A typo in last year’s election packets that resulted in $5,400 in lost wages for ASUO student senators continues to haunt the senate. The issue dominated its first meeting of winter term Wednesday.
The election packet provided for last year’s senate candidates stated senators would receive $175 per month, when the actual figure was $125 per month.
The most recent debate centered around a resolution created last December that would formally censure, among others, ASUO Accounting Coordinator Jennifer Creighton-Neiwert. Creighton-Neiwert was hired in July 1999 as the ASUO accounting coordinator and the ASUO coordinator.
Creighton-Neiwert was personally unclear on why her name was included in the resolution, as she had no official role in the production of the election packets. Her culpability for the error in the election packets was the issue of contention during much of Wednesday’s meeting, however.
Some senators said they felt including Creighton-Neiwert in the resolution was too harsh.
“It was just a simple typo,” said Sen. Bethany Larson. “Maybe we should just drop it.”
Sen. Colin Andries disagreed.
“Part of moving forward is acknowledging that something was wrong … (Creighton-Neiwert) should be held liable for what she takes on,” he said.
Andries explained why he felt Creighton-Neiwert should be censured: “She overlooks a lot of things, whether they’re in her job description or not. She was definitely asked about the elections process.”
Andries went on to say Creighton-Neiwert serves as a “point of continuity” between ASUO Senate Administrations because of the permanence of her position. Thus, he said, many go to her for advising because of her extensive experience with the ASUO.
The senate was mostly divided on the issue, creating an impasse, and some likened the dead-end conversation to “beating a dead horse.”
“We’re just throwing blame around,” Senate Ombudsman Mike Sherman said.
After nearly an hour of debate, Andries successfully moved to remove Creighton-Neiwert’s name from the resolution in an attempt to get the resolution passed. Without Creighton-Neiwert, the resolution would still have censured the 2002-2003 ASUO Executive, the 2002-2003 Elections Board and the 2002-2003 ASUO Constitution Court.
“There was a pervading feeling in the room that it wasn’t going to get passed with her name in there,” he said.
In spite of Andries’ last-minute amendment, the resolution did not pass, with 11 of the 17 present senators voting against it. Many senators still said they felt the amended resolution was too harsh and unnecessary.
“I think it’s clear how the senate feels, and I don’t feel that we needed to express it any more formally,” Senate President Ben Strawn said.
Senators were generally in favor of a procedural amendment that would make sure such an error would not occur again.
Whether or not the issue was put to rest is largely unclear, as some senators still want to pursue it with solutions ranging from censuring ASUO Election Board members to simply amending the process. However, some progress seems to have been made toward resolving the issue.
The Senate also approved the transfer of $288 for the Jewish Student Union to buy food for the Jewish Cultural Night. The vote was nearly unanimous, with Sen. Rodrigo Moreno saying “I’m all for diversity.”