I was recently turned on to a college radio station that streamed their playlist online. I’ve come to discover that college without a college radio station is just missing something.

It is hard enough to create a college culture with the right mix of classes, caffeine-propelled all nighters, crappy bands, great bands, school spirit and some kind of soul searching. However, without a college radio that plays obscure bands that college students are known for listening to (enjoying is an entirely different issue) and being really pretentious about. I think that college students who only listen to mainstream pop radio are missing out. One can listen to white bread popular music for the rest of their lives, but the Dandy Warhols are really only interesting and cool from about 18 – 25 years old.

It seems like every other generation except this one has a distinct kind of music. Our grandparents had Jimi Hendrix and Strawberry Alarm Clock and our parents had The Clash and Mungo Jerry. In the ’80s, there was R.E.M. and in the ’90s, grunge hit, with all its greasy-haired, flannel-y glory. So now we are in the new millennium and what do we have to show for it?

I don’t care what VH1 says; the new millennium doesn’t deserve a show yet.

Great, our kids are going to look back on our college years and see what? Sure, Death Cab for Cutie, few other angst-ridden college bands. What else? Hannah Montana? The Jonas Brothers? Katy Perry? T.I.?

I think you can tell a lot about a generation from their music. What can you tell from this generation? Hip-hop with some overtones of bad lyrics and pedophilia? Music helps define a generation and their beliefs. What do we believe in?

This probably shouldn’t turn into some rant about “the good old days,” but what is the generation after us going to be listening to and will future generations draw inspiration from our music like our generation has from the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and The Who?

I don’t know. What I do know, however, is that sometimes it’s good to listen to something that might make you think, rather than just something that you like the beat of. Perhaps it isn’t alt-rock, it could be hip-hop and rap from the ’80s that really made a point in terms of politics and race relations in America.

In any case, college radio is good for you. Listening to Rhianna exclusively is not. Listen to college radio. Now, where is the radio station for Washburn?