OKLAHOMA — A copy editor at Oklahoma State University's
student paper is vowing to fight an attempt by the journalism department's
director to remove her from the school's publications board.
Tom Weir, director of the School of Journalism and Broadcasting, sent a
letter to student board member Jessie Markovetz on March 26 to inform her she
would have to be removed from her position, citing a section of the board's
bylaws that says no one holding "a salaried editorial staff position" at the
O'Collegian can serve on the board. The bylaws define a salaried employee
as one that receives a base pay for each issue that is not tied to an hourly
wage.
Markovetz gets paid $25 per night that she copy edits, no matter how many
hours she works, but the $25 is converted into an hourly wage on her paycheck.
Joey Senat, a journalism professor who is advising Markovetz, said he does not
think Markovetz should be considered a salaried employee.
Markovetz said she went to the March 27 board meeting and delivered a
letter to the board saying Weir overstepped his authority by removing her
because the bylaws do not grant him the power to unilaterally remove a board
member. She questioned the timing of Weir's letter, which was delivered a day
before the board was scheduled to meet and choose a new O'Collegian
editor in chief.
"I knew that it wasn't quite right," Markovetz said. "He all along has used
his authority to make all the decisions."
The board could not vote on a new editor in chief during the meeting,
however, because no candidates applied.
Suzanne Holcombe, publications board chairwoman, said Markovetz is
considered salaried because she gets paid per issue, not hourly.
"It was nothing Dr. Weir wanted to do," said Holcombe, a documents
librarian. "We're following what the bylaws say."
Holcombe said the process of removing of a board member is not addressed in
the board's bylaws. But Holcombe spoke with university legal counsel, who said
the board will probably have to vote on Markovetz' removal for the decision to
stand.
Markovetz, who technically is still on the board until a vote takes place,
also questioned Weir's motives in removing her from the board, citing tensions
among board members over a policy change that would put the O'Collegian
Web editor under the authority of the editor in chief.
Past conflicts
O'Collegian staffers began to withhold
print content from the paper's Web site in November when disputes arose over who
had authority over ocolly.com. O'Collegian general manager Fritz Wirt had
allowed a student to write for the paper's Web site, ocolly.com, after former
Editor in Chief Jenny Redden had already fired the student. Redden, a former
SPLC intern, said Wirt should not make hiring decisions for the publication
because he is not a student.
Redden asked the publications board to formally declare that the editor in
chief had authority over ocolly.com. The board said it could not because there
was no policy defining the Web site's relationship to the paper. O'Collegian
staffers, under new Editor in Chief Rhiannon Mako, in January allowed the
paper's print content back on ocolly.com after the board created a committee to
look into the issue.
The committee ultimately recommended the Web editor function under the
authority of the editor in chief. The board was supposed to vote on the
committee's policy change recommendations as early as January, but the vote was
postponed for months. Holcombe said the board likely will not address the Web
site issue until other matters are resolved.
The board is waiting for the new university president to decide what type
of relationship the university will have with the O'Collegian, Holcombe
said. The university may examine whether the O'Collegian will continue
being funded by student fees. The board also has to find an adviser for the
paper before the board determines if it has authority to act on the Web site
issue, she said.
Wirt maintains ocolly.com should function separately from the
O'Collegian so the Web site can grow and eventually produce its own
editorial content. The board's delay on deciding the Web site's status has not
allowed ocolly.com to progress, he said.
"It's on cruise control right now until something changes," Wirt said.
"We're just trying to co-exist."
In the meantime, ocolly.com will continue functioning as it always has,
with a Web editor posting O'Collegian print content to the Web site. The
next board meeting is April 11, where members may vote on Markovetz' removal and
discuss the hiring of the next editor in chief, Holcombe said.
By Emilie Yam, SPLC staff writer
