Members of the Associated Students UCLA Finance Committee and the Communications Board discussed the association’s finances and possible models for UCLA Student Media at their monthly meeting Friday.
Budget
- Executive Director Bob Williams said the association performed well in September, garnering a profit of $244,000.
- Williams said food services experienced overall growth but suffered some losses in the catering front.
- Williams noted that the new Kikka restaurant, which was formally called Tsunami, had been doing well and had overall positive sales. He said that Kikka brought in $29,000 more than last year when it still operated as Tsunami.
- Williams also commented on last night’s football game, which he said had a turnout that was lower than expected. He attributed the low turnout rate to the timing of the game, which took place on a Thursday night, when traffic is usually heavy. Williams said sales of new jerseys at the game would bring in extra revenues.
Agenda Items
- Arvli Ward, the director of UCLA Student Media, said the Daily Bruin is under budget by around $6,000 in terms of revenue.
- Ward added that the Daily Bruin had been selling advertisement spaces on newspaper kiosks to bring in extra profits.
- He also said sales of yearbooks had been low for the past three years and said Student Media has hired a full-time professional with an unlimited contract term in an attempt to turn those numbers around.
- The board passed a proposal that would extend the deadline to January for Student Media to pay back $150,000 to the association.
- Williams said the deferment would help alleviate some of the financial burdens of Media in the short term.
- He said for the long term problems, he planned to implement some kind of strategy, such as renting out Student Media spaces or passing fee referendums.
Compiled by Melody Teng, Bruin contributor.