Associated Student Government will be subject to a full financial misconduct investigation regarding the operation of the Chicago Weekend Shuttle, the Student Activities Finance Board announced at ASG’s Wednesday meeting.
Jenna Pilat, an SAFB account executive who will administer the hearing, said the board could not ignore several questions that came up about the shuttle.
“There has been no formal charge, we’re just fact finding,” said Pilat, a Weinberg junior. “There are just questions we need to have answered about the shuttle, its running and programming.”
SAFB will conduct its investigation next Tuesday and report its recommendation at the next ASG meeting, Pilat said. Past financial misconduct hearings have resulted in groups being fined or derecognized.
Pilat is leading the hearing because Le’Jamiel Goodall, ASG financial vice president and SAFB chairman, briefly acted as ASG’s treasurer and thus excused himself due to the conflict of interest. ASG’s budget will be frozen until the issue is resolved.
ASG Treasurer Edith Rivera said the shuttle contract negotiations with Royal American Bus Lines fell by the wayside because she was busy with ASG funding and supplemental audits.
The problem was complicated by the position of ASG treasurer itself, which was held by several different people, said ASG President Rachel Lopez.
Two shuttles were supposed to run each Friday and Saturday of the school year, excluding breaks and finals week, at a cost of $1,222 per weekend, said Rivera, a Communication junior.
ASG has earmarked more than $30,000 of its $88,000 operating budget to run the shuttle.
Rivera said she expected to begin contract negotiations after Winter Break but did not receive the necessary materials.
Helen Wood, an ASG adviser and director of the Campus Activities Office, said Monday that ASG was powerless to get the shuttle running without contracts because of the university’s liability.
“Until we have paperwork in our hands, it’s hard to do stuff with it,” Wood said. “We cannot run the shuttle without it.”
The first contract was received Jan. 17, and when the second arrived on Jan. 23, it was sent to the university for legal approval. Campus Activities received contracts signed by the university on Jan. 31, then waited until Feb. 3 for an insurance certificate to complete the process.
Rivera said the shuttle will begin running Friday and Saturday nights from 8:30 p.m. to around 3 a.m. starting this weekend. Shuttles will run about every half hour from NU’s Evanston campus to Wrigleyville and downtown near the Magnificent Mile, she said.
In addition to the financial misconduct investigation announcement, senators approved a bill asking NU to shorten Freshman Freeze and newly appointed Rules Chairwoman Noreen Khalid introduced ASG election guidelines.
The Freeze bill calls upon the university to abolish the policy that bans freshmen from certain Interfraternity Council dry, in-house events after New Student Week.
Khalid, a Communication senior, said the proposed election guidelines would require candidates to run a paperless campaign. She also said no money can be spent on the election if the guidelines are adopted.
She said no write-in candidates, including the popular “Sexy Lesbians,” would be considered under the new rules.
A bill to create an online ride board system also passed with no opposition. In addition, Communication sophomore Matt Hall was appointed as ASG’s secretary and parliamentarian, and a bill on constitutional cleanup was introduced to the Senate.
