ThunderRadio denied funding for new tower
At the 2005-06 senators’ last student government meeting, ThunderRadio was denied a request for money to move its signal tower.
Jim Otis, ThunderRadio general manager, explained that a new radio station is building a tower in Fargo and will have a frequency more powerful than ThunderRadio’s.
The two signals will overlap, giving the other station legal grounds to file an injunction against ThunderRadio. To prevent this, the student station opted to relocate its tower so the signals won’t interfere.
The request totaled $5,500, although the entire cost of the relocation process is projected to range between $11,000 and $15,000.
Clara Presser, arts, humanities and social sciences senator, amended the amount to $0. Josh Reimnitz, high-rise/LLC senator, amended the amount to $2,100 — all the money available in the special project and contingency request funds.
Daniel Eiler, science and mathematics senator, asked Otis how long ThunderRadio has been aware that a tower relocation was necessary.
Otis said ThunderRadio’s original plan was to move to a different frequency that the current station was vacating. Three weeks ago, however, the other station opted to remain, forcing ThunderRadio to consider its alternatives.
Senators voiced concerns about whether the situation would surface again and how likely an injunction would be if ThunderRadio didn’t move its tower.
Otis said if ThunderRadio moves to a different frequency, the situation would not arise again. If ThunderRadio remain at its current frequency, an injunction from the new station would be almost 100 percent certain, he said.
If an injunction were filed, ThunderRadio would lose its license and cease to exist.
Senators still preached self-sufficiency for ThunderRadio and encouraged the senate to fail the request to let ThunderRadio raise the money.
Adam Little, Greek housing senator, said ThunderRadio could return in the fall to request the money that is still needed for the project.
The motion failed with an overwhelming majority.
Approved legislation
-SR-10-06 resolved the issue of equipment purchased with money from the student activity fee in the event of dissolution of the student organization that purchased the equipment. In that situation, the finance commission of student government would take physical control of the equipment. Student organizations are also now required to submit an inventory of equipment purchased with money from the student activity fee.
-SB-19-06 amended the official guidelines of the finance commission. Sections of the guidelines were changed for clarity and to corroborate with the constitutional amendments that were voted on during the special election April 11 through 12. The changes take effect in the fall.
-CR-19-06 requested $1,150.39 for a conference attended by Fellowship of Catholic University Students. The amount was amended to $701 and approved.