Wednesday, January 28, 1998
USAC finance chair resigns; debates over motives arise
CONFLICT AISA claims Rhoan quit in order to avoid formal
complaint
By Stefanie Wong
Daily Bruin Staff
He may be gone, but Robert Rhoan is not forgotten.
Undergraduate Student Association (USAC) Finance Committee
chairman Robert Rhoan resigned from office late last week stating
that he could no longer tolerate the pressure from a "corrupt"
student government, Rhoan said.
However, members of the American Indian Student Association
(AISA) believe that Rhoan resigned because formal complaints
regarding his performance as chairman were about to be filed.
"Rhoan resigned because he never had a formal complaint placed
against him, and AISA was surely the first of many groups that
would eventually do so," said AISA Chair Natalie Stites.
AISA addressed USAC on Tuesday regarding their concerns over the
general responsibilities of the Finance Committee Chair and how
Rhoan allegedly mishandled these duties.
"We hope that our presentation may encourage USAC to insure that
no student group should have their programming or ability to
respond to their constituencies blocked," Stites said.
"(Rhoan) has manipulated AISA with repeated threats to our
funding on this campus through student government," she added.
The most recent threat, according to Stites, manifested itself
in a delayed funding recommendation. This is what prompted AISA to
make their presentation to USAC.
Rhoan claims that the funding proposal was turned in late, and
therefore, he needed to wait until the next council meeting.
However, Stites said that she turned in the contingency request
an hour before the deadline.
"He laughed and said that there was nothing I could do, because
as far as he was concerned it was a late contingency request and
AISA would not be able to receive funding for a program happening
that weekend," Stites said.
However, Rhoan said that he checked his box after the deadline,
and the AISA funding proposal was not there. He said it was not
turned in until the following Tuesday.
Rhoan also said that he notified Stites of the situation and
offered to help find alternate funding sources.
Stites believes that the problematic relation between Rhoan and
AISA stems from Rhoan’s own involvement with AISA.
"We’ve had a really long history with Robert, but we’ve always
kept his involvement in AISA and position as Finance Committee
chair separate," Stites said.
According to Stites, Rhoan held various positions in AISA, but
his work was unsatisfactory, and he was rejected for a staff
position on a retention project.
However, Rhoan said that AISA fired him when he was first
appointed Finance Committee chair two years ago.
Also, Rhoan said the idea of him trying to hurt AISA is
false.
"This is a recurring lie from AISA – that I’m trying to get
revenge on them," Rhoan said. "What I’ve tried to do and have done
disproves this."
But besides discussing concerns regarding Rhoan’s performance as
the Finance Committee chair, Stites raised the issue of why USAC
did not previously review his position.
The president, external vice president and academic affairs
commission have previously received complaints from student groups
regarding problems with funding.
AISA also addressed the need to have a clear avenue to levy
complaints and an adequate checks-and-balances system.
"We need to find out how to let the student groups know their
rights" in order to avoid these problems in the future, said
External Vice President Stacy Lee.