WCPR 60th Anniversary celebration is a go!

The WCPR 60 Anniversary celebration is upon us! Come join us at the Ruesterholz Admission Center from 5 to 6:30 on Saturday, June 1. (That’s the building next to Howe.) There will be appetizers and a free bar. The event will be held as part of Stevens Alumni Weekend.

If you plan on attending, please make sure to register for the event at https://connect.stevens.edu/alumniweekend. There will also undoubtedly be a large WCPR turnout at the Beer Tasting, so sign up and join us there if beer, trivia, and plastic cup tower construction are your thing.

2018 WCPR Alumni BBQ

Thank you to the General Manager Emma Murphy and the current student body of WCPR – Castle Point Radio for hosting the annual alumni BBQ today.

We had an excellent time reconnecting and swapping tales in what may just be the last big get-together in the current WCPR space, but it was still great to see the enthusiasm and energy still running high in our beloved station!

Also, major thanks to Scott Orshan for taking awesome panoramic/3D photos and videos – check them out when you get a chance.

Thank you to everyone who showed up today for demonstrating your continued passion in supporting WCPR!

The Plaque!

For those of you who were unable to attend the plaque ceremony last year, here’s an image of the plaque commemorating the donors to the WAA Outstanding Performance Award (WOPA). A big thanks to Scott Orshan ’77 for designing and getting this plaque made – it looks beautiful!

 

2016 WAA Election results

Time for election results! Not the US presidential ones, but our own WAA officers. I was late in posting these results, and it’s entirely coincidental that I’m posting them today, so we’ll be ignoring any claims of tampering by Russia, or that the whole system is rigged, OK?

WAA would like to (belatedly) announce the latest WAA officers for the 2016 elections:

President – Mike Bocchinfuso
Vice President – Sue D’Addio
Secretary – Nicholas Barresi
Technical Resource Officer– Imran Merali
Event Coordinator – Stan Switalski
Historian- Derek Ives

Congratulations to everyone who won, and many thanks to everyone who ran and voted!

 

WAA Awards first WOPA scholarship

This past Saturday, April 2, the WCPR Alumni Association was proud to award its very first WCPR Outstanding Performance Award (WOPA) to Andy Waldron ’17.  The reception was held on the 4th floor of the Babbio Center, and was attended by WAA members, the WCPR e-board, and Andy’s parents.

The event began at 3 PM, when snacks and drinks were served. Keith B. Cassidy ’09, Scholarship chair of WAA, served as the Master of Ceremonies. The first speech was given by Melissa Fuest, Assistant Vice President, Alumni Engagement & Annual Giving and Executive Director, Alumni Association for Stevens. Melissa praised the efforts of the WAA in building a bond between the current students and those who had gone before. As is par for the course at Stevens, the festivities were interrupted by a fire alarm on the 3rd floor of Babbio, forcing the attendees to evacuate until the smoke could clear. Thankfully, someone outside had brought donuts.

Once back inside, next up was Mike Bocchinfuso ’08, President of the WAA, who gave a thoroughly entertaining, in-joke-laden speech that was equal parts soul and LOL.  Not to be outdone, Andy gave an equally entertaining and clever acceptance speech that included a detailed update on the state of WCPR and its plans for the future.

Attendees socialized, old friends caught up, and lots of Beef Wellington was consumed. All in all, it was a successful event.

Photos by Scott Orshan ’77.

Broadcasting Through Adversity panel brings crisis experts to Stevens

“When disaster strikes, how do we keep the public informed?” was the question asked by the WCPR Alumni Association. On Wednesday, October 14, in the Bissinger Room, we heard the answers during our “Broadcasting Through Adversity” panel discussion.

Coordinated by WAA’s Technical Resource Officer Robert May, Class of 2013, and cohosted with the Stevens Alumni Association and Stevens Career Center, several key representatives from the fields of broadcasting and journalism came together to provide unique insight into how broadcasting infrastructure is maintained and secured during times of crisis. The discussion topics ranged from the cell phone disruptions on September 11, to the reliability of ham radio during Hurricane Sandy, to the necessity of contingency drills. The panelists discussed the (leadership qualities that shine in times of emergency and even how disaster can spur new developments in telecommunications and broadcasting.

Photos by Nick Gonzalez, class of 2014.

Moderator:

Lisa Pedrogo, Senior Director of Strategic Initiatives and Implementation, CNN

 

Panelists:

Scott Griffin, Principal and VP of Engineering and Technology, The Systems Group

Chris Tobin, former Chief Engineer, 1010 WINS

Bob Desiato, Director of Disaster Recovery, AT&T

Jeff Kinney, Director of Field Operations/Chief Photographer, CNN

Website upgrades

We’ve just upgraded the site to use SSL. Why? Because we’re fancy and we like our privacy. And the little green lock icon is cool. Check it out!

Plus we can post our updates to Facebook and Twitter automatically, so you can get your WCPR Alumni Association news there too.

WAA Council Candidates

These are the candidates for the WCPR Alumni Association Council. Members, please email your votes from your primary email address to elections@wcpralumni.com by October 3rd!

For each position, please select only one candidate. Please indicate your name and class year.

President

Spencer Morasch ‘78

Michael Bocchinfuso ‘08

Vice President

Michael Bocchinfuso ‘08

Matthew Keyser ‘09

Scott Orshan ‘77

Derek Ives ‘08

Secretary

Nicholas Barresi ‘12

David Cabrita ‘13

Imran Merali ‘07

Technical Resource Officer

Paul Rea ‘06

Imran Merali ‘07

Rob May ‘13

Event Coordinator

Dana DeSantis ‘14

Historian

Derek Ives ‘08

David Cabrita ‘13

Imran Merali ‘07

Matthew Keyser ‘09

Undergrad Update – New Record Library Shelves

In the inaugural issue of the WCPR Alumni Newsletter, the Undergrad Update mentioned that the station had invested in new shelves for the record library, since the old ones were starting to bow under the weight of the collection. You asked and now we’re gonna deliver – here’s some photos!

Sweet shelves for drastic plastic!
Sweet shelves for drastic plastic!

New shelves in the record library
New shelves in the record library

Not bad, right? Kudos to the undergrads for giving the shelves an upgrade. Now if you could only convince Stevens to do something about that floor…

Thanks to Matt Corrado for the photos