Weekly presentation by the General Manager, Bill Clark
-His personal comments regarding the success of the Super Bowl Party
(Floor open to relating comments)
-General sentiment of success, mention of SA officials hypocritically partaking of the Super Bowl festivities
General Manager
-Mention of the SA Senate's response to the MPR upgrade
(Floor open to relating comments)
-General dissatisfaction and disgust with the lack of support from the senators and elected SA officials
General Manager
-Opening the floor to discussion regarding the continued TV coverage and broadcast of weekly SA Senate Meetings
(Floor open to relating comments)
-Videography Director presents that she would prefer not to cover the weekly senate meetings
-Station Manager presents that WNPC has faithfully represented a legislative body that has not been faithful to our needs
-Production Director presents that perhaps 3 hours of prime time TV can be better allocated to programming that reflects the interests of the student body
General Manager
-motion to vote on coverage of Senate Meetings
Station Manager
-second
Unanimous acceptance to no longer cover or broadcast the weekly SA Senate Meetings; specifically, WNPC no longer wishes to propigate the ideas of a legislative body that does not represent the needs and interests of the students.
J. H., Senate Chair, was advised on Monday, 2/13/2006, that WNPC would no longer be representing the interests of the SA Senate by broadcasting their weekly meetings. J. did not ask for any explanation; he merely confirmed that the decision was made by the TV E-Board.
On Monday 2/27/2006, the following email was received by Bill Clark, General Manager, from B.G., Senator & member of the BFC:
*wording in red is especially noteworthy
Mr. Clark,
It has recently come to the attention of myself and the Student Association Senate that WNPC TV no longer provides students with coverage of our weekly legislative meetings. The senate views WNPC TV as a valuable resource to the Student Body of the New Paltz Campus, providing valuable hands on experience in the field of broadcasting as well as a valuable entertainment, educational, and informational resource. Unfortunately, it seems as of late the quality and quantity of programming on the part of the television station has dropped off drastically.
The Student Association provided WNPC TV with a budget of approximately 50,000 dollars this year, more than any other media organization on campus. Unfortunately the perception, en masse amongst the student populace, is that the Television station does little more than broadcast movies, rebroadcast WFNP programming, and serve as a billboard. I fear that while the Television station justifies its existance, its current presence does not justify its staggering budget, which accounts for nearly four percent of the Student Association's yearly budget.
While I would be utterly opposed to Student Government managing or mandating in any sense, the activities or programming choices of WNPC TV, I would strongly encourage the organization to take a much more active role in providing informative programming to the Student populace.
I would also like to apologize for any perceived harrassment on behalf of the student government in the past months, some of my colleages tend to be a bit over zealous at times, and for any damage that may have occured to WNPC TV equipment as a result of an accident in the senate this past semester.
If it is possible I would like the opportunity to speak with the executive board of the Television and discuss their concerns and apprehension to provide coverage of Student Government functions. I write this letter out of genuine concern for the future of the Television Station, especially as the annual Student Association budget writing process gets underway in less than a month. I would like to clear the air and assist in any manner in helping the organization provide better programming to the student body.
Thank you for your time and I look forward to working with you, the Television executive board and staff in the future.
I would like to take the liberty of translating the words in red as the professional staff of TCMC believes they were intended to be interpreted.
1. J. just told me that we're no longer going to be on campus TV.
2. Didn't we (the BFC) give your organization an ass-load of money this year?
3. We're wondering why we gave you so much money if our faces aren't going to be on the TV.
4. I'm saying that SA doesn't want to control what you air on your TV station, but what I really mean is yes I am telling you what programming to air, specifically the Senate Meetings (which by the way, did I mention that means I get to be on TV?).
5. By "concern" I'm saying, if you don't air our Senate Meetings, and really anything else that we feel is important, we're going to slash your budget so badly that it will only be a matter of time before we completely obliterate your organization.
And finally, I would like to point out that though B.G. apologizes on behalf of his overly zealous colleagues, he was the one specifically quoted by the Oracle as charging TCMC, WFNP, & WNPC with the misappropriation and wrongful allocation of budget funds.
It's alright though, they just haven't been taught the number one rule... don't piss off the media. It won't be pretty.