2008 Woodie Awards
ASG impeaches cabinet member over funding
Dave Matthews
Issue date: 3/23/07 Section: Front Page
Just weeks after a high general election voter turnout, Associated Student Government (ASG) faced an internal conflict as members voted to impeach Vice President of Management John Woods.
The vote came during the Tuesday, March 6 meeting after articles of impeachment were drawn up against Woods for allotting funds, as head of ASG's funding committee, amounting to $77,000 to three different student organizations during off-cycle funding meetings.
Woods allocated approximately $6,000 to the Association of Jewish Students, $21,000 to the College Republicans, and nearly $50,000 to the Miami Fashion and Merchandising Club in a funding meeting Feb. 7.
Such funding meetings, which bring together ASG funding committee and student organization leaders, typically occur at three times throughout the year corresponding to three designated funding periods. As vice president of management, Woods oversees the scheduling and organization of meetings, as well as the final say in allocating funds or applying cutbacks, which is when organizations receive less funds for which they were initially approved.
Woods held the Feb. 7 meeting - which he claims that ASG was aware of through the organization's listserv - to allow these three organizations to have contacts approved to host events. Woods said that the organizations were initially told to hold back on requests for funding previously in the year, but came to him needing these particular funds.
"The (ASG) constitution says my job is to charter the student organizations and to make sure that they are being funded adequately," Woods said. "It was my duty to make sure that I did everything in my power to make sure I did everything to make that happen."
Yet the ASG oversight committee - which monitors legality issues of ASG - believes that Woods "jeopardized the stability and success of the cycle three funding allocations," by causing a 50 percent cutback of funds for the remainder of the school year, according to the articles of impeachment presented at the ASG meeting March 6.
Yet Woods said ASG was aware of his actions and believes he acted in the best interest of the organizations.
"ASG bylaws say nothing about when to hold a funding hearing," he said.
Douglas Haynes, president pro-tempore and member of the oversight committee, explained why such measures were taken against Woods.
"He broke the rules to a degree where we couldn't just censure him," Haynes said. "He cut funds we have from about $300,000 to $83,000 ... basically all that money got thrown away."
After reading over ASG bylaws, ASG's oversight committee declared that the Feb. 7 meeting was held outside of the three prescribed times to fund groups.
Another point of interest was brought up when oversight committee found that Woods himself was a member of the Miami Fashion and Merchandising Club.
Woods defended himself by saying that he was only doing his job as the vice president of management.
"I don't have a vote, I just do what the funding committee votes on," he said, referring to the fact that he is not a voting member in funding committee unless in the case of a tie-vote.
Despite his efforts, after a two-hour deliberation, the student senate voted to impeach Woods for the illegal allocation of funds Feb. 7.
This is not the first time an ASG cabinet member in charge of funding has had contention with the position before the end of the term. In 2004, Treasurer Ryan Shrout resigned due to time conflicts with the job, and in 2005 Treasurer Mohammed Misbah resigned due to early graduation.
Woods admitted that as the vice president of management and chair of funding committee, he's in an awkward position solely because it involves money.
However, Haynes dismissed that notion.
"There's not a problem with the office," he said. "Heidi and Chris were excellent ... other students have proven themselves more than capable with their duties."
Haynes was referring to Heidi Krieger, vice president of management during the 2003-04 and 2004-05 school years, and Chris Good, vice president of management during the 2004-05 school year.
In one to two weeks Woods will defend himself again in front of student court, which will vote whether or not to formally remove him from office, according to ASG Executive Vice President Ben Lingeman.
"If I wasn't a prideful individual I'd resign tonight," Woods said.
According to Lingeman, student court rulings are completely independent of ASG, and the trials are completely secret. ASG won't know about the outcome until the verdict is officially announced.
Haynes guessed that Brian Wood, the vice president of management elect, would likely replace Woods should he be removed from office.
Student organizations attend second hearings
Following Woods' impeachment, ASG then had to decide the fate of the monies allocated Feb. 7.
Originally the oversight committee issued an amendment that declared all the funds allocated Feb. 7 be "considered null and void," which drew a strong reaction from the three groups involved.
"We did nothing wrong," said Rob Mecklenborg, chairman of the College Republicans.
