Kuci Radio Station

Twenty years ago, KUCI, UC Irvine's student-run radio station, was born. Beginning Sunday, the station will celebrate its 20th anniversary with a week of special programming and reminiscing, with KUCI alumni serving as guest disc jockeys from about 6 p.m. to midnight, Monday through Friday. Many of the alumni have stayed in touch through the KUCI newsletter and through personal contact, keeping alive memorable events in the station's 20-year history. "I love that place.

The familiar beat of "Killer Instinct," an underground hip-hop groove by Styles of Beyond, rumbles through Hogue Barmichael's sound system, compelling patrons to swarm the dance floor. Colorful spotlights dart through the smoky air. These college-age pleasure-seekers know this midweek party as X-Large, an event orchestrated by Cheapshot and Jester. The two men first delivered this track to hip-hop fans during their Monday night radio show on 200-watt KUCI-FM (88.9).

It is just past four on a Tuesday afternoon. At the KUCI radio broadcasting room, a debate between a program guest and a caller is taking shape. The topic is homosexuality. In the course of an hour, the discussion moves on to religion, self-confidence and building respect for differences in communities.

KUCI (88.9 FM) is honoring its past this week with a 20th anniversary celebration and alumni reunion, but the weak-signaled UC Irvine campus radio station also is embarking on a major break with the past that its managers say will improve its chances of becoming a more significant presence on the Orange County airwaves.

"KUCI Presents," a monthly series of acoustic concerts at the Blue Marble Coffeehouse, will solicit money for the UC Irvine student station's planned power increase, while giving local players a chance to showcase their music. Appearing Monday at 7 p.m. are 1000-D, a three-member rock band; JiJi, a solo folk performer, and Cinema Verite, an acoustic instrumental duo. Admission is free, but donations to the KUCI fund drive are encouraged. The Blue Marble is at 1907 Harbor Blvd.

UC Irvine's weak-signaled radio station, KUCI-FM, has gotten the financial backing to proceed this summer with a power boost that will make it a higher-profile presence on the Orange County airwaves. The university administration recently approved immediate funding for the lease-purchase of $70,000 to $80,000 worth of new equipment needed to boost KUCI's power from 24 watts to 200 watts. That spares the student-run, nonprofit station from having to wait to raise the money on its own.

After years of lobbying for a power increase, tiny student-run radio station KUCI-FM has received Federal Communications Commission approval to increase its signal from 24 to 200 watts, a station official said Monday. The boost will eventually give the station a clearer signal in its Irvine-Newport Beach coverage area as well as the strength to reach into central Orange County, as far as Placentia.

A weeklong fund-raising drive that ended Monday brought $8,860 in pledges for KUCI-FM, according to Kevin Stockdale, adviser to the student-run radio station at UC Irvine. Stockdale said the pledges "far exceeded our expectations," which ranged between $2,500 and $5,000. The pledge drive launched the station's effort to raise $75,000 needed to install a new transmitter that would boost the station's power from 24 to 200 watts and expand its now-marginal presence (at 88.

Born 22 years ago as a pirate radio station rigged up in a dormitory closet, KUCI-FM has evolved into a smartly run alternative-rock outlet with an ever-growing staff, budget and cult following. But UC Irvine's student-run station for years has been bursting at the seams of its feeble signal, which evaporates from one's car radio within minutes of driving beyond the city limits. "We're too big for our britches," says Shari Bagwell, the station's general manager.

Those tuning in to UC Irvine radio station KUCI around 11:30 a.m. Monday were greeted by some 25 minutes of clock-ticking sounds, more minutes of angry static and then the portentous tolling of a dozen bells followed by a wild cheer.

UC Irvine's weak-signaled radio station, KUCI-FM, has gotten the financial backing to proceed this summer with a power boost that will make it a higher-profile presence on the Orange County airwaves. The university administration recently approved immediate funding for the lease-purchase of $70,000 to $80,000 worth of new equipment needed to boost KUCI's power from 24 watts to 200 watts. That spares the student-run, nonprofit station from having to wait to raise the money on its own.

"KUCI Presents," a monthly series of acoustic concerts at the Blue Marble Coffeehouse, will solicit money for the UC Irvine student station's planned power increase, while giving local players a chance to showcase their music. Appearing Monday at 7 p.m. are 1000-D, a three-member rock band; JiJi, a solo folk performer, and Cinema Verite, an acoustic instrumental duo. Admission is free, but donations to the KUCI fund drive are encouraged. The Blue Marble is at 1907 Harbor Blvd.

A weeklong fund-raising drive that ended Monday brought $8,860 in pledges for KUCI-FM, according to Kevin Stockdale, adviser to the student-run radio station at UC Irvine. Stockdale said the pledges "far exceeded our expectations," which ranged between $2,500 and $5,000. The pledge drive launched the station's effort to raise $75,000 needed to install a new transmitter that would boost the station's power from 24 to 200 watts and expand its now-marginal presence (at 88.

Born 22 years ago as a pirate radio station rigged up in a dormitory closet, KUCI-FM has evolved into a smartly run alternative-rock outlet with an ever-growing staff, budget and cult following. But UC Irvine's student-run station for years has been bursting at the seams of its feeble signal, which evaporates from one's car radio within minutes of driving beyond the city limits. "We're too big for our britches," says Shari Bagwell, the station's general manager.

Those tuning in to UC Irvine radio station KUCI around 11:30 a.m. Monday were greeted by some 25 minutes of clock-ticking sounds, more minutes of angry static and then the portentous tolling of a dozen bells followed by a wild cheer.

It is just past four on a Tuesday afternoon. At the KUCI radio broadcasting room, a debate between a program guest and a caller is taking shape. The topic is homosexuality. In the course of an hour, the discussion moves on to religion, self-confidence and building respect for differences in communities.

After years of lobbying for a power increase, tiny student-run radio station KUCI-FM has received Federal Communications Commission approval to increase its signal from 24 to 200 watts, a station official said Monday. The boost will eventually give the station a clearer signal in its Irvine-Newport Beach coverage area as well as the strength to reach into central Orange County, as far as Placentia.

KUCI (88.9 FM) is honoring its past this week with a 20th anniversary celebration and alumni reunion, but the weak-signaled UC Irvine campus radio station also is embarking on a major break with the past that its managers say will improve its chances of becoming a more significant presence on the Orange County airwaves.