Texas Student Publications

Board of Operating Trustees

October 24, 2003

Minutes

Voting members present: Urton Anderson, Brian Ferguson, Jonathan Lee, Cale McDowell, Brian O’Reilly, Daniel Parker, Jef Richards, Rusty Todd.

Voting members absent: Diane Beckham, Bill Cornwell, Coleman Lewis.

Non-voting members present: Adam Agardy, Rachel Bagley, Kevin Kushner, Kathy Lawrence, Todd Nienkerk, P. Ryan Petkoff, Moneeza Rahman, Alexis Wolstein.

Non-voting members absent: John Dalton.

Professional staff present: Mary Felps, Richard Finnell, Evelyn Gardner, Jean Hogue, Dan Knight, Frank Serpas, Jack Simons, Jerry Thompson.

Visitors present: Brandi Grissom, Byron I White.

In the absence of Board President Coleman Lewis, Vice President Jonathan Lee called the meeting to order at 3:00 p.m.

I. Approval of the TSP Board Minutes for September 12, 2003.

MOTION NO. 1: Richards moved to approve the Minutes of the September 12, 2003, TSP Board meeting.

The motion passed.

II. Executive committee report.

Todd reported the executive committee met earlier in the day and discussed nine items.

a. Monthly financial report. Hogue reviewed the TSP financial report for September with the members of the Board. Considering only one month is reflected on the report, Todd said there is very little to review. Hogue said September figures for 2003 show improvement over the figures for September 2002.

b. Press improvements.

MOTION NO. 2: On behalf of the executive committee, Todd moved to approve an expenditure not

to exceed $20,000 from the TSP spendable reserve for improvements to the press. The motion passed.

c. September cost and revenue for Thursday edition of The Daily Texan. Todd said the Thursday edition expansion of The Daily Texan is favorable and even though there are additional expenses for the project, income generated shows a profit for the edition.

d. January salary increases. Todd said the executive committee discussed Lawrence’s request concerning January salary increases and will discuss the request again at the November meeting.

e. Texas Travesty advertising rate increase.

MOTION NO. 3: On behalf of the executive committee, Todd moved to approve the revised advertising

rates for Texas Travesty. The motion passed.

f. Budget amendment.

MOTION NO. 4: On behalf of the executive committee, Todd moved to approve an amendment to the

2003-2004 TSP budget not to exceed $35,000 to accommodate the salary and benefits for an additional

employee in Operations, such funds to be transferred from the TSP spendable reserve. The motion passed.

g. Amended student payrolls. Todd reported the members of the executive committee reviewed amendments requested for The Daily Texan editorial staff.

h. Request to the Student Services Fee Committee.

MOTION NO. 5: Todd moved to approve the Student Services Fee Committee request with the exception

of the Cactus Yearbook optional fee which will change from $55.00 to $75.00. The motion passed.

i. Night crew pay plan discussion. Todd reported the members of the executive committee discussed a request from Lawrence to restructure TSP’s production staff compensation system. The plan would require an additional expenditure of $25,000 but no action was to be considered until a later date.

II. Monthly reports.

a. Director. Lawrence referred to her written report and had nothing to add.

b. The Daily Texan. Kushner and Petkoff referred to their written report and had nothing to add.

c. KVR-TV. Agardy referred to his written report and added in CBI competition the station has been nominated for seven out of 10 awards including news, sports, and music categories. The winners of the competition will be announced in Dallas in 10 days.

d. KVRX. Wolstein referred to her written report and had nothing to add.

e. Cactus Yearbook. Rahman referred to her written report and said the staff is exploring the possibility of producing an all-color yearbook. Cost for the enhancement will run an additional $30,000 which the staff hopes to cover with additional book sales. Further, Rahman said approximately 80 student organizations expressed interest in coverage in the 2004 yearbook.

f. Texas Travesty. Nienkerk referred to his written report and added the increased press run from 20,000 copies to 25,000 copies would be fully distributed by the middle of next week.

IV. Unfinished business.

Report on hiring practices and position qualifications. Todd reported he and Lawrence met with UT attorneys concerning qualifications for Texan editor as currently covered in the TSP Handbook.

MOTION NO. 6: Todd moved to suspend experience qualifications for any Daily Texan editor applicant if

the applicant can prove a concerted effort was made to prevent the applicant from gaining the necessary

experience on the Texan staff required to be certified to stand for election. With Ferguson abstaining, the

motion passed.

MOTION NO. 7: Ferguson moved to adjourn the meeting. The motion passed.