KUSC-FM pledge drive staffer Shauna Der provided support in the phone bank room at the station's headquarters on Wednesday, March 11. The station raised more than $289,000 in the campaign.

Photo by Irene Fertik

Program director Sheila Rue comes to the station with 12 years' experience at three stations. Announcer Charles Andrews, who will handle the 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. weekday show, arrives with 20 years' experience.

The public radio station, which raised more than $289,000 in its recent pledge drive, is in the midst of rebuilding. The station now has a membership of almost 30,000, up from 24,000 last year.

General manager Brenda Pennell recently announced some program changes, reflecting listeners' expressed desire for "more music and less talk." The station will no longer broadcast "The NewsHour With Jim Lehrer" and "Performance Today." USC Radio's popular "Marketplace" program has moved into the

7 p.m. weekday slot formerly held by "The NewsHour."

KUSC PROGRAMMERS studied comments from listeners and other data about the way they use the station's programming. "One theme that emerged is that listeners would like more music and less talk," Pennell said.

Andrews, a flutist, is a veteran classical music host from Kent, Ohio. He is a native of Redondo Beach. Rue has worked as a program director at three different stations, most recently at WUNC in Chapel Hill, N.C. In recent years she has led workshops to train other program directors. She is on the board of directors of the Public Radio Program Directors Association.

The station received about 3,400 new pledges in the recent 10-day on-air fundraising drive, said membership director Carmen Frierson.