Comments for TommieMedia

Comment on Down goes O’Shaughnessy Hall by Molly Browne

Molly Browne — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 04:01:28 +0000

Great pics!

Comment on USG to give clubs and organizations more than $88,000 by Brady Narloch

Brady Narloch — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 02:40:17 +0000

The vast majority of expenses for which clubs request funding do not vary significantly over the period of one semester. Therefore, a high starting balance in the subsequent semester is indicative of one or both of these things (ceteris paribus): a) the club has not done something it said it would do in the previous semester; or b) the club significantly overestimated its expenses in the previous semester. This is why allocations for the subsequent semester are adjusted to account for the starting balance.

The business analogy isn’t applicable because clubs don’t have labor costs associated with their output.

Comment on Keeping up with times, library offers new texting service by John Heintz

John Heintz — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 17:32:58 +0000

Thanks for the article. For interested students, you can go to the Libraries web page on this service for more information: http://www.stthomas.edu/libraries/ask/imreference.html.

Comment on Keeping up with times, library offers new texting service by Merrie Davidson

Merrie Davidson — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 17:26:26 +0000

Here’s how to send a text message to the library:

SMS Text Message
Send a text message to: 246246. Type: send USTlibraries your message here (then hit “send” button). Example:

send USTlibraries Where can I find market research reports? (send)

Comment on Census aims to count all students, whether on or off campus by Kathryn Pogin

Kathryn Pogin — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 12:24:41 +0000

What?

Comment on Census aims to count all students, whether on or off campus by William Wallace

William Wallace — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 07:39:53 +0000

It is important, because we want to keep Michele Bachmann in the House of Representatives.

Comment on USG to give clubs and organizations more than $88,000 by Cameron Carson

Cameron Carson — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 06:11:12 +0000

I would agree with this point however there are still drawbacks then to the clubs that legitimately need their full budget each semester. It frustrates me though when I hear of the clubs that have the extra money that they go blow on extraneous things that are completely unnecessary.

Comment on USG to give clubs and organizations more than $88,000 by John Gummerson

John Gummerson — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 05:15:18 +0000

Thank you all for enlightening me on the Rock Climbing Club. I was clearly misguided in thinking that very few students were involved and that it constituted reckless spending on the part of the university. I concede “defeat” on this point. Clearly there is interest in the club and I guess this is what the student activity fee is for.

The problem I see is much bigger than any one club. If the events that Cameron described, clubs being overfunded and spending excess funds on extravegant dinners/events at the end of the semester, are indeed happening then this is something i feel needs to be addressed. Brady- as a representive of USG, I thank you for taking time to respond to these concerns. Businesses everywhere have faced the problem of what happens to excess funds at the end of a given period, and an episode of “The Office” was even based on this. One system that has been proven to work is to somehow reward or incentivize organizations to come in under budget. The current USG system seems to make no incentive to not spend every dollar a particular club is awarded. In fact, the opposite is true, clubs are punished in the following year’s funding if all monies are not spent each period. We should work together to develop a better system for the good of everyone…

Comment on Once a prominent social figure, the house party dies by Michael Puck

Michael Puck — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 04:41:29 +0000

I would like to extend an open invitation to anyone wishing to revitalize and celebrate the spirit of the “mysterious”, “underground”, and “satan worshiping” house party to hop on a bus or in a car and visit a fine institution located in Madison, Wisconsin where the house party is as alive as Tommie Spirit!

Comment on USG to give clubs and organizations more than $88,000 by James Heaney

James Heaney — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 00:40:24 +0000

A couple points. Terse not because I’m trying to be curt or rude, but because the character limit is tight.

(1) The student activities fund is NOT part of the same pot. Seriously: it’s a separate fee, billed separately from tuition, at the rate of $211/year. This is up slightly from $193 in ‘08-’09. That money is NOT tuition money. Additionally, compared to tuition, the SAF is quite modest.

(2) TTGC and Anime Club are *also* thriving organizations and centers of on-campus life for dozens of students, with expenditures per member far below what each member pays into the school through the SAF. These clubs are appropriate and *typical*; see http://www.morris.umn.edu/webbin/StudentActivities/ or http://apps.carleton.edu/life/orgs/ or even http://www.sua.umn.edu/groups/directory/index.php?group_by=name .

(3) Mr. Joseph Kreitzer reported at SOTUni that Academic Affairs is currently in discussions with St. Kate’s over theater. UST admins support a continued program; Dr. Sue Huber (president, Academic Affairs) is currently waiting to hear back from SKU about whether the program should continue as an academic program or be considered a student activity (which would affect who administers the program at each school). This is what we were told.

Hope that helps!