After hearing the cases of the groups in question, ASG drafted a new amendment that would rehear all of the groups' pleas for emergency funding March 9.
"You're proposing an amendment that contradicts impeaching (Woods)," said Tamika Nunley, a member of the Miami Fashion and Merchandising Club. "Basically you've impeached John for no reason . . . you (ASG) look very stupid."
ASG appointed the funding committee, this time headed by Brian Wood, to allocate emergency funds.
ASG senators tried to reassure the groups that they were not going to be cheated.
"Not a single senator will take money away from you," said first-year Senator Andrew Ferguson.
At the end of the meeting March 6, Student Body President Brian Alexander apologized to the groups' representatives in attendance.
"ASG wants to apologize for what has happened this evening," he said. "ASG wants to make sure that these groups know that ASG knows that you have been planning all these months and these events will not be harmed just because ASG has fallen on their faces."
After the emergency funding meeting March 9, the ASG funding committee granted the College Republicans 100 percent of their promised funds because of the contract both parties had signed.
Junior Jennifer Jacobs, executive vice president of the Association of Jewish Students, was displeased with the communication process after the impeachment. She said the organization was caught unaware of the March 9 meeting with ASG.
"I didn't even know anything about this until about four hours ago," she said, speaking March 21. "I'll sue if they don't give us the money they promised ... I put a year and a half into this program."
The Association of Jewish Students was going to use the $6,000 ASG granted them to fund the first community-wide Holocaust awareness and remembrance program, to be held in mid-April.
"My understanding is that we've received 100 percent of the funding," said Amy Greenbaum, director of Miami University's Hillel Foundation. "I'm pleased that the money came through … It would be difficult to understand if the other two groups received funding and we didn't."
ASG decided March 20 that they would also fully fund the $49,300 originally granted to the Miami Fashion and Merchandising Club.
The event, to be held April 6, was a fashion show put on by the organization. Recording artists Monica and DJ L-Marr are scheduled to perform, and ASG granted money for expenses including reserving Millett Hall, stage design and fashion design.
However, several ASG senators second-guessed the funding committee's actions at their meeting Tuesday night and questioned the validity of other line items that the Fashion Club requested, including $350 for a barber, $500 for a hairstylist and $1,000 for catering.
"Some groups come to us and don't even get $350," said Jens Sutmöller, student body president elect. "We're talking about an amount ($49,300) that is more than some people make a year."
Nunley was frustrated that the process of discussing funds was happening again.
"We've already done this twice," she said. "We don't want to do the fashion show anymore. It's been blown out of proportion ... with no fault of our own ... we'll just have the Monica concert and leave it at that."
Finally, after three and a half hours of delegating, ASG voted to support the funding committee's decision to fund 100 percent of what was originally promised to the fashion show.
ASG reflects on process
Even ASG was questioning their own past actions, specifically the funding committee's, during Tuesday's meeting.
"We pushed all the blame on (Woods)," said sophomore senator Thomas Flynn. "But we skipped over eight other people . . . it's like slapping ourselves in the face."
Senior senator Allie Wallace said focus was placed on a scapegoat instead of multiple people involved in the funding process.
"When we, as a whole, drop the ball, we try to find a scapegoat," Wallace said.
In light of the past events, ASG President Brian Alexander issued this official statement on behalf of the ASG executive cabinet:
"ASG's executive cabinet will not release a public comment at this time concerning the impeachment of the current vice president for management or any related issues. Student senate's recommendation for the vice president for management's removal from office is currently being processed and judged by student court. Our assessment will be made public after this judgment. In the meantime, ASG remains committed to our jobs, projects, and events for the student body."
After two weeks of intense debate and uproar, all parties involved with the impeachment of Woods and the fallout of the illegitimately allocated funds say that it was unfortunate how the whole process went.
"I would be at so much more ease if I actually thought I did something wrong," Woods said.
For now, ASG just hopes that this incident will not drastically affect how they are perceived on campus.
"We are saving face," said first-year senator Hannah Jeffers. "I don't want Miami to have a bad reputation."
The vote came during the Tuesday, March 6 meeting after articles of impeachment were drawn up against Woods for allotting funds, as head of ASG's funding committee, amounting to $77,000 to three different student organizations during off-cycle funding meetings.
