Confidence emanated from Chelsea Memet’s body as she sat down for her first broadcast of the semester.

Sitting in a new, state-of-the-art studio, which includes new microphones, headphones and music boards to work with, she welcomed both her new and routine listeners for the night.

Memet, a junior information management and technology student, has hosted her own radio show called “Lately With Chelsea” on WERW since her first semester as a freshman.

As any Chelsea Handler fan can tell, Memet named her show after the celebrity’s weeknight show, “Chelsea Lately.” Memet is a fan of Handler and joked, “She’s my fan, too.”

WERW, What Everyone Really Wants, is one of many student-run radio stations on campus. It is a free-format station, which means it is uncut and uncensored, said Kyle Kuchta, WERW’s general manager. The senior visual and performing arts major has been active with the station since his first semester on campus.

WERW has between 80 and 90 disc jockeys. There is a station for almost every genre of music, including indie, rock and rap. Late night shows are those streaming from 8 p.m. to 2 a.m.

Memet is one of them. Her show airs every Thursday from 8-10 p.m. She likes to play a wide range of popular music and talk about topics she feels people can relate to.

Occasionally, Memet has guest hosts on the show, which include local artists and personalities. She likes to feature fun people who have some sort of talent or good personality to share with listeners. Past guests include singer Janine McElhone and the rap group, The Trip. She plays anything from PSY’s recent fad “Gangnam Style” to the glory days of 3LW. Recently, PJ Alampi, who is running for Student Association President, helped to host.

“I like to find stuff that people can connect to,” she said.

When Memet first came to campus, she didn’t quite know what she wanted to study. Though she quickly parted ways with her pre-dental path, there was one thing of which she was certain: She wanted her own radio show.

“I was just like, ‘You know what? Let me do this,’” Memet said.

Now, Memet has experience in the radio world. This past summer, she interned with Elvis Duran and the Morning Show in New York City. Her role was to help prep for the show each morning — printing articles, getting coffee — and to screen callers to comment on air. She would wake up every morning at around 3:30 a.m. to be in the studio by 5 a.m.

Logging each song in WERW’s new system, Memet is an evident free spirit, and has a passion for getting to know others through the radio waves.

WERW usually has about 1,000 unique listeners a month, Kuchta said. Listeners can stream the radio shows through their computers.

It’s weird to Memet that she can’t see people’s reactions to what she says or plays on the air. Yet her philosophy is: “If you don’t like it, then you don’t have to listen.”

She connects with her listeners through call-ins and social media outlets like Twitter and Facebook. Listeners often Tweet at Memet to request a song, ask for a shout out or just to tell her she’s doing a great job. Her goal of the show is to give people a good time.

Memet said that sometimes being alone for her two-hour weekly slot does get lonely, but she said it serves as a therapy session for her.

“I’m in a studio, just focusing on music and having a good time. I get to just share what I want,” Memet said.

Memet moves and sings along to much of her music; she laughs and has a good time.

Said Kuchta: “The best part of WERW is having that hour to curate your show. You have two hours out of the week to do whatever you want, play whatever you want and just have that time to hang out.”

Published on November 1, 2012 at 1:13 am

Contact Allie: ajcaren@syr.edu