When LSA junior Jessica Herman agreed to be on WOLV's Dating Game, she hoped the evening would change her future.
"We went to the U Club, and I came home with flowers," she said. "It was nice."
A few weeks later, the phone call she was waiting for finally came. But Herman wasn't expecting romance. The call was from WOLV, the University's student-run television station, inviting her to work on the station's news program.
This second evening eventually led to a position as the station's news director and then to the creation of the post of entertainment director, which she currently holds.
Stories like Herman's are behind WOLV's growth from an organization with a few cameras, a desk and two chairs to one with a new state-of-the-art production studio, increased student membership and a growing program lineup.
While the Office of the Vice President for Student Affairs recognized the station's achievement last year by voting it Outstanding New Organization, WOLV Director James Wang, an LSA senior, remembers the group's beginning three years ago.
"WOLV started as two guys with an idea who were interested in a learning experience with TV," Wang said.
In its first year, the station's original staff of about 100 students produced a weekly news show, game shows, a news magazine and provided sports coverage.
Today, with membership approaching 200, the station delivers 10-12 hours of original programming each week. Some of these shows are created from scratch - written, acted, directed and produced by WOLV members.
WOLV's lineup ranges from news to the soap "Beyond the Ivy," sports coverage, music videos and sitcoms. Its news crews were present recently when President Clinton delivered a foreign policy speech at the Fisher Theater in Detroit.
LSA senior Brad Rosenberg, WOLV's president, said this is the kind of coverage the station wants to expand in the future.
"We are really trying to get our feet wet in things like this and make contact with big events coming into town," he said.
Though not everyone involved with WOLV plans to enter the competitive world of television broadcasting, those who do believe that their time at the station provides good preparation.
"It was interesting being (at the Fisher Theater) with all that other press," said Randi Roland, the station's Campus Information Director and a junior in the school of Music.
"Channel 4 had bigger equipment than we do, but basically they do the same stuff we do every day," she said.
Currently available only in the dorms, WOLV's long-term plans are to reach off-campus, but its immediate goal is to expand its viewership within the residence halls.
While several students said they are unfamiliar with WOLV's programming, other students said they follow the station's sports coverage.
"I really like the guy who does sports because he gives you quick knowledge of University athletics - just the University instead of citywide," said LSA junior Brandon Quinn.
LSA senior Carrie Fine, an anchor on the station's news show, said that while WOLV continues to aim for a professional look, members still see it as a place for students to learn and have fun.
"We work to produce quality programming, but things are really laid back here," she said.
"If you are going to make a mistake, it is better to make it here than out in the real world."