WIDB History Chapter 27

WIDB Gets Uppity

WIDB was flexing its interests in other ways that were threatening to the administration. Charlie Muren had a connection with booking agents for rock bands. The Rolling Stones were going on tour. They had an open date near C'dale. Charlie made a few calls. It was possible! WIDB could sponsor the Rolling Stones in C'dale. The only problem was the venue.

The SIU Arena was run by Dean Justice. He said that the university policy prohibited student-sponsored shows. He could not produce such a policy. Student Government weighed in. The policy did not exist. Justice said no shows could be booked without his approval. He would not approve student-sponsored shows. Students were too irresponsible.

WIDB and Student Government tried to appeal to selected administrators, but no one wanted to take on Dean Justice. Only the president or chancellor could overrule him, and even they were shy.

Through the years that the Arena existed, students had little voice in programming. Administrators would determine student programming needs. The ongoing administrative attitude seemed to be that student input was unnecessary and inefficient. They did not understand that music was a business. Dollars had to be watched. Because there was so much money flowing, administrators had to control that process. There was hardly enough money for administrators to control. There was little money for student activities. That was just for students.
By proposing that the station, not the university administrators, sponsor a show at the Arena, WIDB was threatening the existing system of money flowage. For that matter, just about any assertive behavior by professors or students was perceived as a threat to the existing system. Students attended SIU with the general goal of moving towards adulthood. Asserting one's needs is part of that process. Doing so at SIU tended to make one the enemy of almost all administrators. Thus, SIU's purpose: to encourage adult behavior was consciously disregarded by SIU administrators. Instead, adult behavior was punished. As students became more assertive, administrators acted more and more immaturely (attacking students, penalizing their grades, withholding funds from student activities, subjecting students to death and injuries, expelling and prosecuting students for "disorderly conduct" because gangs of police "legally" bashed in students' heads, etc.)

The reason why a student radio station took so long to establish was that it represented students asserting their right to decide for themselves. Moreover, as an information conduit, WIDB was regularly communicating examples of student assertiveness. When students rioted, WIDB was there. When Student Government took a stand, WIDB reported it. When the Overpass opened on October, 1970, WIDB was there to point out that completion was delayed for three years by the administration because money could not be found to protect students from death and injury; it was just not important enough. Almost two-thirds of dorm residents relied on WIDB for campus news. Even a such a dysfunctional administration must have realized what a threat WIDB represented. Especially when you consider that instead of waiting a day to read news that was some felt was filtered thru faculty and administration, WIDB's reporting was always live, immediate and most importantly, unedited.

Charlie's idea to sponsor an arena show seemed so simple and direct, and the response was so obtuse, nonsensical, and frustrating. There was speculation of corrupt practices, but no one dared to imagine the full scope of the problem at that time. It was just the beginning of a long educational process.