The merger, which happened last July, has given many competitive advantages to MSU, including the capability of paying their employees at broadcast stations WKAR-TV and Radio.

Some members of the CMU school of broadcast and cinematic arts believe they could be at a disadvantage from a recruiting standpoint, as more MSU students now have access to better facilities and opportunities.

Peter Orlik, director of the school of broadcast and cinematic arts, said the merger gives MSU three major comparative advantages: Better facilities, a large engineering staff and more opportunities to be on the air.

“What they now have with their reorganization is Michigan State students, number one, have access to far more and far better facilities to hone their craft in,” Orlik said. “At the same time, they have support from a much larger engineering staff, so when things go bad, they can be fixed much more quickly. Third, this gives their students more air opportunities on much bigger stations, so you now have student shows on WKAR-TV and WKAR FM.”

Orlik said from a recruiting standpoint, MSU also has a large advantage because of the capability to pay many of their student employees.

“By reworking their finances, they’re now in a position to pay a lot more of their students who are working in the facilities as student employees,” Orlik said. “We have no student employee budget. All of our students are strictly volunteers.”

BCA professor Rick Sykes, a member of the Michigan Association of Broadcasters Foundation, said the merger has raised concerns for the department.

“The merger of their public broadcasting program with their communication school creates another dynamic in terms of how they maximize resources,” Sykes said. “Any good competitor will tell you when the environment changes, you need to look at how you can change to remain competitive in that environment.”

Sykes said despite MSU’s growing broadcasting program, the CMU BCA department still offers an experience to students that mirrors the industry and has won awards for a decade straight.

“My charge is to create a co-curricular experience for the students in our program unequaled in the state,” Sykes said. “Right now, we are in three counties and more than a dozen communities, and we have a very strong and ever-developing social media component.”

Berkley senior Robert Cameron is the former music director for WMHW 91.5 FM and is working on becoming a producer for Moore Hall TV this semester. Cameron said it’s unfortunate that broadcast student employees don’t receive pay, but the professional experience makes the work worth it.

“With the time we put in, I wish we could get paid,” Cameron said. “But it’s still fun just to get the experience and do the work and see the finished product.”

Cameron said despite funding advantages MSU may have, he and other CMU students still believe highly in the broadcast department.

“We still believe we’re the best in Michigan,” Cameron said.

A line stretched from the entrance of GameStop, 4110 E. Blue Grass Road, and past the entrance to Deb, 4208 E. Blue Grass Road, for the midnight release of “Call of Duty: Black Ops” Monday night.

Taylor, a Jerome junior, was one of more than 300 people who shared a passion for gaming and a desire to wait in line for hours to get their hands on the game.

“I’ve been waiting for this game since ‘Modern Warfare 2,’ it was a disappointment,” he said.

“Black Ops” is the latest iteration in the popular “Call of Duty” video game series, putting players in the boots of a Vietnam and Cold War-era covert soldier.

Taylor, who purchased the Xbox 360 version, was the first in line for the game and arrived outside of GameStop at 12:30 in the afternoon.

Despite his excitement, Taylor said he would resist the urge to skip his 8 a.m. class.

“I plan on beating the campaign tonight and playing the zombie mode until I have to go to class,” he said. “I’m a student who gets out of college in four years.”

Taylor’s friend, Clayton Ulrich, a West Broomfield freshman, arrived at GameStop at 2:30 p.m. and was second in line.

“It was much better when the sun was out,” Ulrich said.

Taylor, Ulrich and their friends sat in a circle of camping chairs, each equipped with bottles of soda and plastic guns.

“I brought two iPods, a computer and tried to dress up themed as Black Ops,” Taylor said. “I’ve had this planned out for awhile. I returned $45 worth of pop bottles to get this game. The last $15 came from my grandma – I love my grandma.”

In addition to a line of gamers, Big Shot Gaming with the Central Michigan University ROTC set up four large screens and projectors, each equipped with an Xbox 360 and a copy of “Black Ops” for the crowd to play while they waited for GameStop to open its doors.

Music was provided by 91.5 WMHW for those braving the cold.

According to a Tuesday article from USA Today , “Black Ops’” pre-order numbers outpaced those of last year’s “Modern Warfare 2,” which sold 4.7 million copies during its first day on the shelves, grossing $401 million in sales.

Nathan Lehman, a Hope junior, and his friend, Tom Spagnuolo, were excited for the game’s release and waited for more than an hour in line.

“It’s been hyped up for so long, it’s supposed to be the ‘game of games,’” Lehman said.  “There’s not many good games out there for the (Xbox) 360 right now, it’s supposed to be the ‘savior.’”

Spagnuolo, a Wixom senior, said the “Call of Duty” franchise has been disappointing following the release of “Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare.”

“I hated ‘World at War,’” Sphenuolo said. “The big thing that me and my friends would play was zombie mode. I feel like they’re taking all the (Call of Duty) games, combining all the good things and making one good game.”

Alumni will seize control of 91.5 WMHW during Central Michigan University’s Homecoming starting at 12:01 a.m. on Friday and ending at Midnight on Saturday, said Bill Thompson, takeover coordinator and audio news editor for Michigan radio network.

“It’s our first year doing 48 hours straight,” Thompson said.

This will be the 11th year experts from across the country have descended upon the station to take over its operations.

