KWVA receives allocation

to update equipment
The ASUO Student Senate approved a huge request from the campus radio station KWVA at a two-hour senate meeting Wednesday night.
The $31,794 allocation accounts for nearly a third of the surplus funds the senate had available to spend for the entire year.
KWVA General Manager Charlotte Nisser said the station needs the money to complete a major changeover from analog to digital radio equipment. The upgrade will provide a “state-of-the-art learning environment for students,” Nisser said.
“These are essential items,” she said.
Nisser and several senators said they were frustrated with the progress of the project, for which the senate allocated $118,438 last May.
“Your group has really put the senate between a rock and a hard place,” Sen. Jesse Harding said, adding that KWVA has done a “very poor job” of managing the $118,438 already granted.
He also expressed frustration that KWVA spent money on items other than what the senate approved the funds for, adding that the station had taken on “vigilante status.”
Senators subjected Nisser to more than an hour of tough questioning, but decided they felt obligated to see the project through. Without the additional funding, the station would have been left with a partially completed renovation and a difficult operating environment.
“I feel like our hands are kind of tied here,” Senate Treasurer Kevin Curtin said. “If we don’t give you that $31,000, our money is wasted.”
The allocation leaves the senate with only $46,718 for the rest of the year, and the senate is expecting a request for several thousand dollars later this term from Campus Recycling.
“We (will) be that much more careful about giving out money,” Senate President Ben Strawn said.

— Chuck Slothower