The “ASUO Radio” show, run by members of the University of Oregon’s student government, began airing Oct. 22 and has brought a new flair to the campus radio scene.
ASUO Radio is hosted every Thursday at 7 p.m. by ASUO Executive Vice-Presidents Claire Johnson and Francisco Morales-O’Connor, along with Communications Director Vania Ahmad. The show spotlights community issues and has notably brought in student advocates to publicize their work, voice their views and give advice to the community.
Each week, the trio talks about relevant issues at the university.
The first six weeks of fall term, when students are at a higher risk of facing sexual assault, called the “Red Zone,” the show brought in ASUO Sexual and Mental Health Advocate, Sophie Albanis to raise awareness of a campaign for sexual violence prevention and on-campus resources available for sexual assault survivors.
The episode prior to finals week, infamously known as “Dead Week,” brought attention to the “Stress Less Week” campus movement.
The show invited the founder of UO Student Mental Health Advocates, Juan Rivera to inform the community of stress reducing activities provided during the week. These include: massages, acupuncture and meditation sessions at the Knight Library. They also discussed ways to deal with stress.
“After I did the interview with the radio show, people came up to me and said, ‘Oh I listened to that show, that’s really neat that you do these things,” Rivera said.
The hosts of the show also discuss pressing campus issues and ways to resolve them.
During one segment, ASUO Chief of Staff Casey Edwards talked about Exec.’s campaign to improve campus safety at the university. This included a call for locks on classroom doors and responsive training sessions if an active shooter entered a classroom.
The hosts also express their views on social justice issues.
Topics like cultural appropriation during Halloween and controversies surrounding Thanksgiving were a part of this segment.
ASUO Radio also features non-ASUO students as guests on the show.
“I felt that the show should be a two-way street,” Johnson said. “I didn’t want it to be all about the ASUO. I wanted it to express the relationship between the student government and the students.”
ASUO Radio is a program produced by the KWVA News Department. KWVA News Director Tommy Thomas said that the show fits into the department’s in-depth storytelling around community issues.
“It is very important that people are taking the time from what they do to make other people aware of the reasons to why they do it,” Thomas said. “A lot of organizations do their thing, but they do not take the time to try to find a way to express their message to others to allow them to be a part of it.”
ASUO Radio shares the limelight with community advocates
Andrew Field
December 4, 2015
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