CHAPTER 16
UNIVERSITY MOVES FINANCIAL GOALPOSTS
As March unfolded, Joel prepared WIDB’s annual budget and fee allocation request. As explained before, the process required the applications and budgets to be submitted, then the Finance Committee of Student Senate would have hearings and issue recommendations, which were sent to the full senate for approval. Then it was sent to the Dean of Students, the Vice President for Student Affairs (if any), and then the SIU president for presentation and approval to the Board of Trustees (which was almost always pro forma). The process was supposed to start in March and be completely done before the end of the fiscal year June 30.
On the one hand this was a great learning exercise and experience for students. They were deciding for themselves how to allocate their own resources (these were student fees they were allocating) and students had to figure out a way to do this without acrimony among themselves. But the educational experience only works when the university backs it up and follows its own rules.
No one at WIDB in March 1972 knew that the administration deliberately planned to sabotage this process to strangle or exterminate the activities as well as to get the students to fight among themselves. This was a fallout of the riots, another doomed effort to misappropriate state property to advance personal agendas to “punish the students.”
But even Joel was not able to see this from a March, 1972 perspective. Derge had just ascended a few weeks before. Your writer had info on Derge from his friends at Indiana University, but no one knew how this would play out at SIU.
Joel was determined to get a large fee allocation for WIDB for FY 73. But he had never done this before. Joel knew that merely preparing and submitting a budget was not enough. He had to get the senators who were voting on WIDB’s side. Joel invited the Student Senate Finance Committee members to WIDB so they could observe how WIDB served students. Naturally after touring the facilities, some libation was in order (after all, senators were students too) and Joel was observed at the station in March and April with John Conlisk, powerful chairman of the Finance Committee and they would always be very red-eyed. John became an “honorary” WIDB member and he came to multiple reunions.
1972 Finance Committee Chairman John Conlisk (front right) drives the cart at the WIDB 15th Anniversary Reunion, 1985. ALSO PICTURED: From left: Gary McGlaughlin, Ed Kasovic, Tommy Thaviu:
Joel’s schmoozing paid off big time as he won a huge $18,000 allocation from Student Government for WIDB for FY 73. This was celebrated at the time. But no one knew that the money would never come.
While Joel pursued activity money for WIDB, he had to keep working on getting permission for WIDB to sell advertising. After being shut out of the SIU broadcasters’ meeting with then-acting President Layer in December, Joel was referred to “Special Assistant to the President” George Mace.
Mace had come to SIU from California, and was not hired by Derge. Mace was an assistant to Derge’s predecessor. Most in that situation serve at the pleasure of the president, so when a new man comes in the assistants are swept away. But somehow, Mace gained stature under Derge. If we assume Mace knew Derge was brought in to be “tough on students” we can also assume that Mace’s promotions to Dean of Students within months and Vice President of Student Affairs shortly thereafter under Derge indicate that Mace did Derge’s bidding to “teach students a lesson.”
And here was Joel and WIDB, Advertising Proposal in hand, “assigned” to George Mace to “work out” the problem. Joel dutifully went to Mace’s office several times January-May, 1972, and Mace bandied about various ways the Southern Illinois Broadcasters’ objections could be accommodated. (“WIDB should just run student announcements, students should just start their own station, or just give up”). Although Mace’s job was to facilitate student development, he ignored that and instead illegally used state dollars to prioritize the income of private business owners miles away from the university. Mace’s illegal efforts were designed to misuse state funds to discourage student development. Mace should have been on the payroll of the broadcasters (could he have been?), not the university.
And here was Joel and WIDB, Advertising Proposal in hand, astounded by Mace’s arrogant intransigence. It was painfully obvious that Mace and Derge wanted WIDB to go away, but even then, no one realized the scope of the attack that was coming. Based on what he knew in April, Joel felt he had to “stay the course,” and keep meeting with Mace, otherwise WIDB might appear to be going away and giving up.
Meanwhile, in May, after eight weeks of contentious hearings, the Student Senate was able to hash out the slicing of the pie where everyone got something and WIDB would get $18,000. Finally there was peace among the clubs and Student Government. They met the end of May deadline, so the allocation package could be passed and the funds would come July 1, the start of FY 73.
