The fate of a referendum petition for WKDI’s United Press International wire service rests on obtaining 700 more signatures.

WKDI has collected 500 of the 1,200 student signatures necessary to call a referendum vote concerning the fate of the UPI wire service, General Manager Helen Frank said.

The Student Association decided against funding the wire service at a Dec. 6 senate meeting. The wire service contract is valid through July 1.

A referendum vote would be used in advising the SA of how NIU students feel about the radio station’s request. A referendum vote would not mean the outcome would be any different, SA President Jim Fischer said.

Frank said WKDI hopes to have enough signatures so the referendum will be included on the executive election ballot during the last week of March.

The cost of the five-year contract is being shared by WKDI, WNIU and TV-8 News, Frank said. WKDI and WNIU each pay 40 percent of the cost, while TV-8 pays 20 percent.

The SA members have suggested to WKDI to get a copy of the wire service from WNIU, “but we legally cannot give them a copy,” WNIU news director Marc Magliari said.

Getting the information from the morning paper, another SA suggestion, would be difficult, he said.

“The issue is whether or not WKDI is going to get funding for the UPI so their listeners have a timely way of getting sports, news and weather. The problem is the SA thinks they know how to program a radio station and they don’t,” Magliari said.

If the SA does not fund the WKDI cost, the TV-8 cost will have to increase, Robert LaConto, news director and faculty adviser to TV-8, said. TV-8 is supported through the Liberal Arts and Sciences budget.

“I’m not sure the university would tolerate a higher rate,” LaConto said.