Administration questions USAC spending

Thursday, October 15, 1998

Administration questions USAC spending

USAC: Representative says funds frozen since conference trip not
university-related

By Barbara Ortutay

Daily Bruin Staff

Conflicts between the administrative representative and members
of the Undergraduate Students Association Council (USAC) are
nothing new.

This year, one heated issue seems to be the interpretation of
the USAC constitution and bylaws, especially as they relate to the
use of mandatory student fees for what some see as political
causes.

On Sept. 21 and 22, three USAC members attended a conference at
UC Berkeley. They planned to use USAC funds to pay for the
conference, but the funds have been frozen.

The conference, called Critical Resistance, focused on the
prison system, its relationship to higher education, race and
domestic violence.

³A similar incident occurred last year, when a student
group planned to attend a conference on police brutality,²
said USAC President Stacy Lee.

Funds were frozen then because the administration did not see
the conference as university-related.

According to USAC general representative Mike de la Rocha, the
council applied for funding to cover the registration fees and
transportation for the prison conference.

³On Wednesday, Lyle (Timmerman, USAC administrative
representative), e-mailed someone and we found that the funds were
frozen,² de la Rocha said.

According to the Sept. 29 USAC minutes, de la Rocha was informed
of the cancellation of the funding when he went to pick up the
check at Student Government Accounting.

Timmerman said he sent three e-mails to council members about
the funding cancellation, and that no official appeals had been
made about it.

During the meeting, de la Rocha said he would like to know the
process for overturning USAC funding decisions.

³In previous meetings, (Timmerman) said he disagreed with
our use of the funds,² de la Rocha said. ³In the past,
his opinion was opinion, not determination.²

Although Timmerman said he disagreed with the use of student
fees, he also said he did not freeze the funds for the
conference.

Council members are not sure who actually made the decision to
freeze the funds.

During the Sept. 29 USAC meeting, Associated Students of UCLA
executive director Patricia Eastman said that when mandatory
student fees are concerned, the administrative representative is
not merely giving advice, but making a determination about the
appropriateness of the funding.

Timmerman said he did not see the conference as student and
university related, and therefore the use of student fees to pay
for it would have been a violation of university policy.

While USAC members who attended the conference said they see a
correlation between prisons and higher education, Timmerman said he
doesn¹t.

³There have been 20 prisons, one state school and no UC
(campuses) built since 1984,² said Lee.

³Prisons and higher education are directly related,²
de la Rocha added.

Timmerman said while he understands the relationship, he
doesn¹t see the issue as something connected to the
university.

³I don¹t see how it relates to them as students ­
it relates to them as citizens,² he said.

As administrative representative, one of Timmerman¹s roles
is to advise the elected USAC members on university procedures.

³The fundamental policy I was trying to help them
understand was the one that rested on their position as a
university unit,² Timmerman said.

He added that he defines ³university-related² as
something that has to do with students¹ relationship to the
university.

³He wants to make sure we don¹t overlook university
policy,² de la Rocha said.

At a recent USAC meeting, Timmerman questioned the
council¹s knowledge of the constitution and bylaws. According
to the minutes of the Oct. 6 meeting, Timmerman asked those council
members who read the documents to raise their hands.

No one did. But, according to de la Rocha, the council members
were too stunned by the question to respond.

³I was shocked that he would ask that question,² he
said. ³We all know that stuff, and we were elected and sworn
in to follow the constitution and the bylaws.²

The council members involved in the conference are meeting with
Timmerman in an attempt to resolve this issue early next week

Both the administrative representative and the council members
said they foresee other such conflicts in the future but they are
committed to working together.

De la Rocha said he is concerned with the amount of power one
administrator may have over the 13 elected officials.
Timmerman¹s concern, however, is the council¹s political
activity.

³We have different interpretations of what is
university-related and what is political,² he said.

BAHMAN FARAHDEL/Daily Bruin

USAC administrative representative Lyle Timmerman believes the
council violated the bylaws by funding a trip to a conference about
prisons.

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