The Red and Black

Issue date: 3/23/09 Section: Opinions

CLAIRE ROCK

Leg shaking.

Jaw clenching.

Pen tapping.

You would think I was headed to my execution the way my brow began to sweat as I wobbled out of my chair in the Tate Center hallway.

I had to remind myself to smile as I walked into the dreaded room 143, 12 pairs of eyes staring impatiently at me.

I quickly sat down between my only allies, ready to face the music - the University budget committee.

As editor in chief of the University's Pandora Yearbook, it was my job to convince this diverse group of individuals that the yearbook is worth keeping around.

One of the many student organizations to speak in front of the committee last Thursday, Pandora was not asking for more money but simply a chance to survive and thrive as a campus organization.

Times are tough - we all know that.

Pandora's budget for the last fiscal year totaled $60,964. In good times, this number sounds very reasonable to a budget committee panel. However, when University President Michael Adams is facing a $22 million cut in the University's budget, every penny counts.

This year, our $60,964 proposed budget suddenly sounds like an outrageous request from a suffering publication that has sold a meager 312 books so far this year.

Never mind that our sales focus is on seniors, and that our plans are to have laptop stations set up at graduation this year to entice proud parents into buying their recent graduates a Pandora on the spot.

Never mind that the re-design of our holiday mailing this year (a huge advertising campaign that goes out to the parents of every student at the University) saved more than $15,000 in postage and printing, allowing us to add another spring mailing to our student marketing strategy.

I understand the University is trying every way possible to "cut the fat" as we receive less and less federal funding.

But how can the fate of an organization - one that boasts an astounding 123-year-long tradition at the University - be decided in just 15 minutes?

I like to think that the answer lies in the committee's momentary lapse of "tunnel vision" where all they see is the money that our organization is costing the University, money that could help bring us out of our $22 million hole.

I understand that the job of the committee is to number crunch and ask the hard questions.

But what about the philosophical and ethical questions?

Like how can we possibly end the production of our school's only pictorial history since 1886?

Or why would we eliminate an organization that gives student staff members an opportunity to apply their creative passions such as writing, editing, designing, photography and marketing and see them come to fruition?

Better yet, without Pandora, where will the next generation look to learn about the history we have made on our campus and in our community?

Like the committee, I, too, am a realist.

However, there are some decisions in life that cannot be made with our heads alone. Some questions have multiple answers. And some answers, though not logical, end up being the right ones.

In these times of economic difficulties, I believe it is imperative that we as a University hold on to what makes us who we are - our traditions.

Today at 3:30, the committee will vote on budget proposals from many of our oldest and most influential organizations on campus (including the Student Government Association, the Student Union and the Pandora Yearbook).

Let's hope they vote with their hearts as well as their heads.

- Claire Rock is a junior from Atlanta majoring in magazines. She is the editor in chief of Pandora yearbook.

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