{"id":18091,"date":"2024-02-22T10:53:00","date_gmt":"2024-02-22T15:53:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/?p=18091"},"modified":"2024-06-19T11:19:02","modified_gmt":"2024-06-19T15:19:02","slug":"correspondence-5","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/correspondence-5\/","title":{"rendered":"Correspondence"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cheers to 90 Years<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n

Kudos on the outstanding issue (spring\/summer 2023<\/a>)! The depth and breadth of the articles was most informative and provided much reading pleasure. Having worked at Monmouth for 30 years, and now looking on from the sidelines, I am accustomed to being impressed by the upward momentum and evolution of our beloved University, and this celebration of its 90th<\/sup> anniversary brought that all into focus. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I loved the list of \u201c90 Things to Love About Monmouth\u201d<\/a> and not just because Nos. 50 and 51 are close to my heart. You captured everything that makes Monmouth so special. I would add only one item: the time capsule that was created to celebrate the Millennium and is to be opened in 2033 at Monmouth\u2019s 100th anniversary. It contains many items that will bring back history and memories. In the meantime, I look forward to more great issues of Monmouth magazine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014Janet Fell, Administrator Emeritus<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

What a great piece in your Spring\/Summer 2023 publication! So well written, documented, and illustrated! I enjoyed reading it and it brought a smile to my face. Kudos!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014Suzanne Knight \u201980<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Your \u201c90 Things\u201d list brought back many fond memories of my five years at Monmouth, but I do have a comment. You listed the Hawk Family at No. 52. At 57,800-plus strong, the alumni should be No. 1 on the list. Monmouth\u2019s alumni are its best resource for new students. I talk up Monmouth every chance I get, touting the excellent education, small classes, dedicated faculty and staff, career opportunities, gorgeous campus and location, etc. I am forever indebted to Monmouth for giving me, a first-generation college student, the gift of higher education through a full Trustee Scholarship. In my opinion, Monmouth alumni always come first in spreading the word about how cool the school is!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014Catherine Folio, Ed.D., \u201975, \u201976M<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

If I have to be second place to anything, at least it\u2019s the motherland.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014@ShadowtheHawk, via X<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Hey There, Readers!<\/strong> We wanted to clear the air about our \u201c90 Things\u201d list. We weren\u2019t ranking the items from least to most favorite. We\u2019re head over heels for everything on the list. In fact, we had to cut a bunch of awesome items off our list to get it down to 90; otherwise, our list could have gone on forever!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n

Belated Best Wishes<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n

Congratulations to all for their dedicated service to Monmouth (\u201cFaculty and Staff Retirements,\u201d <\/a>spring\/summer 2023), especially to Mary Ann Nagy and Bill Craig, both of whom I had the pleasure of appointing during my presidency in the 1980s.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014Samuel H. Magill, Ph.D., \u201905HN, President Emeritus<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n

A Splashing Success<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n

You did a fantastic job with the Troubled Waters<\/a> article (spring\/summer 2023). It was easy to understand and visually appealing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014Kyle A. Seiverd \u201911, \u201921Ed.D<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n

Transmitting Memories<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n

Our request for past and present WMCX staffers to share stories about working at Monmouth\u2019s student-run radio station found a receptive audience (Looking Back,<\/a> spring\/ summer 2023). Thanks to everyone who cranked up the nostalgia and shared a half-century\u2019s worth of on-air adventures!<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The photo in the last issues shows Brian Herman \u201910 (in the Mets jersey) and me. We were production directors on the executive board and did a morning show together for a few years.<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"Two
Brian Herman (left) and Nick Sgroi in the WMCX studios. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

I met most of my college friends at WMCX (and HawkTV) and really hung out there all day. WMCX got me into music production and expanded my love for so many different kinds of music. Also, how could you not love seeing Donna (Dolphin) and Furg (Aaron Furgason \u201992) every day? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I made so many funny radio bumps for the station\u2014many questionable for air, but always reviewed by Chris Cavallaro \u201995 for a thumbs-up or down. One of them, \u201cGolfing Babies,\u201d ran for about 10 years. I really miss Professor Cavallaro.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My favorite show that I hosted was a midnight jazz show called \u201cJazz Etc.\u201d Everyone used funny accents, and we\u2019d play different background noises to pretend we were broadcasting from different places. I also fondly remember doing the 24-hour live music fests and co-productions with M-squared live and producing news pieces. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

WMCX is really a huge part of my life, and the nostalgia always floods back when I remember it all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014Nick Sgroi \u201910<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

I was one of the DJs back in 1995.  I remember physically splicing the cassette tapes and putting them in the player. We had to record songs, splice them, and make them blend together to sound good for the radio. I clearly remember one of my broadcasts where I had to talk about the Monmouth baseball team, and I said, \u201cThey came up swimming\u201d instead of \u201cswinging.\u201d I laughed so hard! We used to always close with \u201cX88.9 rockin\u2019 your shoreline!\u201d I miss those days! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014Audrey LoPresti \u201998<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

