THE ELECTRICIAN
Executive Producer and Host of Lovercall
THE ARCHITECT
Lovercall Producer
THE QUARTERBACK
Lovercall Host
Hello!
We are The Electrician, The Architect and The Quarterback: producers and hosts of the radio show Lovercall right here at SUNY Fredonia. Lovercall is an anonymous late-night talk show about love, relationships and more. Students who come on the show use a codename to protect their identities when discussing potentially personal topics, hence the codenames of the writers of this column.
“The Electrician” is a 21-year-old cisgender female student who goes by she/her pronouns and is a senior at SUNY Fredonia.
“The Architect” is a 20-year-old cisgender male student who goes by he/him pronouns and is a senior at SUNY Fredonia.
“The Quarterback” is a 19-year-old cisgender male student who goes by he/him pronouns and is a sophomore at SUNY Fredonia.
On each episode, the hosts and guests of Lovercall participate in a variety of segments. The cast discusses a relevant news story, a date idea, a wacky game and a main topic for the episode.
Listeners also write into the show, either via Fredonia Radio’s Instagram, @fredonia_radio, on Yik Yak, or through the QR code provided in this column.
We typically answer the questions asked right here in this column, so be sure to look out for student stories and questions in future columns.
The show is now being streamed weekly on Wednesday nights from 10 p.m. to 12 a.m. on WDVL 89.5 on www.fredoniaradio.com.
This column runs in conjunction with Lovercall and can be found both in print and online at fredonialeader.org.
Date idea of the week
We hope to provide our fellow students with a fun and unique date idea in every column. These “date” ideas aren’t just for romantic partners — you could go with your friends, your classmates or you can even go solo for a fun activity in Fredonia.
This week, we here at Lovercall recommend going apple picking!
Apple picking would be a perfect fall-themed date for those who like being outdoors or just love the feeling of the season.
We also talked about how you can use the apples you picked to make things like apple pie –– and baking can be another excellent date idea!
Overall, just being outside in the cool, crisp fall air with your significant other can be a special date for this time of year!
Lovercallers
We call those who reach out to us with stories about love, sex and relationships “Lovercallers.”
This week, we looked to the Google form for our question.
In our most recent episode, we answered a question from a person using the codename “Sparkle.”
Sparkle explained that he recently got out of a long-term relationship and is working on healing. However, the people he would be interested in starting a relationship with would be long-distance.
He asked, “Should I try starting a relationship with this person who would be long-distance, or try to find/meet someone I like where I live?”
We at Lovercall advise Sparkle to consider his feelings for the long-distance person.
Getting into a long-distance relationship can be quite an egregious task. Long-distances mean you are unable to see each other often, and relies on a lot of trust between both partners.
If you and this other person truly have feelings for each other, then we think you should have a conversation about going long distance.
If your feelings are true, surely you can make the relationship work.
On the other hand, since you just got out of a long-term relationship, it may be easier on the heart to start a relationship with someone closer to you, as it will be a lot less difficult to manage.
We at Lovercall also think it is important for you to take that time to heal. As we always mention, it is important for you to love yourself before you can love another.
While the decision is tough and there are pros and cons on both sides, it is most important for you to communicate your thoughts with your potential partner.
Conflict Management
The main topic for our episode this week was conflict management.
The term “conflict management” refers to how both individuals and groups deal with issues.
Conflict management is meant to be a positive and respectful way to deal with issues that come up in not only romantic relationships, but friendships and family relationships as well.
On this past episode of Lovercall, we discussed five different types of conflict management.
The first type is competing.
The competing technique is seen when one party of the relationship is seeking to satisfy their goal, no matter what expense it has on the other party.
Typically, this is an unhealthy way of handling conflict. One party usually ends up hurt or unhappy, while the other party ends up feeling satisfied.
Another type of conflict management is avoiding, in which both halves of the relationship seek to suppress the conflict.
The conflict is usually ignored, and isn’t resolved.
Yet another example of conflict management is accommodating.
This style is most common among people who see themselves as people-pleasers.
Those who use the accommodating approach usually give into whatever their partner wants, whether or not they agree.
These types of people usually try to avoid conflict if possible.
Since both parties do not feel satisfied, the accommodating technique is not ideal.
One of the better types of conflict management is compromise.
With a compromise, both parties give up something to achieve an agreement.
While not everyone wants to sacrifice something, it is often required to keep the peace in a relationship.
Compromise is not always the preferred option, but when used correctly, it should result in both parties feeling mostly satisfied with the result.
The final type of conflict management we discussed on Lovercall is collaboration.
This is the best way to deal with issues in a relationship.
With collaboration, both parties win in the situation and end up satisfied.
It is often difficult to achieve a perfect collaboration, but it serves as a good goal for a relationship.
Many couples will find collaboration hard at first, but communicating with your partner and listening to their concerns is the first step to solving a conflict effectively.
Reach out!
Do you want to ask the authors of Lovercolumn a question? Do you need advice? Fill out the form by using this QR code.
Interested in being a guest on Lovercall? Email frs@fredonia.edu or visit Fredonia Radio Systems, located in McEwen Hall 115 and open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
“The Electrician,” “The Architect” and “The Quarterback” are members of Fredonia Radio Systems and are involved in the production of Lovercall.