It is no secret that UMass-Lowell is teeming with clubs and organizations that appeal to almost any interest students may have. WUML, UML’s radio station, is such an organization. However, despite the dedication and commitment of staff and interns, not everyone on campus is aware that UML has a radio station.

According to bostonradio.org, WUML was started by a student of the Lowell Textile Institute in 1953, after he accidentally built a transmitter in his dorm room. Once UML emerged in 1975, the name changed from WLTI to WJUL and in 2003, to WUML. It features shows in several categories ranging from News, to Athletics to Metal music.

Freshman Yutha Basuseto is a former intern at WUML who joined because her mother was a radio host when she was a child, and would always bring Basuseto to work which sparked her interest in radio.

According to her, intern responsibilities include “bringing a playlist of five songs that will be aired,” on the show they choose to be involved in and reading PSA’s. It is the DJ’s who are in charge of the show itself but interns start off by learning about equipment and the process of running a show so that in the future, they can pass the DJ exam and create a show of their own.

The work takes about an hour and a half of prep time in addition to the “on-air” time, Basuseto said. Prep time included searching for songs to play, looking up lyrics to make sure they were appropriate, and saving them to a Spotify playlist to be connected to the computer when it was time to play them.

Music played is “underground” meaning they are not songs which will usually be heard on the radio and are not in the “Top 40” charts. She said this was a challenging aspect of the job but that it helped her “discover new bands and artists.”

Junior Victoria Kurker, general manager of the station said that WUML is an underground station because of the message they want to send to students and the community. They want to “support artists that won’t make it onto other radio stations,” said to Kurker.

As general manager, Kurker’s responsibilities include talking to the school about budget, making sure the shows are relevant and of good quality, and completing any other tasks which may come up day to day.

Kurker said that WUML broadcasts from Manchester, NH to Fitchburg, MA. During hockey playoffs or other popular campus events, she claims that “listeners can rise up into the thousands,” according to the online listener count. This number does not account for listeners who are tuning in via car radio.

Kurker believes that there is a split between UML students who know and do not know about WUML. There are “a lot of music majors involved,” but because it is on North Campus, more North Campus majors know about it as opposed to South Campus majors.

Despite knowing about the existence of WUML, there are a variety of reasons that prevent students from listening to it. Sophomore Nick Haubert stated that he “tends to gravitate towards stations that are more popular and [he] already knows,” for his music needs.

Freshman Bridget Fehily agrees with Haubert’s statements. According to Fehily, “it can be difficult to listen to it because even though [she knows she] can listen online, [she] would rather pull up Spotify or Pandora and listen to songs and bands that are popular and [she] already knows.”

Looking to the future, Kurker would like to “broaden the range” of WUML and become more competitive in the world of college radio. She also would like to expand the sport department and book more bands to play at UML.