In an effort to make the student government’s financial dealings more public this year, ASG treasurer Ivy LeTourneau will report transactions to the Senate and hold office hours for anyone with questions.

This comes after previous ASG administrations were “less-than-forthright about their spending,” said president Patrick Keenan-Devlin, a Music senior.

A Daily investigation last spring of an audit-trail report found that ASG members in previous administrations had spent more than $700 on a transition dinner for 18 people and $4,000 on a Senate retreat. The money came from a “special projects” fund meant for operational costs. The fund will now be completely transparent, Keenan-Devlin said.

“I have now made that line-item public, and anything spent through that line item will be made public,” Keenan-Devlin said.

The criticism ASG drew earlier last year inspired a referendum requiring ASG to post updated ledgers and other financial information on the Internet. Students approved the referendum in March, but it was never put into effect. Legal questions surrounded the referendum concerning its adherence to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act.

The act would require all students’ names to be blacked out unless student consent was obtained, said federal Education Department spokesman Jim Bradshaw.

LeTourneau, a Weinberg sophomore, said she did not want to put the information online – a practice currently in place at Washington University in St. Louis.

“I’m really reluctant to post the account information online,” LeTourneau said. “I would like to be there to make sure that things are understood.”

LeTourneau said she is happy to go over all the financial documents with anyone who is interested, with only the names blacked out.

“The people who wrote the referendum didn’t know the ins and outs of the job (as treasurer),” she said.

Keenan-Devlin said he also hopes to share the information verbally or on paper. He said his administration has nothing to hide.

“I respect the referendum, and that is why I have tried to do it in other ways,” Keenan-Devlin said. “We are trying to correct previous mistakes.”

LeTourneau’s office hours will be posted on the ASG Web site when it is redesigned. She will continue to report financial transactions to the Senate, and senators will be able to challenge any transactions by asking questions or by calling for a vote, Keenan-Devlin said.

Keenan-Devlin also said he plans to discuss financial matters more with Helen Wood, an ASG adviser and director of the Center for Student Involvement. He said he will defer to her judgment and seek her advice more than in past years. Wood has to approve any money spent by ASG. This should alleviate student concerns about transparency, Keenan-Devlin said.

“There is no way Helen Wood would allow us to spend money in any way that is questionable,” he said.

But Keenan-Devlin said he hopes to move beyond the transparency issue.

“There are so many more things we need to focus on,” he said.

Reach Diana Samuels at [email protected]