Undergraduate Assembly split on IAA audit

Twelve Undergraduate Assembly members still support the UA Budget Committee's audit of the International Affairs Association, according to a survey conducted by The Daily Pennsylvanian last night. Six members said they do not stand behind the audit and nine were not sure. Six members were unavailable for comment. Late last month, the UA voted 17-0 with five abstentions to "give the Budget Committee the full support of the UA" in its audit of the IAA. The UA released its audit last week, concluding that the IAA misused $1,500 of Student Activities Council funds. According to members of SAC Steering, the public release of this audit breached an agreement between UA Chairperson and College senior Lance Rogers, the IAA and SAC Steering. Rogers had promised that the UA would not release its findings until both groups were notified. At Monday's SAC meeting, the body voted to vindicate the IAA of any fund misuse, attributing many of the UA's charges to administrative accounting errors. SAC based its conclusions on its own audit, which was conducted by SAC Finance IAA liaison Lija Bentley, a College senior. In light of this recent confusion, many UA members have reconsidered their support of the UA's audit. "I honestly have no clue who to believe," UA Secretary and Nursing junior Lisa Aspinwall said last night. She added that she believes UA Treasurer and College senior Steve Schorr "really thought his numbers were in the right." Those who support the audit say they do so out of loyalty. "I stand by the audit and I stand by Lance," College junior Laurie Moldawer said. Those members not in favor of the audit say they doubt the results because they have problems with the way the UA Budget Committee conducted the audit. "My support ended on Friday when [SAC Steering Chairperson and College senior Graham Robinson] and I had a talk and he made me aware of the potential accounting errors," UA Vice Chairperson and Wharton senior Gil Beverly said. UA member and Engineering sophomore Alex Malek, who said he supports the audit, added that he did not understand how the UA and SAC audits came up with such different results. "Something to me definitely sounds fishy," he said. Regardless, several members agreed that the audit was a success because the "administrative accounting errors" were rectified -- even if this was only done to divert attention from IAA wrongdoing. Most of the members surveyed agreed that the UA had the constitutional right to conduct the audit, although several suggested that the UA and SAC devise a better method to conduct future audits. On Sunday, the UA body will vote on a motion to requesting that SAC Finance perform all future audits. Daily Pennsylvanian reporter Randi Feigenbaum contributed to this story.

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