Category: Non-Music News

News and features on a variety of topics

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Miscellaneous Non-Music News

WKNC to Host Book Drive in March to Support Prison Books Collective

Yellow, orange and green graphic with a person peering from behind a book.

In continuing their efforts to support the Triangle community and at-risk individuals at-large, WKNC is partnering with Prison Books Collective to host a book drive. 

Prison Books Collective is a Carrboro-based nonprofit that distributes paperback books and zines to incarcerated people across North Carolina and Alabama. Prison Books Collective believes that “the prison system in the United States is fundamentally unjust and perpetuates systems of economic, racial, gender, psychological, and social oppression.” The work done by Prison Books Collective upholds the fact that “incarcerated people deserve support and resources and that the many injustices of prison must be resisted.” WKNC supports this mission and looks to contribute to their work with the following donation drive. 

Donations will be collected outside WKNC from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. during the weeks of March 15-19 and March 22-26. The station is located within the Witherspoon Student Center on NC State’s main campus, in suite 343. Please be aware that the building is closed to the public on weekends and outside normal business hours. If you are unable to donate in-person, Prison Books Collective also has a Flyleaf wish list of titles that have been specifically requested by inmates.

“The past year has been extremely difficult for incarcerated people, with increased restrictions and no access to the small amount of literature available in libraries only a few prisons might have,” says Prison Books Collective’s Outreach Coordinator Ivy Shelton. “COVID-19 has limited the operations but, Prison Books Collective (PBC) has been working hard the past year to fulfill book requests. PBC has continued to send 35-45 packages of books on average a week to individuals based on letters of request. The book drive WKNC 88.1 is hosting makes PBC’s continued work possible. Paperback donations from the WKNC 88.1 book drive will make a difference in someone’s life.”

More information on Prison Books Collective can be found on their website, while graphics and event specific information can be found on WKNC’s social media. On-air promos are in rotation to outline requests and necessary resources for this donation drive. WKNC and Prison Books Collective would like to thank the audience for their support.

WKNC 88.1 FM is 25,000-watt student-run non-commercial radio from North Carolina State University featuring indie rock, electronic, metal and underground hip-hop. WKNC is on social media @WKNC881.

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Non-Music News

Student Positions Open on Student Media Board of Directors

Student Media is seeking candidates for three at-large student positions on its Board of Directors for the 2021-2022 academic year.

The Student Media Board of Directors, which also includes appointed students, professional and academic representatives, and the top student leader of each Student Media outlet, meets monthly during the academic year to help shape the vision and direction of the Student Media, including hiring top editors/managers and overseeing the budget.

Interested students must file an intent to run form with Student Government and follow all rules set forth by Student Government to be included on the spring ballot. The one-year term runs from May 1 to April 30. Books are open Feb. 12-21 with the election scheduled for March 15-16.

Positions are open to all students not currently involved with Student Media who meet eligibility requirements set forth for student leaders in University Regulation 11.55.6. Those requirements include being a full-time NC State student, having a 2.5 cumulative GPA at the time of election and having no active disciplinary sanctions.

The Student Media Board of Directors meets on the second Tuesday of the month at 7 p.m. and will meet virtually until further notice.

NC State Student Media includes Agromeck yearbook, a business and marketing office, Nubian Message biweekly Black newspaper, Roundabout quarterly magazine, Technician weekly newspaper, Windhover literary and visual arts magazine, and radio station WKNC 88.1 FM HD-1/HD-2.

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Non-Music News

National Blood Donor Month

Written By Miranda

January has been observed as National Blood Donor Month since the 1970s in an effort to increase winter blood donations. The winter months, specifically following the holidays, are one of the most difficult times for blood donation centers to recieve needed blood donations. Inclement weather and seasonal illness often prevent donors from their donations, and thus winter is one of the most difficult times of the year to collect enough blood to meet the needs of patients. 

Donating blood is extremely important and can save lives. Blood donations from a single person can save multiple lives. Donations are essential for trauma patients, transplants, chronic illnesses, and more. Less than 10% of eligible donors actually donate in the United States. Typically eligibility requirements include being above 18 years old and above 118lbs and free of any major diseases.  Personal benefits of blood donation include not only the satisfaction of providing blood to patients who need it and saving lives, but also finding out your blood type and receiving free blood tests and having reduced risk of cancer and heart disease. The blood donation process is regulated by the FDA. You can trust blood donation centers to maintain a safe environment for donations.

