1. Greetings from the Station Manager
Let me start by saying, thank you! Through your generosity, KMSU
reached its $40,000 pledge drive goal, and now we’re ready to get the new
GatesAir 10KW solid state transmitter installed. This is a big step in KMSU’s
continued efforts in upgrading equipment. There are clear benefits this new trans-
mitter will bring: More power-efficient, less maintenance, better reliability, and
HD ready. Some listeners have asked if this new transmitter will result in a larger
coverage area. Probably not, at least not in terms of power output. We are li-
censed to be at around 20KW, and that won’t change. The new transmitter may,
however, be a cleaner signal than the old Harris we’ve been using for quite
awhile now. The Harris will become our backup transmitter, so we’ll have redun-
dancy at that critical point. Some other redundancies are being implemented at
no cost to KMSU, too. Because of the new Clinical Sciences building being
erected across the street from our studios, a new fiber optic cable had to be run to
our building. The existing cable will remain, so our studio-to-transmitter link will
now be bolstered by this redundancy.
On the programming side, I hope you have found our new 3:00 p.m.
weekday programs entertaining and informative. Monday: Embrace the Sound
with Steve Guse. Tuesday: Foxy Playground with Ruby and Maya. Wednesday:
Sessions in ¾ Time with Mark Martinez. Thursday: Variety Pack with Jameson.
Friday: The Way Out with Joe Tougas.
Please enjoy the fleeting days of summer and always feel free to contact
me with any thoughts or concerns.
Yours,
Gully
Jim Gullickson
Pledge Drive was a success!
The MaverickJ U N E 2 0 1 5
T H I N G S T O
L O O K F O R :
 Where are
they now?
 KMSU-
sponsored
events
 Who’s Wes-
ley Whatnot?
 Our new
transmitter
T H E M A V E R I C K
You can also check out the newsletter on our website.

2. P A G E 2J O I N U S A T T H E S E E V E N T S !
T H E M A V E R I C K
Lessons in Success for Wes
By Lamarr Sullivan
Motivation is described in the dictionary as a reason
for someone to act a certain way; or an incentive.
NBA star Lebron James, for example, is motivated
by wanting to be one of the greatest players ever.
These motives can be tangible or intangible but both
can hold significant weight within a person; a cliché
used to describe this would be someone having a
“chip on their shoulder.” One person that especially
holds true for is this summer’s Radio a La Carte host
and staff writer for MSU’s The Reporter newspaper,
Wes Huntington. Born on the autism spectrum, Hun-
tington has been motivated by numerous naysayers
who said he would never make it to this position in
his life, where his proverbial “chip” has catapulted
him to heights some didn’t believe he’d be able to
achieve.
Growing up on the spectrum
Growing up with autism can be difficult for some.
Grade school can be a cruel place without a disor-
der— but the tough times will usually come from
students, not in Huntington’s case.
“I took special education classes and speech
classes all the way until my seventh grade year,”
Huntington said. “In eighth grade I was told [by a
teacher] I would not be able to get a post-secondary
education.”
Huntington never wavered after hearing these
pessimistic claims; he used them as fuel to becoming
the successful guy he already is today. He’s already
earned a bachelors degree in creative writing from
Southwest Minnesota State University and is going for
another degree in mass media with a political science
minor here at MSU; motivated by a “chip” he said
started in eighth grade.
“They also told me I could never learn a sec-
ond language; I ended up proving a couple people
wrong,” he expressed joyously. (Cont. on page 3)
Radio a La Carte Weekdays—12pm to 1pm
this
month’s
free
events...
June 20th
Art Splash Art Fair
North Mankato Library
10:00 AM
June 21st
EZ Jazz Trio
First Presbyterian Church,
Mankato
10:00 AM
June 23rd
Jason Huneke's Juggling
Show
Blue Earth County
Library
10:30 PM
June 23rd
Habitat Night at the Man-
kato MoonDogs
Franklin Rogers Park
7:05 PM

