The scene could have been mistaken for any other party dotting the weekend landscape.

The Campus Recreation Center filled with revelers looking for a good time April 7, with the words “free party” and “sponsored by On-Point Entertainment” featured on a university-approved flier distributed across campus. The party came almost a year after the group was organized and recognized by the Student Association. And it came six days after the group received $8,525 from the student government for events just like this one.

A month-long Northern Star investigation, instigated by anonymous complaints, focused on the extraneous circumstances surrounding On-Point’s late-semester budget. A simple funds transaction, approved by the Student Senate, revealed the ease with which rules could be altered and ethical lines blurred when it comes to funding student organizations — all the while cutting into more than $1 million that comes from student fees every NIU student pays.

The rush to provide student groups with funding allowed for a connection that could have been questioned by the senate. Specifically, the On-Point party was held in conjunction with an event by Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity — an organization effectively banned from holding events on campus until debts are paid. Then there’s the question of whether On-Point qualified for funding in the first place.

But the involvement of SA President-elect Troy Caldwell, in both the treasury and as a member of Alpha Phi Alpha, has thrown a dark cloud on the spirit of giving — all while some question the treasury’s motives.

The senate has changed the SA budget process slightly since On-Point first received its money, and although the unforeseen funding situation that dominated the spring semester has ended, the money and experience for all those involved can’t be refunded.

A pleasant and unpleasant excess

Usually, the SA Finance Committee looks at the spring semester with eyes on the next year. The coming fiscal year’s budgets come across and are discussed by committee members. Some student groups get all the money they ask for, while other budgets remain unfilled.

But this year, the committee had double the workload. Following the SA business manager’s resignation, Caldwell realized that about $160,000 was left in a pool called supplemental funding — money that escaped the eyes of the treasury. Years of fiscal oversights contributed to the sum, adding money to a general fund used for organizations’ emergency situations. Now, the SA had an emergency of its own.

Normally, the fund remains at $60,000, consisting of a small monetary cushion and other amounts that student organizations didn’t use during the fiscal year.

At first, the treasury attempted to find organizations that were in dire need of extra money, following the rules in the SA Budget Guide. But soon afterward, Caldwell told the finance committee to allow everyone equal access to the money because of a somewhat-remote possibility that the state could take away that money at the end of the fiscal year.

“I’m really excited that students were able to utilize the general surplus,” Caldwell said, adding that about $130,000 from that fund was divvied out over the past three months. “We wanted organizations to benefit this year.”

Big allotments came first, including $40,000 for the Campus Activities Board to bring in rapper Nelly and pop band Nine Days.

It was then that On-Point Entertainment appeared before the finance committee looking for a big budgetary improvement.

‘A social entertainment organization’

When On-Point Entertainment was recognized March 5, 2000, the senate heard the tale of a group trying to offer more social outlets for bored NIU students. On-Point was one of a long string of organizations approved that spring semester, each offering more campus entertainment.

The group promised “comedy shows, dances and talent competition to R&B performances and concerts,” according to the On-Point Entertainment constitution. These ideals were shared, though, by a multitude of organizations like the Black Student Union, Campus Activities Board and Raising Multicultural Excellence.

And, according to the SA Budget Guide, “groups whose scope, purpose and/or planned activities are essential(ly) the same as existing organizations will not be funded by the SA.” So for the 2001-2002 school year, On-Point received only a $100 stipend given to newly approved student groups.

But by April 1, 2001, the group saw its budget increased more than 80 times as the finance committee started giving funds to whomever had a legitimate and beneficial use for the surplus money.

Two weeks of phone calls and messages to On-Point officers went unreturned for this story. Attempts to reach the three officers listed in SA paperwork —

president Larry Underwood, vice president Stephany Lloyd and treasurer Amon Brooks — were unsuccessful.

SA officials defend their funding decision.

“We wouldn’t have given them the $8,000 if their events weren’t worthwhile,” said Sonal Adhikari, SA deputy treasurer and head of the finance committee.

Caldwell said he supported the On-Point request because of the scope of its programming.

“Now, social programs are free to the students — students are benefitting,” Caldwell said.

But for a group with common goals and ideas, the money set it apart from the pack.

