Senate
elects Student Media Board members
By
Daniel Linck Savino
Online Forty-Niner
Staff Writer
In a marathon session Wednesday, the Associated Students Senate saw the bitterness
and passion left over from the 2005 AS elections focus on appointing new members
to the Student Media Board. The Board votes each spring on the new editor in
chief of the
Long Beach Union Weekly. The Student Media Board also oversees KBeach radio
and Goldmine yearbook.
Seven candidates applied for four positions on the Board, and the main subtext
of their application was bias in the Union. The prime concern was the paper’s
coverage of former Associated Students, Inc., presidential candidate Uduak-Joe
Ntuk during the spring elections.
After the meeting, Vice President Hironao Okahana noted with interest the Senate
debate was concentrated on those elections.
Tessema Garedew, Vincent Vargas, Dana Randazzo and Sean Duenser were voted
on to the Board.
Garedew introduced himself, saying he wanted “to be involved in student
government,” and to make sure the Union’s articles were balanced.
He described one of his main qualifications as being a member of the executive
board of the African Student Union, which officially endorsed Ntuk in the spring
elections.
“
I think the most important thing is that...the information should be fair and
balanced,” Garedew said, referencing the paper’s coverage of the
spring elections and Ntuk.
After paraphrasing the First Amendment, Senator-at-Large Guido D’Onofrio
said, “It sounds to me like you’re taking a stand to try to regulate
the press.”
Garedew denied that, saying he was concerned with bias. “
This is an issue that should never come up in media,” he said.
Sen. Heidi Chavez, College of Health and Human Services, had concerns similar
to D’Onofrio’s.
“You want to come into this board and stop [the Union’s] freedom
of the press,” she said.
“
When there’s blatant slander,” Garedew replied, “that’s
different from freedom of the press.”
He proposed the Union should adhere to a general set of ethical guidelines
in their articles.
The second successful applicant, Vargas, was also interested in affecting the
Union’s content.
“
I want to focus on the logic of media,” he said. “I think the standards
could go up a little.”
When D’Onofrio asked what guidelines he would try to establish, Vargas
said “I want a media that respects me.”
Duenser said he applied for the position so he could “participate in
something on campus.”
He took a different approach to the issues of bias in the Union. “
I think that there are many sides to an issue,” he said.
Duenser later described himself as being “kind of in and out” of
the group.
In final voting, Dana Randazzo and Jeb Sprague tied for the fourth and final
seat on the Board.
Sprague, a founding member of the Campus Progressives and campaign worker for
Ntuk, was previously accused of the theft of several thousand copies of the Union
during the election. The papers stolen contained several negative articles
about Ntuk. Though Sprague was cleared of the charges, Ntuk was held responsible
for the thefts after lengthy and circuitous litigation.
He focused his introduction on five goals.
“I want to help heal the rift between our campus media and the student
body,” Sprague
said.
He also wanted to increase the academic diversity at the Union, create a code
of ethical guidelines, better manage their budget, and make sure equal space
would be provided in covering candidates for student government.
“
I don’t want to regulate anything,” he said. “I believe in
complete free speech.”
He was, however, concerned with the paper’s presentation of information.
“
I think they’ve attacked people who’ve stood up against them,” he
said. “I think that they censor people.”
Randazzo, a contributing writer for the”Union, said she wanted to represent
the student body.
Senator-at-Large Zion Redie asked her how she would handle a student who felt
offended by something in the paper.
“
I would have to do it on an individual basis,” Randazzo said. She declined
to elaborate further, citing the hypothetical nature of the question.
Sen. Amin Km, College of Natural Science and Mathematics, asked her if it would
be a conflict of interest for her to be on both the paper and the media board.
“
My affiliations with the“Union does not bias me; I’m completely
unbiased,” Randazzo said.
Before voting could begin, however, Sen. Elisa Herrera, College of Education,
brought up the legal element of such a conflict. She argued that because AS
bylaws prohibit a member of student media from also being on the board, Randazzo’s
application was invalid.
Okahana clarified the matter, saying any Union member could be elected, but
they would have to quit working at the paper before they could assume full
membership on the board.
Final voting ended with Randazzo and Sprague tying for fourth place. As chairman,
Okahana cast the deciding vote in Randazzo’s favor. He later described
his preference for her as coming from her “broader view of the development
of campus media.”
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