According to Student Union Treasurer Josh Brandfon '05, last semester's audit of Union finances has been completed. The audit originated from a constitutionally-mandated financial review of how the Student Activity Fee (SAF) is distributed among Union organizations. The review found a Senate account -- deemed the "rollover account" -- to contain over $118,000, prompting the audit."Unfortunately, much of the information contained in the report is still confidential," Brandfon said.

"I can tell you that one of the most prominent issues the audit raises is a lack of sufficient record-keeping procedures in the past to accurately account for and keep track of SAF funds," he said.

Brandfon said student government has been working to fix the problem since before the audit was finished.

According to Student Union President Ben Brandzel '03, one of the proposed solutions currently being discussed is hiring a non-student staff assistant, most likely salaried by the University, to assist the Union government with finances. Brandzel said he estimates the new assistant will spend approximately 75 percent of working hours on student government and 25 percent on other university business.

Brandfon, however, said plans for this new hire Brandzel referred to have not yet been finalized.

"I can assure the entire student body that I am working closely with Vice President Jean Eddy and Assistant Vice President Brian Walton to ensure that we develop a plan of action that will satisfy both the needs of our students and the responsibilities of our University," Brandfon said.