What happens when students’ self-expression in campus media is interfered with, not by the suits in administration, but by their fellow students? According to irate DJ Paul Dudar, this strange twist is exactly what he experienced-and he’s not the only one.

Dudar (or “The Dudar” as he likes to be called) has a show, “Paul’s Psychedelliac,” on UTSC’s campus radio station, CSCR. When he signed up for his show in January of this year, he says that he hadn’t even started before members of the student staff let him know that they preferred him to play soft rock and Top 40 content, rather than heavy metal or hip-hop.

This originally upset him, especially when he found other DJs who said they had been told the same thing. “I could understand this if it were CIUT (U of T’s St. George station which broadcasts on FM radio), but CSCR isn’t even a real station. They go on the Internet and on two little speakers in the hallways.”

Then Dudar and other DJs received an email telling them that their shows were being cancelled. The email was sent by Erlend Sobec, the program manager, who based the cancellations on the hosts not showing up for their time slots. Dudar had his show reinstated soon after at a time slot that was more convenient for him to attend.

Although he admits that he did miss three or four of his shows, and also took up a fair amount of one of his shows with a repeated recording of Homer Simpson urinating, Dudar still felt wronged by the cancellation. He decided to circulate a petition among other DJs and friends that objected to what he saw as censorship of his free expression.

“My idea was that campus radio is supposed to be fun and laid-back,” Dudar says. “Why should we have to follow CRTC guidelines [rules determining what can and cannot be played on Canadian TV and radio] if not many people are listening?” His petition got enough signatures for him to submit it to Student Affairs. They are currently planning a meeting to help the DJs and CSCR resolve the problem.

Other staff at the station, however, claim that Dudar’s petition is misinforming the public, and that he’s just “being stupid”, as one volunteer put it.

“As a community radio station, we try to promote emerging artists of all genres,” says Sobec. “I do not recall ever stating that DJs should play Top 40 music rather than hip-hop or heavy metal.” According to him, the station merely requests them to “play softer, easy listening music in the morning and early afternoon, in order to comply with CRTC regulations and requests from UTSC officials.”

Sobec says that he finds the petition’s complaints “ludicrous,” adding “Probably the most ridiculous statement of the petition is the request that CSCR disobey any CRTC regulations.”

The petition also complains that new equipment has been purchased but hasn’t yet been installed in the station, but Sobec says that if the DJs in question had just attended their meetings, they would know the reason. “The equipment has been purchased for the new studio, located in the Student Centre, which will be completed this summer,” he explained.

Sobec further maintains that even though his show was reinstated, Dudar continues to be late or absent and refuses to follow CSCR regulations. He also claims that many of the 70 people who signed the petition didn’t read it before signing and have since said that they wished they had not done so.

“This petition was started and signed by many people that are uninformed and unaware of CSCR, CRTC, and UTSC rules and regulations, and therefore does not accurately represent the opinions of those who are informed.”

Dudar is trying to transfer to St. George and will attempt to get a show on CIUT. Meanwhile, he plans to continue broadcasting on CSCR.