Senate says student paper is expendable

The New Mexico Daily Lobo staff is extremely disappointed by the decision student government made Wednesday night to pass an amendment to cut the newspaper’s funding it receives from student fees.

The Senate has sent a clear message that it no longer supports the student newspaper nor freedom of the press at UNM. Representatives from the business and editorial staff were never given the opportunity to present its case, and the Senate never took the time to ask the 100 students who work at the Daily Lobo what impact their decision will have on the UNM community.

Wednesday's meeting was a disgrace to free and open government, with the newspaper staff receiving limited time, at best, to plead its case. Furthermore, the Senate based its decision on half-truths and distortions.

Sen. Grant Nichols, the bill’s sponsor, argued for cutting the newspaper’s funding based on what he calls a roll-over account. He claims that the Daily Lobo is using part of student fees in that account. This “roll-over” account is a savings account for the newspaper to be used in an emergency if other revenue sources dry up. This way, the newspaper can still function at a minimum level for a semester. As it stands now, that account would not cover operating expenses.

He points to a $70,744 increase in that fund that occurred in the newspaper’s 1998-99 fiscal year. However, he fails to point out that the savings for the previous year was only $2,917.

Any increases in expenses — even a 5 percent increase in printing costs — can drastically change those numbers. No doubt, 1998-99 was a good year for the Daily Lobo, but many other years have not been as kind.

A major part of the rationale behind the Daily Lobo’s funding is that it is considered a subscription fee for you, the students, so that the publication can be picked up for free.

Many other factors have to be taken into consideration when discussing a budget, and they cannot be fully addressed in this editorial or during one ASUNM meeting. If the senators were open-minded, they would have seen that this is not a cut-and-dried issue, and, maybe, they would gain a better understanding how this newspaper works and perhaps how to better manage a budget.

James Barron

Editor in Chief

Iliana Limïn

Managing editor