The television screens in the Hall building have been blank for an entire semester now. Most students barely notice the black boxes that hang precariously above their heads as they dash from class to class.
But Chris Schulz sees them.
“Concordia needs a student television station,” said the Concordia Student Union clubs commissioner. “Everyone will benefit from having an open media at the university.”
Concordia University Television (CUTV) has existed at Concordia for over a decade and a half, promising to bring students the news and views of the day, with original programming in between. The goal of the station was to keep students informed, while giving club members hands-on training in television production.
But, according to the CSU, the station has been plagued by problems in recent years, ranging from mismanaged funds to stolen equipment. The most recent scandal to rock CUTV was the dismissal of Olivia Gottlieb from the position of executive producer by the CSU judicial board.
New elections are slated for this Friday, Feb. 16, as the club plans to install an entirely new executive and erase the mistakes of the past.
“CUTV was under investigation last year by the judicial board after a complaint by a student,” said Schulz. “There, they uncovered a number of disturbing things. [CUTV was] not able to account for missing money, and they were contracting their equipment out to the private sector and keeping the returns.”
Former members banned
The report by the board, tabled on May 30, 2000, states that all of the executive be revoked from their positions, and banned from becoming members of CUTV again. The report also placed the club under stewardship of the clubs commissioner for a period of two years. All of this, according to the report, was done in an attempt to restructure the club, and avoid any further problems.
“It was a pattern,” said Patrice Blais, CSU interim financial manager. “This goes back about 7 years. One group accuses the other of being corrupt and taking things, new people get in, and then things go missing once again. And all the financial records go missing or are never handed in.”
A first set of elections for the executive was held on Oct. 17, 2000. Gottlieb was re-elected as executive producer, breaking the judicial board’s previous decision. Repeated attempts to contact CUTV went unanswered, but Gottlieb stated in a recent interview she was unaware of the board’s decision, and ran for executive in a legitimate manner.
Schulz doubts this. “This is extremely unlikely. The decision was well published throughout the school, and copies of the decision were available,” said Schulz. “Copies of the decision were again available at the first judicial board meeting of the year, and she was also given a copy of the decision when she became executive producer.”
“If your club was being investigated, wouldn’t you want to know what was being decided? It was the same crowd in control again.”
By December, however, Gottlieb had been executive producer for 2 months, without the knowledge of the judicial board. It was discovered when Gottlieb entered the CSU offices in late December to pick up a $10,000 check for new equipment.
Judicial board concerned
“Pat Gilmour (a member of the judicial board) was very concerned with who was executive producer at the station, ” said Schulz. “When Olivia came to pick up the check, I took it out of her hands, and she screamed and yelled at Patrice and myself.
“I found out to my dismay that she had entered the office later on, spoke to (CSU President Rob Green), yelled and screamed once more, and was then given the checks. It was a mistake.”
But the station was in desperate need of this money in order to get CUTV off the ground. The station had not yet started broadcasting, and the school year was half over.
All of this culminated in last month’s decision by the judicial board to remove Gottlieb from the CUTV offices. Schulz, flanked by VP internal Sabine Friesinger and two security guards, entered the CUTV offices and told Gottlieb to pack her things.
Station never shut down
“We never shut down CUTV,” said Blais. “We made sure that all the equipment was accounted for, and then we removed it. In May, after the judicial board’s decision, an $8,000 digital camera went missing, as well as other equipment. We were taking precautions. And then we had the locks changed.”
Both Concordia security and the CSU say the locks were changed as a result of a missing key, believed to be still in Gottlieb’s possession. Gottlieb maintains that the key was lost.
“Olivia felt attacked, but it was nothing personal,” said Blais. “We were just making sure there was no repeat of last year. It’s in no one’s best interest to lose an $8,000 camera that students [through the Media fund fee] have paid for.”
“The cycle of people ripping off equipment then not getting charged had to come to an end.”
Now, with all the equipment accounted for, and a new executive in power, Schulz is eager to see the club get back on its feet.
Already at work
“We have a fresh new group of students who are eager to put this issue behind them,” said Schulz. ” They are enthusiastic about getting this together, and they have already started production on segments for Canal Savoir.”
Concordia students are also awaiting CUTV’s return. Commerce student Jessica Lao said it would be a nice change to see the television screens lit up.
“When I have a break, it would be great to be able to watch television-especially shows done by Concordia students,” said Lao, 22. “Not many universities have this advantage.”
Sociology student Jason Walker echoes this. “Concordians need to know what’s going on in their school. They can read the papers, but usually they don’t have the time,” said Walker, 23.
