The independent student newspaper of Nicholls, The Nicholls Worth, will be going up for a self-assessed fee increase during theStudent Government Association elections on April 16 and 17. “The Nicholls Worth, since its inception, has been funded by student fees, and that fee has not been increased since 1980,” Nicki Boudreaux, director of student publications, said.

“In those 22 years, since the fee has been increased, printing costs have escalated, and minimum wage has increased.”

Boudreaux said advertising revenue does supplement the assessed fee, but the advertising department does not make enough to cover the costs of printing the paper and paying the students who work for the paper.

The Nicholls Worth currently receives $3 in the fall and $1.50 in the summer.

“We are asking that that amount be increased to $6 per student in the fall and spring and $3 per student in the summer,” Boudreaux said.

In September, when Boudreaux became the director of student publications. She began looking at the paper’s budget.

“Because throughout the years, most expenses came out of the advertising account, which at one time had a surplus, that account has sort of dwindled away,” she said.

“It has been a long time since the self-assessed account has truly been able to cover the cost of printing The Nicholls Worth, but advertising always had enough surplus to be able to supplement that amount.”

Boudreaux said the Nicholls Worth will end the fiscal year with a negative balance.

“The only way for us to increase the amount of money that we bring in is to go to the students,” she said.

Boudreaux said the student staff has been understanding when it comes to dealing with the situation.

“Our student staff said they all want to do whatever they can to help the situation,” she said.

“They were very involved in going to the Student Government Association in asking them to pass the referendum, and they have also been very encouraging by trying to spread positive word of mouth throughout the student body to help us get the referendum passed.”

If the referendum does not pass, Boudreaux said she is not sure what will happen, but that The Nicholls Worth may have to cease production.

The staff members of The Nicholls Worth have been working to help out with the budget problem by moving their deadlines.

“One thing they have done is worked very hard to meet an early deadline which is part of our current agreement with The Houma Courier. If they meet the early deadline, they get a 25 percent discount and free color on the front page,” Boudreaux said.

Students on campus will be directly affected if the referendum does not pass. More than a dozen students would loose their campus jobs, and the students of Nicholls would not have a weekly information source, Boudreaux said.

“Most of the students who have been surveyed by the SGA say that The Nicholls Worth is their main source of news on campus. I think that it would be to their detriment if the referendum does not pass,” Boudreaux said.