Last spring's referendum saw the student body voting against increasing the CKUT Radio fee to $6.04, opting instead to maintain the radio station's long-standing fee of $4 per semester.
However, McGill administration has decided to withhold CKUT's fall 2007 funding.
Elizabeth Lista, U3 cultural studies, who worked for CKUT this past summer, is quick to point out that, "Even though the students didn't vote to raise the fees, they did agree to continue paying the $4 a semester. If McGill's not even allowing them to pay that, what are the implications? It's a very drastic measure."
The administration reasons that it had requested that CKUT remove the university's name from its title, and explains that it has chosen to withhold the radio station's fees unless it implements this name change.
Deputy Provost Student Life and Learning Morton Mendelson explained that the university Board of Directors has been in the process of reviewing the use of the McGill name.
The 'CKUT Radio McGill' name became an issue when both its Memorandum of Agreement and its broadcasting license recently came up for renewal, and the use of the McGill name is one of the issues dealt with in the MoA.
"Currently CKUT doesn't have a MoA with the University, so we're not in a position legally to hand over students' money to them," Mendelson said. "For us to be able to turn over the funding, CKUT has to have a MoA with the University, and the Board of Directors of McGill has specified that CKUT change its name before we'll sign it."
Mendelson explained that the Board was concerned with the issue of exposure, citing the station's broad appeal.
"CKUT is really a victim of its own success," he said. "It's no longer simply a university radio station; it's a community radio station. It broadcasts on the Web and could have an international audience, and it is not directly related to the university."
The director of funding for CKUT, Juliette Lammers, does not think that the removal of the McGill name from the radio station's title will have any serious negative repercussions.
2008 Woodie Awards
Be the first to comment on this story