Council Refuses to Fund Member's Trip

The Undergraduate Council narrowly refused Sunday night to endorse a proposed $460 grant to help pay for a council member's trip to a student government conference at Texas Agricultural and Mechanic University.

The proposal, which would have funded the $325 air fare and $135 registration fee for finance committee Chair Rico Reyes '93, was defeated 27-23. As it stands, Reyes will pay these expenses personally.

Immediately after the official tally, Treasurer Michael P. Beys '94, who held Reys' position last semester, said that the council had set Reyes position last semester, said that the council had set Reyes adrift.

"This is a case where the council didn't trust one of its own," Beys said. "Good things are going to come out of this [trip], but at Reyes' personal expense.

During the debate that preceded the vote, council members objected to what they saw as potential for abuse of council funds, particularly because the Texas conference included dances and other social events.

Nhan T. Vu '92-'93, last semester's secretary, said during the debate that sending a council member to an event with a "Texas barbeque and hoe-down" could damage the council's public image. Vu warned that the public might perceive the bill as council money spent on a vacation.

In an interview after the debate, Reyes called Vu's comments undiplomatic.

"I am grieved [Vu] would have to resort to these tactics to imply I would take advantage of the council," Reys said.

Vu said after the debate that his comments were not intended as a personal attack on Reyes.

"My point was not that [Reyes] was trying to sleaze a vacation, but that the vacation aspect of the conference made it a less beneficial event," Vu said.

Siding with Vu, council veteran Dan H. Tabak '92 argued during the debate that spending money on a plane ticket, which Vu said had never happened before, would set a bad precedent for future councils.

"Someone could look at one thing that relates to something on their committee, and then they could get the airfare to go to a hoe-down," Tabak said in debate.

Reserved Ticket

But afterwards Reyes criticized the argument over whether the conference could be exploited for its social events, saying the emphasis should instead have been on the possible improvements the conference could help him make in the council's grant process.

"The only reason I took the risk of funding this myself is because I have a specific agenda I want to accomplish," said Reyes, who had already reserved the plane ticket last Monday.

During the debate, other council members said they would not endorse a proposal without knowing exactly what would take place at the conference.

"I don't like the idea of allocating money when I don't know what it's going for," said Mark P. Parisi '93.

Both Reyes and Beys, when asked why the bill passed two hand counts 25-23 before failing the official roll call 27-23, said some members voted against the bill because they were afraid it would be perceived as frivolous.

"They thought it would look bad," Beys said.

Reyes will not be the only council member attending the February 22-25 conference. The conference's planners had already granted council Chair David A. Aronberg '93 a free trip so that he could participate in a panel discussion on political correctness.