Tough times ahead if The Collegian vote fails

By JENNA NIELSEN

If The Collegian fee referendum doesn’t pass, the newspaper could be in danger, according to The Collegian fee proposal.

On April 20 and 21, students will vote on The Collegian Student Body Fee referendum and decide whether to allow the student-run newspaper to gain independence from Associated Students.

Associated Students has endorsed the referendum.

For decades, The Collegian has received a portion of its funding from AS, according to the student body fee proposal submitted by The Collegian to the Student Fee Advisory Committee.

Associated Students officials say this creates a problem in that, to be accountable to students and serve as an independent voice, the press cannot be controlled by a government agency.

In a democracy, the press must remain independent of the government, and as long as The Collegian continues to receive money from AS, that principle is being violated, the proposal said.

If The Collegian student body fee referendum doesn’t pass, The Collegian’s ability to continue to provide a quality campus newspaper will be threatened.

Greg Lewis, faculty adviser to The Collegian, said the newspaper is already dipping into its reserves and it will need increased funding in order to maintain production three times a week.

He said if the referendum does not pass, production might be cut back to once a week.

According to the fee proposal, failure to pass the referendum will result in three major consequences.
•It will “cripple the Collegian, forcing it to severely reduce publication.”

•It will “deprive the University community of a primary internal communications student medium.”

The Collegian’s editor in chief, Nathan Hathaway, said it is important to have an internal media source students can go to because “every community needs an independent media voice that can report the truth without bias.”

•It will “blunt the learning opportunities for students of journalism, advertising and business who participate in this unique classroom/laboratory and on-campus business.”

Fresno State’s fees are the second-lowest in the California State University system and will continue to be even if the referendum passes, according to the fee proposal.

The proposal says that, according to a survey of newspapers in the CSU system, The Collegian is ranked second-lowest among all CSUs in cost per issue and third lowest in overall cost per year.

The referendum requests that the student body fee increase $1.50 for fall 2005 and an additional $1 a year through 2009-2010, to cap at $5.50.