With a three-fourths majority, the General Assembly passed a bill Tuesday to cut funding for K UTE, the U student radio station.
Joint Bill 18 proposes to amend Redbook, the constitution and bylaws of the Associated Students of the University of Utah. Redbook currently guarantees K-UTE 2 percent of ASUU’s budget, which this year amounts to $24,000 of the $1.2 million budget.
After two hours of discussion and debate among the Assembly members and eight students from K-UTE, the Assembly held a silent vote. Although the debate seemed balanced, 24 students voted to pass the bill, while only 8 opposed it.
“I’m very disappointed,” said Beth Fratkin, the graduate adviser of K-UTE. “I think some of the students did not understand the situation fully.”
At the beginning of the debate, Assembly members received three documents aimed at educating the students about the issue and the station.
The Assembly took a 15 minute recess so representatives could read a transcript of a Rules Committee hearing held Monday night, a fact sheet submitted by the Student Broadcast Council and a poll compiled by Assembly member Aaron Titus.
The 20 page transcript transcribed by Assembly Chairman Pat Moench offered the viewpoints from ASUU and the station. The students discussed financing of the station and the provisions in Redbook that affect the station.
According to Redbook, ASUU funds cannot go to pay for faculty salaries, expenses for students who receive U credit for the activity or awards and gifts.
As the graduate adviser to the station, Fratkin receives an annual stipend of $7,600. Student staff members receive an honorarium of $300 per semester for their work with the radio?totaling $6,226 per year.
The panelists also discussed potentially funding K-UTE through other sources.
The Student Broadcast Council provided information about the station’s use and purposes, as well as the station’s budget. The station provides public service announcements to numerous groups, and gives students valuable experience, according to the statement.
Titus’ poll surveyed 316 students regarding their listenership of the station. Only 2 percent of the students polled said they had listened to K-UTE more than once or twice. Of the 72 students surveyed in the dorms, 9.7 percent said they had listened to K-UTE a third time.
K-UTE broadcasts at 1620 AM, and is only allowed to transmit a low-power signal on campus.
The debate in favor of the bill focussed on allowing K-UTE to find other sources of funding. Moench compared the station to baby birds needing to be nudged out of their nest as he addressed the Assembly.
“The reason they can’t expand is because we won’t give them more money,” he said.
Other representatives argued that cutting K-UTE’s funding would not help the radio station fly.
“I don’t see K-UTE really surviving this,” said Nathan Evershed, a Humanities Assembly member. “I don’t want to be part of an Assembly that looks back to the deterioration of K-UTE.”
The Student Senate tabled the bill last Thursday and formed a committee to examine the issue and explore alternate sources of funding for K-UTE. The Senate will vote on the bill in its next meeting April 18.