THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, November 5, 1995 TAG: 9511030169
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 14 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ERIC FEBER, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 63 lines
Tuesday is election day and, once again, the staff and student volunteers at WFOS-FM will bring radio listeners live, up-to-the-minute election updates, news and results.
Throughout the day, election coordinator Dennis McCurdy said he and other reporters will be giving live reports and interviews with candidates, voters and volunteer poll workers at various voting precincts throughout the city and Hampton Roads.
The station's all-day election reports will cover all state Senate and House of Delegates races, all local city council and clerk of court races and all area city bond referendums.
McCurdy said for this particular election, the voters will probably need all of the clear facts and news they can use.
``There can be little doubt that this election is a mess,'' he said. ``For one thing, state Senate and House of Delegates races are not confined to one city. Senators and delegates are crossing city lines, and they may not necessarily be running in all the precincts to be covered.''
McCurdy said he will have student volunteers cover each race, positioning them at each city's registrar's office and at the headquarters of each candidate.
In addition, student volunteers will read voting tally boards, feeding the numbers to stand-by computer operators who will type in results as quickly as possible.
These vote numbers will in turn be fed to the WFOS election desk, anchored by Richie Babb, who will begin offering election results after 7 p.m. when the polls close.
``This is run like a military operation,'' McCurdy said. ``Even though it seems confusing and we have to deal with unforeseen problems as they arise, this is great training for our students. They'll have to think on their feet. No simulation here. This will be real, live, up-to-date radio, bringing election results to the people of Chesapeake and Hampton Roads.''
McCurdy said his operation's election results will also be fed to several professional, commercial radio stations, including WNIS, and to United Press International, a wire service.
The WFOS anchor desk will feature the participation of Babb along with P.K. Pankiotis, Jennifer Northern, Tiffany Quash, Melody Siff and Stephanie Craft.
Jayne Smith will be on the air from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Additional studio assistance will be performed by Tracey Brickhouse and Alice Whitener.
Reports from Chesapeake City Hall will be the job of McCurdy, WFOS engineer David Desler, Doug Heimberger, Katharine Kerr and Edward Johnson.
Hampton will be covered by Annalisa Murden and Newport News will be handled by Nancy Crocker.
Virginia Beach results will be covered by Ladan Hamadi Toosi, Jennifer Schuler, Tynette Solomon and Regan Keefer.
Norfolk will be handled by Shan Estelle Brown, Kara McGehee and Jolie McGehee while Portsmouth results will be offered by Vince Brown, Danielle Boone, Jason Murphy and Sherry Alford. MEMO: More information about WFOS's election coverage is available by calling
the station at 547-1036.
by CNB