For the Students is a weekly column published by Aggie Radio Management that highlights issues and happenings around campus that we feel students should be aware of.
I’ve been the Station Manager at Aggie Radio for just under six months and I want all students at Utah State to know that I take my job very seriously. Aggie Radio has a responsibility to be the voice of the students, and my job as Station Manager consists of managing all of those voices to produce radio that is for students and by students.
One thing that I have attempted to convey during my tenure as Station Manager is the importance of informing students of what is happening on at Utah State. When I started producing news for Aggie Radio, I determined that I would focus on issues that affected students that may not have got much attention. My program, “Aggie Newsroom” covered issues like the campus-wide Coca-Cola embargo (Pepsigate), unfair privileges for athletes, and parking changes that created less free parking options for students. All of these issues were things that I felt were being ignored by the administration, the Statesman, and the student leaders as a whole.
I love Utah State University. I want to make that clear before I continue because what I’m about to say may lead my readers to believe that I have it out for the school, that simply isn’t the case, but I’ll continue. I love Utah State, but frankly, there are a lot of things wrong with the university, and a lot of them don’t get the attention they deserve. Our spending per athlete is six times the what we spend for a non-athlete students. We aren’t accurately reporting the number of sexual assaults that occur on campus. Compared with other colleges, We’re 3rd in conference football, 119th in national sexual health, 122nd in research, and 1,438th in ethnic diversity. In fact, the only areas we excel in are highest athletic fees in the state of Utah, and number of national championships by a club baseball team (which, by the way, receives very little funding from the university).
Yet, in spite of all these things, every one of us is proud to say we are an Aggie. We wear our Gameday shirts. We fill our stadiums to capacity for sporting events. We get involved planning events, creating clubs, and making our voice heard whenever our student body is threatened. Despite all of these flaws, we love our school.
I haven’t been to a USU home game since 2013. I haven’t created any clubs. I didn’t show up to the rally against violence. But I do love this school. I love this school because of all the schools I’ve ever gone to (elementary, Jr. high, and high school included), this is the one place where I feel like I can make a difference. I know I’m not alone in this. Our student body officers are willing to listen and raise concerns of individual students, our administrators frequently ask for student feedback before proceeding with projects, and our professors ask us to rate them at the end of every semester and then change their teaching based on our suggestions. Utah State may not be at the top of any academic list, but we are amazing at making student voices heard.
But students need to know what is going on in order to make their voices heard. Aggie Radio has always believed in being a radio station “for the students, by the students.” That means we are committed to making students voices heard as well as informing students of things going on around campus that they should care about.
When I started as the Station Manager of Aggie Radio, I committed to creating a radio station based around students needs, and it’s with that same commitment that I bring you this series of articles. I promise to report the facts and information in a way that is both entertaining and informative. I promise to only bring you stories that affect students directly. I promise to continue to publish no matter what kind of pressure I get from administrators, student body officers or internet commentators. I promise to write articles for students with a student perspective.
Who am I? I am Cody Scott, Station Manager at Aggie Radio. I believe in making Utah State a Better Place, and I believe that informed students can do that. I am your peer, your classmate and your friend. I am an Aggie.
