WHRB was only slightly affected by the militant mood of the 1960s, says former President James B. Porter '70. "The time that I was president was a very quiet time for WHRB," he says. "There were still an awful lot of traditionalists at the station."

Perhaps the only exception was the Garbage Orgy, during which "some people would play or do whatever seemed to fit their fancy." This included talking, playing sports tapes, and listening to music that wouldn't have been played otherwise.

But classical music continued to be the backbone of the station. "From what we could gather, we were one of the top two or three FM classical stations," says Porter. At the time, the FM market was very small. "That's where you found the hard core classical music and the real traditional jazz and folk," Porter says.

Stereo radio, though still a novelty, was gaining listeners. Porter says he thinks "the ability to broadcast in FM stereo was a real plus. At that time, stereo equipment was being made that was affordable to college students and we were able to be a part of that time."

Since the early 1970s, says Elliott, the greatest change at WHRB has been the increase in rock programming. In the early '70s, popular rock music was aired more and more frequently. In the mid-'70s, the rock show "Plastic Passions" began and became one of the station's major shows. Within a few years, "The Darker Side" and other shows devoted to music ranging from reggae to soul to jazz took to the air.

The technical quality of the broadcasts remains high. WHRB still uses reel-to-reel tapes instead of the simpler but lower-quality carts most stations use, says President Stephen H. Shenefield '85. "People visit here and can't believe we don't use, these machines," he says of the carts. The station avoids another common proactive of cutting down on signal quality to increase range. In addition, the denizens of the Memorial Hall basement use high-quality turntable cartridges

A recent addition to the station is the "Compact Disk Monitor" program, focusing on new high-quality laser disks.

From the beginning, the station has carried live broadcasts of many major Harvard sports contests. A large number of Harvard alumni and students in the area listen regularly, according to Program Director Michael I Rosenberg '85, and only recently, he notes have other stations carried the games.

But WHRB does more than produce quality programming, says Elliott. Under the terms of the guidelines written during the station's incorporation, it also serves to educate its members in the functions of a commercial radio station.

WHRB requires compers to master two fields, which can be on-the-air, such as classical music or news announcing, or off-the-air, such as business or technical engineering. All of the approximately 100 active members, even those who do not broadcast, have learned to use the studio controls. In some music areas, such as rock, compers must also have a good knowledge of the major musicians and bands in the field.

In its capacity of teaching students, the station has been successful. A number of the approximately 1500 WHRB alumni have gone on to careers in broadcasting, including NBC television newscaster Chris Wallace '69.

"I probably learned as much from my experience at WHRB as from anything else at Harvard," says Flug.