Texas Student Publications

Board of Operating Trustees

March 26, 2004

Minutes

Voting members present: Urton Anderson, Jonathan Lee, Coleman Lewis, Cale McDowell, Zack McKamie, Brian O’Reilly, Daniel Parker, Rusty Todd.

Voting members absent: Diane Beckham, Bill Cornwell, Jef Richards.

Non-voting members present: Adam Agardy, Rachel Bagley, Kevin Kushner, Kathy Lawrence, Todd Nienkerk, Wes Ferguson, Moneeza Rahman.

Non-voting members absent: John Dalton, Alexis Wolstein.

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

Visitors present: Trisha Hanley, Patrick Neece, Shelbie Stuart.

Due to the anticipated late arrival of 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 February 6, 2004.

MOTION NO. 1: McDowell moved to approve the Minutes of the February 6, 2004, TSP Board

meeting. The motion passed.

II. Report of the executive committee.

Todd reported the executive committee met earlier in the day to discuss the February 2004 financial report, the proposed budget for 2004-05, the M. Dolores Ebert award nominees, academic eligibility of student permanent staff members, and possible reorganization of Texas Student Publications.

MOTION. NO. 2: Anderson moved to approve the budget proposal submitted for 2004-05.

Following discussion, the motion passed.

III. Monthly reports.

a. Director. Lawrence had nothing further to add to her written report.

b. Reports of editors and station managers. Texas Travesty – Nienkerk reported the Texas Travesty staff will soon re-locate its offices due to an anticipated renovation of Hogg Auditorium. Lawrence said, “The administration will find adequate space for Travesty.” Nienkerk requested the members of the Board change the order of the Agenda in order to consider appointment of the Texas Travesty editor for 2004-05.

IV. New business.

c. Appointment of Texas Travesty editor for 2004-05. Lawrence reported Todd Nienkerk was the only applicant for the position of Texas Travesty editor for 2004-05.

MOTION NO. 3: McDowell moved to appoint Todd Nienkerk editor of Texas Travesty

for 2004-05. The motion passed.

III. Monthly reports [continued].

c. Reports of editors and station managers [continued]. The Daily Texan – Ferguson and Kushman reported morale in the Texan office is high. They had nothing further to add to their written reports. Cactus Yearbook – Rahman reported the loss of a section editor but Meredith Best, last year’s editor, is helping fill the void. Lawrence reported she plans to meet with a representative of Walsworth Publishing Company next week to work on an agreement for 2004-05. KVR-TV – Agardy reported the student election debates were very successful and that programming in general has greatly improved. He hopes this improvement will help boost advertising sales. KVR. In the absence of Wolstein, Metze reported the KVRX pledge drive will begin next week. Advertising – Gardner reported last Thursday’s issue of The Daily Texan represents $42,800 in income; the average income for an issue of The Daily Texan runs between $10,000 and $12,000.

IV. New business [continued].

a. Report from the TSP Election Committee chairman. Lee reviewed his written report with the members of the Board. He plans an additional meeting with the members of the committee to discuss this year’s elections. Lee included three motions he wished the members of the Board to consider in his report.

MOTION NO. 4: McDowell moved to implement the following: [a] members of the TSP

Board shall be allocated parking stickers for each Board meeting or committee meeting

attended. The number of parking stickers shall equal the number of stickers required to

park one full day in the garage; [b] the director of TSP shall be permitted to allocate add-

itional parking stickers to TSP Board members and official guests. If the parking sticker

is used for non-TSP business or purposes, then the member is required to reimburse TSP

for the cost of the parking sticker. The motion passed.

MOTION NO 5: McDowell moved to implement the following: [a] members of the TSP

Board shall be issued a stipend, unless the Board member is prohibited from employment

with the University; [b] each member shall receive a base stipend of sixty dollars [$60] per

long semester. If a Board member misses a meeting, their base pay shall be reduced by ten

dollars [$10] for the first meeting, twenty dollars [$20] for the second meeting, and the re-

maining thirty dollars [$30] for the third meeting; [c] the president and vice president shall

receive an additional fifty percent [50%] bonus to their base stipend; [d] members of standing

committees that have been certified by the Director that they have fulfilled their required

roles shall receive up to twenty-five percent [25%] bonus of their base stipend with chairs

receiving up to fifty percent [50%] bonus to their base stipend; [e] the director may grant a

stipend for the summer session if the TSP Board conducts business during this period. The

amount of the summer stipend shall not exceed the stipend of a long semester; [f] the stipends

shall be initially funded by TSP reserves until the stipends are fully covered by student service

fees. [g] the director shall grant reasonable reimbursements of costs to cover necessary

expenses for the attendance of members and guests residing from outside the Austin area.

The motion failed: two votes were in favor of the motion and five votes were not in favor

of the motion.

MOTION NO. 6: McDowell moved to accept the report of the TSP Election Committee chairman

which reflects Ben heath will serve as editor of The Daily Texan for 2004-05 and Brad Wright,

Kimberley Covert, and Camden Gilman will serve as members of the TSP Board for 2004-06.

The motion passed.

b. Appointment of the 2005 Cactus Yearbook editor. Lawrence said one student, Shelbie N. Stuart, submitted an application for 2005 Cactus Yearbook editor. Concerning qualification number two, Stuart explained she will have completed 61 hours of college work at the end of the 2004 spring semester.

MOTION NO. 7: Todd moved to appoint Shelbie N. Stuart editor of the 2005 Cactus Yearbook.

The motion passed.

d. Appointment of KVR-TV station manager for 2004-05. Lawrence said two students, Trisha Hanley and Patrick Joseph Neese, submitted applications for the 2004-05 KVR-TV station manager position.

Hanley addressed the members of the Board concerning her application and plans for KVR-TV.

Neese addressed the members of the Board concerning his application and plans for KVR-TV. It was noted by Anderson that Neese does not meet qualification number five of the application.

Lee adjourned the general meeting in order to conduct an executive session to discuss a personnel matter.Later, Lee called the general session back to order.

MOTION NO. 8: Todd moved to appoint Trisha Hanley station manager of KVR-TV for

2004-05. The motion passed.

V. Unfinished business.

Follow-up on student hiring practices. McDowell led a discussion concerning a draft of the document entitled “Equal Opportunity Employment and Texas Student Publications” which was distributed to the members of the Board with the Agenda for the meeting. Several amendments were suggested and discussed.

MOTION NO. 9: McDowell moved to adopt the document entitled “Equal Opportunity

Employment and Texas student Publications” as amended. [A final version is attached to

these Minutes as ADDENDUM A.] The motion passed.

The members of the Board requested the director of TSP to seek an opinion from the Texas Attorney General concerning the content of the revised document.

MOTION NO. 10: Anderson moved to adjourn the meeting. The motion passed.