Texas Student Publications

Board of Operating Trustees

August 24, 2001

Minutes

Voting members present: Sara Beechner, Craig Daniel, Dave Garlock, Don Heider, Michael Hoffman, Stephen Little, Shawn Rosenzweig, Doug Toney, Senyo Tse, Amanda Zamora.

Voting members absent: Natalie Mayrath.

Non-voting members present: Margarita Arellano, Caroline Connor, Kristin Finan, Kathy Lawrence, Rosa Madriz, Marshall Maher.

Non-voting members absent: Meredith Best, Matt Hammond, Trevor Rosen.

Professional staff present: Mary Felps, Richard Finnell, Beverly Fisher, John Foxworth, Evelyn Gardner, Jean Hogue, Dan Knight, Steve Metze, Douglas Plummer, Jack Simons, Jerry Thompson.

Visitors present: Juan Rodriquez, Frank Serpas, Nicki James, Brian Wellborn, Ryan Pittman, Jesse Harris.

In the absence of a president, Texas Student Publications Director Kathy Lawrence called the meeting to order at 2:15 p.m. Lawrence introduced Dr. John Ruszkiewicz, director of the Division of Rhetoric and Composition, who has volunteered to serve as faculty adviser for Texas Travesty. Following Ruszkiewicz’s introduction, Lawrence requested all others attending the meeting to introduce themselves.

I. Election of TSP Board Officers.

Lawrence said three officer positions needed to be filled for the TSP Board including president, vice president, and secretary. Lawrence then opened the meeting for nominations for president.

Hoffman nominated Daniel to serve as president of the TSP Board. No further nominations were made.

MOTION NO. 1: Tse moved to cease nominations for TSP Board president and to appoint Daniel by

acclimation. The motion passed.

Lawrence passed the gavel to Daniel who conducted the remainder of the meeting. Daniel opened the meeting for TSP Board vice president nominations.

Rosenzweig nominated Hoffman to serve as vice president of the TSP Board. No further nominations were made.

MOTION NO. 2: Heider moved to cease nominations for TSP Board vice president and to appoint

Hoffman by acclimation. The motion passed.

Daniel opened the meeting for TSP Board secretary nominations. Beechner nominated Zamora to serve as secretary of the TSP Board. No further nominations were made.

MOTION NO. 3: Heider moved to cease nominations for TSP Board secretary and to appoint Zamora by

acclimation. The motion passed.

II. Approval of Minutes, April 27, 2001, Board Meeting.

MOTION NO. 4: Hoffman moved to amend the Minutes of the April 27, 2001, TSP Board meeting

to reflect the following:

1. After “Visitors present:” strike “matt Hammond” and insert “Amanda Zamora, Michael

Hoffman,”

2. Under item II.a, insert “Best had completed 59 hours of college work.” after “Best did

not meet requirement III-2 which stipulates applicants must have completed at least 60

hours of college work.”

The motion passed.

Further, Hoffman said he felt there were further inaccuracies in the Minutes of the April 27, 2001, TSP Board meeting. Discussion concerning these inaccuracies followed.

MOTION NO. 5: Beechner moved to table the approval of the Minutes of the April 27, 2001, TSP

Board Meeting until the audio tapes can be examined to clarify the actions and discussions which

were in question. The motion passed.

III. Appointment of Members to TSP Committees.

a. Executive Committee. Lawrence reported that the Communication faculty members, Heider and Garlock, and the

Business Administration faculty member, Tse, were on the committee in addition to two student members.

MOTION NO. 6: Zamora moved to appoint Rosenzweig to serve as a member of the Executive

Committee. The motion passed.

MOTION NO. 7: Toney moved to appoint Daniel to serve as a member of the Executive Committee.

The motion passed.

b. TSP Election Committee. Appointments to the TSP Election Committee and the TSP Minority Advisory Committee were postponed until the next TSP Board meeting.

IV. Mission, Five-Year Plan.

Lawrence referred to the materials submitted with the meeting agenda. Hoffman asked her to discuss the financial viability of all TSP media. Lawrence discussed plans for yearbook sales, finances, and plans for the Cactus Yearbook. Further, she explained the end-of-the-year deficit will most likely be greater than the current figures reflect. Lawrence explained that historically the older media, such as the Texan and the Cactus, have experienced deficits and those deficits have been covered by the strength of other media.