3. P A G E 3
T H E M A V E R I C K
(Cont. from page2) “I’m going on my second bachelors and I took four years of Spanish in high school.”
From SMSU to KMSU
Although Huntington is new to KMSU, he is not new to broadcasting. While a student at SMSU, Hun-
tington worked for a student-run radio station called KSSU, where he had his own broadcast show, the Huntley
Hour, from 10 p.m. to midnight every Tuesday. He described the transition from KSSU to KMSU to be
“frightening” mostly because he didn’t know what to expect from a university radio station not run by students.
“I thought,‘I know students are probably here for mass media and probably want to learn broadcast-
ing,’” he said. “So when I found out that KMSU was not that, I was thinking to myself like ‘okay that’s a little
crazy.’”
Huntington loved having free reign over his KSSU
show but he hated the terrible time slot because it was so late at
night and his family was never really awake to hear it. Doing
Radio a La Carte show, which airs weekdays from noon to 1
p.m., he loves because his dad can listen in every day.
Learning from Mistakes
Even with the success Huntington has enjoyed in his
college years, he has had some missteps along the way that have
allowed him to become a better writer, broadcaster, and person.
One instance that surely humbled him was a time back at SMSU
where he was a staff writer for the SMSU Spur, where he had
added quotes into an article about an upcoming play that his
interviewee didn’t actually say, in order to reach his word count
limit.
“The story was done on a Friday, and I had gone home that weekend so I came back the following
Tuesday to my editor in-chief and an academic advisor wanting to speak to me,” he explained. “They said the
drama club read the article, thought it ridiculous, and called for me to be fired among other things.”
Huntington then had an ultimatum; either be fired or stay on staff and risk a possible expulsion under
plagiarism parameters. Well he chose the former, something that has taught him that misrepresentation of
someone’s words is a huge no-no in the media world.
“I’ve learned if I want to make sure that I haven’t done anything wrong, I’ll send the story to the inter-
viewee first to make sure I don’t misquote them at all. I just don’t want a repeat of before,” he said.
The Wesley Whatnot Show
Learning from these mistakes, Huntington said, has made him better broadcaster. He cites Karen
Wright as someone who has been very helpful in his growth on the Radio a La Carte show.
“I remember she told me to watch my use of “ums” and “ahs” and said I couldn’t say the word ‘suck’
on the air because it doesn't sound professional,” he said.
Along with help from Karen, he also said other things that help are the fact that his dad listens to the
show every day and gives him pointers on what he can do better, and also he records one show a week just to
see how he can improve himself.
“I’ve slowed down and I’ve gotten rid of my nervous laugh,” he said. “I don’t do that nearly as much
as I used to.”
Huntington didn’t discover his love for broadcasting until stumbling upon the Huntley Hour while at
SMSU. His growth and resolve beating the odds and proving people wrong have made him someone destined
for future success. Some people just need a little motivation to take them a long way. In Huntington’s case, it
propelled him to a bachelors degree in creative writing and now going onto another degree.
Radio a La Carte (continued) Weekdays—12pm to 1pm

4. P A G E 4
Our brand new transmitter!
Out with the old and in with the new!
T H E M A V E R I C K
Check out our new
GatesAir 10KW
solid state trans-
mitter!
No more old,
outdated
nonsense

5. P A G E 5
T H E M A V E R I C K
Nate Simpkins
KMSU Experience
2008-2010 – News re-
porter
How did KMSU
influence you?
“KMSU was such a
great experience. I loved working there and be-
ing a part of the team. Over the past few years I
still have contact with some of the members of
the Southern Minnesota News Project. While I
enjoy my current job and it pertains to my educa-
tion I am still actively pursuing my career in the
music business.”
Where is he now?
Nate worked as a general manager in marketing
and promotions for the Skyway Theatre/Bar Fly
Nightclub in Minneapolis until 2014 when he
moved to San Francisco to do booking and mar-
keting for the DNA Lounge. He is now working
in Los Angeles doing business development for
Frequency, a platform that aggregates digital
content throughout the entire web into an easily
manageable application with content providers
such as network television stations, magazine,
blogs, multi-channel networks, and top-level
YouTube channels.
Melissa Saigh, nee
Specken
KMSU Experience
2001-2005 – Re-
porter and news di-
rector
How did KMSU
influence you?
“You're pretty much a "one man band" in
small markets like KMSU, so you have no
choice but to learn very quickly. I had the
opportunity to dabble in many areas of radio,
which provided excellent experience for my
future career in media!”
Where is she now?
Melissa worked as a reporter and weekend
anchor for KAAL-TV-6 News in Austin,
Minn. and Rochester, Minn. for two years,
and as a producer and reporter for Twin Cit-
ies Live at KSTP in Minneapolis. She is cur-
rently living in Singapore with her husband,
three-year-old daughter, and another baby
due in November 2015. She works as a TV
lifestyle contributor, freelance writer and
Mommy-blogger for Minnesota Baby which
she started in 2011.
FORMER KMSU STUDENTS IN THE REAL WORLD

6. P A G E 6
JOIN US AT THESE EVENTS!
T H E M A V E R I C K

7. T H E M A V E R I C K
Phone: 507-389-5678
Fax: 507-389-1705
E-mail: kmsumaverick@gmail.com
KMSU The Maverick
AF 205
Minnesota State University
Big Ideas. Real-world thinking.