Texas Student Publications

Board of Operating Trustees

April 23, 2004

Minutes

Voting members present: Urton Anderson, Diane Beckham, Bill Cornwell, Jonathan Lee, Coleman Lewis, Cale McDowell, Brian O’Reilly, Jef Richards, Rusty Todd.

Voting members absent: Zack McKamie, Daniel Parker.

Non-voting members present: Adam Agardy, Kevin Kushner, Kathy Lawrence, Todd Nienkerk, Wes Ferguson, Alexis Wolstein.

Non-voting members absent: Rachel Bagley, John Dalton, Moneeza Rahman.

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

Visitors present: Brad Corbett, Brian Ferguson, Brandi Grissom, John Gross, Ben Heath, Robert Inks, Erin Keck, Danny Lai, Rachel Osier.

The meeting was called to order at 3:05 p.m. by TSP Board President Coleman Lewis.

I. Approval of the TSP Board Minutes for March 26, 2004.

Lee noted that MOTION NO. 4 passed but the Minutes reflect the motion failed.

MOTION NO. 1: Lee moved to amend the Minutes of the TSP Board meeting for March 26, 2004,

to reflect that MOTION NO. 4 passed. The motion passed.

MOTION NO. 2: Todd moved to approve the amended Minutes of the TSP Board meeting for

March 26, 2004. The motion passed.

II. Report of the executive committee.

Todd said the executive committee met earlier in the day and discussed the following: the monthly financial report, Texas Travesty advertising rate increase, Texas Travesty budget revision, consideration of nominees for the Julia Jeffress and Liz Carpenter Awards, and equipment requests for 2004-05.

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

advertising rate increases. The motion passed.

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

requested for the Texas Travesty budget. The motion passed.

Todd also explained the committee agreed to take funds from the TSP reserve account so new equipment scheduled for September 1 can be purchased and installed in the summer of 2004. The funds will be replaced after September 1 when the 2004-05 budget takes effect.

III. Monthly reports.

a. Director. Lawrence referred to her written report. To her report Knight added the following items: KVR-TV programming is going exceptionally well with new shows currently on the air. The news staff has increased breaking news reports substantially, some in conjunction with students from the School of Journalism. Metze reported KVRX is exploring the possibility of increasing the footprint of reception for the station. Lawrence said she and Metze will continue to investigate this possibility and report back to the Board when more information is available.

b. KVR-TV. To his written report Agardy reiterated KVR’s need for help with advertising sales. No one presently on the staff has the experience or knowledge to make any substantial changes to revenue generation. Beckham suggested creating a committee to deal with this subject. Beckham, Richards, McDowell, and Cornwell agreed to serve on this committee.

c. Texas Travesty. Nienkerk referred to his written report and added this most recent issue of Texas Travesty was financially profitable.

d. The Daily Texan. Ferguson and Kushner referred to their written reports and had nothing to add.

e. KVRX. Wolstein distributed her written report and discussed it with the members of the Board.

IV. Report of the TSP election committee.

Lee distributed the election committee report and discussed it with the members of the Board. It was decided to consider each of the six items for which the committee requests Board action be to be discussed separately.

MOTION NO. 5: Todd moved to adopt Section I of the TSP Handbook changes submitted by the TSP election committee. Section I proposed changes to convert two student positions to one-year terms. This motion included adoption of all recommendations to amend the “Voting Members” section of the proposed Operating Agreement. The motion passed.

MOTION NO. 6: Todd moved to adopt Section III of the TSP Handbook changes submitted by the TSP election committee. Section III proposed changes to the qualifications of candidacy for student positions. The motion passed.

MOTION NO. 7: Todd moved to adopt Section VI of the TSP Handbook changes submitted by the TSP election committee. Section VI directs the president of the Board to make appointments to positions in a timely manner and did not require any policy changes. The motion passed.

MOTION NO. 8: Lee moved to adopt Section V, Option B, of the TSP Handbook changes sub- mitted by the TSP election committee. Section V, Option B, proposed increasing the spending

limits for TSP candidates. The motion passed; four members voted in favor of the motion

and three members voted against the motion.

V. Appointment of the summer managing editor for The Daily Texan.

Lewis said one student, Erin Keck, submitted an application to be considered for summer managing editor of The Daily Texan.

MOTION NO. 9: Todd moved to appoint Erin Keck summer managing editor of The Daily Texan.

The motion passed.

VI. Appointment of fall managing editor of The Daily Texan.

Lewis reported on student, Brandi Grissom, submitted an application to be considered for fall managing editor of The Daily Texan.

MOTION NO. 10: Todd moved to appoint Brandi Grissom fall managing editor of The Daily

Texan. The motion passed.

VII. Appointment of station manager for KVRX station manager for 2004-05.

Lewis reported two students, John Russell Gross and Rachel Kathleen Osier, submitted applications to be considered for 2004-05 KVRX station manager.

Osier left the meeting room and Gross discussed his application and plans for KVRX with the members of the Board. Gross left the meeting room, Osier returned, and discussed her application and plans for KVRX with the members of the Board. Lewis called an executive session of the TSP Board to discuss a personnel matter. All meeting participants left the meeting room except the voting members of the TSP Board. Lewis later reconvened the general meeting.

MOTION NO. 11: Todd moved to appoint John Russell Gross station manager of KVRX for

2004-05. The motion passed.

VIII. Texan web site improvement.

MOTION NO. 12: Todd moved to approve the following motion submitted by Lee: the

director of TSP shall research the feasibility of addressing issues including [1] increasing

the historical archives by ten years to 1974, or earlier; [2] addressing programming issues;

[3] adding a link to the web archives on the TSP webpage and current Texan webpage; [4]

possible “emergency” or “one-time” funding petition with student fees to finance the costs

of improvements. The Director shall be permitted to implement portions of these improve-

ments if costs are minimal. The motion passed.

IX. Summer operating committee.

Lawrence discussed her written request with the members of the Board. After discussion, it was agreed that a summer operating committee would not be necessary.

X. TSP Operating Agreement.

Felps distributed a draft of the Operating Agreement which included suggested changes from the office of the vice president for student affairs. All amendments proposed and approved in Motion No. 5 were discussed by the members of the Board.

MOTION NO. 13: Lee moved to approve the Operating Agreement as amended by the office

of the vice-president for student affairs and the members of the TSP Board. The motion passed.

Lewis adjourned the meeting.