Washington City Paper: Contents for Jan. 29

Radio Free Georgetown
The hippies who ran Georgetown University's WGTB plugged the Viet Cong, gay liberation, and abortion rights on the Jesuits' dime. Who did they think they were?

Cover Story

At an inaugural dinner for the newly established University of the District of Columbia in March 1978, Georgetown University President the Rev. Timothy Healy rose to toast the institution. With a clink of his champagne glass, the Jesuit priest informed the trustees of UDC that within one year, the Georgetown-owned broadcast license for FM frequency 90.1, radio station WGTB, would be theirs. The trustees were pleasantly surprised: None of them had ever asked for the license. Healy offered it as a gift.

Privately, Healy was breathing a sigh of deep relief. What had become a source of much misery among Georgetown's Jesuit leadersóthe university's out-of-control radio stationówould soon be off their hands. No more nasty alumni letters, no more investigations by the Federal Communications Commission, no more hippie interlopers on campus, and, most important, no more radical left-wing rhetoric pumping out of Georgetown's pristine Copley Hall.

The "great animal that doesn't belong in the zoo," as Healy (now deceased) referred to WGTB at the time, was read its last rites, 18 years after the FCC handed the university one of the first FM licenses in the city. ... Continued

Issue of Jan. 29 - Feb. 4, 1999

News and Features

Radio Free Georgetown
The hippies who ran Georgetown University's WGTB plugged the Viet Cong, gay liberation, and abortion rights on the Jesuits' dime. Who did they think they were?
Cover Story By Guy Raz
They May Need to Amputate
Now that it belongs to Seagram, will Interscope Records cut off local rockers the Dismemberment Plan?
Feature By Colin Bane
Neighborhood Beating
The Perkins brothers have outlasted the MPD, the DCRA,and politicians, but that doesn't mean they're winning.
The City By Jason Cherkis
Class of .38
Yards from a high school, Ken Scott's shop offers high-caliber learning opportunities.
The City By Dave McKenna
Follow That Story They Got Next?
Two new museum proposals have high profiles, but the African-American museum effort remains boxed up.
The City By Ta-Nehisi Coates
Mayorajah
Tony Williams' new open office hours update a very old tradition.
The City By Michael Schaffer
Cult Film
The scariest movie in town is admission-free and continuously showing.
The City By Michael Colton
Sentenced to Chaos
With 18 months left to remake the District's criminal-justice system, and no money to do it with, D.C.'s sentencing commission could end up imprisoned by failure.
The City By Stephanie Mencimer
Interoffice Memo
The City
Tools of the Game
The Mail By Emery Jones
Dancers Are People, Too
The Mail By Rick B. Miller
Bi-Bi Love
The Mail By Jennifer "Psyche" Coderre
Poetry Slam
The Mail By Barbara Gross
Flaming Lips
The Mail By Peter R. Dahlen
Cure for the Common Scold
The Mail By Andrea Carlson
Houses of the Holy
The Mail By Brian Stansberry

Columns

Holding Court With a King
I'm alone with King Kong Bundy.
Cheap Seats By Dave McKenna
No Quarter
City Desk By Nefretiti Makenta, Alexandra Phanor and Elissa Silverman
THE GRAND MARQUIS OF DCRA
Loose Lips By Erik Wemple
His Way
Paper Trail By David Carr