In just over a week The Flipside has gone from facing near-certain financial collapse to being as rich as it has ever been.
Student Senate voted 14-13 Monday night to approve increasing the magazine’s funding next year to $7,200 – the same amount Senate gave the magazine this year.
“I’m glad it’s over,” said Sen. Dylan Jambrek, who voted to increase the magazine’s funding.
The Flipside lost its English department sponsorship in October and the promise of substantial funding with it, but got another shot at financial help last Monday when it found a new sponsor.
Senate was prepared to give the magazine just $5,200 next year, but an amendment passed Monday to the governing body’s Organized Activities budget upped the amount to $7,200. Other amendments to the budget included increases to funding amounts given to the Center for Alcohol Studies and Education and to The Spectator.
Senators debated whether or not The Flipside had made enough strides in collecting advertising revenuesomething senators have said has been a focal point in Senate-Flipside dialogue in recent years.
Senior Phil Kolas, The Flipside’s director of development and former editor-in-chief, said at Monday’s meeting the magazine expected to bring about $700 in advertising this year – more than double the expected amount.
Jambrek said Senate had been unfair to The Flipside and felt Senate was “running out of excuses” to not fund the magazine.
Senators also discussed ways the magazine might reduce expenses, including switching to cheaper paper or to a more local printing company, but Kolas said earlier searches for nearby printers at competitive prices had been fruitless.
“We looked into places here that could print the same paper for us,” Kolas said, “but the price would literally be double for us.”
Senate also voted at Monday’s meeting to increase funding for CASE and The Spectator. Senate agreed to grant The Spectator $12,000 next year after the newspaper posted a $16,632 loss last year.
Senior Theresa Schneider, the newspaper’s former editor-in-chief and current staff writer, told Senate Monday that without financial help the newspaper would most likely go bankrupt in the near future.
“Unfortunately, right now the newspaper, as it stands today, we are in trouble,” Schneider said the day after the meeting. “And a lot of that just came from poor business management.”
She said the newspaper has recently cut a staff position and reduced salaries, as well as changed several of its advertising policies to help make up for the losses. The newspaper is also searching for a business adviser, she said.
“I think The Spectator clearly made mistakes in the past and clearly they are attempting to fix them,” Jambrek said.
Senate originally granted CASE no money, but the organization later appealed and was offered $40,000. Senate approved increasing that amount to $55,500 Monday after CASE made several cuts to its budget.
