UM newspaper gets funding Student senators overturn cabinet’s veto, award $10,000 grant

ORONO – The student-run newspaper at the University of Maine survived another funding crisis Tuesday night and will continue publishing through the end of the semester May 19.

The staff of the Maine Campus thought it had cleared the final hurdle in a yearlong series of financial problems on April 3. That’s when the General Student Senate approved a $10,000 grant so the paper could stay in business on a reduced production schedule.

Last week, however, the cabinet of the GSS vetoed the grant on procedural grounds. Student senators Tuesday night mustered the necessary two-thirds majority and voted 12 -4 to override the cabinet’s veto.

Emotions ran high as about 50 members of the Maine Campus staff and the paper’s supporters filled a large classroom in Murray Hall. Speaker after speaker urged the student government body to keep the paper afloat.

“We are not talking about a business decision,” said former student James Schram. “What we are seeing here is heart. The Maine Campus may not have followed all the Senate’s rules, but this is an opportunity for a real-life experience about somebody lending them a helping hand.”

Student editor Penny Morton began the academic year with a $17,000 debt – half the paper’s budget for the fall semester. In November, the GSS gave the Maine Campus a loan that was repaid weeks before it was due.

Morton said that projected income from alumni fund raising and national ad sales didn’t materialize because university administrators until recently put the newspaper’s plans on hold. Earlier this month, the paper cut back from three issues a week to one in order to cut expenses further and to avoid passing a deficit on to next year’s staff.

About 9,000 people, according to Morton, read each issue of the paper. It is funded entirely by student fees and operates independently of the department of communications and journalism.

Student senators said Tuesday that their constituents had expressed support for the paper and had urged them to override the cabinet’s veto.

“I must do what’s right for my constituents,” said Matthew Rodrigue. “I’ve never seen so many people come to one of our meetings. Our constituents want their paper. They won’t care why we didn’t give them the money; they’ll just care that they don’t have a paper.

“John F. Kennedy said in his book ‘Courage Under Fire’ that sometimes it’s important to do what’s right. Giving the Maine Campus this money is the right thing to do,” he said.

Other senators expressed concern about setting a precedent by giving financial support to a group that is not a recognized club or organization, a procedure that required suspension of Senate rules. Others said the Senate could not afford to disperse 20 percent of the $51,000 left in its budget to the Maine Campus.

After the vote, Morton said she was very pleased with the Senate’s action.

“They [senators] came to us in the first place and asked how they could help in the first place,” she said. “Now, they’ve followed through on that. What really matters if that they’re doing what’s right.”

This week’s edition of the Maine Campus was expected to be published and posted online today. The paper’s Web site address is www.mainecampus.com.