The Associated Student Government recommended Wednesday that the African-American Theatre Ensemble be given four weeks to pay back a debt of nearly $1,200.
The debt stems from an old unpaid bill signed by former AATE President Cecilia Saffold.
“Basically, they spent money that wasn’t there,” said ASG Financial Vice President Carson Kuo. “They overspent.”
The recommendation said AATE should pay $800 of the debt and that Saffold should be responsible for the remaining $383.50. Saffold has to pay within four weeks or explain why she is not responsible for the debt. If she does neither, the Student Activities Finance Board will request that a hold be placed on her registration and transcripts.
Saffold said the debt originates from a lighting bill for the a cappella musical “Avenue X,” which took place Fall Quarter. The bill was from Design Lab, a Chicago company.
Under SAFB guidelines, the president and treasurer of an organization are responsible for all financial matters because of contracts signed with the Student Organization Finance Office at the beginning of their terms.
Saffold said she is not responsible for the debt because she was not president when she signed the bill. She was president from January 1999 to June 2000.
“I’m not paying them back a dime,” said Saffold, a Weinberg senior. “If the (current) exec board is too irresponsible to let this happen, I have nothing to do with that.”
In Spring Quarter 2000, SAFB had given AATE a budget of $942 for sound and lighting of shows. After members received the $1,200 bill, Senate decided to pay it from the contingency account, which is used to “bail out” student groups, Kuo said.
“Design Lab does a lot of work with (Northwestern) theater groups,” said Kuo, an Education junior. “We didn’t want to ruin their relationship with NU (by letting this debt go unpaid).”
The money went to Design Lab over the weekend and the debt will be paid soon, Kuo said.
The bill came back to AATE Treasurer Kristian Aloma about three weeks into Winter Quarter. It was dated from last Spring Quarter.
Aloma said the photocopied bill he received did not have Saffold’s signature on it, but the original copies in the AATE office do.
AATE will pay its share of the debt with most of the profits from its past two shows, said Aloma, a Speech junior. They also will hold a fund-raising party and raffle the computer in their office, he said.
Saffold said Aloma and AATE President Joshua Mitchell had not contacted her about the matter, although Mitchell e-mailed her to ask if she could help with an April 12 show.
Mitchell declined to comment.
Aloma said he has not made contact with Saffold about the current matter, but Saffold and Kuo said they have been communicating via e-mail.
Kuo said he is still investigating the case and that the nature of the bill has not been determined.
“The facts are still being sorted out,” he said. “That’s why there was four weeks in the recommendation.”
SAFB has not used the contingency account since Fall 1999, when it reimbursed 3am magazine for a bill that had come in over the summer.
