Remember the kid on Beverly Hill 90210 that was the DJ for the high school radio station? Come on, now, you know you watched it. Anyway, that is what came to mind when someone mentioned the rebirth of Northern Kentucky’s student radio station, WRFN.

When resurrected, the new WRFN will be found at 810 AM and will only be heard on campus and in the dorms. It will be run by student volunteers.

“Our programming is going to be very different,” said Josh Estep, when asked about the difference between WRFN and the other radio station on campus, public radio station WNKU-FM.

The reborn WRFN will not be strictly music. Its organizers plan to have on-air programs, in the spirit of early radio before the age of television.

“We’ll have on-air readings,” said Estep, “Like when Orson Welles read ‘War of the Worlds’ on the radio.”

With any luck, the station will be up and running by the summer of 2002. The three students resurrecting WRFN have completely different tastes in music. Estep, a sophomore Radio/Television major, enjoys heavy metal and alternative music and said he plans on rocking out when he is on the air.

Vaston Brooks, also a sophomore RTV major, prefers country music. Brooks is currently a part-time DJ for B105, a commercial country station.

Tarris Horton, or Troy as he is know to friends, who listens to hip-hop and rap and will introduce listeners to his preferences during his programs. Horton also has his own record label.

WRFN, which has its offices on the second floor of the University Center, initially closed to have remodeling done and for new equipment to be purchased to update the station. New equipment was bought by WRFN students, but they did not know how to use it. Last year, approximately $6,000 – $7,000 went unspent by WRFN. Because of lack of interest in the station, WRFN remained shut down during the 1999 – 2000 academic year, Kent Kelso, dean of students, told The Northerner in a September interview. But these students plan to have the station back up and running. “We have some engineers from B105 who are going to help us get things going,” Brooks said. “They’re donating a lot of time and equipment for us. After we get it up and running, we will be looking for students to help. Then we will hopefully find some ways to advertise and get some sponsors,” he added.