What can you even get for less than a dollar anymore?
As students take to the polls to decide on candidates and society levies in the upcoming DSU elections, we can answer that question with a simple proclamation: a lot more than you would think.
CKDU 88.1 FM is a campus-community radio station located on the 4th floor of the Student Union Building. It provides important services to the student body and the community at large, and it needs your help.
In the age of Pitchfork, Spotify and other whatever-you-want-whenever-you-want-it services, the priorities of campus-community radio stations across the country are shifting from being the beacons of alternative music they once were in the 1980s to something different.
Yes, CKDU is still probably the only place on terrestrial radio where you can hear the new Purity Ring record, but it’s also the only place on the dial you can hear the voices of Eritrean, Arabic, Acadian, feminist and queer perspectives, among many others. We do important work in the community on the issue of homelessness; we tirelessly support local arts, culture, and small businesses.
Since first being broadcast over the air in 1985, CKDU has been a proving ground for those who want to make their mark in a variety of fields, from music (duh), to literature, journalism, science, and academia to name a few. We offer a forum to develop broadcasting skills and to be a creative and intellectual outlet for budding minds. CKDU has helped so many people find their voice, and they in the process have helped the station find its own.
CKDU is celebrating its 30th birthday this year, and it’s fitting that with a stage of life associated with mounting sophistication and responsibility that the station itself is looking to mature. More local news! Greater accessibility! Podcasts! A space to record bands cheaply! These are just a few of the ideas that the hardworking folks at CKDU want to bring to you. However, this stuff sadly isn’t free, and so we’re asking for a modest $0.25 annual increase per full-time student and $0.50 per part-time student, the first increase since we went FM in 1985, to help keep the station relevant in 2015.
We like to think that Halifax and Dalhousie need CKDU, and it is without a doubt that CKDU needs the love and support of the student body at Dal and King’s. Currently the “campus” part of “campus-community station” needs a bit of a boost. CKDU wouldn’t exist without our funny, talented, and occasionally eccentric volunteers, and who better captures those qualities than students? If you want your voice to be heard, if you want a forum to show off your super cool ultra rare 7-inch vinyl collection, or if you simply want to meet some amazing new folks, CKDU is the place for you.
In Halifax, unlike so many questionable “affordable” apartments you’ve seen on Kijiji, this is a deal that’s too good to pass up.
Peter Osmond is a student at the Schulich School of Law at Dal, and a current member of the CKDU Board of Directors.
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