Mirror - Vol. 27, No. 08 - November 01, 2001

              AN INQUISITION
FUSA Senators JP Marini and
Vin Farisello take on 20 Q's
Page 13
MEMORIAL MASSI
Fairfield community gathers to
mourn those who died at WTC
Page 6
-*tt Hoft
Fairfield
November 1,2001
MThe IRROR University
', NIIMIIHTS
VP ofProgramming
violates FUSA constitution
There havebeen several violations of
the FUSA Constitution bythe StudentAs-sociation
Programming Board including
one which may end up costing Fairfield
University up to $30,000, according to sen-ate
leaders andstudent activities.
The programmingboardhas placed a
bid for the band 112, which maybecome
binding if it is acceptecLThis is a constitu-tional
violation be-cause
thebidwasnot
approvedbythe sen-ate
before it was
placed.The senate,
which is elected by
the entire student
body, acts as the
voice ofthe students,
according to Vice
President of Senate
AdamSheehy.
In an interview
conducted by The
Mirror, Sheehy
voiced his concerns
with the manner in
which the program-mingboardhasbeen
operating.
Sheehy said
their behavior
"makesmyjob impossible and makes the
studentsbeingheardimpossible,whenthey
circumvent the Senate. I am here as a stu-dentrepresentative."
According to the FUSAConstitution,
"ifFUSA proposes any expenditure over
$5,000, the proposal mustbe presented to
this (Financial) committee before reaching
theFUSA Senate Floor for final approval."
Vice President of Programming
Bridget Hennessey had not obtained Sen-ate
approval before placing a bid in excess
of $30,000, according to Sheehy.
The other violation involves
Hennessey forgoing the constitutional ob-ligation
to have herappointees forvarious
positionswithinProgrammingpass through
a senate committee and eventually the ap-proval
of the whole senate.
At Sunday's Senate meeting,
Hennessey and acting Director of Music
Stephanie Holland met with the senate to
inform the assembly in an official capacity
that they have placed a bid for 112, which,
as it is constituted, now would cost well
over $40,000 after additional fees were
paid
During the meeting members of the
senate expressed concern that the Consti-tution
had not been followed. SenatorVin
Farisello said that, "we should have been
givenmore options."
"The complaint of Senate is that this
wasn't done satisfactorily/'said SenatorJ.
P. Marini.
In response to these concerns,
Hennesseyacknowledgedfaultfornotcom-ing
to the senate earlier. She also said at the
meeting "I will take
fullblame for that"
Hennessey and
FUSA President Joe
Piagentini also said
that alackofcommu-nication
has compli-catedmatters
in addi-tion
to a new FUSA
Constitution
Both during and
after the meeting,
many senators re-ferred
to not only the
constitutionasaguide
for this process but
also to past experi-ence.
According to
these senators, former
President Kevin
Hayes brought a list
of three bands and
asked the senate to prioritize those three.
These senators expressed that lastyear they
clearlyhadmoreinputinto the process.
"Obviouslytherewere some oversights
onthe partoftheprogrammingboani,''Sena-tor
CaseyButterly stated on Monday.How-ever,
the senator added that in his opinion,
the programmingboardhaddone an other-wise
goodjob andthat anyproblems would
help lead to better cooperationbetween the
two components ofFUSA.
Though discussions about 112 and the
bid placed without senate approval domi-nated
the meeting additional concernshave
beenraisedby senators.
Several high-ranking FUSA Senators
have voiced concerns about procedural er-rorsby
the programmingboard One Sena-torreports
that as early as severalweeks ago,
Holland was operating in the role ofDirec-tor
of Music. However, according to a sena-tor,
she has yet to pass through the necessary
stages set forth in the constitution toperform
this role.
After the Senate meeting Holland re-peated
the call for better communication to
alleviatewhateverproblemswere emerging.
OnTuesday,Hennessey declined anyfurther
comment
by Chris Zeitz
$30,000 on the line if
Senate rejects 112
Vice President of Programming
Bridget Hennessey and Stephanie
Holland estimated at the Senate
meeting Sunday that the final cost
of the planned concert would be
about $42,000. The concert does
have the potential to make a profit.
The majority of the cost is the
$30,000 payment to the band, the re-mainder
being fees of a variety of
natures. Holland said that other or-ganizations
may be assisting in the
financing of this concert; however,
the cost to FUSA as it is constituted
now is in excess of $5,000.
Some Senators have voiced dis-edged
advising Hennessey and
Holland. She also said that she gave
the "OK" to pursue a bid. However,
according to a FUSA Senator, the
bid is not officially placed until it
has been approved by someone in
Student Activities.
Rainey said that.Dinnan ap-proved
of the bid, thus beginning
the somewhat binding process to-wards
the establishment of a con-tract
with the band.
Rainey also said that if the bid
were not honored by the Univer-sity,
it could conceivably cost the
full price for the band, less some
approval over the situation they now
find themselves in. "We would lose
thousands of dollars," said Senator
Chris Walsh when asked if the Sen-ate
may vote against approval. He
continued, "Is it worth it to make a
point?"
Hennessey and Holland ac-knowledged
at the meeting that there
was a penalty associated with the bid
that has been placed, if the univer-sity
were to not hold the concert. If
112 decides to accept the bid,
Fairfield would be beholden to pay
a certain amount
As of deadline there has been
no formal contract signed.
Holland also elaborated on the
role of university employees Kelly
Rainey and Matt Dinnan who act as
advisors to FUSA. According to
Holland, Rainey has been acting as
an advisor for members of the Pro-gramming
Board.
On Monday, Rainey acknowl-of
the fees. If the bid is not ap-proved
by Senate before it is
placed, as according to the Consti-tution,
then it is quite possible that
the band will not come to campus
and that a considerable amount of
the normal cost of the concert will
still have to be paid.
Rainey added that given the
time constraints and the variable of
response time to a bid offer, this
process can sometimes be difficult.
According to a high ranking
member of the FUSA Senate,
Dinnan should have not signed the
paperwork to place a bid unless he
had seen documentation that the
Senate had approved it as specified
in the FUSA Constitution.
The Senate Finance commit-tee
met Tuesday night and ap-proved
the financial aspects of the
bid in question, which may now be
considered by the entire FUSA
Senate.
*IfFUSAprop&mmympmdkwmover $5,000,00,
thepropo§dm\m\
eommktee before rea&m§th^FUSASeaMeWloor
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