The University of New Orleans’ student-run paper, Driftwood, was abruptly shut down Monday due to a large budget deficit that has grown out of control in recent years.
In an e-mail statement to the UNO students, faculty and staff, Chancellor Timothy Ryan wrote that, like any campus organization, it was necessary for Driftwood to operate within the appropriated budget.
“The university simply cannot afford to continue absorbing this debt, and as a result, I am taking the regrettable but necessary step, effective immediately, of suspending publication of Driftwood,” Ryan wrote.
UNO Provost Rick Barton told The Times-Picayune that the cumulative deficit for Driftwood as of Monday was $128,000.
The Maroon attempted to contact Ryan and Driftwood advisor Peter Busowski for comment, but was not able to reach them as of Wednesday evening.
Susan Krantz, dean of the College of Liberal Arts, stressed that the decision made to stop Driftwood’s operations was based strictly on budget problems.
“The shutdown was purely financial and ultimately the Chancellor’s decision,” Krantz said.
Caleb Frey, Driftwood managing editor, said the administration did not give the workers fair warning before shutting down the paper. Frey said the current staff was taking great strides in making the paper economically viable.
“We had to cut everything to the bone. We were trying to turn everything around,” Frey said. “[Advertising] had fallen short and projections were not being met.”
Meredith Bailey, Driftwood editor in chief, said that in May 2003 the paper experienced its first real budget problems. The budget then doubled during the following academic year. Driftwood had actually been operating under its budget so far this semester, Bailey said.
“My goal was to get the paper in the black by May ’05,” Bailey said.
Frey stated that the staff did not have any money to spend on supplies, adding that it had all taken pay cuts and was using outdated computers.
Frey explained that some staff members were informed of the shutdown a few hours before the office doors were locked, but that he had only about 30 minutes to clear out his desk. Students are now only permitted to enter the Driftwood office if they are accompanied by a faculty or staff member, Frey said.
“We still haven’t completed all of our billing for our advertisers, so whatever figures we are looking at now are probably wrong,” Bailey said. “[The real figures] are probably less severe.”
Neither Frey nor Bailey have intentions of rejoining Driftwood if and when it is relaunched.
Krantz reiterated Ryan’s hopes of relaunching a revised Driftwood as soon as possible. She added that a review committee would be created in order to ensure such fiscal problems do not occur in the future.
Student reactions to the shutdown were mixed, according to Frey.
“A lot of students are disappointed. They are losing their voice, and others felt that the overall quality of the paper had been declining,” he said.
Bailey agreed that the campus was losing its voice and that a student-run paper is important on UNO’s campus.
“It is a travesty, in my eyes, because this problem could have been resolved sooner and in a much better way,” Bailey said.
Adam Hennessey can be reached at [email protected].