NC State students can call 1-800-RED CROSS to make an appointment at the North Raleigh Red Cross Donation Center to donate blood, platelets, and plasma. Remember to ask about COVID-19 precautions being taken to ensure your and others’ safety. Be sure to also bring  a driver’s license or passport with you. The center is about a 20 minute drive from campus. Be sure to also look out for blood donation drives on campus in the coming year, if restrictions allow. 

Sources: I, II 

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Non-Music News

A Letter to the Audience

To WKNC’s audience,

Beginning Jan. 18, WKNC will begin airing our Underground format for a full 24 hours each Monday. This will be in addition to the Saturday and Sunday night Underground blocks beginning at 6 p.m. and our one-hour segment of Local Rap Lunch on Monday at noon. The adjustment to our schedule comes as a response to a sit-in protest that was held in WKNC’s studio in November 1992. The protest called upon WKNC’s staff to devote prime-time hours to Magic 88 (hip-hop, R&B and rap) which at the time only played from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. Sunday through Thursday. As reported by Technician (see attached article), 65 students filled WKNC’s studio and lobby to demand these changes. Although the segment was renamed “Underground” and eventually moved up to 9 p.m., along with a new gospel block on Sundays, the request for daytime hours was left unfulfilled. Thus, when WKNC’s current staff learned of this protest we decided that action must be taken to answer this call. The legacy of this 95-minute sit-in will continue through every subsequent Monday, indefinitely, to finally give Underground the prime hours it deserves. 

Dawn Gordon, an organizer of the sit-in of 1992, stated in Technician’s article, “[WKNC] is funded by student fees, and it’s the purpose of all radio stations to serve the public, not just those who like rock.” Gordon was right in 1992 and is still correct today. Though WKNC prides itself in broadcasting a variety of genre formats we must recognize the disproportionate focus on indie and alternative music on our channels. It is our hope that this schedule adjustment will be a strong step towards accountability and a recognition of past mistakes. Within the music industry, Black artistry has historically and continuously been discarded, overlooked and appropriated, yet Black musicians have founded many of the genres we play on-air. We recognize that Black creators exist within all genres and corners of the industry. Expanding Underground is just one way we can respond to the call of protesters from almost three decades ago. 

We would like to thank Underground Music Directors Makayla Mack and Assistant Music Director Kyle Vosberg for their efforts to increase our Underground libraries while preparing for this expansion. Without their curation we could not broadcast, as we say, music that matters. Now more than ever, their work is actively making WKNC a station of which we can be proud. Further thanks also go to Technician for publishing this article, our audience for their continued listenership and to the 65 protesters for challenging us to represent the interests of all students. 

Sincerely,

The Staff of WKNC

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Non-Music News

Student Media Hosting Sidewalk Café

Join the team! NC State Student Media Sidewalk Cafe outside Witherspoon on Harris Field on Tuesday, January 19 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Free coffee and cocoa while they last.

NC State Student Media will host a Sidewalk Café on Tuesday, Jan. 19 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Harris Field.

Interested students can drop by this outdoor open house for free coffee and cocoa (while supplies last) and learn about entry-level paid and volunteer positions within Student Media. More than 300 students are involved with Student Media each year in writing, design, photography, videography, DJing, sales, social media and marketing roles.

Other Winter Welcome Week activities include:

  • Nubian Message Virtual Interest Meeting on Sunday, Jan. 17 at 5 p.m. over Zoom
  • WKNC DJ Interest Meeting on Wednesday, Jan. 20 at 6 p.m. over Zoom
  • WKNC DJ Internet Meeting on Thursday, Jan. 21 at 6 p.m. over Zoom
  • Technician Virtual Open House on Thursday, Jan. 21 at 6 p.m. over Zoom
  • Technician Virtual Open House on Friday, Jan. 22 at 3 p.m. over Zoom
  • WKNC Dance Stream on Friday, Jan. 22 at 7:30 p.m. on WKNC’s YouTube channel
Categories
Non-Music News

WKNC provides winter clothing to Raleigh non-profits

Multiple boxes and bags donated to WKNC's Winter Clothing Drive on Jan. 3.

