In the beginning, the signal ran on wires strung through campus steam tunnels. The inaugural show was hosted by "Doodles" Weaver, '36, a comedian "so funny, it's hard to believe he attended Stanford," wrote columnist Herb Caen. Live drama, a soap opera spoof, poetry and "music to study by" were early staples, interspersed with news rushed in from the Stanford Daily office.
Now celebrating its 50th year, the campus radio station is a 24-hour operation broadcasting 200 football, baseball, basketball and volleyball games a year and featuring music by bands most of us have never heard of. Even the name has changed--from KSU to KZSU in 1964.
Over the years, hundreds of students cut their broadcasting teeth at the station, which covered visits by John Kennedy and Richard Nixon and opened its mikes to student protesters in the 1960s. Many station alums went on to become news and entertainment bigwigs, says former station manager Mike Lopez, '75, MBA '78. As a living lab, he says, "Its impact is enormous."
