Minutes of Tuesday, Feb 6, 2004

MEMBERS PRESENT: Chairman Riley Wilson; Argonaut Advertising Manager Abigail Bottari; Gem Editor Jessi Bacon; Argonaut Editor Brian Passey; Photo Bureau Manager Sarah Quint; KUOI Station Manager Sara Long; Argonaut/GEM editorial advisor Brian Beesley; Argonaut Advertising advisor Michele Kimberling; KUOI advisor Jeff Kimberling; Community representative John Pool; Student Bar Association representative Andrea Schiers; Student representative Diana Crabtree; Student representative Dru Jones Olsen; ASUI Representative Melina Ronquillo; Faculty Representative Hans Rosenwinkel.

Chairman Wilson called the meeting to order at approximately 5:35 p.m. in the Aurora Room of the Idaho Commons. Wilson began by entertaining a motion from Pool to unanimously approve the minutes, seconded by Bottari. The minutes of Jan. 20, 2004, were unanimously approved.

ARGONAUT ADVERTISING:

Bottari said that the ad staff was busy preparing for the College Newspaper Business Avertising Managers (CNBAM) Conference in Seattle this year. She also said she had submitted an application for Advertising Manager of the Year. Bottari said that in addition they where running specials for Valentines Day, working on ads for the Career Fair and gearing up for Jazz Fest. She said that the staff was happy to welcome Brandon Leach back to work on Gem advertising.

ARGONAUT:

Passey said that they where still dealing with some staff losses and looking for reporters as well as possibly a page designer. The staff has been working on the Doug Wilson and SRC issues for the most part. Passey also mentioned that he had been selected for a six-week summer fellowship at the Poynter Institute, a school for journalists in St. Petersburg, Fla. Beesley pointed out that this is quite an honor.

GEM:

Bacon said that the staff had a deadline rapidly approaching for the yearbooks first 24 pages. She felt confident that the staff would not have a problem meeting it. Bacon added that they did lose a photographer.

KUOI:

Long said the spring DJ schedule was set and that they where in the process of training new DJs. In addition, Andy Olsen has been hired as an additional underwriting director. Long said there the station hosted a debate between Bill London and Doug Wilson that drew quite a bit of attention.

PHOTO BUREAU:

Quint said the bureau was off to a good start and picking up speed. She said there where ads running in the Argonaut for photographers and she had been in contact with several of them. Quint said she was hoping to have five photographers on staff in addition to herself.

GEM COMMITTEE:

See attached Subcommittee Report.

(Pool and Beesley went through the report and fielded comments and questions).

Beesley pointed out that a magazine would vary greatly from the yearbook. He explained that the committee decided that a DVD was not feasible as Student Media currently lacks the equipment and funds to buy it. Beesley did encourage the board to keep a DVD version in mind as an option for future years as the universitys technology will undoubtedly improve. He also recommended a Web site as a complement to the magazine as it is low cost and could be similar to a yearbook in content. Beesley finished by explaining that the board members are stewards of the student bodys money and so it needs to be used efficiently. Currently, with so few students purchasing the yearbook, that has not been the case. He added that creating a magazine is an option that would appeal to more students and would provide them a journalism experience that would be more beneficial to finding a career in mass media than the yearbook does now.

Pool said he feels the student journalism experience would be better with a magazine as the writing and photography are so very important. He agreed that the DVD was a possibility down the road, when the capabilities are in place. Pool said the Gem will end if change does not happen and that converting to a magazine would buy the board time to change to another format whether that means staying as a magazine or changing in the future to a DVD or CD-Rom.

As it was nearing 6:30 p.m. and voting members had begun leaving the meeting, Wilson decided to table further discussion and a vote on the Gem format change until a future meeting. He asked Pool to work up more details of the proposal, including how the magazine would be staffed as well as other financial information.

Bottari motioned to adjourn, Bacon seconded and the motion passed unanimously. The Student Media Board adjourned at approximately 6:30 p.m.

-- Minutes submitted on 2/9/04 by Stacy Carroll, Student Media administrative assistant