UCLAN Newspaper
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[edit] Student newspaper
Pluto is a student newspaper at the University of Central Lancashire's Students' Union
It is usually published every fortnight (unless it is delayed, which occurs frequently) through the academic year, and began life in 1985 as the Ribble Echo. The name originally stood for Preston Libertarian Undergraduate Tabloid Offering. In recent years its format has varied from a newspaper to a glossy magazine as result of a declining budget and well-meaning incompetence on behalf of its changing editorial team. In the 2005/6 academic year, Communications Officer Mark Hudson (now with The Sun newspaper) relaunched the organ as a fortnightly tabloid newspaper with a more upmarket pull-out supplement modelled extensively on that of The Guardian's G2. Despite mostly new staff, the format was maintained under current Communications Officer, Nick Hodder.
Pluto sometimes uses the tagline "Furthest From The Sun?", in reference to the famous British national tabloid. This was due to The Sun being previously banned from being sold in the Union Shop.
In 1998 Pluto was named Guardian Student Newspaper of the Year.
[edit] Student radio station
Frequency 1350 is a student radio station at the University of Central Lancashire's Students' Union in Lancashire, England, in the United Kingdom.
The university (which is one of the largest in the country) funds the Students' Union and the Students' Union funds the radio station.
Shows on the station are student based, with music generally comprising of indie, rock, dance and pop songs.
A playlist of 30 recommended songs makes up most of the musical content on the station, but there are also some specialist shows that play other diverse kinds of music.
The website also offers a host of music reviews from gigs in the local area. The tagline for the station is "Frequency 1350 – Your Student Station". Each year the station covers events for freshers, as well as the annual Students' Union elections, which take place in February and March. Unlike most independent stations, Frequency does not have any adverts bar those after the news. Hourly news bulletins on the station are provided by Independent Radio News.
Frequency is a member of the Student Radio Association, and occasionally hosts its meetings (the last one to be held in Preston was in late 2005).
At the time of writing (February 2006), the station had around 100 members. Anyone wanting to contribute or help out can e-mail the station manager on cfrequency@uclan.ac.uk.
Frequency is one of only a handful of radio stations in Preston, a major North-West city. Nearby stations include BBC Radio Lancashire, Rock FM, Preston FM, and Magic 999. Frequency does not attempt to compete with these professional stations, but instead offers a unique student niche output.
The radio station is complemented by Pluto, the Students' Union newspaper.
Broadcasting ceases for the Christmas, Easter and summer periods, but is available for most of the academic year.
Programmes generally run from 9:00 in the morning through to midnight, and the station plays continuous music when there is not a specific show on-air.
All staff at the station are entirely voluntary and unpaid. There was some talk of possibly introducing a position of a full-time paid station manager, but so far this has not materialised.
The station manager is Sinead Renouf and she is supported by a committee. Sinead took over as station manager on February 5th 2007. In 2004/05, the station manager was Emily Bull. The first ever station manager was Leanne Christmas.
Any member of the university's Students' Union can get involved in Frequency, whether as a DJ, a producer, or just a general helper. The station would not exist without the hours of work put into it by students.
Currently, the station broadcasts on a mediumwave (AM) frequency of 1350 kHz in Preston, a city in Lancashire in the United Kingdom. The signal has a five kilometre radius. The station is also available worldwide via an online feed at Frequency1350.co.uk. The population of the broadcast area is approximately 131,000.
The station was founded by the UCLan Radio Society. It was originally launched in late 2001 as "Freak 1 C", before the name changed to "Frequency" in January 2002. Before moving to its current location, the station was above the Night Owl store on Fylde Road, opposite the Ship Inn public house.
The actual station comprises one small broadcast studio, an empty room and an office. It is part of the university's Students' Union building on Fylde Road in Preston.
