Texas Student Publications

Board of Operating Trustees

January 25, 2002

Minutes

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

Voting members absent: Stephen Little.

Non-voting members present: Meredith Best, Caroline Connor, Kristin Finan, Kathy Lawrence, Rosa Madriz, Marshall Maher, Trevor Rosen.

Non-voting members absent: Margarita Arellano, Karen Fastenau, Matt Hammond.

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

Visitors present: Coleman Lewis, various student staff members.

The meeting was called to order at 3:06 p.m. by Craig Daniel, TSP Board president.

I. Report of the President.

Daniel reviewed his written report with the members of the Board. He congratulated the members of the Election Committee on the quick approval of the revised election code by Dr. James Vick, vice president of student affairs. Concerning revision of the TSP Handbook, Daniel said interest in a revision of the document was favorably received at the November meeting but not many Board members were forthcoming to serve on the revision team. Zamora said she would serve but only if the project can be completed by the end of the spring semester. Hoffman expressed doubt that the project could be completed by the end of the spring semester but that portions could be revised and the project completed later. Daniel said seven of the 11 voting members of the Board will be replaced at the end of the spring. Lawrence said it appears now is the time to work with the UT administration on the project. Toney said he doubts the revision process will take a long time. Finally, Toney, Zamora, Finan, Beechner, Daniel, and Hoffman agreed to serve on the TSP Handbook Revision Committee. Daniel said he would organize the committee meetings and solicit suggestions from editors and station managers concerning specific media considerations. Beechner urged Daniel to seek suggestions from media advisers on possible revisions.

Daniel temporarily adjourned the meeting for a group picture to be taken for the 2002 Cactus Yearbook.

II. Approval of November 16, 2001, TSP Board Minutes.

Beechner pointed out a needed correction on page 2. “Finan said readers will turn to other sources for news if there is sufficient coverage in the Texan.” should be changed to “Finan said readers will turn to other sources for news if there is insufficient coverage in the Texan.”

MOTION NO. 1: Beechner moved to approve the Minutes of the November 16, 2001, TSP Board Meeting

as amended. The motion passed.

III. Report of the Executive Committee.

Garlock said the Executive Committee met earlier in the day and discussed the monthly financial report, reviewed spring semester payrolls, and discussed possible meeting dates for the months of February and March.

A. Monthly financial report. Hogue discussed the monthly financial report with the members of the Board. Toney said, according to the figures included in the report, the Texan is currently publishing at a loss. Lawrence agreed. Toney said in the commercial world, the newsroom would be faced with the challenge of producing a quality product on fewer pages. Maher said there is not sufficient creative thinking in reducing expenses and further reduction of pages will deplete the quality of the newspaper. Toney said, “If you spend more than you take in, you must change.” Hogue said the later she can submit budget figures for 2002-03, the more accurate those figures will be.

B. Proposed media payrolls. Lawrence reviewed the payrolls submitted by the Texan managing editor, KVR-TV station manager, and KVR station manager for the spring semester. All figures fit within the 2001-02 operating budget.

MOTION NO. 2: On behalf of the Executive Committee, Garlock moved to approve the payrolls submitted

for the spring semester. The motion passed.

C. February and March meeting dates. The next Board meeting is currently scheduled for February 8 at 3:00 p.m. in the Texas Union, room 3.116. This meeting will concern the certification of candidates for spring elections. The March meeting, which will concern the 2002-03 budget, is scheduled for March 1 at 1:00 p.m. If the budget is due to the UT administration later than currently anticipated, the March meeting may be rescheduled for a later date.

IV. Monthly Reports.

A. Report of the director. Lawrence reviewed her written report with the members of the Board which had been distributed with the meeting Agenda. To the report, she added the retirement of TSP’s long-time employee, Mary Fickling, who served the organization as purchasing agent. In addition, Lawrence said another employee plans to leave the organization soon. Heider said this may be a good time to “re-tool” instead of replacing employees. Finnell said Kristin Finan received the Most Valuable Staffer Award from Scripps-Howard which includes a $5000 scholarship for the recipient and a $5000 award to The Daily Texan. Further, Lawrence said a new TSP web site will be ready for readers next week and a new Texan web site will be ready for readers in around ten days.

B. Reports of editors and station managers. Directing his comments to Finan, Rosenzweig said his information concerning student newspapers at Ohio and at Penn State conflicts with the information included in Finan’s report to the Board.

Gardner said she isin the process of checking with the top 20 schools and, thus far, all schools report production of fewer pages, due in large part to a severe drop in nation advertising. All schools who have responded report drops of between three and five pages per issue. Toney said Gardner’s figures mirror the commercial sector as well. Heider said many factors affect the situation, including the newspaper’s market position. On the other hand, however, Toney said it may be time to dip into the TSP reserve in order to keep the quality of news coverage for The Daily Texan. Additionally, Toney pointed out that the Texan has contributed a majority of funds to the reserve. Finan said she wants to be assured TSP is exploring all options for raising advertising revenue and not becoming complacent with a sluggish economy. Gardner said she guarantees she and her staff are pursuing every avenue in order to increase income. National advertising and classified advertising, however, are categories of revenue which are difficult to predict or to control. Zamora requested Gardner share the information concerning the national picture with the members of the Board.

Toney said the phrase “The TSP Board may call an Executive Session to discuss any above items as allowed by the Texas Open Meetings Law.” is not effective and should be eliminated on future meeting Agendas. Discussion between Toney and Hoffman followed but no action was taken on the matter.

Zamora reported minority workshops have been scheduled for February 23 and further details will be distributed as soon as they are available.

MOTION NO. 3: Hoffman moved to adjourn the meeting. The motion passed.