Student Association representatives voting for their own fees is not a conflict of interest, said members of NIU President John La Tourette’s Fee Study Committee.

The 10-member committee, which advises La Tourette on student fees, automatically includes the SA president, senate speaker and treasurer.

SA President Huda Scheidelman, Senate Speaker John Fallon and Treasurer Bruce Williams sat on this year’s Fee Study Committee and voted on the undergraduate activity fee, which supports the SA.

SA Mass Transit Adviser David Pack, on the committee as an undergraduate representative, also voted for a bus fee increase. The fee increased from $58.08 to $71.52 per year for full-time students taking at least 12 credit hours.

“I don’t think there’s any possible conflict of interests. I was not representing the SA, but the student body as a whole,” Fallon said, referring to his vote on the activity fee that remained at $40.32.

Fallon said Pack’s seat on the Fee Study Committee while he was mass transit adviser was “just coincidence” and did not affect the validity of the vote.

Pack said he did not abstain from the bus fee vote because he had served on an earlier bus budget review team and felt an increase was needed.

“I can see how a person can raise the issue, but I see tremendous benefits in having the students present and able to vote. It simply requires the individual to be responsible,” Pack said.

Pack said a controversy might have arisen if Northern Star Adviser Jerry Thompson served on the committee while faculty adviser and voted on the Star fee. Pack added the fee itself is controversial.

“It (the Star fee) has only been around for two years. The bus fee has been around for 19 years,” Pack said.

However, Thompson said the idea of a separate Star fee “predates the Student Association” and said the newspaper had always received fee support until the fee was dropped more than 10 years ago.

Anne Kaplan, La Tourette’s assistant, said the committee serves an advisory role, allowing La Tourette to review any obviously biased votes.

“I don’t think there’s any possible conflict of interests. I was not representing the SA, but the student body as a whole.”

John Fallon, Student Association Senate Speaker