Group's $8,525 funding raises questions about SA policy
by Hank Brockett
5/2/01
The Campus Recreation Center filled with revelers looking for a good time April 7, with the words “free party” and “sponsored by On-Point Entertainment” featured on a university-approved flier distributed across campus. The party came almost a year after the group was organized and recognized by the Student Association. And it came six days after the group received $8,525 from the student government for events just like this one.
A month-long Northern Star investigation, instigated by anonymous complaints, focused on the extraneous circumstances surrounding On-Point’s late-semester budget. A simple funds transaction, approved by the Student Senate, revealed the ease with which rules could be altered and ethical lines blurred when it comes to funding student organizations – all the while cutting into more than $1 million that comes from student fees every NIU student pays.
The rush to provide student groups with funding allowed for a connection that could have been questioned by the senate. Specifically, the On-Point party was held in conjunction with an event by Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity – an organization effectively banned from holding events on campus until debts are paid. Then there’s the question of whether On-Point qualified for funding in the first place.
But the involvement of SA President-elect Troy Caldwell, in both the treasury and as a member of Alpha Phi Alpha, has thrown a dark cloud on the spirit of giving – all while some question the treasury’s motives.
The senate has changed the SA budget process slightly since On-Point first received its money, and although the unforeseen funding situation that dominated the spring semester has ended, the money and experience for all those involved can’t be refunded.
A pleasant and unpleasant excess
Usually, the SA Finance Committee looks at the spring semester with eyes on the next year. The coming fiscal y ear’s budgets come across and are discussed by committee members. Some student groups get all the money they ask for, while other budgets remain unfilled.
But this year, the committee had double the workload. Following the SA business manager’s resignation, Caldwell realized that about $160,000 was left in a pool called supplemental funding – money that escaped the eyes of the treasury. Years of fiscal oversights contributed to the sum, adding money to a general fund used for organizations’ emergency situations. Now, the SA had an emergency of its own.
Normally, the fund remains at $60,000, consisting of a small monetary cushion and other amounts that student organizations didn’t use during the fiscal year.
At first, the treasury attempted to find organizations that were in dire need of extra money, following the rules in the SA Budget Guide. But soon afterward, Caldwell told the finance committee to allow everyone equal access to the money because of a somewhat-remote possibility that the state could take away that money at the end of the fiscal year.
“I’m really excited that students were able to utilize the general surplus,” Caldwell said, adding that about $130,000 from that fund was divvied out over the past three months. “We wanted organizations to benefit this year.”
Big allotments came first, including $40,000 for the Campus Activities Board to bring in rapper Nelly and pop band Nine Days.
It was then that On-Point Entertainment appeared before the finance committee looking for a big budgetary improvement.
‘A social entertainment organization’
When On-Point Entertainment was recognized March 5, 2000, the senate heard the tale of a group trying to offer more social outlets for bored NIU students. On-Point was one of a long string of organizations approved that spring semester, each offering more campus entertainment.
The group promised “comedy shows, dances and talent competition to R&B performances and concerts,” according to the On-Point Entertainment constitution. These ideals were shared, though, by a multitude of organizations like the Black Student Union, Campus Activities Board and Raising Multicultural Excellence.
And, according to the SA Budget Guide, “groups whose scope, purpose and/or planned activities are essential(ly) the same as existing organizations will not be funded by the SA.” So for the 2001-2002 school year, On-Point received only a $100 stipend given to newly approved student groups.