WXYC, THE WORLD'S FIRST INTERNET RADIO BROADCAST

Today, The Grandma has been listening to the radio. She loves it, and she has chosen one of her favourite, the WXYC, the student radio station of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, that launched the world's first internet radio broadcast.

WXYC (89.3 FM) is an American radio station broadcasting a college radio format. Licensed to Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States, the station is run by students of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

The station is owned by Student Educational Broadcasting, Inc. The station operates with an effective radiated power of 1,100 Watts from an antenna height above average terrain of 147 meters.

The station broadcasts 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Its signal has been simulcast on the Internet by ibiblio since November 1994 and is credited as having performed the first Internet radio broadcast in the world.

It can also be found on iTunes, where, based on listener feedback, it would appear to enjoy some popularity in the UK and the American Northeast among Internet listeners.

The station is known for an eclectic variety of content, including: jazz, blues, rock, hip hop, zydeco, metal, electronic music, folk music, bluegrass, country, traditional Asian music, traditional African music, calypso, samba, tejano, mariachi, Latin American music, funk, electroclash, synthpop, pop, cajun, doo wop, reggae, dance hall, classical, classic rock, and almost any other type of music.

More information: WXYC

There is a stated emphasis on music from the 20th century onwards, as opposed to classical, though classical music is played from time to time. Furthermore, there is a conscious attempt to give artists from North Carolina, especially the greater Chapel Hill area, more air time, but local artists do not dominate the content.

There are also speciality talk shows that highlight sports, news, and student government at UNC. Speciality music shows exhibit material from UNC's Southern Folklife Collection, music usually considered too erratic, abrasive, or lengthy for regular radio play, even by WXYC's permissive standards, local music, newly released music, and electronic/dance. Additionally, every Thursday night, there is a three-hour theme show.

The theme of this show changes every week, but a few examples include: songs about chickens, music from Mexico, swing music from occupied Europe, the northern England electronic scene, batucada, music performed by convicted criminals, and Carolina Soul of the 1960s through 1980s.

WXYC's offices and studios are located in the Frank Porter Graham Student Union on the campus of the University of North Carolina.

WXYC's transmitter is located on Jones Ferry Road in Chatham County, North Carolina.

WXYC is known for putting on dances throughout the year with various themes, including the 80s, the early 1990s, and the best music released in the past year.

Prior to 1977, WXYC was a carrier current AM station known as WCAR.

Until 1970, several UNC residence colleges had their own carrier current stations. Morrison Dormitory had WMO, Ehringhaus had WSTD, Granville Towers had WILD and Hinton James also had its own station.

In the fall of 1969, Hinton James joined Ehringhaus to form WRSC (Radio South Campus). Meanwhile, Morrison and Granville Towers formed WCAR which broadcast from the basement of Granville West.

In January 1970, all of these stations consolidated into WCAR. The WCAR studios were located in the basement of Ehringhaus Dormitory and broadcast to every other dorm via AM frequency 550 kHz. The management of WCAR planned to upgrade the service with the hope of eventually getting an FM licence from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). At that time, it was anticipated that the station would serve as a training ground for future broadcasters and not act solely an outlet for, what was called at the time, progressive rock.

In order to achieve their ambitious plans, many WCAR staff members ran for Student Legislature (SL).

More information: Facebook-WXYC

In 1972, a running joke around campus was that the SL was made up of three parties, the liberals, the conservatives, and WCAR. Through the shrewd use of political power, WCAR was allocated the funds necessary to move its studios and offices to the Frank Porter Graham Student Union in 1973.

UNC students Jim Srebro, Gary Rendsburg, Jim Bond, Bob Heymann, Randy Wolfe, Monte Plott, and George Frye were all instrumental in the upgrading of facilities and doing the preliminary engineering and legal work in order to be licensed as an FM station.

A student referendum was held in 1973 to allocate the necessary funds to formally apply for and build an FM station. Through the work of WCAR volunteers, the referendum passed.

In 1974, WCAR received its construction permit from the FCC to begin building its FM station. When the UNC Administration realized that this new FM station would be licensed with over 10,000 Watts of power and therefore could be clearly heard in Raleigh and by members of the North Carolina General Assembly, it pulled its support for the entire project. The FCC subsequently cancelled the construction permit.

More information: Twitter-WXYC

In response, WCAR's management formed a not-for-profit corporation, Student Educational Broadcasting, Inc., which would become the new licensee of WXYC. 

