Hearnes Center fee decision undecided
April 6, 2007
Chancellor Brady Deaton said ex-officio votes cast on the Hearnes Center fee do not count in the vote's final calculation, thus rendering the vote a tie.
"We do not intend for ex-officio members to vote on items," Deaton stated in an e-mail to Hearnes Center Committee Chairman Kevin Moore. "We are happy to have included in the information how the ex-officio members feel about a topic, but their votes should not be in the official tally."
Because ex-officio votes do not count, the vote is tied about whether to transfer $1 million in funds from an endowment fund to the Student Fee Capital Improvement Committee. Numerous student groups can request funds from that committee. The endowment fund was created to hold the excess collected from a now-defunct student fee to pay off Hearnes Center loans.
Committee member Lauren Bacon was the one member of the committee not present at the original meeting on Feb. 22. Moore said all voters would vote again, so Bacon should not be considered the tie-breaking vote.
Bacon declined to comment because she has read neither the minutes from the meeting nor the original proposal written by members Andrew Cafourek and Nick Trusty.
Moore said the committee might have a meeting before voting again, but he is leaning toward not having a meeting because he is worried about getting a quorum before the end of the semester. Instead of a meeting, Moore said the committee would find a way to vote electronically. He said the members could continue to ask each other questions via e-mail.
But Cafourek, who represents MU students on the committee, said a vote over e-mail is a step in the wrong direction because it doesn't ensure that the proposal is clear to committee members.
Because the funds come from a student fee, committee members who represent the students should be able to meet if they want, Cafourek said.
"I think it says that there's $1 million of my money in an account and that my opinion whether or not we should have a transparent meeting should probably carry a little bit more weight than somebody who doesn't have any financial stake," he said.
In an e-mail in response to Cafourek's request for a meeting, Moore said he thinks most members do not want to meet unless absolutely necessary.
"Maybe just those who want to provide input could meet, and the others would cast a ballot another way," Moore said. "I want full input from all interested parties but hate to run through it all again as all but one has heard it."
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