In an effort to increase communication between both organizations, the Campus Activities Board and the Student Association met informally Friday at the Holmes Student Center for two hours, discussing issues that have plagued the two groups for some time.

“We want to open up communication because we’re always saying CAB and the SA never talk to each other,” SA President Kevin Miller said.

While most of the conversation focused on different CAB committees and how they operate, the mention of the SA’s Big Time Entertainment Committee sparked debate from CAB and members of the SA.

The BTE committee, which is comprised of five students, was designed to bring more big-time events to campus by allocating $37,500 to co-sponsor events with other entities on campus, mainly NIU’s Convocation Center.

While Miller hand-picked each of the members from applications that were received, SA Senator R.J. Gravel blasted Miller for not interviewing everyone who applied and only basing his decisions on what was written on a piece of paper.

CAB President Laisha Fox expressed concern as to the real purpose of the committee, and if it were designed to take over the CAB concerts committee, citing concerns she has heard from individuals across campus.

“At this point, my take on it would be they are just rumors,” Miller said.

SA Senator Jeff Meyer questioned Miller about how the committee could co-sponsor any event as of yet because its members have yet to go before the SA Senate for approval. Recent publicity regarding the Ja Rule concert at the Convo Center cite the show as being co-sponsored with BTE with a $10,000 allocation from the committee.

In another twist, the alleged allotment from the BTE was voted upon via an e-mail conference, not through a public meeting.

Representatives from the SA cited their actions in terms of “privacy” of the action because of confidentiality reasons.

Miller said he wasn’t certain that any money had been transferred, but didn’t see any reason why the deal would fall through in the future.

Bertrand J. Simpson, associate director of University Programming & Activities, confirmed that no one in his office has signed off on any disbursement of funds.

When asked about how the allocation came about, he confirmed that the representative from the arena approached the SA to co-sponsor the event.

While the SA seemed reluctant to speak about the BTE, Miller stated that he feels it has been made a bigger issue than it should be.

“With all do respect, CAB has made it the big issue,” he said. “This is supposed to be us getting together airing out socks.”

Fox responded to Miller’s attack on CAB by questioning Miller’s actions regarding the committee.

“I feel that you do things very, very deceitfully,” Fox said to Miller.

Fox supported her claim by stating that she contacted Miller in September to arrange a meeting between the two organizations, and now it’s January.

Jennifer Suerth, CAB vice president of Programming & Activities, said that she is afraid that the feelings of some SA members will affect CAB’s budget.

“Senators openly tell people they don’t like CAB because they are members of the SA,” Suerth said. “This is going to be a problem because the SA has to approve CAB’s budget.”

Gravel said that all of the rumors that have been circulating have developed from issues at hand.

“The relationship between CAB and the SA has been wavering,” he said.

Simpson said that both organizations have never gotten along.

“Historically, since CAB broke away from the SA, it’s been rough; but in the past two years, it’s been rougher,” he said.

In an effort to help CAB, Meyer said that it needs to start acting like a business, not relying on the SA for additional funding.

“What I think that SA can do is to not compete with CAB and that’s what I think we are doing,” he said.

While the SA contended that the BTE is not in competition with CAB, Simpson said that potentially, it could.

“If BTE puts money into anything other than the Convocation Center, than it’s competition with CAB,” he said. “Again, I wonder, who other than the Convocation Center can you do business with?”

Because the arena brings acts that would almost consume CAB’s budget, events between the two aren’t considered competition.

Kevin O’Kelly, SA chief of staff, said that CAB could also propose a rolling budget, where they wouldn’t have to deplete all of their money in a fiscal year.

While ideas were continually bounced around the table, ultimately it was decided to meet again in about a month to discuss other issues, including CAB’s budget.