Jim Srebro served as the first Chairman of Student Educational Broadcasting, Inc. In the intervening time, however, other new FM stations were licensed by the FCC in North Carolina, which limited WXYC to only 400 Watts of power when it went on the air in March 1977.

In 2009 the station relocated its transmitter facilities and increased power to 1,100 Watts.

In 1994, WXYC disc jockey Michael Shoffner set up the station's Internet radio broadcast, which runs to this day and is widely considered to be the first such broadcast.

North Carolina Public Radio (WUNC) is also affiliated with the university.

More information: Instagram-WXYC

Radio is the most intimate and socially personal medium in the world.

Harry von Zell

CHEROKEES: GREAT SMOKY MOUNTAINS NATIONAL PARK

Joseph de Ca'th Lon in Great Smoky Mountains

Joseph de Ca'th Lon is visiting Great Smoky Mountains National Park to celebrate the 83th Anniversary of its declaration as a National Park.

Great Smoky Mountains National Park is a United States National Park and UNESCO World Heritage Site that straddles the ridgeline of the Great Smoky Mountains, part of the Blue Ridge Mountains, which are a division of the larger Appalachian Mountain chain. The border between Tennessee and North Carolina runs northeast to southwest through the centerline of the park. It is the most visited national park in the United States with over 11.3 million recreational visitors in 2016. On its route from Maine to Georgia, the Appalachian Trail also passes through the center of the park. 

More information: Great Smoky Mountains National Park

Former Governor Ben W. Hooper of Tennessee was the principal land purchasing agent for the park, which was officially established on 15 June 1934. The park was chartered by the United States Congress the same year and officially dedicated by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt in 1940.

Bears in Great Smoky Mountains National Park

The park encompasses 2,114.15 km2, making it one of the largest protected areas in the eastern United States. The main park entrances are located along U.S. Highway 441 at the towns of Gatlinburg, Tennessee, and Cherokee, North Carolina. 
It was the first national park whose land and other costs were paid for in part with federal funds; previous parks were funded wholly with state money or private funds. Due to the 2016 Great Smoky Mountains wildfires, the Park was under evacuation orders, along with some towns and cities located nearby.

Before the arrival of European settlers, the region was part of the homeland of the Cherokees. Frontiers people began settling the land in the 18th and early 19th century. In 1830 President Andrew Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act, beginning the process that eventually resulted in the forced removal of all Indian tribes east of the Mississippi River to what is now Oklahoma. Many of the Cherokee left, but some, led by renegade warrior Tsali, hid out in the area that is now the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Some of their descendants now live in the Qualla Boundary to the south of the park.

More information: Cherokee Nation

This park was designated an International Biosphere Reserve in 1976, was certified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1983, and became a part of the Southern Appalachian Biosphere Reserve in 1988.

Joseph in the National Park Visitors Center

The majority of rocks in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park are Late Precambrian rocks that are part of the Ocoee Supergroup. This group consists of metamorphosed sandstones, phyllites, schists, and slate. 

Early Precambrian rocks are not only the oldest rocks in the park but also the dominant rock type in sites such as the Raven Fork Valley and upper Tuckasegee River between Cherokee and Bryson City. 

They primarily consist of metamorphic gneiss, granite, and schist. Cambrian sedimentary rocks can be found among the bottom of the Foothills to the northwest and in limestone coves such as Cades Cove. One of the most visited attractions in the mountains is Cades Cove which is a window or an area where older rocks made out of sandstone surround the valley floor of younger rocks made out of limestone.

More information: Hiking the Smokys - Appalachian Trail

The oldest rocks in the Smokies are the Precambrian gneiss and schists which were formed over a billion years ago from the accumulation of marine sediments and igneous rock. In the Late Precambrian, the primordial ocean expanded and the more recent Ocoee Supergroup rocks formed from the accumulation of eroding land mass onto the continental shelf. In the Paleozoic Era, the ocean deposited a thick layer of marine sediments which left behind sedimentary rock. During the Ordovician Period, the collision of the North American and African tectonic plates initiated the Alleghenian orogeny that created the Appalachian range. During the Mesozoic Era rapid erosion of softer sedimentary rocks re-exposed the older Ocoee Supergroup formations.

Download Geologic Map of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park

I'm proud of being part Cherokee, 

and I think it's time all us Indians felt the same way. 

Loretta Lynn