Central CT State University
Media Board Meeting
April 11, 2008
Student Center
Blue and White Room
Present: Matthew Barnes, Maurice Ledoux, Tiffany Moffo Simpson, Alexander Estrom, Justin Kloczko, Melissa Traynor, Melissa Corner, Wayne DeRoy, Jason Sorenson, Lisa Gorski, Ravi Shakar, Vivian Martin, Gilbert Gigliotti, Susan Sweeney, Amanda James (Media University Assistant)
I. Welcome
Mr. Barnes called the meeting to order at 12:10p.m.
Attendance was passed around and introductions were made.
The minutes from the February 29, 2008 meeting were reviewed.
Motion: (Estrom/Gorski) To approve the February 29, 2008 Media Board Minutes.
Motion Passed (8 Yes, 0 No, 0 Abstained) (MBD08-023)
II. Budgets
Budget request forms were passed around. Mr. Barnes announced that we will be having a budget meeting in June so that budgets will be done by next semester. Mr. Estrom asked whether he will be the SGA Representative for the June meeting or whether it will be a new board. Ms. Sweeney pointed out that it will be the newly elected board at that meeting. Ms. Sweeney said that she has already met with some of the media organizations individually and has said that their budgets will be straightforward as they will probably be asking for similar budgets as last year. Ms. Sweeney noted that they do have the opportunity to come back and ask for a supplement if needed. She said that she will be speaking to Ms. Cordner about Off-Center’s budget as they will have the biggest challenge because they are a new organization. The fee money is approximately the same for the 08-09 fiscal year. The media organizations and the board use most of that money right now, which is a concern to Ms. Sweeney if we grow and add more media organizations. Ms. Sweeney requested that the media organizations have their budget to Ms. James by May 8th we will review them and prepare them to be presented to the board.
III. First Amendment Free Food Festival
Mr. Barnes announced that the Media Board’s First Amendment Free Food Festival will be occurring on May 6th with a rain date of May 7th. Mr. Barnes and Ken Barone the president of SUBOG have been working on the event and have brought in some improve students from the theater department that will be playing the different roles of being arrested. Also, the Media Board is going to try to put an advertisement in The Recorder and have WFCS announce the event.
IV. Ethics Policy
Ken Barone, president of SUBOG came to talk about the Student Code of Ethics that the Ethics Board would like to put in places for campus organizations. Mr. Barone would like to go over the ethics policy with the Media Board and take any suggestions and comments back to the Ethics Board. This ethics policy have not been approved yet and it is still in the works. The Ethic’s Board hopes that individual student organizations will adopt this policy once it is finished. Mr. Barone introduced the members of the Ethics Board that were with him. He began by reiterating that this is an Ethics Code for student organizations not all students on campus. This policy has gone through many phases and in this phase they are taking it to the different governing boards to get their input. Mr. Barone went over the opening paragraphs and highlighted that this should be used as an educational tool by helping students effectively managing conflict. Mr. Barone noted that in the second paragraph it states that this shall be a “moral code” for student clubs and organizations. He said that there has been a lot of discussion over this wording and that they have discussed this wording. Kelly Fournier from the Ethics Board who was also present at this meeting made the distinction between Ethics is something that more universal whereas morals are more personal. Mr. Barone stressed that this Ethics Policy is quite broad. Students should be holding other students accountable for their actions. Mr. Barone continued to go over the rest of the Ethics Policy.
Mr. Gigliotti pointed out the last sentence under the honesty and integrity section and said that he is not really sure why it is included in that section and it should be in the respect section. So they might want to consider moving it to the respect section. Mr. Gigliotti also questioned the section on vulgarity and whether the second sentence should be there. It seems to make a conclusion that vulgarity is offensive and has negative effective on CCSU. He would strike this sentence because it is a conclusion. He agrees with the first sentence that students should not use the language but does not think the second sentence should be there. Mr. Barnes agreed with Mr. Gigliotti.
Mr. Ledoux asked about the section on discriminatory language and hate speech. In the last sentence of that section it says that this speech will not be tolerated. Mr. Ledoux wanted to know what this meant and how they should interpret this as far as what powers the Student Ethics Board has to discipline students. Mr. Barone said that that sentence is more a statement. There might not be any repercussions besides a statement which hopefully will be meaningful if student leaders come out with this statement. Mr. Barnes said that his will be not so much someone getting in trouble but what can we do to improve this. Mr. Estrom pointed out that he thinks that this Ethics Policy will mean different things to different campus organizations. That SGA might react differently to the hate speech section than the Media Board. He suggested maybe changing some of the language to fit the Media Board. Mr. Barone said that the Ethics Policy is not to go after people it is to help students educate each other. Also he does not think it’s a good idea to have different documents for different governing boards. He thinks there should be one policy for all of the boards. Ms. Martin pointed out that she is impressed that there are students working on ethics. Ms. Martin noted that for their definition of hate speech in the Ethics Policy they went to Dictionary.com. They might want consider getting a different definition. Mr. Barone met with the university lawyer a while ago to get some suggestions and never got the document back from her. Ms. Martin said that some students might not like the legal definition because it is very specific and doesn’t include a lot of things that people might consider hate speech. Ms. Sweeney suggested that Mr. Barnes start a conversation with the Media Board on email and got feedback and come up with some recommendations and whether the Media Board was interested in adopting this policy and send this to the Ethics Board. Mr. Barrone shared that President Miller was very receptive to the Student Ethics Board. President Miller stressed the big picture, students holding students accountable. Ms. Sweeney said that her concern is although the current Ethics Board is very knowledgeable the board that succeeds them might not be as knowledgeable and might see the code differently. Mr. Barone said that this version has been watered down from the original quite significantly. Ms. Moffo Simpson said that this is a living document and also that they hope to have this in place for next semester. Mr. Barone said that they hope to have it in place by September to enact the document and modify it and see how it works. Mr. Gigliotti said that he supports what Ms. Martin said about needing more reliable citations. Mr. Barone welcomed anyone with suggestions to contact him or Mr. Barnes regarding the Ethics Policy. Ms. Traynor mentioned that The Recorder has their own code of ethics that they agree with and abide by and suggested that the Ethics Board look at their policy because it is more media oriented. Mr. Barone said that they did look at it but they wanted to have a more broad policy.
