MSA Senate committee passes KCOU funding measure
The decision came after the parties discussed holding a student referendum.
Oct. 15, 2008
The MSA Senate Operations Committee Tuesday night approved a bill to fund a new tower for auxiliary radio station KCOU/88.1 FM after amending it to require the station to repay about two-thirds of the tower’s cost. The bill heads to full Senate for approval tonight.
Earlier Tuesday, Missouri Students Association senators and executives discussed holding a referendum asking the student body whether the station should receive that and future funding. The idea was abandoned after KCOU Program Director Jonathan Hutcheson raised concerns that a referendum, taken during the Nov. 10-12 MSA presidential elections, would not allow a tower to be purchased in time for delivery and installation before students return to Schurz Hall.
The amendment, which calls for MSA to pay for the nearly $30,000 tower up front and for KCOU to repay all but $12,000, developed after KCOU leaders pointed out that campus TV station MUTV/Channel 23 received $12,000 for new equipment from MSA this spring. Senate passed that measure with little disagreement in April.
MSA President Jim Kelley could not be reached for comment.
Sponsoring Senator Josh Travis told the committee the bill had been changed with the approval of its cosponsors to require future KCOU administrations meet regularly with MSA executive members, that KCOU would submit a business plan every year and be subject to a fine if it didn’t and changed the amount of the request to reflect the amount of donations received at a protest in Speaker’s Circle last week.
But Senator Juana Summers said after the Operations Committee meeting she had not approved the changes before the meeting. Summers, who was not in attendance at the meeting, approved the changes afterward. Summers formerly worked for The Maneater.
Mays said it’s not common practice for Senate to have such so-called "friendly amendments" during floor debate; most are proposed as regular amendments to give senators the chance to vote. He predicted the vote would be taken tomorrow, given Summers’ approval of the changes to the bill.
More Oct. 15, 2008 News Stories
- KCOU tower funding vote fails — Many senators cited a lack of information on the issue.
- MSA Senate committee passes KCOU funding measure — The decision came after the parties discussed holding a student referendum.
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