The University Council added to its list of committees Wednesday a subcommittee designated to provide the council with answers concerning the reorganization of the Northern Star.

The subcommittee of The Northern Star Blue Ribbon Committee will look into the questions and concerns brought up by NIU President John LaTourette in making the Star a University Related Organization (URO). These are concerns of funding the increased costs of an independent Star and the membership of the separate board which would govern the new organization.

One of LaTourette’s concerns was whether a URO can be subsidized by the university. Student Association Treasurer Lisa Schlepp said, “We understood that a URO cannot be subsidized by the university. But it can be contracted for services … there can be a contractual agreement for a number of papers produced by the (Star).”

Jim Giles, executive secretary for the council, said NIU cannot pay for the services of a URO but can pay for the product of the URO. “The Northern Star is not a service, it is a product,” Giles said. He compared the funding by NIU to a subscription fee.

Larry Finkelstein, professor of political science, said the argument that is missing from the report is how the change will improve the quality of the Star.

Leonard Strickman, dean of the college of law, said, “The cost/benefit justification … is the combination of editorial independence and the accompaniment of a (separate) board to create a greater degree of autonomy.”

The subcommittee also will provide a complete budget of the present Star to the council and a list of all the costs involved in the Star becoming independent, Schlepp said. The committee did not include the budget in the report because it was “just a rough estimate … to see where we were working from,” Schlepp said.

Finkelstein said he felt the difference of past costs and future costs had been exaggerated. “Past figures don’t seem like what the university has provided in the past. If we look carefully, we could decrease this difference,” he said.

LaTourette also expressed concern about the membership of the board which would govern the URO. As a URO, the Star would be governed by a separate board of directors chosen by the committee. State regulations of UROs indicate a significant number of members must be non-faculty, Giles said.

Schlepp said these regulations separate the organization from the university. “UROs don’t want any relationship with the university, such as the entanglements the faculty have editorial-wise,” she said.

The Blue Ribbon Committee was first formed in September 1986 to study the structure of and possible changes to the Star. The committee’s report on the feasibility of making the Star a URO cannot be acted upon by the council until financial and legal concerns are cleared.

Schlepp said the subcommittee will be formed “for expedience sake.” She said that with fewer members it will be easier to schedule meetings necessary to cover the number of concerns. Two meetings are scheduled to be held before the next council meeting in April.

Schlepp, who is chairman of the Blue Ribbon Committee, said members of the subcommittee have not been chosen, but will consist of a “good cross section of the members of the committee.” Five members of the committee, including Schlepp, will be on the subcommittee.

The faculty advisory members of the subcommittee are Jon Dalton, vice president of Student Affairs; Eddie Williams, vice president of Finance and Planning; James Harder, interim vice president of