COVER LETTER FOR PROPOSAL

July 20, 2010

Mr. Donald Connelly

Head of Communications
Western Carolina University
109 Old Student Union
Cullowhee, NC 28723

Dear Mr. Connelly:

We are writing on behalf of several Western alumni that are also alumni of WWCU, the campus radio station. At
the last several WWCU reunions, we have all lamented at how sad it is to see WWCU now playing a “Classic Rock”
format and with very little student involvement. Today, the station uses computer automation much of the time it
is on the air vs. having students fully participate as live on air talent.

Although computer automation has been an economic reality in radio as one way for station owners and
management to cut operating costs, we are finding that there is still a need for highly trained and talented
individuals to join radio teams across the country. We learned the fundamentals of what we know about the
business at WWCU, and want to preserve that history and valuable education with the current students who are
graduating today. All of us still in the business believe that we were able to achieve our personal business goals
because of the “on the job” business and creative training we learned at the student radio station. As News-Talk
and music radio stations are seeing revival, we also see a need for this education.

Although being proficient at running computer automation equipment is helpful in this business, the value of
having the experience of running a campus radio station provides lessons that are not easily taught in a classroom.
Campus radio is valuable because it is independent and provides a resource to teach fundamentals like efficiency,
quality of leadership and management, on-air delivery, diversity and relevance to students and community.

We would like to offer our help in this endeavor to bring WWCU back to being managed by students by
contributing our time, talents and business experience. Examples include the following:

 Top 40 programming to attract demographics of student body

 Attract underwriting patrons who want to reach target students and community
 Name change to make on-air image in line with current radio trends
 New station logo to provide opportunity to brand with the new Catamount logo
 Help with formatting, including specialty shows for diversity and variety
 Revert back to a student managed organization with guidance and oversight by staff
 Internationally known voice talent/WWCU alumnus for station’s promotional image voice
 Help with jingle package and news room software procurement
 Record label contacts to provide music download capability for proposed new format
 Consultation in technical and creative aspects of current commercial radio trends and business practices
 Possible fund raising efforts by WWCU alumni to help initiate proposed changes

We are proud of our WWCU heritage and respectfully ask that you consider this proposal. As we scan the radio
market in North Carolina and other states, we have found that a large number of successful radio personalities and
business partners are graduates of Western Carolina. This is something to be proud of as an educational
institution. Please feel free to contact us with questions or allow several of us to visit Western to present this
information in person.

Thank you for your consideration,

Keith Cornwell (’88) Lloyd Hocutt (’84) Mike Jackson (’85)

KCornwell@cbs.com LALloyd@Rock30.com MJackson@GMclt.com
704.227.8100 210.602.2550 704.662.7768

cc: Dr. Wendy Ford, Dean of Arts and Sciences

Sam Miller, Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs
Marty Ramsey, Director of Alumni Affairs
Alumni involved with this proposal:

 Jay Kilgo ('83) Director Cumulus Radio Label Relations, Atlanta, GA

 Randy Anthony (’83) Producer, Clear Channel News and Traffic Center, Charlotte, NC

 Lloyd Hocut ('84) Program Director, Afternoon Drive, Cox Radio Kiss-FM, San Antonio, TX

 Mike Jackson ('84) Producer, Greater Media WBT-AM & WLNK-FM, Charlotte, NC

 Danny Howard ('85) Director of Operations & Programming, Sunny 92.3, Chattanooga, TN

 Catherine Lane ('86) Mid-day Air Personality, CBS Radio, WSOC-FM, Charlotte, NC

 Keith Cornwell ('88) VP & GM Kiss 95.1 Charlotte, NC

 Anthony Green ('89) VP Glory Communications Gospel Radio of SC

Note: After allowing about a week to pass, I attempted to call the Dean to
follow up. When I got to her administrative assistant, she very abruptly
stated, “I know who you are---and the Dean has told me to inform you not
to contact this office again…OK?”
 RESPONSE FROM DEPARTMENT HEAD

From: Donald Connelly [mailto:dconnelly@email.wcu.edu]

Sent: Thu 7/29/2010 9:17 AM
To: Mike Jackson
Subject: WWCU Proposal

Dear Mike:

I want to acknowledge receipt of your proposal regarding WWCU. While I appreciate your
interest in the university and the radio station, we are not interested in pursuing the format
changes you contemplate for a number of academic and business reasons, not the least of which
is the fact that we have a pending FCC application for *x.x FM. *note: changed for confidentiality

After reviewing your proposal, I am concerned that you might have appeared to be an agent of
the university in obtaining price quotes for products and services. I hope that the vendors you
contacted in the preparation of your proposal accurately understand the nature of your
relationship with the university and that you are not authorized to act on our behalf. Further, I
am very concerned that you have used registered WCU Athletics trademarks without permission.
The university invested a great deal of resources in its recent branding campaign, and we are
vigilant in protecting our intellectual property interests.

Thank you again for sending your thoughts and proposals; however, I ask that you do not pursue
this matter further.

