KSDB-FM is Kansas State University's campus radio station. A non-commercial radio station located in Manhattan, Kansas, broadcasting on 91.9 MHz on the FM dial, KSDB is staffed by about 100 student volunteers who gain valuable experience in all areas of radio broadcasting. It plays alternative/independent rock, hip hop, and jazz and is under the jurisdiction of the A.Q. Miller School of Journalism and Mass Communications. The station has been broadcasting on the FM band since spring of 1950, and from its current location in the K-State Student Union since 2002. Previously, the station broadcast on the campus carrier current AM system, and had studios located in Nichols Gymnasium. When Nichols burned down in 1968, KSDB operated from temporary locations until McCain Auditorium was completed. The station still maintains studios and offices there. History Early years KSDB began as an experiment on the third floor of Nichols Gymnasium in 1949. The first broadcasts began in earnest in March, but KSDB was a commercial station by June. KSDB's commercial status allowed it to be self-supporting. Instead of a tower, the station broadcast over the campus power system. Broadcasting as a wired-wireless (or carrier current) station meant the signals never went more than a few hundred feet from power lines. This was within the maximum distance allowed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). At this time, the station was a member of the Intercollegiate Broadcasting System and under the direction of the Speech Department and Prof. George L. Arms. KSDB initially broadcast at 560 kHz. At this frequency, “practically the only way to hear the station was to sit on the steps of Nichols gym with a portable radio.” The station switched to 660 in December, 1949, which “resulted in a marked improvement in reception.” Programming for KSDB in the first year went from an hour of music at first, to about four hours of music, talk, and sports by November 2, 1949. The schedules for KSDB and KSAC were printed in the Kansas State Collegian. KSDB was on the air for 6 hours each weekday by November 20, 1950. A television workshop established in 1948 gave radio-television students experience in another medium. Programs could be televised into two TV classrooms in Nichols Gymnasium. On March 14, 1949, KSDB went on the air as a wired-wireless (carrier current) AM station, originally at 560 kHz; in December, it changed frequency to 660 kHz. The