Bill threatens independent voice

Editor,

As someone who has spent two terms in UNLV’s student Senate and two years editing the Rebel Yell student newspaper, I consider it a grave misunderstanding what’s going on at UNM. Before the way that the student paper is funded changes permanently — perhaps so that student government can approve funding for the Daily Lobo if it writes nicely about student government — we need to look at alternative solutions and discover what the real problems are, if any.

Sen. Grant Nichols needs to take a moment to reflect before he spouts off that the Daily Lobo cannot attribute where the student fees go. I bet my MegaBucks winnings that the student fees possibly cover printing costs, and not much more.

Our paper gets about $60,000 per year in student fees, similarly funneled through student government, and this nearly covers printing costs. We aren’t a daily paper and our twice-a-week distribution is much smaller than UNM’s daily amount, so I know that student fees probably don’t even cover the cost of the actual paper and ink.

Also, if we want to improve our paper, then we need more funding than we currently collect via student fees and revenues. We spend nearly our entire budget, past printing, paying our student staff. Our staff must be paid, unless only the rich are able to work at a student paper. Does the UNM student government want to prevent all but the independently wealthy from gaining experience at the student paper?

The Daily Lobo could look into giving some money back to the students in the future — say cut the 10 percent by one-fifth — but any drastic, permanent cuts in student newspaper funding appear motivated by a spiteful student government whose leaders fear being exposed for corruption and sloth.

The real problem that can occur here is if the student’s costs are cut so dramatically that they have to beg student government for money every year. That would be a sad day for all students as UNM would lose their independent voice, students could no longer gain experience at a reputable paper and student government could molest student’s rights, unchecked.

Aaron Clemens

Editor in chief

UNLV Rebel Yell