In support of its local community, WKNC 88.1 FM HD-1/HD-2 held a winter clothing drive on Jan. 3, from noon to 4 p.m. Donations were dropped off at the Women’s Center, located at 400 S. West Street in downtown Raleigh.

All items collected in this drive were distributed between Healing Transitions and the Wake County Women’s Center on Jan. 4. Healing Transitions is a center aimed at assisting homeless, uninsured and underserved individuals struggling with alcoholism and drug addictions on the road to recovery. The Women’s Center has helped women for over 40 years by providing resources and assistance in breaking the cycles of abuse and homelessness. 

Thanks to WKNC’s audience, the drive was able to collect four XL boxes of women’s apparel, three XL boxes of men’s clothing, another box of children’s supplies, seven containers of blankets, four sleeping bags, and an excess of hats, gloves, socks, shoes, bras, scarves and bags/backpacks. More information on how these nonprofits serve their client populations, with the aid of community donations, can be found at WCWC.org and Healing-Transitions.org. 

“The success of this event comes largely from the generosity of our audience members,” says WKNC General Manager Laura Mooney. “We are also grateful to the staff of Healing Transitions and the Women’s Center for their assistance with event coordination and the use of the warehouse at the Women’s Center.” 

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Non-Music News

WKNC’s Winter Clothing Drive

Winter Clothing Drive on Jan. 3 from noon to 4 p.m.

In support of its local community, WKNC 88.1 FM HD-1/HD-2 will hold a winter clothing drive. The event will occur on Jan. 3, from noon to 4 p.m. Donations can be dropped off at the Women’s Center, located at 400 S. West Street in Downtown Raleigh.

All items collected in this drive will be distributed between Healing Transitions and the Wake County Women’s Center. Healing Transitions is a center aimed at assisting homeless, uninsured and underserved individuals struggling with alcoholism and drug addictions on the road to recovery. The Women’s Center has helped women for over 40 years by providing resources and assistance in breaking the cycles of abuse and homelessness. More information, including suggested items to donate, can be found at their websites, at WCWC.org and Healing-Transitions.org. 

“WKNC is excited to host this donation drive and give back to those in-need within our community,” says WKNC General Manager Laura Mooney. “It is our hope that through this drive we can use our platform to reach out to our audience members and encourage them to support their peers through the winter. We value Healing Transitions and the Women’s Center’s multifaceted modes of support and ability to reach out to broad portions of at-risk populations, and we are grateful to both organizations for their willingness to provide insight while planning this drive.”

The event will follow North Carolina mandates to prevent the spread of COVID-19, including requiring adequate social distancing measures in donation drop-off, as well as requiring masks to be worn at all times. WKNC staff will be working the event, and large bins will be placed outside in order to limit contact between individuals. 

Categories
Band/Artist Profile Miscellaneous Music Education Non-Music News

Artists Who Give Back to Their Community

Picture of Mac Demarco
Credit: Press / Coley Brown

One thing I’ve always noticed in not only the music industry, but in celebrities in general, is how easy it is to look at them as superhumans. It’s so easy to hold them to such a high standard that we ridicule them for the slightest mistakes and turn our heads when they do something good. I decided to write an article about artists who have given back to their community, but honestly it was hard to find a lot of information about it. More often than not when artists give donations and contributions to charities it’s overlooked or just not even reported on. However, I was able to find a few whose music I thoroughly enjoy and who are actively working to make the world a better place. 

A$AP Mob
The Always Strive and Prosper Foundation was created after A$AP Yams, one of the founders of the original A$AP Mob collective, died of an overdose back in 2015 The foundation is intended to provide children with the best information available about substance use and abuse without judgement or morality to promote healthy lifestyle choices. Their main philanthropic gathering is called Yams Day, which is a music festival dedicated to the foundation. 

Mac DeMarco 
Remember all those wildfires in Australia earlier this year? I know, it seems like forever ago. But ironically enough, Mac DeMarco held a barbeque event in Melbourne which raised $210,000 to go towards Wildlife Victoria and Fire Relief Fund. Cook a pig, save a koala. 