V. Elections 08-09
Mr. Barnes suggested that we make nominations today and have elections at our Media Board Recognition Luncheon on May 8th. Ms. James also passed out applications for Student at Large position. Ms. Sweeney asked if anyone was interested in running for chairperson. Mr. Barnes said that he would like to run for the Media Board Chairperson. Ms. Gorksi nominated Mr. Barnes. There were no other nominations.
VI. Sharing
The Helix
Mr. Ledoux shared that their bid came
in and that they are going with the lowest bidder. They woud like to have the
Helix’s ready for May 2nd. Mr. Sorenson addressed the issue
of the Poetry Festival. Mr. Barnes is concerned that the Helix is not
being credit for this event. There was an article in The Recorder about
the event and the Helix was not mentioned, when they used their entire
programming budget on this event. Mr. Sorenson said that the article was not
specific and wondered where they got their info. Ms. Sweeney said she spoke to
Mr. Shakar and he spent money from another fund on this event. She also noted
that the reservation for space and that it was indicated on the faculty list
serve that it was sponsored by the Diversity Committee. Ms. Sweeney said that
if this was sponsored by the Diversity Committee then should have been made
known to the Media Board before they approved the money. Mr. Ledoux said that
they were under the same impression as the Media Board and he feels betrayed
that the Helix is not getting credit. Mr. Ledoux apologized that Mr.
Shakar had to leave the Media Board meeting early so he could not be there to
answer questions. Ms. Martin said that it is hard for the Helix because
the facility has a different role than with The Recorder, and the
advisors at the Helix are much more involved. Mr. Barnes said that as
far as the Media Board is concerned they cannot give any money towards this
event since they have already been given $5000. He said that he does feel bad
that they do not have enough money for a release party and he suggested
coinciding it with the First Amendment Free Food Festival. Ms. Sweeney noted
that the amount of $5000 for programming is the same for each media
organization. Mr. Barnes said that he wanted to be sure that anything else that
comes out regarding this event the Helix receives credit for. Mr.
Sorenson said that this event will be in Founders Hall, May 2nd.
There will be readings and questions and answer session. Mr. Ledoux asked if
they could allocate funds for food for a release party. Ms. Gorski asked if
they could reallocate funds from money they have left over from travel and use
it towards a release party. Mr. Barnes said that this would not be allowed
because they would still be over the $5000.00 allotted for programming. Ms.
Sweeney recommended cutting one poet and using that money for their release
party. Ms. Gorski said that her particular concern is setting a limit on how
much a role somebody who is not an advisor can have on the Media Board. Mr.
Barnes said that he would like to enact a by law that says only voting members
can come to the board for money. Ms. Martin agreed with this idea. Mr. Ledoux
agreed because sometimes people can feel pressure from faculty advisors. Ms.
Martin pointed out that College Media Advisors has a code of ethics for how
involved faculty advisors should be. She suggests that we might look at that.
Off-Center Magazine
Ms. Cordner announced that they will be printing their first edition. It is not as big or diverse as she would like it to be. She would like to have a release party. Because she did not get a buget Ms. Sweeney said that they cannot spend up to $5000. Ms. Sweeney said she will have to talk to her about how much they can afford to spend on their release party. According to their budget they have $2000 for promotion and $500 for refreshments. Ms. Sweeney would like to see the product and see how much printing will be before they set up a release party. Mr. Barnes reiterated that they want it to be media oriented. They are hoping to get everything back by the beginning of May.
The Recorder
Mr. Barnes congratulated them for reporting on the campus abduction versus coming out with an April fool’s edition. Mr. Kloczko said that they have a few more issues left. They are also having elections soon. They have prepared a rough budget that they would like to go over with Ms. Sweeney.
WFCS
Mr. DeRoy said they are planning their spring concert. They are having 3 groups. The concert will be May 2nd. The show will be free. Ms. Sweeney suggested charging the public because they cannot use activities fees for a free concert for the public.
Motion: (Gorski/Traynor) To approve $5000.00 for the WFCS Spring Concert.
Motion Passed (8 Yes, 0 No, 0 Abstained) (MBD08-024)
Announcements about upcoming programs were made.
Next meeting will be May 8th and that will be the Media Board
Recognition Luncheon at Angelico’s in New Britain. This will be to acknowledge
current and graduating members of media organizations.
Meeting adjourned 1:45.
Last updated: Tuesday February 24, 2009