KSCU DJ voted best in the valley

By Denise Doerschel

KSCU's own Cameron Collins has recently been named the best DJ in San Jose by The Metro, yet there is much more to his role at the station than his radio program.

For his senior year at Santa Clara, Cameron Collins is the general manager of the school's radio station, KSCU. His responsibilities range from tending administrative duties to mending technical glitches. Additionally, every general manager has the opportunity to embark on a project. This year, Collins is attempting to increase the wattage at the station. Overall, he must help out in every facet of the station to make sure everything runs smoothly. This job is often extremely stressful and overwhelming. However, Collins calmly handles the pressure and thoroughly fulfills all his obligations.

Collins' involvement with KSCU began his freshman year after his R.A. in Graham, Justine, introduced him to the station. Sophomore year, Collins became the fundraising director, which meant organizing biannual fundraisers. He catalogued music and constructed a theme. Additionally, Collins had his own show where he could express his creative freedom.

Collins began as an Indie DJ, but now concentrates on punk music. This decision was influenced by two factors. First, the former fundraising director, Mike Bedard, played punk music and served as a mentor to Cameron. When he left, Cameron took over his program and continued on in his likeness. Secondly, Collins felt he received a better response from listeners, which mostly included high school students. After spending part of his junior year in Paris, Collins resumed as the fundraising director with his own program.

For the third consecutive year, Collins has had his own show. He considers the best aspect of his job to be the response he receives from his audience.

"(The best thing is) being able to play music and have people call up and tell you they like what you played," he said

Now that he has established his musical style on air, he would like to increase KSCU's presence on campus.

"I've been trying to get us more involved with the school through the Multicultural Center and Associated Students," he said. Shawn McCaffrey, otherwise known as "Chaos," explains that KSCU has tables in Benson where they talk to students hoping to increase the application base on campus. Additionally, KSCU sponsors concerts in the Brass Rail of Benson. So far, the student response has been fairly good and will hopefully increase in the future.

For Collins the future means a year break before continuing to law school; however, he plans to stay involved with the station with his own show and possibly as a business manager. Nevertheless, he explains, "I imagine I'll be involved somehow in the music scene wherever I'm at."