Thursday, January 29, 1998
Hey,
KLA:
He’s a lean, mean, broadcasting machine – he’s campus radio KLA
general manager Mark Liu
By Trina Enriquez
Daily Bruin Contributor
"You’ll have to forgive me if I’m wincing in pain," says Mark
Liu, pacing around the office of KLA, UCLA’s student-run FM radio
station. "I took a nasty face-plant and kind of twisted my back
while snowboarding this weekend. Had a big yard sale," he added,
grinning a little.
Liu, KLA’s general manager, is referring to an ignominious
tumble he took down Bear Mountain. In the said "yard sale," every
bit of gear not strapped onto him was found littering the
slope.
Despite a face-plant or two, however, weekly snowboarding
excursions provide a major stress-reliever for Liu, a fourth-year
political science major/business administration minor, and founding
father of Pi Kappa Phi, the newest chartered fraternity at
UCLA.
Liu has been a part of the KLA scene since fall quarter of his
freshman year. Over time, he eventually worked his way to his
present position as general manager. He oversees daily operation of
the station, from setting policy to tying up loose ends – a
position paradoxically placing him at both the bottom and the top
of the totem pole in terms of duties.
Routinely, the KLA office is the first place to which Liu goes
in the morning as well as the last place he leaves at night. On
this particular morning, he empties trash – "Not one of my regular
jobs," he grins – before leafing through mail and going over
program logs. Logs serve as the ‘script’ of station programming,
making them an essential part of operation.
While flicking quick glances at the paperwork, Liu alternates
between sitting down and pacing around the small rooms in a sort of
state of frenetic activity.
"All riiight!" he exclaimed. "We have commercials! This is a
(major) source of income for KLA. Here, take a look at this," he
went on, holding out a Job Alert from the Southern California
Broadcast Association. In it, KROQ had advertised a position as a
part-time music coordinator, so Liu sent in his resume in hopes of
being hired by the alternative rock station.
"It’d be like a dream come true," Liu said, "but I wouldn’t give
up my job at KLA."
Liu’s schedule is such that he only has a glass of water and
some vitamins before heading out the door in the morning. "I bought
a toaster earlier this year, just so, you know, I could have toast
for breakfast," he explained. "But I never use it."
So, after a quick stop at the KLA office, Liu heads off to
several straight hours of lectures and discussions. He eats lunch
on the run.
"I’m too busy and too poor, so I just pack a lunch. I’m no
stranger to eating in class, although I had to give up Taco
Bell."
After he’s finished class for the day, Liu heads back to the
radio station, where he remains until evening.
Amidst the walls plastered with colorful band stickers and
shelves lined with CDs and vinyl records are already several other
members of the KLA team. The small rooms make for rather cramped
quarters as other DJs and directors file in and out of the
office.
As Liu enters, music is emanating from two adjacent rooms. One
of these is the DJ booth, where another DJ spins records for her
shift. In the other room is Jason Preston, KLA music director and
96-97 general manager, sorting and testing sundry discs to
determine which songs to put in rotation.
"Jason’s an MVP because he distinguishes between playing music
he personally likes and playing what’s good for the station," said
Liu, watching him work. "He’s one of the best KLA’s ever had."
Liu then launches into discussing an upcoming training session
for interns and a staff meeting while simultaneously checking up on
the DJ currently on the air. Almost as soon as he’s in the door,
he’s out again – this time to meet with Arvli Ward, UCLA’s student
media director.
As the liaison for KLA, Liu meets with Ward about four times a
week to discuss administration and budgets along with picking up
office supplies. Currently, KLA and Student Media are negotiating
the installation of an FM transmitter on top of Ackerman Union or
Hedrick Hall, which would allow students within a 1-2 mile radius
to receive KLA without the cable presently required to tune into
the station.
Most college radio stations operate using this special cable to
transmit their signal to listeners, but KLA seeks to widen its base
by adding the 1-watt FM transmitter. Ideally, listeners out to
Veteran, for example, will be able to pick up KLA’s signal.
However, the gulf between this goal and the cost of installation
remains to be bridged, and KLA is on a tight budget. The logistics
of the issue arouse some visible frustration among several members
of KLA.
"With the transmitter, there’s the possibility of attracting a
bigger, more specialized audience," Liu said. "College radio is one
of the last places in America where people can listen to
non-corporate music, like amateur bands from the L.A. area – the
newest music that’s gonna break soon."
Upon his return to the office, Liu settles in to begin his
two-hour shift as DJ. He usually performs at least one shift a
quarter, and sometimes does two or three. Currently he also hosts
"The Only Entertainment Show," a talk show on which, among others,
the cast from UPN’s "Team Night Rider" is slated to appear.
"I thought I’d just be sitting around, talking to shmucks or
something," he said. "But we’ve actually had some pretty prominent
people, like actors from "Days of Our Lives," and indie directors
from the Sundance and Cannes Film Festivals."
Once on the air, he spins the records, intermittently inviting
requests and incorporating sound bites of Quentin Tarantino and
KROQ’s Kevin and Bean essentially saying "YOU’RE listening to
KLA!!"
He dons headphones and works the knobs and buttons of the board
in between talking to others popping in and out of the DJ
booth.
"The only time of the day I can relax is when I’m DJ-ing," Liu
said emphatically.
Manipulating the equipment so that everything from soundbites to
newscasts flows well together looks pretty tricky. But, says Liu,
"once you get used to everything, it becomes very therapeutic.
"My father, a pilot, once described his job as hours and hours
of boredom followed by moments of sheer panic," he continued. "So
being a DJ is like minutes of boredom when you’re playing the
songs, followed by moments of sheer panic at equipment problems or
miscalculated time."
After his shift wraps, Liu briefly checks in with several other
directors before calling it a day. He runs an errand at the UCLA
Store and grabs a drink at Panda Express–"throat gets dry after
doing a show" – before heading back to the Pi Kappa Phi house, a
new fraternity at UCLA which he founded with several other
students.
"When I rushed my freshman year, the idea of helping start a
fraternity and shaping its future really appealed to me," he said.
"My best friends are these guys; we’ve been through so much
together to organize the fraternity. It’s nice to have them right
there."
If he’s lucky, Liu can catch dinner with the other guys in his
house, but he usually misses it on account of working late at the
radio station. So after returning home, he spends time responding
to e-mail and contacting various record labels with web sites on
the Internet.
Afterward, he begins studying, taking a break after a few hours
to play "this game called Quake World on the Internet. It’s nerdy,
but I get to blow people up – you know, harmlessly relives
aggression."
So after an hour or so of computerized violence, Liu goes back
to homework and is usually asleep by about 1:30 a.m. "I wish I were
one of those people who could pull all-nighters and function on two
hours of sleep," he said, "but if I don’t get five or six, I’m
useless."
That would be a minor catastrophe for a guy who’s learned to
live by his planner. "It’s the only way to stay organized. I’ve
taught myself so that the instant I have a thought, I write it
down."
In the meantime, Liu is keeping his fingers crossed for that
opening at KROQ, although he has been a newsroom intern at KABC-TV
since last quarter. As a career, he’s hoping to pursue music
radio.
"I’d be so jazzed to move from college radio to professional
radio before I graduated," Liu enthused.
For now, however, he’s still focused on KLA. "I know it sounds
corny, but with a lot of hard work and a little love, this station
can really just explode."