The Student Union passed a resolution on March 28 requesting that the Administration return $40,000 taken from the Student Activities Fee to pay Loretta Shagoury, a bookkeeper whom the University hired to oversee Union finances. Senior Vice President of Student Enrollment Jean Eddy said the Union's financial amendment which passed toward the end of last semester-stipulating that in addition to the $145 fee assessed to each student per semester, students would be charged separately $12 to cover the cost of Shagoury-occurred too late to go into effect.

Eddy said the Administration had to front the money and re-billing students would have been too expensive.

"We decided that the [her] salary would come from the one percent that students pay every year for the student activities fee," Eddy said. "Working in good faith, we had a referendum passed and hired the person. However, because it took the Student Union so long to get the resolution, we hired the person and started paying her and this set the students back."

But Union President Joshua Brandfon '05 said the Union made an agreement with the Administration toward last spring and over the summer.

He said since the amendment would pass too late to bill students in the fall, the Administration agreed to charge students a $6 back-payment as well as another $6 this semester.

"Over the summer, I participated in interviews," Brandfon said. "The agreement to back-bill happened right when the financial amendment failed toward the end of last spring. The billing arrangements for this year were worked out."

According to North Quad Senator Aaron Gaynor '07, Eddy has not responded to the Student Union or to any organizations about any new initiatives related to the $40,000.

"I was only informed by [Brandfon] about the situation," Gaynor said. "But the Administration has not gotten back to us after the resolution was passed."

But Eddy said communication broke down primarily as a result of the Union's misinterpreting their agreement.

"There have not been any conversations because until we told the Student Union that we had held back those funds, they hadn't realized that there was an issue," she said. "Also, in April, I cannot give back those funds to the Student Union because it isn't in my budget."

The major campus organizations that receive their funding primarily through SAF funds co-signed the resolution last week asking the money to be returned. Among those represented were BEMCo, WBRS, the Justice, Archon, and BTV.

WBRS General Manager Louise Au-Yeung '04 said she signed the resolution not so much for the lack of funds, but to prove that something went wrong in the Student Union's communications with the Administration.

"It was not because we wanted to fight over every dollar," Yeung said. "We wanted to show that if students are promised money for their student activities, that that happens and that if it doesn't, that students be informed about it."

Yeung said that not getting their respective funding for this year would require many rescheduling and reorganization of WBRS events.

"The amount we would lose means that WBRS would have to reallocate some money and push back some projects," Yeung said. "We have a budget whose costs need to be met."

According to Archon Managing Editor Daniel Lowenstein '06, the supply of free yearbooks to graduating classes costs Archon over $70,000-some of which is taken from their SAF account.

"We know that if we do not receive the $3,338 sum we will see effects not only in our current yearbook but also in the future yearbooks," Lowenstein said. "We will be forced to cut back on either covering clubs/activities, less senior spreads, or charge students to pay for their yearbooks."

Eddy said that communication between the Administration and the Student Union is far from poor. Rather, this problem stemmed from a "difference of opinion."

Brandfon disagreed, expressing dissatisfaction with the Administration's action.

"We are very troubled by the unilateral nature of the administration's actions," Brandfon said. "Student autonomy is something that we take a great amount of pride in, and this entire situation has demonstrated that the Administration is willing to violate that relationship.