KLSU alumni.net

Besides being our downstairs neighbor for a while on State St., Arlen was one helluva DJ. I haven't heard from him in years... he was at the station from 1987-90 or so, and gave Jenni and me our chance to do one LAST show on KLSU in Jan. 1990... even though Jenni was "banned" from the station by John Fisher and whatever flavor of the month moron administrator (in case it wasn't Fishy) was in place.

Anyway, it would really be great if someone could point Arlen to the board. His shows used to open with "Alaskan Polar Bear Heater" by Severed Heads... ("if you like it that much, I'll do it again!")

-b

One of the "worst" things to happen to the station. Hope he ended up with boils and a nasty yeast infection, followed by a locust plague. frogs on his house and........

of course that is only my opinion, and does not reflect the opinions of this board or it's members...

Okay I feel better now.

_________________
spawn

"I'm the bad thoughts inside your head"

My Pandora Channels

Ouch... whatever happened to not attacking anyone online?

no attack.. really... like the board's only rule says, you can say what he did SUCKED... but you can't say he SUCKS.... that would be in violation of the ... oh wait, am I in violation, guess I have to ban myself... dammit, not again.....


what ever happened to Jules D'Hemecourt, he pretty much let the ship sail.. and just kept us out of major trouble. Ahhh the golden years

_________________
spawn

"I'm the bad thoughts inside your head"

My Pandora Channels

He was great, wasn't he? I still remember the EBS ACTIVATION recording he made, that we had to use in the event of a nuclear attack. The beginning: "Ladies and gentlemen, we are interrupting this broadcast at the request of the White House..." And I remember it well because there was this time where I accidentally played the EBS ACTIVATION cart instead of the EBS TEST cart... the worst part was, initially my panic was because I thought "oh crap, we're under attack" and then even worse: "oh, CRAP - I played the WRONG CART!!"

That's what I think of when I think of Jules D'Hemecourt... he really was a laissez-faire kinda guy, really gave us free reign and it showed in the programming.

(guess I should be banned too, I had a few choice things to say about Fisher in a different thread...)

-barry

Scott - I'm hoping that all the nasty comments were aimed at Fisher, and not Arlen, right? (I can't imagine what Arlen could've ever done to incur your wrath!)

My favorite Fisher story:

One day, I went to the student media office to pick up the mail. I asked the secretary if I could have a pen so that I could check the playsheets, since I had forgotten to bring one from home. Fisher walks out of his office, takes a pen from the secretary's desk, goes to hand it to me and as I reach out for it, pulls it back.

Fisher: "Do you really need this pen?"
Me: "Yes, I do."
Fisher: "Do you really need this pen?"
Me: "Yeeeeees"
Fisher: "Are you sure?"
Me: "Yes, I need a pen in order to do my work."

He finally hands me the pen and goes back in his office. I looked at the secretary in disbelief and she just looked liked it was no big deal. I thought that I was the most frugal worker in the world, but that man was one cheap bastard!

Second favorite Fisher story (well, it was a bad memory of him, but Barry made it good):

Barry and I were in the new student media hallway and Fisher was informing me that I was no longer allowed to be on KLSU "in any manner". As Fisher was walking away, Barry said (very loudly so that Fisher and everyone else could hear), "What an asshole!" My fate with the station was sealed, but I have to give Barry public props for risking his own status at the station.

Favorite Dr. D story:

In the midst of the Mike & Mike/format change bruhaha, a bunch of us were in the office and in serious need to blow off steam. We started to throw bad records (Richard Marx, etc.) down the hallway to watch them shatter on the steel door at the end of the hall. There was very loud crashing, hooting and hollering. Dr. D (whose office was at the end of the hall by the shattering records) just poked his head out of his door to see what was happening, said "Please make sure to clean it up.", and then just went back in and shut his door as to say "Carry on". Anybody else would've bitched us out, but he knew we needed to vent and let us. I always thought that was so cool of him. (He was also always very nice and supportive of me and always encouraged me in my efforts.)

-Jenni

Scott -

It didn't even occur to me that you were talking about Fisher above!! I wouldn't have made the reply I did above, because I thought you were saying those things about Arlen. (As far as I could ever tell, Arlen was one of the most liked people at the station and did a really good show)

So, my bad - no need to ban yourself, Scott...

