There were no space for mistakes, except, we did get a few chances.
The idea of being on camera was scary, but it all worked out at the end. Everyone had the chance to experience background work including working the cameras, operating the teleprompter, directing everyone, and manage the buttons for graphics. It was a very eye opening experience to actually live through a mock recording for television. Mannerisms, eye contact, posture, and facial expressions all played a big part. But it was a super cool adventure.
We also traveled to News12 and it was an impressive operation. Everything from computers to the building looked like we were living more than in the present. It was modern but high-tech. I learned a lot about the broad and all-encompassing field of journalism.
Words can be delivered through print, voice, music, and more.
Today I had the pleasure to speak with Isobel Breheny-Schafer, the assistant director of student media and general manager at the WUSB radio station. Through radio, words and information can travel through real time with planned programs and hosts.
Radio can bring a community together with a common language, and music is the main focus of the WUSB station.
Throughout the day, we also learned the importance of choosing the right thoughts in a concise manner. We wrote stories that will soon be posted!
People always seem to open up when something that they are passionate about. We saw this as we conducted interviews for the Game Theory Workshop at the Wang Center.
Doing a whole research paper on the movie, Crazy Rich Asians, I just found out that Rachel is not only an economics professor, but she studied Game Theory. Game Theory is thinking about the whole picture, predicting what the other side is going to do and base your decisions off of that. It’s a big mind game and a very intriguing way of thinking.
Both Mr. Chin and Mr. Samuelson shifted into professional mode when we interviewed them on their expertise. Mr. North also gave us a lot of his professional advice and aided us in the interview process.
Everyone can be a winner and when you find the right work it won’t feel like a day of work!
This is definitely a bittersweet day. Although we are leaving today, we are also leaving with more knowledge, connections, and people we can now reach out to when needed. Breakfast was amazing as per usual and I managed to pack everything back into my travel size mini suitcase! Phew 🙂
DJ Drew commands the booth at WUSB, the college radio station at Stony Brook University, where nearly five decades of student and community radio come to life. (Photo by Shirley Jiang)
On June 27, 1977, at 5:30 p.m., Stony Brook University’s WUSB radio station signed for the first time, playing “All the Young Dudes” by Mott the Hoople.
Over 48 years, the station at 90.1 FM has served the Stony Brook area with ever-changing technology while keeping the interest of the people in mind.
The station can be heard in Long Island, Southern Connecticut, Brooklyn, Queens, and Westchester County with more than 6,000 listeners each day.
This year, for the 48th anniversary, the founding general manager and faculty advisor, Professor Norman Prusslin, was interviewed on the history of the station and the live concerts it used to produce on campus.
Playing “All the Young Dudes” became a yearly tradition along with playing music from the 70s to invoke nostalgia.
Along with music from the 70s, the WUSB airs music ranging from jazz, punk rock, pop, world music, local music, international music and exclusive music. The station also covers music history and includes public service announcements.
Isobel Breheny-Schafer, the assistant director of student media and general manager of WUSB, said the public service announcements increases the exposure of local non-profits to a larger audience and “makes all of us feel very good.” Featured nonprofits include libraries, children’s hospitals, veterans’ homes and events such as blood drives.
Students hold positions including program director, music director, student sports director, DJ and alumni sports director. The station also depends greatly on volunteers. There are more than 2,000 of them-students, faculty and community members who are required to complete volunteer hours. The volunteers can be compensated with college credits or work as paid interns.
“Music wouldn’t be the way it is today without the radio,” said Andrew Sivillo, also known as DJ Drew, a SUNY Oneonta graduate interning at WUSB. Radio allows the community to stay informed and is a source of social discourse, Sivillo said. DJ Drew enjoys hosting weekly shows and loves psychedelic rock, jazz fusion and power pop.
Breheny-Schafer has witnessed changes in the radio industry along with improvements in technology. The station started with an analog phone system, analog sound board for broadcasting, printed news reports, analog phone lines for transmission and often received music on vinyl and CDs.
Today, the WUSB relies on ethernet lines for transmission, digitized boards and soundboards and receives music from online sources such as Spotify and music companies.
With the development of phones, the station is now portable.
“I listen to the radio in the car,” Breheny-Schafer said. “I listen to it on the computer in the office. The radio is always on in my house. I have different radios in different rooms so I almost always have the radio on.”
The 16-year-old Baldwin High School rising senior uses that to her advantage with a TikTok account devoted to the high school, called Baldwin High Talks, and a personal Instagram, which she used to promote her campaign for reelection as president of the high school’s student government.
Layla started Baldwin High Talks after she noticed that other high schools had shade accounts, or unofficial accounts, about a school. She wanted to bring Baldwin High School into the spotlight, posting interviews, sharing students’ college commitments and information about board of education elections.
“I remember seeing shade accounts from other middle schools and high schools like Holy Trinity and it inspired me to create one for Baldwin,” Layla said.
Her TikToks receive on average more than 9,000 views.
As for her Instagram account, @Thegentlespush, a word play on Layla’s last name, she has shared motivational quotes and information to encourage others to vote for her. And it may have just helped. She won re-election as student government president for 2026 after serving in that role last year.
She was recommended for the Robert W. Greene Summer Institute for High School Journalists by her advanced placement English language and composition teacher, who usually suggests that one student apply each year.
Layla was initially hesitant, but after seeing the option to attach videos, she submitted clips of her public speaking, theater performances and social media because it “doesn’t hurt to try.”
Moreover, Layla just loves connecting with people.
“I don’t think I have a social battery,” she said. “I’ve been complimented on how well I can talk to different types of people all at the same time. I can get everyone to connect and not even realize it because I’m just genuinely talking.”
“I’ve been complimented on how well I can talk to different types of people all at the same time. I can get everyone to connect and not even realize it because I’m just genuinely talking.”
– Layla Gentles
Layla said she can always find the “vibe” in every room but acknowledges that not everyone is open in the first few moments of meeting.
She recalled a quote from a calendar her mother, Sanika Gentles, gave her that stuck with her. The date was Aug. 1, 2023.
“What makes you great also f**ks you over,” Layla said with a laugh.
“Even though most of the time it’s an advantage,” she said about being outgoing, “it’s not always everyone’s cup of tea. You have to learn to turn it on and off at the right time.”
Layla’s friend Mia Smith described Layla as “very passionate when it comes to helping others, especially in our Baldwin community. She’s very intelligent and is always ready to enlighten someone on a topic that she finds interesting and worthy of being shared.”
Layla is also an inspiration to everyone around her, Mia said. “She always uses the quote, ‘If someone tells you ‘No,’ you asked the wrong person,’” and it helped me to continue pursuing things that I do.”
Layla loves to listen to music, go to New York City, read, debate—she’s also the head of the school’s debate panel— participate in DECA, and most of all, have genuine conversations with others.
In the future, Layla hopes to work in marketing, public relations or the law.
“I like hearing stories because it’s all knowledge,” she said.
The first day of the Stony Brook University Greene Team Program was an eye opening experience. People I met once during orientation and over a groupchat came to life once again and everyone seemed to get along just fine!
Although I was tired from an hour and forty-five minutes of driving, after unpacking, we immediately went over the rules and began the journey.
The rain caught all of us off guard and it slowly started to amplify in intensity.
Drops.
Drizzle..
Downpour…
Drenched from head to toe and we were still eager to learn.
