Two of the campus' major media outlets, WERW-1570 AM and 20 Watts magazine, were denied funding for the fall semester by the Student Association Finance Board Monday night.
The radio station and music magazine, which missed their original budget hearings with the board, were considered last in the board's appeals process because of their missed hearings. The denied funding leaves the groups hoping they'll be funded through special programming allocations in the fall.
"Consider in the fall what a huge resource this campus would be losing," said Meghan Loftus, editor in chief of 20 Watts. "We're the only music publication on campus. Music appeals to so many people. It's the only thing that everyone likes some form of."
Loftus accepted full responsibility for missing the hearing with the Finance Board. But she later blamed communications issues for preventing her from knowing when the hearing was. Julia Collier, general manager of WERW, agreed.
"We didn't miss the hearing because we forgot, we missed because we weren't properly notified," Collier said. "It was a communication error. SA should maybe change its policy on how it notifies groups of their hearings."
WERW and 20 Watts were among nine groups that missed their original budget hearings.
Groups that miss their original budget hearings have always been considered last for funding in the appeals process, said SA Comptroller Sacha Forgenie. Forgenie also said the groups' funding was cut because there were not enough funds for all of the requests the Finance Board received. WERW requested $7,157.47, and 20 Watts requested $6,165.58.
The radio station and magazine are now left clinging to hope that SA will fund them through special programming allocations in the fall. If not, both Loftus and Collier acknowledged neither of their groups have enough money to function.
"We have no working headphones, we have one working mic when we need three," Collier said. "These are just a couple examples of how we're struggling."
Other groups that were denied funding through appeals were:
Comptroller Forgenie said the Finance Board received requests totaling $259,615.82 but only had $68,561.64 to allocate. Groups that received funding included:
The funding SA did receive covers its shuttle-bus service to the Regional Transportation Center and the Syracuse Hancock International Airport for Thanksgiving break and opening weekend brochures for first-year students.
Some SA assembly members were unhappy with the funding the group received.
"For the work we do and what we give back to the student body, we should have enough money and what we need to operate," said Alec Sim, SA's board of elections and membership chair. "There shouldn't be a doubt about it."
But others felt the funding was fair and on par with how other student groups were allocated funding.
"We shouldn't get special treatment," said assembly member Helene Kahn. "We need to make sure we're treated the same as any other group that goes through the budget hearing."
hdwillia@syr.edu
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