A representative from the entrepreneurial organization asking for a $37,545 loan from the House of Student Representatives presented its case at its meeting last night.
Michael Hennig, vice president of operations for the CEO Entrepreneurial Club, said the proposed student-run TV station, CEO TV, would give many departments at TCU the opportunity to get hands-on experience in business and broadcasting.
The station would give House meetings and other events at TCU exposure on campus that has previously been unavailable, Hennig said.
“It’s an opportunity to make a real tangible improvement on campus,” he said.
The bill was tabled until after Spring Break for more deliberation.
“We want to make sure House members understand the implications of this bill,” said President Jay Zeidman. “A lot of things still need to be clarified.”
Hennig said CEO TV would be a private profiting business, confusing Treasurer David Watson who said he previously understood it to be a non-profit endeavor.
CEO club members project the station will receive $80,000 in revenue during its first operating year, which will begin in August, Hennig said.
The station would operate from the third floor of Smith Entrepreneurs Hall and be broadcast free of charge on TCU cable’s channel 47, Hennig said.
Hennig said the station would pay “limited rent” for the office space and that “discounts may be in order.”
Watson originally broke a 4-4 tie in a Finance Committee vote to send the bill to the House because he said he wanted to get the opinion of House members.
The bill requires the CEO club to pay back the loan plus $4,455 interest in monthly payments over 5 years, a total payment of $42,000. The loan will come out of the Student Government Association’s general reserve fund, which Watson said is about $120,000.
Trevor Smith, a House representative and member of the CEO club, said Hennig’s presentation lacked facts.
“We need more facts before we can give a $40,000 loan,” Smith said. “They are not really putting 100 percent into their cause.”
But Sebastian Moleski, vice president of Programming Council, said he was confident the plan would work.
“When I first saw this bill I thought these people were nuts,” Moleski said. “Sometimes the things that are nuts are the things that make the biggest difference.”
Rep. Christina Ruffini said she is skeptical of Hennig’s claims that many faculty members support CEO TV because the journalism professors she has talked to either don’t know about it or don’t support it.
“If executives really wanted to back up CEO TV they would be here,” Smith said.
Hennig said CEO club members surveyed 75 to 100 students and they were “overwhelmingly supportive.”
He said the club came to the House for the loan because members didn’t think they could get one from a bank. Hennig said the bank wouldn’t see it as a sound investment, but said he thought House would benefit from the interest money.
