2008 Woodie Awards
Senate Reaffirms Its Role
Kelsey Steele
Issue date: 1/27/06 Section: Editorial
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In response to the Troubadour fiasco late last semester, Senate approved a new Media Committee document that outlined changes to be made in the structure of the Media Committee as well as set new guidelines for the oversight of committee productions. The Senate Executive Committee also announced that their members would now represent Senate on a regular basis at meetings of the Media Committee, the Environmental Concerns Committee, the Multicultural Development Committee, and the Social Committee. Executive members of Senate will attend meetings of these organizations to oversee their activities, as a way of ensuring students' activity fees are being appropriately spent, according to senior and Student Senate President Daniel Feild.
The Media Committee document was drafted as a measure to prevent another controversy such as the 2005 Troubadour when Senate felt the editor had misused allocated funds to produce a low-quality yearbook. As a response, Senate called for greater oversight within the Media Committee as a form of quality control.
Possibly the most significant change made was requiring that the Media Committee Chair not be a part of the leadership of any media organization while he or she holds that position.
"We've now made it so that the chair has to be independent from any media organization," senior John Gray, current media committee chair and KHDX station manager, said.
Now every editor and the radio station manager will be under direct oversight of the Media Committee so all productions can be overseen by an outside, independent party.
"We also put the Senate Vice President on the Media Committee as an overseer," Gray said. "We were trying to ensure that Senate knows what is going on from someone impartial."
The same measure was extended to other Senate-funded committees. The executive committee realized it was a problem not limited to the media committee, but that the yearbook was just the first place it surfaced.
The Media Committee document was drafted as a measure to prevent another controversy such as the 2005 Troubadour when Senate felt the editor had misused allocated funds to produce a low-quality yearbook. As a response, Senate called for greater oversight within the Media Committee as a form of quality control.
Possibly the most significant change made was requiring that the Media Committee Chair not be a part of the leadership of any media organization while he or she holds that position.
"We've now made it so that the chair has to be independent from any media organization," senior John Gray, current media committee chair and KHDX station manager, said.
Now every editor and the radio station manager will be under direct oversight of the Media Committee so all productions can be overseen by an outside, independent party.
"We also put the Senate Vice President on the Media Committee as an overseer," Gray said. "We were trying to ensure that Senate knows what is going on from someone impartial."
The same measure was extended to other Senate-funded committees. The executive committee realized it was a problem not limited to the media committee, but that the yearbook was just the first place it surfaced.