Jack Bonney. General Manager. Always.

              7ack Bonney. General Manager. Always.'
GREENSBORO- I like Jack.
He's a quiet guy, a red-haired, re!i­bearded
Baltimore native who has
always reminded me of a grown-up
Opie. And he knows his music like
nobody else.
what's new in music.
For eight
years, he
ran WUAG.
He brought
UNCG's 18-
watt college
station out of
obscurity and
turned it into
a must-listen
for anyone
who wanted to
catch up with
During that time, he helped
WUAG put together five music com­pilations
and book more than 100
shows across our city, bringing
bands to places as diverse as Studio
B downtown to UNCG'·s own Faculty
Center.
He made the station more acces­sil1le,
more diverse and more consis- .
tent, and he molded WUAG (103.1
FM) mto a place on the dial where
you could hear everytl.ring.
Now, he's become a part of what's
wrong with what's happening in Ra­leigh.
Jack Bonney is gone.
State legislators have chosen to
close a $2.5 billion budget gap by
slicing into the very thing that has
given North Carolina a national rep­utation
of excellence: its public uni­versity
system.
They've cut $414 million from
higher education- the very thing
that attracted students, drew aca­demic
talent, created jobs, stoked
community pride and helped drive
our state's economy.
UNCG will now have to cut $26
million from its budget - or 15 per­cent.
The pain has already started.
WUAG is just one example.
UNCG was one of the 'few univer­sities
in the country that had a.full­time
station manager. Jack was the
first. University officials have elimi-
JOSEPH RODRIGUEZ/News & Record ·
Jack Bonney, as general manager of UNCG's campus radio station, helped WUAG put
together five music compilation~ and book more than 100 shows across Greensboro.
nated that job, and a revolving door
of students will now nm the station.
Jack's last day was Friday. On
Monday, he packed up his office.
He doesn't blame UNCG. Raleigh,
though, is a different matter.
"Anger is the word, and frustra~
tion," Jack said Monday from his
third-floor office at UNCG's Brown
Building. "They're not thinking
about the students, and they're not
thinking about the future.
· "Part of the reason I came to North
Carolina was that higher education
in Maryland was riot that great, and
North Carolina's (system) was just
amazing," he said. "And who loses?
Students and the state."
When I ran Go Triad, I'd see
Jack every Wednesday afternoon in
his old digs in the basement of the
Taylor Theatre. We'd tape a short
segment and talk about events hap­pening
that week in the spot we both
called home.
It was fun. It reininded me of what
I loved about college radio - a bas­tion
of free expression, where you
could play anything and say almost
anything into a microphone. And
people listened.
Years ago, a restaurant owner I
know called Greensboro "pleasingly
dull." Back then, he was right. Not
so much anymore. And Jack helped
make that happen. . ·
Thirteen years ago, he started at
WUAG as a freshman. His first show:
"The Legomaniac." His radio name:
Jack, Jack The Legomaniac. Jack,
the only son of a data processing ·dad
and a teacher mom, had found his
niche.
In 2002, he graduated from UNCG
with a degree in media studies. In
2006, he got a master's degree in lib­eral
studies and taught two courses
he created: History and Culture of
Radio and Popular Music and Film.
And now,. at age 31; he moves on.
He filed for unemployment Mon­day.
His plans? He has no idea. But .
as he packed up, he did smile. It's
because of what someone had writ­ten
on his grease board on his office
door.
Jack Bonney. General Manager.
Always.
Seems appropriate.
Contact Jeri Rowe at 373-7374 or
jeri.rowe@news-record.com