“If they could get their information from the television screens as they’re studying or eating, it would be good for everything from school spirit to an informed student population. I’m all for it.”
But Chris Schulz sees them.
“Concordia needs a student television station,” said the Concordia Student Union clubs commissioner. “Everyone will benefit from having an open media at the university.”
Concordia University Television (CUTV) has existed at Concordia for over a decade and a half, promising to bring students the news and views of the day, with original programming in between. The goal of the station was to keep students informed, while giving club members hands-on training in television production.
But, according to the CSU, the station has been plagued by problems in recent years, ranging from mismanaged funds to stolen equipment. The most recent scandal to rock CUTV was the dismissal of Olivia Gottlieb from the position of executive producer by the CSU judicial board.
New elections are slated for this Friday, Feb. 16, as the club plans to install an entirely new executive and erase the mistakes of the past.
“CUTV was under investigation last year by the judicial board after a complaint by a student,” said Schulz. “There, they uncovered a number of disturbing things. [CUTV was] not able to account for missing money, and they were contracting their equipment out to the private sector and keeping the returns.”
Former members banned
The report by the board, tabled on May 30, 2000, states that all of the executive be revoked from their positions, and banned from becoming members of CUTV again. The report also placed the club under stewardship of the clubs commissioner for a period of two years. All of this, according to the report, was done in an attempt to restructure the club, and avoid any further problems.
“It was a pattern,” said Patrice Blais, CSU interim financial manager. “This goes back about 7 years. One group accuses the other of being corrupt and taking things, new people get in, and then things go missing once again. And all the financial records go missing or are never handed in.”
A first set of elections for the executive was held on Oct. 17, 2000. Gottlieb was re-elected as executive producer, breaking the judicial board’s previous decision. Repeated attempts to contact CUTV went unanswered, but Gottlieb stated in a recent interview she was unaware of the board’s decision, and ran for executive in a legitimate manner.
Schulz doubts this. “This is extremely unlikely. The decision was well published throughout the school, and copies of the decision were available,” said Schulz. “Copies of the decision were again available at the first judicial board meeting of the year, and she was also given a copy of the decision when she became executive producer.”
“If your club was being investigated, wouldn’t you want to know what was being decided? It was the same crowd in control again.”
By December, however, Gottlieb had been executive producer for 2 months, without the knowledge of the judicial board. It was discovered when Gottlieb entered the CSU offices in late December to pick up a $10,000 check for new equipment.
Judicial board concerned
“Pat Gilmour (a member of the judicial board) was very concerned with who was executive producer at the station, ” said Schulz. “When Olivia came to pick up the check, I took it out of her hands, and she screamed and yelled at Patrice and myself.
“I found out to my dismay that she had entered the office later on, spoke to (CSU President Rob Green), yelled and screamed once more, and was then given the checks. It was a mistake.”
But the station was in desperate need of this money in order to get CUTV off the ground. The station had not yet started broadcasting, and the school year was half over.
All of this culminated in last month’s decision by the judicial board to remove Gottlieb from the CUTV offices. Schulz, flanked by VP internal Sabine Friesinger and two security guards, entered the CUTV offices and told Gottlieb to pack her things.
Station never shut down
“We never shut down CUTV,” said Blais. “We made sure that all the equipment was accounted for, and then we removed it. In May, after the judicial board’s decision, an $8,000 digital camera went missing, as well as other equipment. We were taking precautions. And then we had the locks changed.”
Both Concordia security and the CSU say the locks were changed as a result of a missing key, believed to be still in Gottlieb’s possession. Gottlieb maintains that the key was lost.
“Olivia felt attacked, but it was nothing personal,” said Blais. “We were just making sure there was no repeat of last year. It’s in no one’s best interest to lose an $8,000 camera that students [through the Media fund fee] have paid for.”
“The cycle of people ripping off equipment then not getting charged had to come to an end.”
Now, with all the equipment accounted for, and a new executive in power, Schulz is eager to see the club get back on its feet.
Already at work
“We have a fresh new group of students who are eager to put this issue behind them,” said Schulz. ” They are enthusiastic about getting this together, and they have already started production on segments for Canal Savoir.”
Concordia students are also awaiting CUTV’s return. Commerce student Jessica Lao said it would be a nice change to see the television screens lit up.
“When I have a break, it would be great to be able to watch television-especially shows done by Concordia students,” said Lao, 22. “Not many universities have this advantage.”
Sociology student Jason Walker echoes this. “Concordians need to know what’s going on in their school. They can read the papers, but usually they don’t have the time,” said Walker, 23.
“If they could get their information from the television screens as they’re studying or eating, it would be good for everything from school spirit to an informed student population. I’m all for it.”
