Student Association President Kevin Miller formally asked the SA Supreme Court Thursday if the Illinois Open Meetings Act applies to his organization.

The petition was filed by Miller in response to a complaint filed by SA senators R.J. Gravel and Jeff Meyer on Thursday. The complaint alleges that a number of meetings were held in violation of the act.

“Obviously, we’re not jumping for joy over it,” said Brooke Robinson, SA director of public affairs. “But, we’re taking it seriously, studying the complaint, the constitution and the bylaws over the next few days.”

Gravel and Meyer’s complaint alleges that the SA Senate meetings of Sept. 29, Oct. 6 and Nov. 10 violated the Open Meetings Act because agendas were not posted 48 hours in advance. The complaint also states that because the Nov. 10 meeting violated the Open Meetings Act, the Big Time Entertainment bill passed at the meeting should be overturned.

If the BTE bill would be overturned, the $37,500 allocation the BTE committee received would be returned to the SA’s general reserve fund.

n addition to the SA, the complaint names Miller, Treasurer Shaun Crisler, Vice President Jaime Garcia, Senate Speaker Frank Woodin and President Pro Tempore James Barr as defendants.

Meyer told the Northern Star all parties have received copies of the complaint, except for Barr.

Included in the list of plaintiffs for Meyer’s complaint are John Ugolini, Campus Activities Board concert coordinator, and Laisha Fox, CAB president.

“I signed on as a fee-paying student and not as a CAB president,” Fox told the Star Thursday. Fox said students are cheated if SA decisions are being made illegally.

A Thursday SA finance committee meeting, which was chaired by Crisler, reviewed CAB’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2003-2004.

This year, CAB is asking for a 46 percent increase in funding.

Jessa Joseph, CAB vice president of financial affairs, said the reason for the increase was to account for costs CAB would have to pay to use the Convocation Center. The recommendation to budget for the Convo Center came from the upper administration of NIU through CAB’s faculty advisers, Joseph said.

Crisler told CAB members that they will receive notice of the SA Senate decision on the budget in March or April.

An agenda for Thursday’s finance committee meeting was not posted publicly. An agenda has been posted at the SA office for the Feb. 2 SA Senate meeting.

Campus Editor Mark Bieganski contributed to this report