Right now, then, it's largely up to each station, and in some cases each DJ, to decide what can be said and what should remain unspoken. Since that's hardly a recipe for consensus, it comes as no surprise that Kerns, White and Marvin have disparate opinions on the issue. Of the three, Kerns is the most willing to say that more profanity does not necessarily make for better radio. "I think I way overreacted to the freedom that I didn't realize existed when I came here," he says. "I still say cusswords on the air sometimes, but I've since learned that it's not that exciting to do it all the time. I'm a grown man. I don't have to do that."

White goes further: "I think the FCC should worry more if telephone towers are giving kids who live under them cancer than whether I'm saying 'masturbation' on the air."

And Marvin? "I don't think there should be any rules or regulations about this at all," he says. "I'm not offended when I hear people say 'asshole' or 'ass' or 'fuck' or any of those things. The bottom line ought to be the dial, the button, the knob. Turn it off if you don't like it.