The Texas Student Publications Board decided Friday to seek a student referendum on whether The Daily Texan's editor should be appointed or elected and postponed taking a position on the issue until members can examine it further.
The board also decided Friday to rescind its March 4 vote which supported a change in the 100-year tradition of electing The Daily Texan editor.
The resolution to discard the original vote and continue studying the issue during the summer passed by a 6-to-1 vote. The issue will be put on the board's first agenda in the fall to prevent it from "dropping the ball," said TSP Board President Cale McDowell, a finance senior.
Dean of the Texas Capitol press corps Dave McNeely, a former Texan editor from 1963-1964 and advocate for maintaining the editorship as an elected position, said he was glad the board cancelled its vote.
"I think that any delay is valuable," he said. "A decision like this could take a lot of time and energy to correct. Some say there's a need to move forward, but I think making the editor appointed would be a move backwards."
McDowell urged the board members to take a formal position on whether the editor should be appointed or elected, but the members did not want to take a position without more information.
"If we thought it was a good idea then, it's a good idea now," McDowell said. He has been an advocate of appointing the editor since he and Texan editor Ben Heath, a philosophy senior, brought up the issue on March 4.
"I think it's a shame that we didn't take a position, but the appointed editor didn't die today and that's the important thing," McDowell said.
The board also unanimously passed a resolution asking the University to stop prior review at the paper.
Ending the "disgusting" practice of prior review at the paper was his first priority, Heath said. He said the Texan needs an adviser who can spend time critiquing stories and holding workshops for the staff rather than having to read the entire paper each night prior to publication.
"Having a full-time adviser rather than prior review would be a better use of time and money and expertise and would probably accomplish the same thing," McNeely said.
Due to uncertainty about the legal rights of TSP under its agreement with the University, the Declaration of Trust, the board passed resolutions asking the University to hold off on approving previous changes to the handbook, Declaration of Trust and operating agreement submitted during the past few years.
The board also voted to seek legal advice from the University legal counsel regarding the validity of the trust and to request permission from the University to seek independent legal counsel on the issue.
The Texan does not consider the University's legal council from "narrow-minded people in a narrow tower" valid or trustworthy, Heath said.
"Someone who doesn't care about this is the only one who can give us independent legal advice," he said.
The Declaration of Trust, TSP's operating agreement signed in 1971, gives the UT Board of Regents control over TSP's assets under the condition that they act on behalf of the document's beneficiaries. However, the TSP Board is unsure of who the beneficiaries of the agreement are, as it is not explicitly stated in the document.
Board members said they were also unsure of TSP's legal rights under the trust.
McDowell said the board does not want to get bullied into a position by "one-sided legal advice."
Board member Diane Beckham, senior staff counsel for the Texas District and County Attorney Association, said making a decision on changing the Declaration of Trust or about changing the Texan editor without more legal counsel would be "putting the proverbial cart before the horse."
"It would be irresponsible for us to act like these issues are severable," Beckham said. "If we act prematurely, the danger of that is too grave."
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