Mace waited until everything was done and only a few days remained in Spring Quarter. Then he announced that he was “cancelling” the fee allocations because he decided they were “unfair.” Then he said he wanted students to “vote” on who should get the money. (Remember this did affect ALL student organizations, not just WIDB). There was a huge outcry. Who was going to make up the “ballots?” Who was entitled to vote? How could this be done during break? Who was going to count the ballots? What if only 50 people vote? Apparently bowing to pressure. Mace assured everyone that he would not use the ballots if there were less than 50% returned.
Mace was promoted to Dean of Students. This was a result of his blatant plan to sabotage the student activity fee allocation process.
The ballots were mailed out in August to students registered for fall. WIDB was not listed on the ballot. The ballot listed the “major” organizations first (the ones that the administration wanted to be funded) such as the DE, Obelisk (yearbook), student government. The “minor” organizations were listed in alphabetical order. Nothing was listed under “w” or “r.”
Mace’s office claimed that WIDB WAS listed. And it was. You had to look under the letter “s”, For “student radio station.” It was generally assumed that there was little chance that 50% of the ballots would be returned, (more like 10%), so there was hope that WIDB’s allocation was not in danger.
Joel had been forced to work with the same George Mace ostensibly to “refine” the ad proposal for “expedited” presentation to the Board of Trustees. Joel dutifully met with Mace as 1972 went from January to May. The Board met monthly, and it was not easy to get on the agenda. If the President’s office was pushing an item, it was in. If not, there had to be an “application” to be on the Board agenda, and there were “requirements” for the application. It was much more likely to pass quickly if the President’s office was behind it, so Joel made the attempt to “work with” the President’s representative.
Each time a Board meeting approached, Mace promised Joel it would be on the agenda. But at the last minute, Mace would say the agenda was “too full,” so it would be “next time.” The Board met in March, April, then in May. Joel (and everyone at WIDB) wanted to be ready to sell in fall. After not even being considered for the agenda in May, Joel was losing his patience. He met with Mace on June 8, 1972,
Mace told Joel that WIDB should incorporate as a separate entity from the university, to address the broadcasters’ opposition. Joel dutifully considered the idea. The main concern was (supposedly) liability for libelous broadcasts. (eg, someone on-air falsely says a particular person has syphilis and they sue for damages). But the questions of who would be directors, how the station could operate on-campus, how the station could still be a student activity, have access to funds, what rules apply to expenditures, access to campus services and events, etc, Mace avoided. He said these should be “studied.” Joel knew all too well what that meant. The Advertising proposal would die a slow and painful death.
That was the final straw for Joel. He had prepared a revised proposal, endured being shunted aside while the “important people” met, patiently tolerated Mace’s apparent flailings to try to satisfy SIBA concerns, but now there was no question that this had all been bad faith. Joel and WIDB were getting jacked around by the university, not just by the usual incompetence, but purposefully.
Having run out of excuses for putting Joel off, Mace now decided that unless WIDB would incorporate (presumably, a not-for-profit corporation somehow separate from the university), Mace and the President would not support WIDB. This was obviously half-baked, and intended only to make WIDB give up and go away.
Joel was flabbergasted, angry, and somewhat chagrined all at the same time. The sheer audacity to throw a major monkey wrench one year into the process took Joel’s breath away in exposing the illegal destructive agenda Mace was advancing. Joel was also chagrined because at least part of him was naively hoping that some of these administrators might actually do their jobs part of the time. It had now become painfully obvious that those hopes were completely ridiculous to have had in the first place.
As the school year wound down for summer (remember, on quarters, exams ended about June 15), Joel had some very important decisions to make. Everyone at WIDB was so ready to sell commercials right away. Joel had worked with the administration for a whole year, which resulted in going backwards; more obstacles had been erected from Mace and the president’s office.
Joel returned to LaGrange (a Chicago Western suburb) for the summer. He stewed about this for a few days. This was a bad situation. WIDB was “so ready” to sell commercials and solve its financial issues. Program Director Sam Glick was so fully charged (as only Sam could be) spending the summer designing a format with “stop sets’ for commercials. A sales contract was prepared. Robbie Davis was Sales Manager, and a cadre of sales people were ready. But Joel couldn’t even get it on the Board agenda.
