Ripon College Days

The amendment would require all student organizations' advertisements to contain the phrase "funded by Student Senate," as well as holding those ads to strict ethical standards.

Senator B.J. Dernbach, who proposed the amendment, sees it as a way to increase students' understanding of the role of the senate.

"The reasons for the amendment are two-fold, one is to increase knowledge of Student Senate and what exactly senate funds," says Dernbach. "The second reason is to create liability. It's only fair that student organizations should have to be held to certain ethical standards regarding their advertisements."

Dernbach says having a policy standard for student organization advertisements isn't a new idea, and many schools around the state have such codes.

"I'm currently doing research to find out how advertisement policies work at other schools like UW-Madison and La Crosse," he says.

While student organizations seem receptive to the amendment's ethical advertising guidelines, several seem bothered by the required "funded by Student Senate" to be included on all advertisements.

At the Nov. 10 senate meeting, WRPN came forward to express concerns about how the phrase might affect their standing with the Federal Communication Commission.

"The current statement of our FCC license is that we are licensed by the Board of Trustees," WRPN Executive Director Guy McHendry told the senate.

"I believe that the technical letter of the law is any statement of ownership or funding of WRPN other than 'Ripon College' may be a violation of our license."

McHendry asked the senate to either exclude WRPN from the amendment or delay a vote until the station could clarify the matter with the FCC.

Dernbach seemed to agree with WRPN's objection.

"I would love to entertain a motion to help WRPN to say that if there are any conflicts with state laws or federal laws then [the tagline] wouldn't pertain," he replied.

McHendry also felt the term "funded by Student Senate" might be misleading.

"[Another] of the concerns that we have is that the actual money comes from the student activities fee," McHendry said, "Senate is the regulatory board but not the funder."

The College Days also raised concerns about the amendment's affects on their organization.

Assistant Editor Charles Oberweiser told the senate he was concerned with the amendment's specific phrasing.

"My initial reaction to it is that it sounds like the message you see at the end of political commercials," Oberweiser said. "And I'm worried that 'funded by' comes off as 'authorized by.'"

But Dernbach replied that he was willing to change the actual phrasing of the tagline if needed.

"The money goes to Student Senate and then the senate allocates where the money goes, and that's why I came up with 'funded by Student Senate,'" Dernbach said. "But if that needs to be changed, I'm flexible."

Dernbach says he plans to consider both organization's suggestions and attend the next CSO meeting to discuss the phrasing with other student organizations.

"I'm more than willing to listen to student organizations and work with them," says Dernbach. "I can't imagine why organizations would be upset that they have to acknowledge where their money comes from, but I think how exactly they do it is up for debate."

The next CSO meeting is scheduled for Nov. 30.

Dernbach feels cooperation with student organizations will allow the amendment to achieve its goals.

"The benefit of having the senate's name out there is that students realize where the money comes from and where it's allocated to," says Dernbach.

As for violations of the amendment, Dernbach says infractions would be considered during budget hearings.

"It would count the same way as if an organization didn't go to a CSO meeting," he says.

The senate will consider the amendment again at their Dec. 1 meeting, after receiving input from student organizations at the previous day's CSO meeting.

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