Minutes of Sept. 16, 2003

Members present: Chairman Riley Wilson; community representative John Pool; faculty rep Hans Rosenwinkel; KUOI Station Manager Sarah Long; KUOI adviser Jeff Kimberling; Arg Advertising/photo adviser Michele Kimberling; Gem editor Jessi Bacon; Graduate Student Association rep Jowi McMillan; ASUI rep Carrie Joslin; Arg Advertising director Abigail Bottari; Argonaut editor Brian Passey; Student Bar Association rep Andrea Schiers; Argonaut/Gem adviser Brian Beesley.

Meeting was adjourned at 5:05 p.m. in the Chiefs Room of the Student Union Building. Wilson began by asking whether any applicants for the three open board seats were in attendance, but none were. Beesley said he had given out two applications since the last meeting, and both undergraduate students had seemed eager to join the board. But he said they may have been confused about the time, since that nights meeting had been moved up two days due to a conflict with the Bellwood lecture.

Joslin moved to approve the minutes of the Sept. 4 meeting, Bottari seconded the motion and the board voted unanimously 6-0 to approve.

Wilson then called for department reports.

Argonaut Advertsing: Bottari said Arg Advertising was doing well. She has talked to her graphic designers about working up a new Student Media logo but nothing had been produced yet. The department is also working on revamping its Web site; the redesign, which is aimed at better delivering information to possible advertisers, is being handled by a work study student. She said that the staff is gearing up for both Vandal Friday, homecoming and winter recreation guide. Those are Friday issues, which tend to sell well and be ready-made for promotions, and she said she like to find a way to do the same for the Tuesday editions. Any ideas from the board were welcome, she said.

Argonaut: Passey said he had good news and bad news to report. The bad news is copy chief Josh Studor had announced that we was quitting to devote more time to his studies, which will put the editorial staff in something of a crunch. For the time being, Managing Editor Joy Barbour and Copy Editor Jake Alger would share the positions duties, and Brian is making plans to hire two paginators for the salary that was going to the copy chief. On the positive side, the staff seems to have figured out how to make deadline, and the past couple of issues have actually been to the Daily News early. The good news is the Argonaut received third place in the Mark of Excellent competition at the Society of Professional Journalists convention in Tampa, Fla., that Passey attended the previous weekend. He said that, while it wasnt first place, it was the best showing the Argonaut has ever made in SPJ. He noted that the North Idaho College Sentinel, which has contributed many staff members to the Argonaut over the years, finished first in its division. Passey said he made contact with regional SPJ members in hopes of enlisting their help to get the UI SPJ chapter off the ground. He also said he learned a lot in the workshops that he attended. In other matters, Passey announced that he had finished second in the Bess Myerson Campus Journalism Awards, being recognized for an article he wrote about Indians on the UI campus last spring. He will received $1,000 and the Argonaut with also receive $1,000. He said he has some discussions with Beesley on how to use the Argonaut portion money, and setting up a scholarship to benefit future Argonaut staff members was one suggestion; Wilson suggested possibly buying new digital camera equipment as an option. Beesley said the board should also be involved in coming up with suggestions. Passey then said hed found out today that three current and former Argonaut staff members was awards in the annual Associated Collegiate Press compeition  former Editor-in-chief Matt McCoy took first front page design; current reporter Leif Thompson took second in news story; and current cartoonist Noah Kroese was third in editorial cartoons. Those awards will be given out at the ACP/College Media Advisers convention in Dallas in late October/early November. Passey gave an accounting of his expenditures to attend the SPJ convention in Tampa: He said he ended up spending $991.04. He will receive $200 from the School of Journalism, so that will reduce the amount of his board-approved reimbursement to $791.04.

KUOI: Long said the stations schedule was complete and all the new disc jockeys had been trained. There has been quite a bit of interest in doing shows, which was nice, she said. The station held a contest to attract art submissions for the cover of In Cue, the stations periodic publication, and she and her staff had decided on the winner. She said she would begin working on that next week. The station held on Open Mike night at Johns Alley downtown last night and it went well. Long said she and Jeff Kimberling were also planning to work on the stations remote backpack so more off-site presentations could be done. A new batch of KUOI bumper stickers, a popular item, have just come in and Long distributed one to each of the board members. She said the stickers were made by a company called Stickyguy-dot-com and the prices were pretty reasonable. There are also shirts and baseball caps with the KUOI logo available; Jeff Kimberling note that the shirts come in two styles.

Gem: Bacon reported that she had a good turnout for the last staff meeting and that everyone was very enthusiastic. She was making plans to help teach the ropes to the three new section editors and photographers. A couple of packages from our new printer, Friesens in Manitoba, Canada, arrived recently and she said she was eager to use it to get going on the books ladder.

Wilson asked if the committee formed to look at the future of the Gem had met yet, and committee chairman Pool said that the first meeting was scheduled for Sept. 24 at 4 p.m. at the Campus Christian Center, and that he was hoping to gave the group meet on alternate weeks from the board.

Beesley then circulated a proposal for the board to approve spending carryover funds to send Gem editor Bacon and Abbey Lostrom, the news editor of the Argonaut, to the ACP/CMA convention in Dallas. Beesley reminded the board that last spring, during budget negotiations, the Gem had been asked to zero out its travel and registration accounts so Student Media could make its bottom line. Additionally, the Argonaut was asking for money to send Lostrom to the convention, in the hopes that, as a sophomore, she could benefit from the experience and employ in the future at the Arg. The estimated cost of sending Bacon alone to the convention is $956; for Bacon and Lostrom, it is $1,912. * After some discussion, Pool motion to approved the proposal for sending both students. Rosenwinkel second the motion, and the vote was unanimous, 6-0.

Wilson then brought up for discussion Pools earlier proposal to move the board meeting from Thursday nights to Tuesday nights, to avoid conflict with the Argonaut production night. Pool said that he has the sense that holding meetings on Thursday nights creates both extra pressure on both the editorial and advertising staffs as well as distracts the board as a whole from fully conducting its business. Beesley said that, in the past, he got the feeling that editors liked holding the meetings on Thursday night because they were already at the SUB and did not want to give up their Tuesday nights, which were usually free. Bottari and Passey were asked how they felt about it, and while Passey agreed that Tuesdays are usually one of the only nights he has free, he wasnt opposed to the change. Bottari said she was usually at work on Tuesdays anyway, and if it would make her staffs production nights less frantic she supported it. Pool then moved to amend the Media Board bylaws to change meeting nights to the first and third Tuesday of each month. Joslin seconded the motion and it passed by a 5^1/2 -0 vote (McMillan had earlier excused himself from the meeting).

Wilson than asked if there was any other news business for the board to address, but there was none. Joslin moved to adjourn, Bottari seconded it and it passed unanimously.

 Minutes submitted on 9/19/03 by Brian Beesley, Media Board adviser

* Following is a breakdown of the estimated per-person cost to attend the Associated Collegiate Press/College Media Advisers Convention in Dallas, Texas, Oct. 30-Nov. 2:

Travel: $267 round-trip air fare with NIC = $267

Lodging: $99 per day + $15 per night tax x 4 nights = $460

Per diem: $30 per day x 5 days = $150

Registration: $79 = $79

Total = $956

Scenarios:

If just Gem editor Jessi Bacon goes, the cost would be $956.

If two students  Gem editor Jessi Bacon, and Argonaut news editor Abbey Lostrom  attend, the cost would be $1,912.