KU student newspaper faces cut in funding
The KU Student Senate will vote on the student media fee for The Kansan.
Published March 23, 2010
The University Daily Kansan student newspaper could face a major cut in funds in the next academic year after a vote from the KU Student Senate on Wednesday.
According to an article published March 10 in the Daily Kansan, KU Student Senate President Mason Heilman proposed a $1.70 cut to the $4 campus media fee KU students pay as part of tuition. In the proposal he also suggested the Student Senate stop allocating funds to The Kansan.
Kansan General Manager Malcolm Gibson said a decision about the proposal has not been made yet. If passed, The Kansan would lose about 8 or 9 percent of its funding.
"The Daily Kansan is a student-run publication," Gibson said. "It is independent. It gets no money from the university other than a small amount of student fees. That's what this issue is over."
Gibson said The Kansan would likely cut staff because most of the money from the student fee goes to student salary. "We would have to look at our budget at 8 percent of it and figure out where we're going to cut," Gibson said. "But we have very few places to go."
Students vote to determine the fee for student-run media, Gibson said. The Kansan is one of the outlets that benefit from the media fee.
"It's basically a subscription fee to have access to The Kansan and the radio station and other publications that are put out by students," Gibson said.
KU sophomore Elyse Schrader reads the print version of The Daily Kansan almost every day when she rides the bus to class.
Schrader said The Kansan is available to anyone at newsstands on campus and by bus stops.
"I read it mostly for the 'free for all' section but also to be more informed on everything going on with the school and city of Lawrence," Schrader said.
Gibson said the only outside funds used by The Kansan are from the student media fee that goes through Student Senate.
"The student body votes to spend that money on student media," Gibson said. "And the Student Senate is the conduit for those funds."
The Kansan is an independent student media and a student-run operation, Gibson said.
"Virtually all (student newspapers) across the country get student fees," Gibson said.
Missouri Students Association President Tim Noce said MU isn't in a position to face a similar problem, considering The Maneater is not supported by university or student government funds.
"I don't foresee us having a problem like the Kansan and KU Student Senate are having because The Maneater does not receive any funds from MSA," Noce said.
Gibson said The Kansan has not decided where it would specifically reduce its budget if the proposal passes in Student Senate.
"We have a small professional staff, and of course we can't modify the print bill," Gibson said. "So we may have to cut the number of copies we do."