Joshua Ceballos/Investigative Editor
The FIU Student Government slashed the budgets of some student organizations last night, including Student Media’s.
The University-Wide Committee, made up of members from the Student Government Councils at the Modesto Maidique and Biscayne Bay Campuses, voted this Tuesday to approve the 2020-2021 Activity & Service Fee allocation budget.
To put things in perspective Student Media is receiving less money next year than they did in 2009, yet the SGA budget has increased by $10 million since then. Student Media, which encompasses The Roar radio station and PantherNOW newspaper can operate with $300,000 without losing money.
They were allocated just $260,000.
This is not the first time Student Media funding has been significantly slashed by SGA. Last year, the budget was cut from $300,000 to $265,000. In 2018, the budget was taken down from $328,828 to $300,000, and that was after an amendment by former Vice President of Student Affairs, Larry Lunsford. Initially, SGA wanted to take Student Media down to $147,694, but Lunsford vetoed that amount and changed it.
Student Media uses its budget to pay its student reporters, editors, and other essential staff, as well as print and distribute copies of the newspaper and to pay for the radio station.
Over the last few years, directors in Student Media have had to log fewer hours and take less pay despite the same workload because of cuts.
Money for budget allocations comes from Activity & Service fees that students pay every semester. The money funds a variety of student departments, and is allocated by SGA’s University-Wide Budget Committee every fiscal year.
This year, revenues were down across the board and several organizations and activities suffered budget cuts including the Black Student Union, Homecoming, and Panther Power.
Fraternity and Sorority Life, however, which many SGA officials are a part of, received a $30,000 increase this year.
The allocation for FSL went up from $110,000 to $140,000 in the 2020-2021 fiscal year. They have received increases since 2018.
SGC-MMC President Sabrina Leeloo Rosell, SGC-MMC Vice President Isabella Ojeda, SGC-MMC Speaker of the Senate David Nivia and SGC-MMC Comptroller Ariadna Natteri, all members of the University-Wide Budget Committee, are also all members of Greek organizations.
The Budget Committee also includes SGC-MMC Speaker Pro Tempore Angel Algarin, SGC-BBC President Pamela Ho-Fung, SGC-MMC Vice President Mahalia Balfour, SGC-BBC Speaker Gaby Malak and SGC-BBC Comptroller Dora Febles.
Rosell told PantherNOW that the total money for allocations was down this year because of lower expected enrollment. If fewer students enroll at FIU and pay fees, there’s less money to go around.
Rosell said that Student Media was cut with an understanding from Senior Vice President for Academic and Student Affairs Elizabeth Bejar and Dean Brian Schriner of the College of Communication, Architecture + The Arts that Student Media would get equipment and support from the University to offset costs.
But Schriner made it clear in a meeting with PantherNOW Editor-in-Chief Gerard Albert III that a collaboration between Student Media and CARTA would mean faculty support, not financial.
SGA hears budget requests every year before they go into deliberations. Members of Student Media met with SGA officials beforehand to explain how lack of funding hurt the organization and how CARTA would offer no financial support. This was reiterated at the hearing.
“It’s less of a slap and more of a spit in the face,” said Albert III. “It’s the same thing every year, they act like they care but really the Student Government has no respect for the First Amendment or students’ right to free speech.”
Anabelle Torres, general manager for The Roar radio station, also expressed her frustration at budget cuts for a station that still has to use outdated equipment from the 1970s.
“The Roar has suffered significantly with each of these budget cuts, the main concern is that with our current budget, we cannot cover the costs to continue broadcasting on air,” said Torres. “College radios across the globe have been suffering and often forgotten by their universities, and The Roar is no different. We have provided a connection to our community, both FIU and Miami’s, for over 30 years.”
FSL was given an increase, according to Rosell, because they have lost donations in recent years due to the Greek pause in 2018.
“Due to the pause, they lost money from private dollars. This is partly to help them rebuild themselves. They’ve had a lot of challenges for many years, and the pause didn’t help,” said Rosell, who is a member of Delta Phi Epsilon. “This will help them continue their efforts and expand their reach.”
SGC-MMC also increased their own funding for certain items. The legislative budget for the senate was increased from $13,000 to $55,000. The finance committee budget was increased from $16,000 to $55,000. This is a total increase of $81,000. SGC-BBC did not receive any comparable increases.
“There’s just never enough money. I do think the budget committee did a good job and made the best decision for the student body,” Rosell said.
As part of this year’s allocation, the committee also added provisional language that Student Media must go before the University-Wide Congress and the individual council senates each semester to “demonstrate the metrics, data and the impact of Student Media on the student body.”
Governing councils, agencies and bureaus that fall under SGA are bound by the constitution to provide semesterly fiscal reports to their respective councils. Student Media has never had to submit any reports except during annual budget meetings.
Rosell said that this was thought of as a way to make the senate more aware of what Student Media is doing. PantherNOW has published multiple investigative stories about SGA including articles on corruption, violating elections codes and fights among senators.
This school-year PantherNOW’s website has over 400,000 page views. Over the last year, PantherNOW and the Roar have produced content during crises like Hurricane Dorian, shooting threats, student deaths and currently the Coronavirus.
“We will continue to be cut, and although I’m graduating, I’m sure the paper will continue to cover Student Government as aggressively as ever, even if they cut all of our funding,” said Albert III.
Student Media also started a foundation account through FIU Ignite to accept donations.
The budget has not been completely approved just yet. Bejar still needs to sign off on the budget before it goes into effect, and she has the power to change allocations as Lunsford did before her.
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