I was a DJ when the station was housed in the old Student Union Building. The only folks able to hear the broadcast were located in the dorms around the building. I also helped stock and restock the records\u2014yes, we used records, which were spun on the station\u2019s record player. If anything broke, the only person who could fix the equipment was a guy we called \u201cEZ Ray.\u201d I don\u2019t remember his full name, but he kept the station running. Ron Subarsky \u201972 was the program manager, and Cliff Frisch was in charge of the records themselves. To say that we had a great time running the station would be an understatement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014Ellen Blut Spivack Meeds \u201975<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n
\n
\"colorful
Illustration by Andy Ward<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Congratulations to WMCX for 50 years of bringing the noise to the Jersey Shore! This may come as a surprise, but there was a time 10 years before the X when we spun vinyl on campus. Back in prehistory, a bunch of us had a little closet we called a studio\u2014I think it was somewhere just off the Great Hall\u2014and a way to send a signal over phone lines all around what was then Monmouth College. In early 1964, we got our hands on a Capitol Records release of a British band. Four faces, blue tint on the cover, mop-tops. You got it? We put \u201cMeet the Beatles\u201d on the turntable, snap-cued the first track, and played it\u2014and played it, and played it again. We locked the door of the closet-studio and kept playing it. A lovely guy, Tom Murtha, was dean of students, and he came pounding on the door telling us to knock it off. I don\u2019t remember how it ended. Probably we got hungry and had to come out for dinner. What I do remember is the rush, the pulse, the pure in-your-face excitement of playing rock on the radio. To the recent and current X-men and women, keep finding that rush. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014Thomas Boyd \u201965<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

I wasn\u2019t directly involved with the radio station, but my first-year roommate, David Colangelo \u201974, was the evening\/nighttime DJ. I remember one night he returned from his show and excitedly told me that Renaissance and Billy Joel would be performing at Monmouth that spring. Of course we all went to the concert, which was held in the gymnasium. I don\u2019t think there were more than a thousand people there, and we sat near the front row. After the show, some of the band members met down at the Brighton Bar in West Long Branch. How cool is that?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014Andrew Lewis \u201975<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

I graduated in 1978 and witnessed the birth of WMCX. While I don\u2019t have any pictures, I enjoyed the many experiences. One particularly memorable moment was when a group of us from the station covered the Democratic National Convention during Jimmy Carter\u2019s election. We rented a hotel room, slept in the bathtub, and even managed to infiltrate the White House pressroom. It was truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During my time at WMCX, I also had the opportunity to interview Nancy Reagan and former tennis great John Newcombe, go on the air each week as a DJ, learn a lot, and meet some great people. I wouldn\u2019t trade my time there for anything.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014Donna Camardo \u201978<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

In the fall of 1984, I asked Professor (Rett) Rich if I could start broadcasting men\u2019s basketball games for WMCX. In the past, there had not been any sports broadcast by the station. The first game we broadcast was an exhibition match against the Russian National Team at home. I was the play-by-play voice and Professor Rich was our color commentator. It was a tough assignment given the difficulty we had pronouncing the names of the Russian players, but we survived. That year, we broadcast every home game for the team. For the 1985\u201386 season, I was joined by Lisa Russo \u201988 and Mike D\u2019Onofrio, and we broadcast home and away games. What a great experience I had working at WMCX. I am forever grateful to Professor Rich for taking the chance and allowing me the opportunity to broadcast those games!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014Jerry Lomurno \u201988<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

I was the station\u2019s program director during the 2009\u201310 school year, and although I have countless stories I could share about my time at the X, the best one is that WMCXis the place where I met my husband, Trevor Marden \u201911 (former music director and station manager). We met in November 2008 while working on a project for Advanced Radio in the editing suites and started dating the following spring after we were elected to the WMCX Executive Board. The rest, as they say, is history! We got engaged in September 2013 on the steps of the Great Hall and had our engagement photos taken in the WMCX studios. These days, we live with our two children in Old Bridge, New Jersey, and Trevor is the producer of the Jim Kerr Rock n\u2019 Roll Morning Show on Q104.3 in New York. For Trevor and me, WMCX will always be a special part of our history, the place where it all began for us!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014Vanessa (Avansino) Marden \u201910<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n
\n
\"a<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Back before there was a \u201creal\u201d radio station, when Monmouth University was still Monmouth College, there was a low-power (i.e., FCC Part-15 compliant), on-campus-only station operating from the third floor of the old Student Union Building. This photo, from May 1967, shows Bob Siegel \u201969 at the then recently upgraded control board. The old radio station still holds many fond memories for me, because it\u2019s also where I met my late wife, Sharon Neild \u201969. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014Barclay Hills<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n
\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

I had the pleasure of being WMCX’s music director during my senior year at Monmouth. I was lucky to interview many bands including Dune Rats, Remember Jones, Wild Adriatic, and the Frights. Some of my favorite memories were the \u201c24 Hour Music Fest\u201d and being on the air during a show I hosted with my friends called \u201cDad’s Records.\u201d We’d spend the time spinning vinyl and inviting guests to come on and share records of their own. That\u2019s me on the far left with Luke McKenna and Sam Mader.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2014Owen Daly-Forseth \u201916<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Discussion and reactions to our last issue. Plus, former WMCX staffers crank up the nostalgia!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":60,"featured_media":18109,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"image_focus":"{\"x\":64,\"y\":46}","hide_title":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18091","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-currents"],"thumbnail":"\"\"","catString":"Currents","issue":"Fall\/Winter 2023","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18091","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/60"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18091"}],"version-history":[{"count":34,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18091\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19039,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18091\/revisions\/19039"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18109"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18091"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18091"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18091"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}