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The following letter was sent by Jeff Baker, class of 2006, in response to the recent Student Association allocations.
S.A. Attacks the Clubs that Provide Services to SMC and community
The Student Association has decided to make an affront on the clubs that provide a valuable service to the student population and the surrounding community. The budgets of WWPV 88.7FM, the Drama Club, and The Defender were all slashed in the recent reallocation process despite their reasonable requests for increases. This decision to reduce the budgets of these groups is in direct contradiction with all of the feedback and suggestions that the S.A. has handed down in all previous correspondence. These clubs have been encouraged to become more involved in the campus, and have shown significant improvement in the number of programs that they provide. In light of following the S.A.’s request, their budgets were cut. WWPV’s budget went down over $4,000 (or 21%) from last year’s budget. The Drama Club’s budget decreased about $3,000. The Defender lost almost $200, despite a proposed increase of over $2,000.
These “clubs,” as they are called in the official discourse of S.A. proceedings, provide services to our campus that are invaluable. These three are different from a majority of the other clubs as their missions are two-fold, and often take on a third tenet.
Tenet the First: The “clubs” provide all students with a concrete and regular product. WWPV broadcasts to Colchester, Winooski, Burlington and Essex Junction (although the signal reaches Williston as well). Programming is Monday through Friday 10am-4pm and 5pm-2am, & Saturday-Sunday Noon-2am every week. The Defender publishes a real newspaper every week and is available on Wednesdays in Alliot Hall and the Academic Buildings. The Drama Club supports approximately ten theatrical productions per year that are free and open to the public.
Tenet the Second: The “clubs” provide all students with an opportunity to gain knowledge and experience in a particular field. Any student can apply to write for The Defender (although the only open spots might be opinion columns). A comparable example would be that I applied for and received a column in The Echo last semester, despite the fact that I’m not a Journalism Major. Staff of The Defender encouraged me to submit to their publication. In the end I decided not to write this semester so that some other student might share in this awesome experience. WWPV sends out applications for DJ spots at the beginning of every semester and for the summer. Any student can have a radio show on the station without prior radio knowledge. The Drama Club holds open auditions for productions, providing an opportunity for any student to learn the acting trade or get involved with the technical aspects of theatre. All of these opportunities allow for specialized experience that students would not normally be able to receive, or just a chance to have fun and be involved in school activities outside the classroom.
Tenet the Third: The “clubs” often take on an intense commitment to serve our community in a way that is not directly related to their products. The “clubs” often provide venues for fundraising for charities, both local and abroad. WWPV put on three benefit concerts this school year that were free admission and open to the public. The first raised money for the United College Club, a local non-profit organization that helps youths get into their dream fields by networking with companies to generate internships. The second benefit was to raise funds and awareness for the Kayamandi Project of South Africa. The most recent concert benefited the Chittenden Emergency Food Shelf, a project that provides a critical service close to our campus. WWPV efforts (teamed with Sodexho) helped to raise over 700 pounds of food and around $80 in cash for the Food Shelf. The Drama Club commited itself to having a member present for the entire Katrina Walk and made a $100 donation. They also stepped up and provided a donation to Make-A-Wish when money was stolen, according to a member of the club.
These “clubs” do amazing things to enrich the experience of Saint Michael’s College students and the lives of those in the surrounding areas. Without sufficient funding from the Student Association they will be unable to continue their efforts to reach out to those in need in our community, as well as the national and global communities. WWPV will not be able to provide free concerts for the community. An important distinction needs to be acknowledged about the concerts that WWPV puts on and those put on by the S.A. WWPV holds concerts to raise money for charities as well as provide free live music. The S.A. holds concerts merely for pleasure. Which set of concerts do you think deserves to have funding? The Drama Club will not be able to stage as many productions with such drastic budget cuts. And when was the last time that the S.A. provided the student body with ten productions in one year? Do they plan on picking up the slack that they are creating?
If you have ever attended a WWPV concert, ever read a copy of The Defender, ever seen a Drama Club production, ever listened to 88.7 FM, ever written or edited for The Defender, ever cared about the performing arts then I urge you to contact the Student Association and voice your concern about this mistreatment of the “clubs” that provide such a varied and wide-range of opportunities and services to the Saint Mike’s community and the local community.
Email them at StudentAssociation@smcvt.edu and tell them “No! We will not accept this grievous affront on our beloved radio station, Drama Club and Defender!”
Outraged,
Jeff Baker
