breathing room. \n"Above and beyond everything I hope to increase exposure about the station and WIUX," Pollakoff said. "We have a symbiotic relationship with the Bloomington community and the IU community. I definitely would like to raise awareness ... of the radio station ... I think that there is power in numbers"