Ever since the Soviet Union split up and Russia has fallen into disarray, some Americans, intent on finding the next nuclear bogeyman, have looked to China to fill us with fear of a holocaust. They are communist and fully armed after all. But a brief visit to the campus of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign has convinced me that any Sino-launched nuclear strike targeting our heartland would be a self-defeating act of sui-genocide on the part of Beijing.

Let me say, without the slightest tinge of nationalistic animosity, that there are a lot of Asians walking the streets of Urbana-Champaign. According to one figure I found, the school’s Asian population is 12 percent, although my brief empirical data puts that figure at over 50 percent. They’re everywhere. And that’s fine.

I’d much rather have the future leaders of China* studying in the West and experiencing democracy firsthand than being sheltered in a cloistered society where there only knowledge of the outside world is through the propagandist teachings of the party. It bodes well for the prospects of peace, love and understanding** when societies’ young people intermingle in an academic society.

Driving home from Champaign, I encountered some foreigners of another sort – well, at least foreign to Central Illinois.

Five-time winner of the Buckeye Newshawk Award, Less Nessman

Scanning the AM dial, I caught the halftime score of the Syracuse basketball game. “Ah, they’re playing DePaul. This Chicago station is coming in surprisingly clear down here in the hinterland,” I thought to myself, as there was no one to hear me talk.

As the report continued, I noticed that the voice spoke predominately and admiringly of the Orange, the nickname of the Syracuse side. The voice then identified the station as part of the Syracuse ISP Network. ”What’s this? A station from New York state filling the airwaves over Argenta. Has the spectrum gone crazy?”

I listened for a while and then scribbled down the call letters so I could confirm the station’s ID when I returned home. And sure enough, I was tuned-in to NewsTalk Radio 810 WGY, coming to me static-free from Schenectady.

As I continued down the dial, I picked up the DePaul/’Cuse game again, this time on NewsRadio 1180 WHAM, Rochester’s News Leader. The signal wasn’t as strong as 810’s, but still, there it was as I neared our own Rochester.

A little while later I listened to some advertising spots for businesses in San Antonio, courtesy of 1200 WOAI, a station that I recall once picking up in my garage while lifting weights early in the AM. One thousand and 58 miles seems a long way to go for a lube job, but their ads were quite persuasive and almost had me convinced to haul it on down there.

Anyway, I mention all of this because it still amazes me to hear a radio station from some far off place. Even though we live in a world where radio stations from around the world can be streamed to your desktop, there’s still something wondrous and mysterious about a voice from far away that finds its way into your vehicle. Schenectady’s probably not much different than many cities in Illinois and it’s radio stations not much different either, but when that voice sneaks out of its footprint under the cover of night and escapes all the way to Illinois, you can’t help but want to hear what things are like back in that strange, exotic land from whence it came.

Topic: I suppose, if you were so inclined, you might tell us from how far away have you been able to pull in a radio station while listening here in the Springfield area.

Okay, if you must know, I was in Champaign to interview some folks for a Heartland Magazine article I’m writing for the SJ-R.  Look for it at a newsstand near you later next month.

UPDATE: I forgot to send my congratulations to Russ who correctly guessed that it was 10,000 Maniacs’ These Are the Days that Johnny Molson had revved-up to 78 RPM for his chipmunk-punk the listener challenge. For getting the correct answer, Russ wins tickets to see a guy say "funny" things at a place that was supposed to go belly-up after the smoking ban was enacted.

*I realize that not all Asians are Chinese but I can’t seem to identify the ethnic nuances in their visages. Call me a bigot if you will, just don’t call me late for Szechuan chicken with eggroll?

**Name the artist who recorded this song in 1979 to much acclaim. Bonus: name the artist who wrote the song. Googling is for punks!