Photo Courtesy of Sandra Pandža
Make sure you tune in to Sandra's radio show this Wednesday!
For this week’s Invasion of Privacy, The Lamron is focusing on one of our partners in student journalism: Sandra Pandža of SUNY Geneseo’s radio station, WGSU, “Geneseo’s Voice of the Valley.” Recently, she has started her own radio show, and in our interview, we explored this exciting development and discussed the great value that WGSU provides to our campus.
Sandra Pandža is currently a junior, but plans to graduate early at the end of this year with a degree in history. She has been working with the radio station since her first semester of freshman year and says that she went into college already knowing she wanted to be a part of WGSU. However, she did not begin with her own show. At first, Sandra worked in music selection, contributing to the wealth of songs that the radio plays. Then, she did some work in marketing. Eventually, Sandra was given permission to broadcast her own radio show, where she calls all the shots about music and can interact directly with listeners.
She describes the WGSU atmosphere as one of the most fun things on campus. The radio room in Blake Hall is dimly lit and filled with posters and stickers of bands that I have never heard of, but Sandra probably has. The ambiance of the room is enough to let anyone know just how cool WGSU is. Also in the office are old radio host’s logs from the ‘90s and early 2000s. As a history major, Sandra enjoys reading the hosts of years past comments (and getting some song ideas while she does so).
While the aesthetics might be a pleasure to deal with, she says that the hardest part of the job comes on the technical side. Now that she has her own show, she has had to deal with the more technical side of things. There are many buttons, sliders, and quick switches between media types, but she is sure that with time these things will become muscle memory.
Despite this challenge, Sandra is overall very excited about her new show. She knew she wanted to have her own since her freshman year, and despite the nerves she faced at first on the air, the executive staff and directors were very helpful with any questions. She was excited to be able to contribute more to the WGSU and the value that it brings to campus and the community.
Sandra Pandža describes this value as the importance of connection between the Geneseo campus and community. The radio participates in community outreach and village events that focus on getting people involved and listening from all over. Everyone likes music, she says, and it can connect students, staff, and our community.
In the future, Sandra hopes to be able to host guests for commentary on the air. She wants her show to be more interactive and to reach out more directly to the student body. Additionally, she is interested in pursuing other collaborations with other radio shows. Her show does not have a set genre and pulls from all types of music,so it could mesh well with any of the other programs on air.
Sandra Pandža’s show is on Wednesday nights from 8:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. Lately, she has been playing throwback albums like Panic! At The Disco’s first album Pretty Odd, and newer music like Declan McKenna, mixed in with some of her parent’s older Bosnian CDs. If you are curious about what goes on on the show, or interested in learning more about the WGSU in general, give Sandra’s show a listen this Wednesday!