Wjhu

The debate on national health care comes once more to WJHU public radio, 88.1 FM, in the fourth and final segment of the live-broadcast series, "Critical Decision: Health Care Reform and You."Health care experts and audience members will discuss the social aspects of a universal health care plan, including mental health issues, violence and drugs, in a two-hour special of the "Marc Steiner Show," to air tomorrow night from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.Panelists for tomorrow's program include Peter Beilenson, Baltimore commissioner of health, and Karen Becker, a public health expert for the U.S. Senate Finance Committee.

ODDS 'N' ENDS OFF THE BROADCAST BEAMS:* Could you call it a duel to the downbeat? Radio station WJHU-FM 88.1, currently in the midst of a "quiet drive" fund-raiser, is finding jazz fans contributing at a greater rate than classical music lovers."

Public radio in Baltimore will undergo major change beginning today as WJHU-FM turns away from classical music -- its mainstay for nearly a decade -- in favor of syndicated news and talk shows, the station announced yesterday.WJHU will broadcast classical music only on weekends, leaving weekdays to its more popular rival, WBJC-FM. Instead, WJHU will offer such shows as Monitor Radio, the Diane Rehm talk show and Terry Gross' "Fresh Air," a show on culture and the arts.General Manager Dennis Kita, who broke the news to his staff yesterday and mailed notices to the station's members, said WJHU is making the changes because it does best with news programming.

WJHU-FM (88.1) is holding nightly call-in programs this week in conjunction with the public radio station's fifth anniversary. The series, which airs each night from 7 to 8:30, will address such topics as education, employment and health. It will be hosted by John Stupak and feature specialists from Johns Hopkins University.Tonight's show concerns the economic and social future of the city, state and country. Tomorrow's program addresses educational changes needed to improve the economic competitiveness of the United States.

A high-ranking Johns Hopkins University official says the university is "very pleased" with the fall fund-raising efforts of WJHU-FM but said a decision on the future of the public radio station would not be made until next year.Eugene S. Sunshine, Hopkins' senior vice president for administration, said last week that the university currently has no plans to seek a buyer for the station's license or to revive a controversial plan rejected last year by the General Assembly to give the license and facilities to the Maryland Public Broadcasting Commission.

Pleading for pledges can get pretty tedious in public broadcasting. But WJHU-FM (88.1) has picked up some interesting help from National Public Radio in the 12-day spring drive entering its second day today.Listeners to "Morning Edition" yesterday, for example, got to hear NPR newsman Carl Kassel's earliest utterances in college radio -- including the jingle to a music show for which he was a deejay.The taped profile is part of a package of pledge support spots provided to local stations, says NPR spokesman Quincey Johnson.

Driving home from the office last week it occurred to me what a jewel Baltimore -- and its nonprofit community -- has among its many hidden treasures. It's called the Mark Steiner Show and it comes to us four nights a week from 7 o'clock to 8:30 on WJHU (88.1 FM).It used to be that I tried to leave the office most days around 6:30 p.m. in order to catch National Public Radio's Marketplace. As the nonprofit and philanthropy commentator for the show, I like to tune in frequently to see what's happening in the world of business.

In the Today section of yesterday's Sun, a story about a new general manager at WJHU-FM (88.1) incorrectly reported the status of former general manager Dennis Kita. Kita left WJHU in July for a position with the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.The Sun regrets the error.Perhaps it's only fair, considering it lost its last general manager to National Public Radio, that Johns Hopkins University's radio station has plucked its new GM from the same operation.Following a six-month search, Raymond G. Dilley, director of NPR's international service, has been named to head operations at WJHU-FM (88.1)

A power outage in the Lower Park Heights neighborhood where WJHU-FM has its transmitter knocked the radio station off the air for two hours last night, a spokesman said."

Listeners to WJHU-FM (88.1) this week brought the station's winter fund-raising drive to an end a little more than a day earlier than planned, under a new strategy that counted telephone callers rather than dollars.A final money tally was not immediately available, but the station heard from pledge caller number 1,000 early Thursday evening. The drive began Dec. 2.Program director Chris Wienke said the station set 1,000 pledges as the goal, rather than a specific dollar amount, "because we're really talking about the people we need to support the station."