Hoffman asked Lawrence if KVR9 will gain momentum even though advertising sales are dropping in all other media. Lawrence said there are revenue generating opportunities being discussed to strengthen KVR9 income. Connor and Knight said there may be more years where KVR9 income does not meet expenses, however.

Beechner urged both TSP students and non-students to prioritize goals and be aware of how to adjust to a tight economy.

V. Summer Activities Report.

Lawrence referred to the materials submitted with the meeting agenda.

Beechner asked Madriz to expand on item number 8 on the goals for KVRX: Increase the quality of the news department (news, sports, and community programming) by committing to our motto “None of the hits, all of the time.” Madriz said she plans for programs which reflect more diversity and to increase the use of alternative news sources for listeners.

VI. TSP Financial Update.

a. Projected Year-End 2000-2001. Hogue discussed the financial figures distributed with the meeting agenda. She explained that due to the differences in UT and TSP accounting procedures, a prophecy on how the 2000-2001 year will end is difficult to determine at this time. Overall, however, TSP will end the year in the red. Further, she reported KVR9, due to hard work, will not lose as much as originally anticipated; KVRX is doing well; but Cactus Yearbook income remains too low.

b. Revised Planning Process for 2001-2002. Lawrence said the 2001-2002 budget needs to be revised due to lower income projections. Recommendations will be ready for the members of the Executive Committee to discuss around the end of September and ready for Board consideration in October.

c. Summer Financial Reports. Concerning the July financial report, Hogue reported utility expenses continue to exceed the amount budgeted but the figures included in the 2001-2002 budget should be sufficient.

In reference to utility expenses, Hogue noted that changes had been made to the TSP budget for 2001-2002 after those figures had been approved by the TSP Board. Discussion followed.

MOTION NO. 8: Toney moved for TSP to draft a letter to be sent to the UT Budget Office requesting

no changes be made to the TSP Board-approved budget.

Discussion followed concerning who should sign the letter and to whom the letter should be addressed. Hoffman offered an amendment to Toney’s motion to reflect that Daniel, with the help of Lawrence, should draft the letter, Daniel should sign the letter, and the letter should be directed to Mary Knight, associate vice president and budget director, and to Dr. James W. Vick, vice president for student affairs. Toney agreed to the amendment offered by Hoffman.

MOTION NO. 8 (AS AMENDED): Toney moved to direct Craig Daniel, president of the TSP Board,

with the help of Kathy Lawrence, TSP director, to draft a letter requesting no changes be made to the

TSP Board-approved budget, such letter to be directed to Mary Knight, associate vice president and

budget director, and Dr. James W. Vick, vice president for student affairs. The motion passed.

Concerning new methods to raise income, Gardner reported several new leads have been cultivated during the summer for possible new advertisers for The Daily Texan.

d. Financial Tracking System. Lawrence discussed a series of new reports which will be compiled by Hogue on a monthly basis. Toney expressed concern that the information could be as old as two months. Hogue said the reason is that UT does not supply information to TSP in time to compile financial reports sooner. Hogue’s financial report cannot be reconciled with UT figures any sooner. Hogue said she could supply the Board “flash” reports as long as it is understood that those reports could change.

Tse asked if similar reports could be prepared on past TSP records. Lawrence and Hogue said such reports were possible.

Arellano said the presentation of the reports were difficult to understand. Any changes to the formats of the reports, such as lines, dots, etc. would be appreciated.

In further discussion, Lawrence was encouraged by Toney and other members of the Board to work with Taylor Publishing Company and insist on getting the yearbook printing bills cleared by the end of August. Hoffman suggested adding a commendation to the agenda for the next Board meeting for Jenny Hager for finishing the Cactus Yearbook on time.

e. Student Fall Payrolls. Lawrence referred to the payroll plans distributed to Board members with the meeting agenda.

MOTION NO. 9: Tse moved to approve the student fall payrolls as submitted. The motion passed.

VII. Daily Texan Circulation Planning, Reports, and Control.

Lawrence introduced Serpas who reviewed circulation plans and reporting procedures of The Daily Texan with the members of the Board.

VIII. New Business.

a. Consideration of Liz Carpenter Award for Excellence. Lawrence reviewed the content of a letter addressed to the members of the TSP Board from Jennie Kennedy, former managing editor of The Daily Texan. Further, Lawrence said there were concerns about the proposal which need further investigation.

MOTION NO. 10: Beechner moved to postpone further discussion of this item until the next TSP

Board meeting. The motion passed.

MOTION NO. 11: Hoffman moved to adjourn the meeting. The motion passed.