There's a room on campus covered in scribbled initials, unintelligible inside jokes and bumper stickers dating back several decades. The room isn't a row of toilet stalls forgotten by custodians or an abandoned closet squatted by punk rockers.

It is, however, a place where people hang around and listen to music most of the day. It also has three microphones and a pair of turntables.

The room, in the Creative Arts building 114, is actually KSFS Radio's broadcast studio, SF State's student-run radio station. And it's back on the airwaves.

Well, sort of.

"You're listening to KSFS at SFSU," said radio show host Cassie Noonan from the BECA department's live studio.

"You're listening to us on your computer obviously because a seagull flew into our antenna."

Noonan finished the quick station identification with a laugh before admitting that she can't confirm the department-wide rumor of why the station's antenna hasn't been working for several semesters.

"I like to spread the rumor," she said with a grin.

Although students pump out the jams from 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. five days a week, the 60-year-old radio station has been limited to online streaming since its low-powered antenna was taken out of commission last year.

The seagull story comes from birds that stood on the antenna and defecated onto the transmitter, which in turn lowered the range of the broadcast, according to studio adviser Jeff Jacoby.

Noonan, an outspoken redhead without a DJ name, said that although they have listeners calling from around the world, the number of people, regularly tuning in through the station's website is unknown.

Chris Reed, an environmental studies freshman from San Jose, isn't one of the people listening to Noonan's show. He's never even heard of the college's radio station.

"I don't even know where to find it," Reed said of SF State's only radio station.

Reed, 20, doesn't listen too much broadcast radio let alone online radio. He downloads his fix of electro, folk and hip hop, which allows him to easily create his own playlists, something much more time-consuming before the advent of the Internet.

"Nowadays, the radio never has anything good on," Reed said.

But Clara Penning, Noonan's weekly "Alphabet Soup" radio show partner, might not agree.

The show streams songs in alphabetical order of artists that the partners personally like, not adhering to any formal playlists which allows the women a chance to take on-air requests and play newly released music. The station also receives copies of pre-released CDs to add to its collection of thousands.

And just as print newspapers around the country are turning to the web in hopes of survival, Jacoby believes a need to replace the broken antenna is becoming less and less important.

"Students are very Internet-centric now," Jacoby said. "We have so many excellent challenges and opportunities with the Net and other emerging technologies and modalities."

A study done by researchers at Arbitron and Edison Media Research found that 33 million Americans over the age of 12 listened to weekly online radio last year. That number equals 13 percent of the age group -- an all-time high. But the study also found that listeners using online radio did not lower their average time tuning in to traditional AM/FM radio 2 hours 45 minutes a day.

AM/FM radio's biggest audiences are during morning and evening commutes, a time when many Americans are inside a radio-equipped car. But while many new cars are coming equipped with radios able to pick up satellite radio, online streaming is not yet available to the masses. But if that time comes, doors could open for online radio studios everywhere.

Jacoby said that acquiring a license to broadcast on an FM frequency that listeners can pick up from around the Bay Area would cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. He believes that the BECA department is more likely to set up a low power FM transmitter, antenna and frequency that wouldn't cover much more than SF State's main campus.

"We are pursuing acquiring a low-powered transmitter, but the main problem is the financial aspect," radio manager Chris Knox said.

"It's not that anyone doesn't want us to have the antenna."

So while SF State students like Reed enjoy their favorite tunes on iPods carrying downloaded mp3s, listeners halfway around the world could be more in tune with the musical tastes of SF students.

Matt Bernot hosts a weekly radio show on KSFS and said that SF State students are able to relate to the station's programming because it is determined by other SF State students coming from similar backgrounds. He also pointed out that the station enjoys a lot more variety than most mainstream radio stations, something that gives listeners an opportunity to learn about new music -- whether it be new to the world or new to the listener.

"There's definitely a lot more playing at KSFS than just the top 20," Bernot said.

"We just have all kinds of good music playing all the time."