It seems the new UP columnists don’t know much about Student Government, and that’s OK. Hopefully, they’ll become a lot more familiar as they grow into their roles. But, as a former UP Opinions Editor, I do know a little bit and was a bit surprised at what was said in the first issue.
In regards to Ms. Liyakasa’s column: There is nothing that Student Government cannot disclose about money.
Since they’re public officials using public money, they have to show accountability for its use. Otherwise, they could get away with anything – like giving themselves retroactive pay raises. Oh wait, they already did that. So there is no reason, except arrogance, for SG not to release records as to what they are spending money on.
The money that was used for these raises is such a mystery that a University-Wide Council member (one of the 15 students that received a pay raise), Heather Boyer, said in an email that she doesn’t know where the money came from and “nobody has given me a straight answer about where this money is from.”
This is either odd, because SG is supposed to keep records on where the money comes and goes, or it’s shady, because the money just appeared their out of the thin air. There’s something shady any time a public official tries to conceal what she is doing with the money – and when they try to shut down a paper they’re just asking for bad publicity.
In regards to Mr. Good’s column: I think SG did “deliberately misappropriate university funds” and quite frankly, I’m upset with the administration for failing to take action. SG was, as Heather Boyer wrote, “awarded” this pay raise. There wasn’t a vote, and as I pointed out before, the origin of the money is a mystery to at least one SG member. Plus, a 25-percent pay raise is absolutely unheard of. Consider this: If the faculty is lucky, they get a 2- to 2.5- percent pay raise. So basically, SG got the equivalent of 10 years’ worth of faculty raises – if the faculty is even lucky enough to get such a raise.
This is where the administration dropped the ball.
They should have taken immediate action by opening an investigation, suspending their pay till it was over. And, if they found a misappropriation of funds, either suspend the students or force them to step down. It’s inexcusable that the administration would allow SG to give the university a black eye and then do nothing about the den of thieves that SG is seemingly turning into.
If FAU wants to become a big-name university, then scandals like this have to be taken care of, and quickly. The students who think themselves so arrogant as to deserve a pay raise tenfold – more than the faculty – should have to Find Another University.
Lastly, as for both of you, shame on you for not being more outraged. This is your money and this is your school so give a damn. Don’t make apologies for SG if they’re still going to sit tight-lipped about the pay raises. If you don’t know much about what happened, ask. Don’t just comment out of ignorance, ask questions and get answers. And when you don’t get answers, then write about that too. But otherwise, good first columns.
Dan RestrepoFAU alumnus