Best Regards,

Don Connelly - CRME

Head, Department of Communication
Associate Professor of Communication
Office: 828.227.3851
Mobile: 828.507.2351
http://paws.wcu.edu/connelly

Cc: John Bardo, Chancellor

Wendy Ford, Dean, College of Arts and Sciences
Sam Miller, Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs
Clifton Metcalf, Vice Chancellor for Advancement and External Affairs
Marty Ramsey, Director of Alumni Affairs
Rich Kucharski, General Counsel
 “RESPONSE TO THE RESPONSE”

From: Mike Jackson [mailto:mjackson@wbt.com]

Sent: Monday, August 02, 2010 4:57 PM
Subject: FW: WWCU Proposal
Importance: High

Dear Don:

I am responding to you in order to address your concerns. First, with all due respect, the proposal to change
WWCU's daytime format is not just something that I'd like to see take place---there are also a lot of other alumni
who are passionate about keeping the rich history of WWCU as a student run "hands on" learning entity. We are all
a bit confused as to how academic and other reasons can be justified to force the station to play music that was
popular from before the time when WCU students were even born! Rock 104 out of Asheville already meets the
Classic Rock niche in the area. And regarding the pending FCC application for the frequency X.X, we don't
understand how a name change to reflect an on-air image more in line with today's radio trends would pose a
problem. "Power Ninety Dot Five" versus "Ninety Point Five, the Cat," or "Power x.x” versus "x.x, the
Cat"...there's no difference. Much of today's Top 40 music--as illustrated on the audio demo that accompanies our
proposal--is rock, only it's not 40 years old.

Second, regarding your concern that I might have appeared to be "an agent of the university" in obtaining price
quotes for the four vendors mentioned in the proposal, no worries there. I've done business in the past with the
jingle provider, and currently use one of the three newsroom software providers included in the proposal, in my
work at WBT radio in Charlotte. With all four vendors, I contacted them as an alumnus representing a larger group
of alumni that desired to gather pricing info to present to you, in a written formal proposal. I--we--thought that
you would appreciate having all of the info right at your finger tips, to save you time. It was noted that
the Newsroom software information was provided for future reference, and might work well with your future plans
to tie-in with other university radio station newsrooms.

As for your concern that we used WCU Athletics trademarks without permission, no worries there, either. In our
proposal, it specifically states that the logo illustrated is merely a possible mockup, and that changing the station's
name to a more current sounding name like "Ninety Point Five, The Cat" would be a 'win-win' for both the station
as well as the University, helping to further promote the University's multi-year branding initiative." The
only mockup logos were in the four proposals that were mailed out to you, Dean Ford, Sam Miller and Marty
Ramsey, as well as on three shirts shipped to you for you, and your former GM and Program Director. It was
our hope that you would appreciate the goodwill gesture, understanding that the three shirts were for you and your
two student managers only--and were possible mockups that you might want to consider for the WWCU air
staff should the name change actually be implemented (at which time, of course, it would be up to you whether or
not to approach WCU Athletics about obtaining permission to use the new Catamount logo).

Lastly, there was a lot of time and energy contributed by many alumni that went into the formal proposal. It is
unconscionable how you can ignore the concerns of students that are alumni of WCU and WWCU. We respectfully
request that you re-consider a name change that's more radio-current, a Top 40 format during the day that WCU
students and the community can relate to, and the use of internationally renowned voiceover artist and WWCU
alumnus Chris Corley ('82) for the station's promotional imaging voice ( www.ChrisCorley.com ). We all know
about the budget issues now facing the entire UNC-system. The fact that Chris Corley has generously offered to
provide his voiceover services to WWCU for $x less per month than what you've been paying for the voice of
{John Doe} is reason enough to make the switch.

Best Regards,

Mike Jackson ('84)

 REQUEST FOR MEETING WITH DEAN
(sent Friday, September 3, 2010…no response)

From: "WWCU Alumni" <WWCU.Alumni@radio.fm>

To: <wendyford@wcu.edu>
Subject: meeting with alums
Date: Fri, 3 Sep 2010 20:13:42 -0700

Hi Dr. Ford:
Is there a convenient time that you could meet with me, as well as one or two other WWCU alums?
WWCU has such a rich history, and was, for years, the starting point for many now famous voiceover
talents, radio-TV personalities, and broadcast managers. That's something the University can be proud
of---there are very few other college or university student-run radio stations that can make that claim. We
would like to ensure that students both today and in the future, have the same opportunities that we had,
and that the legacy of WWCU continues well into the future.

We now have a total of close to 70 WWCU alums behind our effort, and several of us are willing to travel
to Cullowhee to meet with you at your convenience. Thank you, in advance, for your consideration. I
look forward to hearing from you.

Have a safe and enjoyable Labor Day holiday weekend!

Warm Regards,

Mike Jackson ('84)

Creative Audio Productions, Inc.
Mooresville, NC
WWCU Program Director 1983-'84

Email: WWCU.Alumni@Radio.FM

Studio: 704-662-7768
Home: 704-664-7193
mobile: 704-953-6686
www.CreativeAudioProductions.com