Rihanna
The queen herself is actually one of the biggest philanthropists in the music industry. While she donates to a wide variety of charities, her biggest one is focused on the education of children and women in Malawi, which is one of the poorest countries in the world. Rihanna has helped to fight the huge disparity between the drive of the population to learn and the incredible lack of supplies and schools that are offered for children. 

Mrs. Lauryn Hill 
Lauryn Hill is perhaps the artist who most represents the idea that a community has the capability to love and heal as long as it has the right amount of support. While over her career she has donated to a wide array of charities, her most notable work was her 20 year anniversary tour of “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill,” when she donated every single dollar earned from that tour to the MLH Foundation. This is a charity dedicated to supporting those who are fighting cancer and other serious illnesses. 

While these artists are already very well known, I thought the good work that they were able to do because of their success was something worth mentioning.

-DJ Chippypants 

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Non-Music News

We, the Pack Project: Community Building at NC State

I’ve recently been granted the opportunity to be a part of We, the Pack, a campus project at NC State that aims to bring a sense of unity to our school through conducting interviews with members of our community! If you’re having a hard time picturing what We, the Pack is all about, imagine Humans of New York but only on NC State’s campus.

These interviews typically consist of questions related to personal goals, interests, and experiences. After the interviews are completed, our team shares them over social media, along with portraits of the interviewee. Our goal with this initiative is to help encourage more empathy and understanding through sharing the diverse experiences that weave together the fabric of our community.

The project originally came into being in the fall of 2019 as an extension of the Caldwell Fellows, a scholarship program at NC State dedicated to service leadership. I’ve have had the privilege of being a member of the Fellows this year, so I was able to continue the project this semester, along with several of my peers.

In 2019, when the project originally started, it looked a lot different than it does now. Before, the team members went up to random people around campus and asked them if they had 15 minutes to spare for an interview. Now, of course, we are unable to do that because of COVID and the limited number of people actually on campus, but the project is still meaningful nonetheless! We are able to conduct both Zoom and socially distanced in-person interviews.

Now, because reaching out to people has been more difficult, the We, the Pack team needs more people to interview! If you’re interested in getting involved and promoting kindness in our campus community, email the team at wethepackcf@ncsu.edu.

Follow the We, the Pack Instagram, and stay tuned for interviews!

– DJ Butter

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Non-Music News

WRAL & Artsplosure Present: “Nights of Lights”

Nights of Lights advertisement graphic
Photo courtesy of WRAL.com

Now that Halloween is over, the holiday season is officially underway. What better way to celebrate than supporting local Raleigh artists, listening to Christmas music, and never leaving the comfort of your car?

This year, the City of Raleigh is teaming up with WRAL and Artsplosure to create a COVID-safe holiday light show at Dorothea Dix Park. Attendees will be able to circle the 1.3-mile-long loop that surrounds the park in their cars to view art installations and light displays created by local artists. The beautiful oak trees that make Dix Park so special will also be adorned with holiday cheer.

Vortex Pro Wash, a local Raleigh business, will be responsible for the majority of the light displays. Their designers, Nick and Melissa Rhodes, will be putting up over 400 light arrangements around the park, totaling over 500 strands of lights!

As apart of the experience, the creators of First Night Raleigh will have a special edition installation available to view on December 30 and 31 to commemorate the beginning of 2021. The iconic Raleigh Acorn statue, which is traditionally dropped on New Year’s Eve, will take on a new role this year as it’s combined with the holiday light displays at Dix Park. Mix 101.5, another local radio station, will be putting together a Christmas-themed set to play at the Nights of Lights as well!

Artsplosure Director, Michael Lowder said about the holiday experience, “The board and staff of Artsplosure are grateful to WRAL and the City of Raleigh for the opportunity to enhance the inaugural Nights of Lights festival with elements of First Night Raleigh. The primary focus of First Night has always been to gather our community together in celebration of the arts and a common purpose. In the age of COVID, this platform gives us a unique setting to continue this tradition.”

If you’re interested in attending, here’s some more information:

Where: Dorothea Dix Park in Raleigh, NC

When: Wednesday, December 16 – Thursday, December 31

Tickets: $10 per person, online purchases only

For ticket purchases, route maps, and other information, visit this link!

– DJ Butter