Woods allocated approximately $6,000 to the Association of Jewish Students, $21,000 to the College Republicans, and nearly $50,000 to the Miami Fashion and Merchandising Club in a funding meeting Feb. 7.
Such funding meetings, which bring together ASG funding committee and student organization leaders, typically occur at three times throughout the year corresponding to three designated funding periods. As vice president of management, Woods oversees the scheduling and organization of meetings, as well as the final say in allocating funds or applying cutbacks, which is when organizations receive less funds for which they were initially approved.
Woods held the Feb. 7 meeting - which he claims that ASG was aware of through the organization's listserv - to allow these three organizations to have contacts approved to host events. Woods said that the organizations were initially told to hold back on requests for funding previously in the year, but came to him needing these particular funds.
"The (ASG) constitution says my job is to charter the student organizations and to make sure that they are being funded adequately," Woods said. "It was my duty to make sure that I did everything in my power to make sure I did everything to make that happen."
Yet the ASG oversight committee - which monitors legality issues of ASG - believes that Woods "jeopardized the stability and success of the cycle three funding allocations," by causing a 50 percent cutback of funds for the remainder of the school year, according to the articles of impeachment presented at the ASG meeting March 6.
Yet Woods said ASG was aware of his actions and believes he acted in the best interest of the organizations.
"ASG bylaws say nothing about when to hold a funding hearing," he said.
Douglas Haynes, president pro-tempore and member of the oversight committee, explained why such measures were taken against Woods.
"He broke the rules to a degree where we couldn't just censure him," Haynes said. "He cut funds we have from about $300,000 to $83,000 ... basically all that money got thrown away."
After reading over ASG bylaws, ASG's oversight committee declared that the Feb. 7 meeting was held outside of the three prescribed times to fund groups.
Another point of interest was brought up when oversight committee found that Woods himself was a member of the Miami Fashion and Merchandising Club.
Woods defended himself by saying that he was only doing his job as the vice president of management.
"I don't have a vote, I just do what the funding committee votes on," he said, referring to the fact that he is not a voting member in funding committee unless in the case of a tie-vote.
Despite his efforts, after a two-hour deliberation, the student senate voted to impeach Woods for the illegal allocation of funds Feb. 7.
This is not the first time an ASG cabinet member in charge of funding has had contention with the position before the end of the term. In 2004, Treasurer Ryan Shrout resigned due to time conflicts with the job, and in 2005 Treasurer Mohammed Misbah resigned due to early graduation.
Woods admitted that as the vice president of management and chair of funding committee, he's in an awkward position solely because it involves money.
However, Haynes dismissed that notion.
"There's not a problem with the office," he said. "Heidi and Chris were excellent ... other students have proven themselves more than capable with their duties."
Haynes was referring to Heidi Krieger, vice president of management during the 2003-04 and 2004-05 school years, and Chris Good, vice president of management during the 2004-05 school year.
In one to two weeks Woods will defend himself again in front of student court, which will vote whether or not to formally remove him from office, according to ASG Executive Vice President Ben Lingeman.
"If I wasn't a prideful individual I'd resign tonight," Woods said.
According to Lingeman, student court rulings are completely independent of ASG, and the trials are completely secret. ASG won't know about the outcome until the verdict is officially announced.
Haynes guessed that Brian Wood, the vice president of management elect, would likely replace Woods should he be removed from office.
Student organizations attend second hearings
Following Woods' impeachment, ASG then had to decide the fate of the monies allocated Feb. 7.
Originally the oversight committee issued an amendment that declared all the funds allocated Feb. 7 be "considered null and void," which drew a strong reaction from the three groups involved.
"We did nothing wrong," said Rob Mecklenborg, chairman of the College Republicans.
After hearing the cases of the groups in question, ASG drafted a new amendment that would rehear all of the groups' pleas for emergency funding March 9.
"You're proposing an amendment that contradicts impeaching (Woods)," said Tamika Nunley, a member of the Miami Fashion and Merchandising Club. "Basically you've impeached John for no reason . . . you (ASG) look very stupid."
ASG appointed the funding committee, this time headed by Brian Wood, to allocate emergency funds.
ASG senators tried to reassure the groups that they were not going to be cheated.
"Not a single senator will take money away from you," said first-year Senator Andrew Ferguson.
