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The Rice Thresher
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by Elizabeth Decker Thresher Staff
A referendum seeking to establish RBT as a blanket-tax organization will be put to vote in the General Elections this year. The tax would generate around $10,000 in revenue each year for the station. If the tax passes, RBT will be required to draft a constitution and to have an elected student leader. Baker College senior Tony Pule and Hanszen College sophomore Travis Johnson presented RBT's proposal at the Student Association Senate meeting Monday night. Johnson and Pule presented a seven-year schedule of capital improvements that they said would allow RBT to cover events all over campus and broadcast 24 hours a day. Pule said without the blanket tax, RBT will have difficulty maintaining its current programming and will not be able to expand it. After the first seven years, the revenue from the blanket tax will be spent on programming and operating expenses instead of equipment. The first planned purchase is a $4,000 video server that will allow RBT to upload and program broadcasts for 24-hour periods. Currently, Pule said someone must physically start and switch videocassettes to put a show on the air, which makes 24-hour programming difficult. Pule said he would like to see RBT gain the same sort of exposure as other sources of media on campus, notably the Thresher and KTRU, to fill a current void in media. In the future, Pule would also like to work together with the Thresher and KTRU to create a convergence of "the tri-forces of media." Pule noted that both of these media sources receive blanket tax funding, and both receive more than RBT wants. Currently, the Thresher receives $7.60 and KTRU $6 per student. RBT has considered seeking funding in the form of grants, those offered by both large corporations and sources here at Rice. The problem with grants from university groups such as the Student Activities Fund and the President's Programming Fund, Pule said, is that grants are usually no larger than $3,000, which does not allow for RBT to make expensive capital improvements. While corporate grants are larger, they are one-time offers and do not provide a stable source of funding. RBT has also discussed selling advertising time on the station, but members raised concerns about whether this would compromise the station's commitment to the students. RBT was founded during the 1998-'99 school year. Its weekly news and variety show, "Owl's Eye News," has never had a designated source of income. Most of RBT's current equipment is secondhand equipment from Information Technologies. Johnson said RBT should be seen as a service not only for students but also for the faculty and staff. He said RBT has been working to expand its coverage of events all over campus, broadcasting the KTRU meetings and protests last semester and SA meetings this semester. The station has also made arrangements to cover several lecture series events this semester. Other future plans include broadcasting recently released movies, a daily news show and a college course on how to produce documentaries and other types of film. RBT is currently running campaign commercials for the referendum on the station. The organization is also working with the SA to encourage undergraduates to vote in the General Elections Feb. 23-28.
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