February 25, 2010 Via mail: president@po.utexas.edu Re: One Last Plea for the Sake of the Cactus. Mr. William Power Jr. President, University of Texas at Austin Dear President Powers, At the February 2 town hall meeting, you lent your unmitigated support to the decision to “phase cout” the Cactus Cafe stating that the Cactus “is an entity that is supported by student funds and they need to have a great say in how itis used.” Since then, it has become clear that “the students” had little, ifany, input in the decision to phase out the Cactus. Furthermore, the University’s justifications for closing the Cactus remain unsubstantiated. ‘A December 1, 2009 letter from Union Executive Director Wm. Andrew Smith to the Vice President for Student Affairs, Juan Gonzalez. states “we intend to discontinue two programs: the Informal Classes and The Cactus Cafe.” Smith continues by explaining “This was a difficult decision to reach.” ‘Thus, two months before the Union Board gave its support to phase out the Cactus, Andy Smith had already made the decision to close it. Rather than take responsibility for his decision, Smith attempted to pass it off to the students. “The draft of the press release announcing the Cactus’ closure as of noon Wednesday, January 27 credited the decision to the Division of Student Affairs. Following a recommendation to attribute the decision to the Union Board, the version that was actually published on the Union’s website the following Friday stated “the Texas Union Board of Directors gave its support on Friday to phase out the Texas Union's Cactus Cafe...” Perhaps realizing that they were pawns in Andy Smith's game, Student Government President and Union Board member Liam O’Rourke said, “The Texas Union Board did not vote on the matter.” Student Events Center President and Union Board member Andrew Nash said that he was unaware that the Cactus’ operations would be cut until “he was told so” at the January 29 meeting. Union Board faculty member, Thomas Garza soon announced that all three faculty members were absent during the meeting as “the item wasn’t explicit on the distributed agenda...” If the Union Board was responsible for the decision, it may be voidable under the Texas Public Information Act, since the agenda distributed prior to the meeting was not “sufficient to apprise the general public of the subjects considered during the meeting.” Furthermore, notice of the January 29 meeting was not publicly posted until February 4, in violation of the Act's requirement to post notice of an open meeting at least 72 hours in advance. Finally, according to the Austin Chronicle, the Cactus was not mentioned in an audio tape of the 25-minute meeting. ‘Thus, the decision to close the Cactus has been « public relations disaster at best and downright illegal at worst. ‘The Union argues that closing the Cactus is necessary to fund the mandatory 2% merit increases. ‘Smith reports that the Union will save $66,000 over two fiscal years from closing the Cactus. However, according to the Cactus budget, not taking into account advertising costs, which is a separate budget not under the control of Cactus management, the average annual loss experienced by the Cactus over the past 5 years has been $27,179. ‘The numbers don’t add up.Gonzalez stated, “Running and operating a bar and venue for local artists falls below the line of ‘what the union ought to be doing,” demonstrating his obliviousness to the Cactus’ real value. Music has always been the primary focus of the Cactus; the bar is secondary, which is why, unlike other venues in this town, approximately only a third of the Cactus’ revenues come from alcohol sales. The Cactus is a fine arts program, and as such, the University’s refusal to explore alternate funding mechanisms to support itis appalling. Furthermore, it remains unclear how the Cactus fails to fit within the Union’s stated mission to “complement the academic experience through a well-planned program of educational, cultural, social and recreational activities and events.” In 2009 alone, the Cactus hosted 25 open mic nights and 208 professional shows featuring 176 headlining acts from artists from at least 11 different countries and over ‘50 musical genres and sub-genres, ‘Smith has repeatedly stated that more than 90 percent of the people who visit the Cactus are not UT students. However, in response to an open records request for “demographic data from the past five years relating to the population of the Cactus Cafe patrons that was compiled, reviewed or considered,” the University replied that it had “identified no documents responsive...” ‘The argument that students need the space currently occupied by the Cactus also falls flat. Night afier night, the Cactus attracts people to the Union, while rooms that are currently “room inventory” remain unused. For example, this February, the Cactus hosted 23 events, while the Union Ballroom hosted three and the Union Theater hosted nine. Student-controlled programming resulted in 44 empty stages in February alone. Your support of what appears to be Smith’s unilateral decision to close the Cactus has severely diminished the University’s reputation. The Cactus Cafe is an irreplaceable institution and an ambassador of bumt orange good will to music fans all over the world. Any action that relocates or repurposes the historic venue such that it does not operate daily under the supervision of professional management effectively kills the Cactus. Solutions exist that will “Save the Cactus,” allow increased student access, and provide outside financial support necessary to ensure that the University docs not have to subsidize the Cactus. However, if you allow the Cactus to die, that will be your legacy. Please stand up for the sake of the song and the sake of the Cactus, and allow the Cactus community to find a better solution. Sigcerely, (yo Titlapy(E. Wafker UT Ahkn, BA. 1999, J.D. 2002 Ce: Andy Smith, David Ochsner, Juan Gonzalez, Liam O'Rourke, Basil Awad, Andrew Nash, Alyssa Flores, Nicole Falkenberg, Nathan Bunch, Dave Puntch, UT Board of Regents, Senator Kirk Watson, Senator Elliot Naishtat