-barry

PS So, where IS Arlen? (PLEASE, nobody say "Texas" because that's the setting for "King of the Hill"... I already knew that, thank you)

I was refering to the "Fisher" that killed klsu 's heart.. and soul..
not arlen. which btw is a pseudo for Garland, a suburb in dallas.

So Jenni do tell why Fisher banned you?

_________________
spawn

"I'm the bad thoughts inside your head"

My Pandora Channels

Oh, well now it all makes sense. Yeah, Fisher really damaged the station. There was also that J-school teacher, MacMullen or something like that. Neither one was good for KLSU.

So, has anyone heard from Arlen Speights?

-barry

PS Garland? Arlen TX is supposed to be Garland? Ah. I was thinking that the show was set closer to Houston, but since there's a "Tom Landry Middle School" in the show, it makes more sense. Thanks for clearing that up, too!

Oh, I wish I could say that it was something dramatic, like I pooped on his desk, but it wasn't. Basically, I had been a thorn in his side throughout that whole Mike&Mike/format change deal. While some smarter people decided to stay low and try to prevent any changes from within, I shouted from the rooftops (Free Speech Alley, The Revielle, anyone who called, etc.) and made my views very public. Ahhhh, the ignorance and verve of youth! The first blow to me was when I wasn't re-hired as Chief Announcer due to my grades (but I'm sure Fisher would've found another reason had my grades been good). Then, as soon as he found out that I wasn't a student (that next semester), the above notification occurred. I couldn't have a regular show, share with anyone else, fill in... nothing. This was pretty extreme, considering that a few non-students/staff were still allowed to do shows, so I knew that it had more to do with just being out of school. (Plus there was the fact that it was dictated from Fisher himself.) I didn't make a big deal of it at the time because I didn't want to risk other non-students (Miles in particular) losing their shows.

Would I have done anything differently given a second shot? Other than do better in school, I probably would've done it all pretty much the same. I stuck to my principles and fought for what I believed in. You can't regret that.

As Barry mentioned before, Arlen, who had a late night show (12:00 - 2:00?) let Barry and me sneak in and do his show in January 1990 (right before we moved to N.O.), so I got to do one last KLSU show. I thank him from the bottom of my heart, since it helped give me closure on KLSU.

-Jenni

That was a really, really aggrivating thing because it sure reeked of something underhanded. Really reminded me of the "double secret probation" from Animal House. He was such a toad, I can't think of a single nice thing to say about him.

And before I go any further and get myself banned, I did manage to locate Arlen today (I think). He's apparently teaching web design (a popular choice amongst KLSU alum!) at Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington. I wrote him today, we'll see if he replies... or if it's ANOTHER Arlen P. Speights!

Definitely VERY glad to know that Scott's beef wasn't with Arlen, but with the Anti-Elvis of the station...

-barry

Sorry saw Fisher and went red, dohhh.... Arlen, don't stay away, I promise I will not attack anymore... I love the birds, the bees and all the creatures of the trees. now where did I stash that last tab.

_________________
spawn

"I'm the bad thoughts inside your head"

My Pandora Channels

arlen visited here in LA in 1989 and then went on to get his PHD in compostion and to be a professor at a university in the south. i spoke to him about 7 years ago and have not heard from him since...i'm gonna track him down

evergreen university in olympia washington teaching visual design? hmmm...emailing this person to see if it's him.


+++++

Visual Design for the Web
4 credits
Faculty: Arlen Speights, 867-6588, email: Arlen Speights
TTh, 6-8p
Prerequisites: Familiarity with computers and the Internet
Enrollment: 23
CRN: 10177
This class will be introductory web design, with equal emphasis on code and design. We'll learn how to hand code HTML and to manage the visual organization with a graphic designer's priorities. We'll start with layout tables, then move to Cascading Style Sheets to control the visual presentation; we'll also use Photoshop to prepare images for the web. No Flash.

Arlen P. Speights is an assistant professor of art and Native American studies. He holds advanced degrees in American Indian studies from the University of Arizona in Tucson and in art from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY. His research interests are in American and European Popular discourse on Native Americans. He has been a member of the Oswego LAC project since Fall 1996.