This year there are about 25 alumni coming back to do the takeover.

Broadcast and Cinematic Arts instructor Trey Stohlman will come back for his third takeover.

“I think it is important for alumni to come back and share their stories and support from the industry with the new generation of students heading into the industry in the next couple of years,” Stohlman said.

The tradition started in 2000 when Thompson and other alumni had the idea to come back and take over the station. Thompson said since then, the Alumni Association has become involved to help organize the event.

“Alumni from all across the country come back,” Thompson said. “We are trying to get some of the newer alumni as well.”

Thompson said the alumni are not just from radio but are also from television, web, public relations and more alumni from all across the board.

“We have been calling it CMU’s new Homecoming tradition and it seems to be sticking,” Thompson said.

This year’s Alumni Takeover is being dedicated to associate professor Jerry Henderson, who retired after 35 years.

“We felt we should have a tribute to him because he has helped thousands of students over 35 years,” Thompson said.

The Alumni Takeover was thought of for alumni to come back and just have fun, Thompson said. He said many of the alumni are on the BCS advisory board and they return to help out the university.

“It’s a way to give back,” Thompson said. “(Alumni) give back to the university by helping out the department and help advise classes.”

He said the alumni will talk with the departments and keep update them regarding curriculum aspects with what is in use or has fallen out of favor in the ‘real world’.

Stohlman said it is a great opportunity for students to start networking and planning their careers.

“This is the largest gathering of individuals currently in the industry all in one place,” he said.

Stohlman will host The School of Rock from noon to 4 p.m. on Saturday. He said it is a great time for the station to play classic rock and just have a great time with friends and alumi with some fantastic music.

Stohlman said he plans to stay active in the takeover as long as he is in the area.

“Seeing old friends and alumni come back, enjoy themselves and share with current students (are my favorite parts),” Stolhman said.

He is the program director for the Mountain 101, a new radio station focusing on adult album alternative music. The Mount Pleasant junior said the station currently broadcasts on 101.1 FM, has been on the air for a couple of months and will be officially launched in September.

The new station will be run by WMHW.

“You can really find something that you like on this station,” Patishnock said. “Acoustic, jazz, world, rock, indie, folk — I really tried to make it as diverse as possible.”

The Mountain 101 originally started as an HD station that would require a subscription to listen to.

After HD failed to catch on as they had hoped, Patishnock said they went back to the drawing board to create a local radio station anyone in town can listen to.

The station will feature artists from as far back as the 1970s to more modern musicians such as Coldplay and John Mayer. Patishnock said his goal was to keep a good balance between music that is both new and exciting and old and familiar.

“91.5’s focus is on modern rock, which is more cutting edge and more aggressive,” Patishnock said. “I personally saw the new station as being geared toward a somewhat older crowd and skewing more female.”

Berkley freshman Vince Pettelle said he feels the station is not geared toward college students and the type of music they enjoy. However, he said that if he was in a relaxed mood, he would consider checking out the new station.

“There are no stations like that around here — it’s all rap,” Pettelle said. “It might be cool.”

Mike Hoover, a Grand Rapids junior and station manager, said he hopes to use the station to promote local events and charities.

The Mountain 101 only reaches about a six-mile radius, so it will be a purely Mount Pleasant station.

“We’re really hoping to get a good local pull and following so people can have a way to get news about events around town,” Hoover said.

Once the station is up and running, WMHW will broadcast from two different stations, each with their own sound and song selections, said Dom Fracassa, station manager of WMHW.

The Carsonville junior said the station will be on 101.1 FM.

“This station will be a little more mellow compared to our other station,” he said. “It will appeal to an older, more mature crowd.”

The station will broadcast in a six-mile radius localized in the Mount Pleasant area only, Fracassa said.

School of Broadcast and Cinematic Arts Chairman Peter Orlik said the station will not be very big when it is started.

“The signal is a hyper-local service, meaning it’s a very small signal,” he said. “It will not interfere with any other station available in this area.”

Orlik said the license for the translator did not cost anything and became available from a leaving broadcast station. WMHW bought some of the equipment from the departing station to make it easier to begin broadcasting.

The used equipment package cost about $5,000, Orlik said.

“Several commercial HD stations are getting translators to move to regular broadband until more people have HD radios,” he said. “We’re just following what most progressive programs are doing today.”

Broad, diverse play

WMHW broadcasts on broadband radio on 91.5 FM, a modern rock channel, along with two HD channels. HD1 plays the same music from 91.5 FM and the new station, 101.1 FM, will play music from the HD2 channel.

“It’s not a new station, but it’s an existing service that we found a way to get into the regular broadband area,” Orlik said. “Not many people have HD radio in order to hear it.”

Fracassa said 101.1 FM will play music from a Triple-A format known as adult album alternative.

The station will have a broader, diverse play list that appeals to more adults than teenagers.

“We looked at all Mount Pleasant stations and decided which hole needed to be filled and what form hadn’t yet been utilized,” Fracassa said.

Orlik said he does not know when the station will be ready to broadcast. The time it takes will depend upon the schedule of the engineers provided by the Division of Public Broadcasting, he said, though they are planning on getting an antenna sometime next week.

The process and application of transmitting an HD station to a translator for a local broadband station will give broadcasting students a chance to learn a skill that will help them with their future career, Orlik said.

“We are training our students in cutting-edge operations,” he said.