Vandalism probe clears USAC representatives

A university police investigation found insufficient evidence
against two undergraduate student government general
representatives in a case of vandalism that allegedly occurred
during runoff elections in spring.

The councilmembers will remain suspended from duty until the
Judicial Board receives official documentation of the finding.

On the last day of the runoff elections for the Undergraduate
Students Association Council, general representative candidates
Anneli Villarin and Tommy Tseng were accused of vandalizing a
Nation2Nation signboard advertising the group’s endorsement
of a candidate running on an opposing slate.

To date, both Villarin and Tseng, who were elected to the
position of general representative, deny involvement in any act of
vandalism, and no witness has come forward publicly to testify
about that specific event.

The accusation was not investigated fully by the Elections Board
at the time because vandalism does not fall under the board’s
jurisdiction, said Roy Samaan, E-Board chairman, adding that the
case was referred to the dean of students and the UCPD.

The matter was not pursued further by the E-Board, and the
dispute was never settled, which is problematic for all students
involved, said Mark Belgen, chief justice of the judicial
board.

“They have to follow up on it. “¦ Just to refer
““ that’s not right,” Belgen said regarding his
reasons for temporarily relieving Villarin and Tseng from duty
despite the lack of concrete evidence against them.

“We never had to hear the details of whether or not they
are guilty. We’re dealing with process,” Belgen
added.

As for the J-Board’s request, Samaan said he followed up
with the UCPD and the dean of students and found there was not
sufficient evidence against the councilmembers.

“It turns out that nothing happened,” Samaan said,
explaining that the UCPD did not find concrete evidence linking
Villarin and Tseng to the vandalism and the case was not brought to
the dean of students.

Unaffected by the E-Board’s findings, Villarin and Tseng
are still not able to return to their duties. For the time being,
the E-Board and the J-Board seem to have reached an impasse: Belgen
maintains the J-Board cannot release the stay until it receives
official documentation of the findings, but Samaan asserts that the
E-Board is not able to procure such records.

“I’m not authorized to have that material released
to me. “¦ It’s really something that’s out of my
power to provide,” Samaan said, adding that he had
communicated this information to members of the J-Board.

But Belgen maintains that he needs the official documents before
he can take further action on the case.

“We’re just waiting to see the reports. “¦ All
they need to do is give us these documents and (Villarin and Tseng)
can start working,” Belgen said. “It’s pretty
simple.”

As a result, the process is currently at a standstill: The
J-Board is waiting to receive documents that the E-Board says it is
unable to provide.

Villarin and Tseng have not yet been informed of the proceedings
and are now just waiting to learn their status.

“I’ve been really out in the dark. I
don’t know what the J-Board is doing,” Villarin said.
Tseng said that the he has not been contacted “in any way,
shape or form.”

The two councilmembers have stayed in touch and informed about
USAC’s progress but have been unable to really begin work
themselves, which they say will make their jobs more difficult when
they get to work.

“It’s been a big hindrance,” Villarin said,
listing preparation for the base budget, her work on the Budget
Review Committee and putting together a staff for the Office of the
General Representative as some of the areas in which the stay had
impeded her work in office.

“It does affect to some level the work that I’ll be
doing next year, and it does affect the programs,” Tseng
said.

In particular, Tseng said he is hesitant to begin official work
on the Student Labor Conference, which is a program that he had
planned to begin working on immediately.

“I have been sort of active. I’ve been planning and
thinking about programs and research and talking to people,”
Tseng said, but he added that he was not able to do so in an
official capacity as general representative, which made the work
less productive.

Both are confident that the matter will be cleared up and they
will be able to return to work.

“I do feel that I’ve been missing out “¦ (but)
I’ll be able to work really hard and catch up on what’s
been going on,” Tseng said, and Villarin also said she
believed that with an extra effort she would be able to make up for
the lost time.

The J-Board is due to release an official statement of opinion
on the case, which may lift the stay and allow Villarin and Tseng
to return to work. 

The E-Board also plans to re-evaluate the situation and take
action after the opinion is released, Samaan said, but for now
there is nothing more it can do.

“We’ve done everything that we can do in regard to
this matter. I don’t think there’s anything else we can
possibly do at this time,” Samaan said.

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