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Thursday, March 28, 2024
The independent student publication of The University at Buffalo, since 1950

A Brief History of The Spectrum


Fifty-two years ago, a nameless publication without a reputation began reporting the events surrounding and within the university to the UB community. Since then, the paper has overcome adversity, censoring and financial instability to become the publication it is today - The Spectrum.

Despite being an unknown entity on campus, the paper made its goal clear in its first issue on Nov. 17, 1950, when its first editorial stated, "The policy of this newspaper shall be: To provide an organ for the presentation to the university community, information covering all phases of university life and phases of life outside the university proper as are possessed of interest to the student body."

The Spectrum has maintained this policy through the years and continues to strive to be an accurate record of the path the university has taken. Never burying its problems within The Spectrum's pages, the editorial board has always reported the tribulations the paper has faced.

The paper first ran into censorship in November 1965, when a petition was circulated among students to censor Editor in Chief Jeremy Taylor for "failing to express the 'opinions of the majority of the student body' in the editorial section of the paper," according to a Nov. 5, 1965, Spectrum article.

The petition further called for Taylor's resignation, but it was voluntarily withdrawn one day into its anticipated three-day circulation schedule.

This on-campus protest of The Spectrum's editorial content almost pales in comparison, though, to the unfounded censorship by the paper's printing press, Partners' Press, in 1967.

In April of that year, the president of the press refused to print a poem that he considered objectionable. In response, The Spectrum's editorial board did not run editorials that day "because Editor in Chief David Edelman refused to write an editorial 'in a censored newspaper,'" according to an April 18, 1967, Spectrum article.

Though The Spectrum was not charged for the space that was left blank in the paper, the contract between The Spectrum and Partners' Press was discontinued.

The Spectrum again came up against censorship as recently as 1995 when Student Association President Rob Werkmeister voiced his opinion that The Spectrum's editorial content should be subject to review from UB's administration.

"There has to be leadership from the administration to set the focus of what (The Spectrum staff) are doing," Werkmeister stated in an Oct. 27, 1995, article.

Werkmeister's opposition came in response to a pro-choice opinion piece the paper published earlier that month. The administration, however, decided not to take action against The Spectrum.

These futile attempts at taking control of The Spectrum's content had the potential to alter the course of the paper and could have prevented it from becoming the independent and impartial news source it has become today.

The independence The Spectrum is able to maintain comes mostly from financial independence. Unlike other publications, or even student clubs, The Spectrum is funded through advertising revenue (roughly 88 percent of total revenue) and a $1 per semester student subscription fee (approximately 11 percent), which students vote on every four years.

This is not to say that The Spectrum does not occasionally encounter financial difficulty and debt; like every business, there are peaks and lulls in income. This was first seen in 1967 when the Student Senate considered suspending the publication of the paper after The Spectrum's budget and "handling of funds came under fire," according to an April 7, 1967, article.

Suspension was voted against, but the Finance Committee, through the Senate, recommended that a certified public accountant audit the paper's books. Fiscal crisis averted, The Spectrum did not face further economic problems until 1979, when the paper went off its Sub-Board I-funded subscription fee, according to an Aug. 6, 1980, article.

After being unable to stay afloat of bills and printing fees, the Student Association granted The Spectrum a $50,000 subscription fee, which was used to pay the Buffalo News Press. Later that year, the newspaper arranged to have a revolving line of credit with Sub-Board I, which led to The Spectrum owing $21,000 it could not pay, according to a Feb. 24, 1986, article.

By 1985, after cutting costs severely, The Spectrum was beginning to find its way out of debt. The paper turned to advertising deals with the Graduate Student Association to pull it out of the red.

After going through several years of debt and nearly folding, The Spectrum requested a return to its subscription fee in 1986. After the Graduate Student Association Senate approved a resolution to raise their mandatory student activity fees by $1, the decision was left to the undergraduate student population to approve the same resolution for their fees.

"The Spectrum is our heart and soul and its survival is essential," said Dave Grubler, vice president of SA, in a Feb. 14, 1986, article.

After passing by a large majority vote (2976-723) in the Student Association Assembly, it seemed The Spectrum was on the road to financial stability.

"The students showed that The Spectrum is an important and vital service to the university," said Dennis Black, then assistant dean to Student Affairs, in a March 17, 1986, article.

Once assured of the $1 subscription fee from each student per semester, The Spectrum was well on its way to drafting a long-term plan to stay in business.

With the help of SA, GSA, Sub-Board I and the university administration, the paper created a board of directors - separate from its editorial board - to oversee the financial and business aspects of the paper, according to a Feb 6, 1986 article. This board was to have no interference with the editorial content of The Spectrum.

Opting to find a long-term replacement for the students that had previously occupied the job for one or two year stints, The Spectrum also hired a professional business manager, whose progress was to be overlooked by the board of directors.

Since 1986, the Spectrum Student Subscription Fee has remained at $1 per semester. This $1, in addition to advertising revenue, pays for the production and printing of 10,000 copies of The Spectrum, delivered three times every week to the entire student body.

The board of directors continues to oversee the major financial decisions of The Spectrum and the professional staff, while remaining outside of editorial decisions. Today, three members of the Student Association sit on the board to ensure proper allocation and use of the student money given to The Spectrum.




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