As if there wasn’t enough BS on the radio already, Kent State is making its own contribution. Kent State’s student-run radio station, WKSR, is changing its name to Black Squirrel Radio, or BS Radio.

“The main reason (for the name change) was because there’s a radio station in Tennessee with the same letters,” said Marianne Warzinski, faculty adviser of BS Radio. “Legally, we’re not really allowed to use those.”

After the station created a Web site last year, Warzinski and last semester’s WKSR staff realized there was already an existing WKSR radio station in Pulaski, Tenn. When Kent State’s WKSR decided to make the change, the search for a new name began.

During spring semester, assistant professor Max Grubb assigned his electronic media class the job of creating a new name for WKSR.

He split the class into groups to compete to find the most suitable name for the station. Grubb said he wanted his students to come up with ideas for a name and try to relate them to Kent State students’ interests.

Tyler Hollinger, senior middle childhood education major and BS radio’s general manager, said the station chose the name Black Squirrel Radio because that group “came up with a way that was marketable.” Another reason the name fits is because black squirrels are a part of Kent State’s history and its unofficial mascot.

Although its name has been determined, the station is still planning a few other changes. Since WKSR is no longer, the URL of its Web site must go too, and with it the old design.

Hollinger believes the station’s name will now be easier to recognize. Before, students often confused WKSR with WKSU, Kent State’s classical music and NPR station.

“They need to get the word out and make people aware of who they are,” Grubb said. “They need to get people excited about the station.” Hollinger hopes to do so in the fall while students are moving into the residence halls.

“I’d like to set up a full frontal assault,” Hollinger joked. He plans to make flyers and T-shirts to help advertise Black Squirrel Radio and its new name, and hopes to have one or more DJ booths set up around campus.

Contact Fine and Professional Arts reporter Alex Russell at [email protected].