At the end of the meeting March 6, Student Body President Brian Alexander apologized to the groups' representatives in attendance.
"ASG wants to apologize for what has happened this evening," he said. "ASG wants to make sure that these groups know that ASG knows that you have been planning all these months and these events will not be harmed just because ASG has fallen on their faces."
After the emergency funding meeting March 9, the ASG funding committee granted the College Republicans 100 percent of their promised funds because of the contract both parties had signed.
Junior Jennifer Jacobs, executive vice president of the Association of Jewish Students, was displeased with the communication process after the impeachment. She said the organization was caught unaware of the March 9 meeting with ASG.
"I didn't even know anything about this until about four hours ago," she said, speaking March 21. "I'll sue if they don't give us the money they promised ... I put a year and a half into this program."
The Association of Jewish Students was going to use the $6,000 ASG granted them to fund the first community-wide Holocaust awareness and remembrance program, to be held in mid-April.
"My understanding is that we've received 100 percent of the funding," said Amy Greenbaum, director of Miami University's Hillel Foundation. "I'm pleased that the money came through … It would be difficult to understand if the other two groups received funding and we didn't."
ASG decided March 20 that they would also fully fund the $49,300 originally granted to the Miami Fashion and Merchandising Club.
The event, to be held April 6, was a fashion show put on by the organization. Recording artists Monica and DJ L-Marr are scheduled to perform, and ASG granted money for expenses including reserving Millett Hall, stage design and fashion design.
However, several ASG senators second-guessed the funding committee's actions at their meeting Tuesday night and questioned the validity of other line items that the Fashion Club requested, including $350 for a barber, $500 for a hairstylist and $1,000 for catering.
"Some groups come to us and don't even get $350," said Jens Sutmöller, student body president elect. "We're talking about an amount ($49,300) that is more than some people make a year."
Nunley was frustrated that the process of discussing funds was happening again.
"We've already done this twice," she said. "We don't want to do the fashion show anymore. It's been blown out of proportion ... with no fault of our own ... we'll just have the Monica concert and leave it at that."
Finally, after three and a half hours of delegating, ASG voted to support the funding committee's decision to fund 100 percent of what was originally promised to the fashion show.
ASG reflects on process
Even ASG was questioning their own past actions, specifically the funding committee's, during Tuesday's meeting.
"We pushed all the blame on (Woods)," said sophomore senator Thomas Flynn. "But we skipped over eight other people . . . it's like slapping ourselves in the face."
Senior senator Allie Wallace said focus was placed on a scapegoat instead of multiple people involved in the funding process.
"When we, as a whole, drop the ball, we try to find a scapegoat," Wallace said.
In light of the past events, ASG President Brian Alexander issued this official statement on behalf of the ASG executive cabinet:
"ASG's executive cabinet will not release a public comment at this time concerning the impeachment of the current vice president for management or any related issues. Student senate's recommendation for the vice president for management's removal from office is currently being processed and judged by student court. Our assessment will be made public after this judgment. In the meantime, ASG remains committed to our jobs, projects, and events for the student body."
After two weeks of intense debate and uproar, all parties involved with the impeachment of Woods and the fallout of the illegitimately allocated funds say that it was unfortunate how the whole process went.
"I would be at so much more ease if I actually thought I did something wrong," Woods said.
For now, ASG just hopes that this incident will not drastically affect how they are perceived on campus.
"We are saving face," said first-year senator Hannah Jeffers. "I don't want Miami to have a bad reputation."
Viewing Comments 1 - 3 of 3
Denise
posted 3/23/07 @ 10:10 AM EST
I'm the president of the MUCFDM and I think it's completely absurd that the senate would make such an accusation based on the fact that Jon allocated our organization money. (Continued…)
JB
posted 4/03/07 @ 11:27 AM EST
50 grand is a lot of money to blow on a stupid fashion show. Think of the programming that is more open to the rest of campus.
He did pat his own back by sending money to his interest. (Continued…)
Brandon
posted 4/03/07 @ 3:59 PM EST
Denise, it is logical to think there are alterior motives involved with a member of an organization illegally acts in the inerests of that group. While I agree that there should be more responsibility placed on other members of ASG, as treasurer, you take on the responsibility for the actions of those serving under you. (Continued…)
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