The Gargoyle, University College’s student paper, can start publishing regularly again. Its revised operating budget was approved on Nov. 4 by the University College Literary and Athletic Society, which controls the paper’s levy funds. More importantly, the two groups plan to revisit the current funding structure, which hands the paper’s surpluses back to the UC Lit.
The paper’s previous budget was rejected by the UC Lit after the student council claimed the paper allocates too much money to food, parties, and alcohol. The paper argues that this spending amounts to compensation for the volunteer staff that produce The Gargoyle. These expenses accounted for $2,705 of the original budget, which asked for $15,030. The approved budget grants $13,418 through student levies, plus $2,000 for a new scanner.
The paper is currently talking with college admin to sort out whether or not they are allowed to consume alcohol at production nights, another of the UC Lit’s concerns.
“To me it seems as if the bigger issue was the consumption of alcohol on campus, without consent or knowledge given to administration,” said Daniel Tsekhman, president of the UC Lit, in an email. “Since that was taken away from the budget, [it] passed almost unanimously.”
The new budget has cut out any future spending on drinks, saving the paper $532.30 this year. In its place, two $300 honorariums were created for the two editors-in-chief, Rosy Rong and Emily Sommers. [Disclosure: both editors sit on The Varsity’s board of directors. Several Varsity staff and contributors have also contributed to The Gargoyle, and at least one staff writer is affiliated with the UC Lit.]
With the budget passed, editors maintain that the UC Lit has a punitive funding policy, in which the Lit takes back any unused funds from The Gargoyle’s levy and has no obligation to reserve it for future spending on The Gargoyle. Last year, the paper had a surplus of $1,000.
“The levy system right now punishes us for good management,” said Gavin Nowlan, treasurer of The Gargoyle and president of the Arts and Science Students’ Union. “Any dollar we don’t spend, we lose.”
Because of the policy, the paper does not have a reserve fund and needs to appeal to the UC Lit for any expensive capital purchases.
“We already recognize the flaw in the system, and have already decided to revisit it,” responded Tsekhman. “A small group of us will meet with Gargoyle staff to hammer out a better policy, then go to council to have it approved.” He said that over the past two years, the Lit has contributed more to The Gargoyle’s capital purchases than it has taken back inunspent levies.
Rong, the content editor-in-chief for the paper, said the paper would prefer to save its own money and not have to rely on appealing to the Lit for big-ticket items.
While both parties hope to move forward amicably, Gargoyle editors expressed apprehensions.
“We need to get rid of [the] culture of meeting, not really coming to a conclusion over anything, and just reliving all of the same conversations at the Lit meetings,” said Nowlan.
