The U Board of Trustees approved a publication fee increase of $1.34 per semester, pending the board’s approval of a plan for a new student media council.
The fee is meant to merge the Publications Council and the Student Broadcasting Council, which oversee the different student media on campus, into one body that would replace both councils. The new council would initially use the majority of the fee to make the student radio station KUTE financially viable, said Jake Sorensen, business manager of the Publications Council and the Daily Utah Chronicle. The station has struggled to secure funding.
“However, we don’t have a step-by-step process on how to spend (the fee),” Sorensen said.
The proposal’s ambiguity convinced the board to increase funding to student media on the contingency that the drafters from the councils could present a specific plan for the new council that the board could approve by the next meeting in April.
“It’s not appropriate to give (the fee) to who knows where,” said Rachel Hanson, managing editor of The Daily Utah Chronicle. The campus newspaper would not be the main recipient of funding garnered by the fee.
KUTE has the potential to become a major success, a place where students can grow their radio journalistic skills and be heard, said Patrick Reimherr, president of the Associated Students of the University of Utah and a member of the Board of Trustees. Since the radio station launched its Web site in December, it’s had 16,000 page hits, said Peter Rue, a graduate student serving as the station’s adviser.
With enough time and the right support, KUTE could even find a slot on 90.1 digital radio, Reimherr said.
Approving the fee before the plan is passed would be writing the council a blank check, said Dustin Gardiner, editor in chief of The Chronicle. Gardiner has previously expressed concern about the intention to create a student media advocate, who would work as a go-between for the new council and student media and offer advice. Gardiner said he does not see why The Chronicle would need an additional adviser, as it already has an adviser.
Sean Halls, KUTE’s marketing adviser, said the radio station is also looking for a development director to guide them and rectify the station’s problems with consistency and direction.
Tyler CobbJake Sorensen, business manager of the Publications Council argues that the Trusties should raise the Publications fee so that KUTE could become financially viable.