The Publications Council has been given more control over The Daily Utah Chronicle-as was originally intended, said council members.
The Board of Trustees on April 19 approved a change with the structuring of The Chronicle’s budget to create a reserve account that requires the council’s approval for withdrawal.
“The change puts control [of the reserve account] into the hands of the Publications Council, which is where it belongs,” said Adam Ward, Chronicle business manager.
The council, which oversees all student publications and is funded from the $3.40 publications fee every student pays each semester, was not aware that the reserve accounts for The Chronicle and other student magazines and journals were not established as originally intended.
The change just brings into reality something that was intended all along, said David Vergobbi, chairperson of the council and associate professor in the communication department.
The reserve accounts ensure that publishing continues even if money runs out before the end of the year.
They existed only in theory and were nonexistent if The Chronicle ran into the red, Ward said.
Although any student group can apply for publication money to create a magazine, Vergobbi said, half of the publication fee account is guaranteed to The Chronicle every year.
This year, that amount was approximately $106,000. That equates to about 15 percent of The Chronicle’s operating budget.
The remaining 85 percent is generated by advertising sales, Ward said.
The reserve account will guarantee that $50,000 is available for emergencies if The Chronicle’s regular budget is used up, Ward said.
Ryck Luthi, executive secretary for the council, said that several years ago, The Chronicle and other publication funding was budgeted by the Associated Students of the University of Utah.
The creation of the publication fee relieved ASUU of that “burden,” Luthi said.