O-Week money missing

Social Science council short approximately $7,400

By Jessica Leeder
Gazette Staff

According to an individual present at the Social Science Students' Council meeting last night, the council owes approximately $7,400 in outstanding bills left over from Orientation week.

"We have some numbers, but we can't say they are hard numbers," said Duane Baxter, SSSC president. Baxter would not confirm or deny the amount of the bills the council has been served with since September, due to the confidential status of the information.

According to an individual present at the meeting, who demanded anonymity, the SSSC has been billed by Western Fair's Imax Theatre for unauthorized activity during O-week.

Frosh were treated to food and movie passes and the council has also been billed for busses used to transport frosh to the Western Fair grounds on the same night, the source said.

While head soph Sarah Brock apparently handed in $3,874 – money raised through the sale of frosh and soph kits – to the SSSC, approximately $7,400 is still unaccounted for, the source indicated.

These facts were presented to council during a confidential session of the SSSC Wednesday night by VP-finance Owais Rafiq, the source said.

Council moved into a confidential session because the issue has the potential to affect a large number of students, Rafiq said.

Rafiq confirmed that head soph Sarah Brock turned in some revenue to the council after O-week and, though he refused to give an exact figure of what she turned in, he did not say whether she is being held personally responsible for overspending.

Baxter said he and Rafiq both initially briefed Brock on her responsibilities as head soph and they followed up with her during the summer.

"There was an effort made to check up on her during the summer, to make normal communication. We didn't just give her money and let her run with it," he said.

The source said the outstanding bills put the soph team about $7,400 over budget for the week, noting the council's options are being discussed behind closed doors.

Immediately after the meeting came out of confidentiality, Paul Yeoman, a social science councillor, forwarded a motion to remove Brock from her position as head soph, thus severing the ties between her and the council.

"I don't think I can comment on why I made the motion without breaching the confidentiality," Yeoman said after the meeting.

The motion was dismissed and may be brought up at the next meeting.

Baxter declined to comment on her removal.

"We're not talking on it because we don't have enough information to make a decision yet," he said.

Repeated attempts to contact Sarah Brock were unsuccessful.