Senators reject fee increase

Duke Student Government legislators had money on their minds at their weekly meeting Wednesday night, discussing the $70 student activities fee increase and the recent discovery of $140,000 in DSG funds.

Legislators passed a resolution rejecting the increase to the fee implemented by Vice President for Student Affairs Larry Moneta. Officials said the fee increase was in direct violation of DSG bylaws, which require a DSG vote and student body referendum for any changes to the activities fee.

"The money is given to the students by the students," said Student Affairs Committee representative Dave Rausen, who drafted and presented the resolution. "If Moneta is allowed to allocate this fee, what's stopping him from reallocating in the future, taking money away from student groups?"

Moneta could not be reached for comment.

"It's a significant way to do it," Slovik said. "Senator Rausen drafted the resolution and it was taken from the floor. Legislators listened to it, debated it and passed it."

DSG representatives noted they were not against the allocation of additional funds, just the way in which it was implemented. "All we're saying is that [Moneta] can't institute a fee increase without asking us," Rausen said.

In the past, Moneta has defended the fee increase as necessary funding for improvements to resources for student groups, especially in the Office of Student Activities and Facilities. He could raise the fee without DSG's approval because the money would go toward administrative costs and not student programming costs, he told The Chronicle in March.

Following the activities fee resolution, Slovik introduced an amendment to the organization's bylaws that would establish an independent auditing committee in response to the recent discovery of $140,000 in unspent DSG funds. The five-member committee would audit DSG three times a year and one randomly selected student group each week.

"We've talked about fiscal responsibility, now we need to show it," Slovik said.

He added that the amendment, which will be put to a vote next week, would help provide stricter oversight in allocating funds.

"With such large amounts of money involved, we need to make sure that things are being double-checked," Slovik said.

Three resolutions on the agenda passed, including one promoting study abroad programs for the spring semester. Three times as many students enroll in study abroad programs for the fall semester as compared to the spring semester, an inequality University officials worry leads to housing problems.

"DSG wants to maintain student choice for study abroad [programs]," Senator Josh Solera said. "But it realizes there are practical problems with such a disparity between the semesters."

Another resolution involved improving student access to study areas and a third resolution proposed changes to pre-major advising that would allow students to change advisors once if they feel their academic needs are not met.