SA vice president Alex Alaniz arranged an Internal Affairs Committee during the fall semester with the hope that it could examine whether any SA groups were unnecessary or disobeying rules for recognized organizations. Although Alaniz wouldn’t say if On-Point was involved in the review, all organizations received the committee’s approval.

“There are a lot of mixed feelings with On-Point,” Alaniz said. “Some people think they’re the greatest thing ever, and some students feel they’re in it for the wrong reasons.”

One party, two fliers

Plans for the On-Point party quickly were finalized April 6, five days after the funding was granted. Before the $8,000 boost, the group had planned to throw a party at the Holmes Student Center. But the money allowed for a bigger locale and a bigger budget.

Students weren’t just hearing about a rec center party through On-Point, though. A different-colored flier the same size advertised an induction party by Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity for the same time and place. Caldwell is an active Alpha Phi Alpha member.

One look inside Caldwell’s SA office proves his dedication to his fraternity. He wears the fraternity shirt, adorns his walls with fraternity memories and places small fraternity mementos on shelves and the corners of his desk.

Caldwell admits the two groups had a joint event, but said the fraternity has many such relationships with a variety of student groups. He denied any connection between his fraternity and On-Point.

“We are not affiliated with one another,” he said. “On-Point is a social organization, and Alpha Phi Alpha is a fraternity. I have friends in that organization, but I have friends in many other organizations.”

Neither flier acknowledged the other group’s existence, and for good reason: The fraternity’s name couldn’t be on the On-Point Entertainment flier because the fraternity is on NIU’s “hot list” — a list that effectively bans groups that owe NIU money from organizing events.

In a listing the Star obtained from NIU through the Freedom of Information Act, the list — current through the party weekend — showed Alpha Phi Alpha as owing money. And, as per university policy, the group wouldn’t be able to hold an event on campus without special approval through the Accounts Receivable office.

“If a name is on the hot list, it can’t be on the flier, even if the main sponsor is not in financial trouble,” said Rick Clark, director of University Programming & Activities. “We consider that one of the privileges of being in the group.”

The fraternity wasn’t involved in the rec center rental, OCR facilities coordinator Dave Lochbaum said. Only one party was arranged that week through the On-Point Entertainment budget number.

But Alpha Phi Alpha was involved in the party, according to the flier and the group’s Web site. Both indicated that the fraternity planned on having a good time at “tha Rec,” although the Web site also failed to mention anything about On-Point. The Alpha Phi Alpha site advertised the party two days after On-Point received its funding.

As far as the costs, Clark said rec center parties go upwards of $3,000 — an amount On-Point could not have covered had the party occurred a week before. The money went toward rec center rental and extensive security costs.

The party did take place, with UP&A associate director Bert Simpson manning the door to make sure everything went smoothly. About 1,000 people helped raise money for the African Students Association, and members of both groups danced late into the night.

The rules change for the future

Just a week after the On-Point budget approval, the finance committee reconsidered its abandonment of the SA Budget Guide. From then on, no previously unfunded student organizations got supplemental funding, as the amount slowly shrank to a manageable number.

“We caught a weakness in our system … there was a slight glitch,” Adhikari said.

The glitch won’t occur in the future, at least according to a resolution passed by the senate April 22. It states that the SA treasury must pass any funding changes in the SA Budget Guide through the senate.

Caldwell has harsh words for the resolution, claiming it will lengthen the time it takes for student organizations to get money.

“That’s nonsense to me,” he said. “The budget process already has many channels for groups to go through.”

But some think the senate could have eliminated the On-Point anomaly before funding became an issue. Alaniz said the best way to prevent the formation of “repeat” student groups is to pick them off during senate confirmation. During the On-Point budget approval, only one question was raised before senators unanimously supported On-Point’s funding request.

Now, On-Point must spend its money before the end of the fiscal year. Otherwise, the funds end up where they began — in supplemental funding. The group has sponsored another event since the April 7 party — a fundraiser for the African Students Association without any connection to Alpha Phi Alpha.

The finance committee will not meet again this semester and awaits replacement next year under treasurer-elect Karega Harris, also an Alpha Phi Alpha member. Adhikari said she thought, given the circumstances, that the committee conducted business very effectively.

The incident, though, has placed more attention and importance on the SA’s yearly distribution of student fees.

“Students have to be watchdogs for their own student funds,” Simpson said.