Update: The previous version of this article incorrectly stated that WCSA finance director Stefan Etarsky said a car accident cost thousands of dollars. Etarsky quoted hundreds of dollars.

Update: WCSA gets a resounding ‘no’ [unofficial results]

Question 1: Should the Woodsworth College Students’ Association get a $2.5 more in levies for Fall/Winter and Spring semesters:

yes: 109

no: 526

spoilt: 2

Question 2: Should the WCSA levy by tied to the Consumer Price Index:

yes: 94

no: 453

spoilt: 19

The board of directors will vote to ratify these results on April 15.

As Woodsworth College Students’ Association asks students for a $2.50 levy increase, citing a projected budget deficit, execs face questions about their spending.

At last Tuesday’s annual general meeting, former VP external Danielle Sandhu asked president Athmika Punja to explain a $2,100 cheque WCSA made out to her for UTSU’s Vendetta Club Night, which she organized as VP of campus life at UTSU. The club night on Oct. 30, 2008, was a collaboration between UTSU and the colleges. According to the budget, the event cost WCSA just $800.

WCSA finance director Stefan Etarsky said that the cheque reimbursed Punja for upfront expenditures on the event. Etarsky said he sent UTSU an invoice and used Punja’s position at UTSU to ask for the money back. He produced no receipts for Punja’s expenses.

“I am not aware of any invoice from Woodsworth College,” said UTSU executive director Angela Regnier. “If Woodsworth College paid for it, we don’t know where the money went.”

Etarsky presented a forecasted $28,113 deficit for the 2008-09 year as justification for the levy increase, which is expected to bring in an additional $39,000. This year WCSA spent $4,700 on a retreat for its 18 board members in September. Sandhu asked the board to justify that amount after last year’s board spent $4,000 and decided it was excessive.

“We got into a car accident,” said Etarsky, adding to this cost several hundred dollars. Punja defended the decision to go to Algonquin Park, saying that it was necessary for the board’s productivity. Sandhu said that going to the Hart House farm instead would have cost far less.

When asked, Pujna denied that WCSA paid for alcohol for the retreat. Alice Wu, an UTSU staffer who used to work at WCSA, then produced a $156 receipt from LCBO dated the day of the retreat. She said it was paid for from the association’s “petty cash” budget.

“I am in charge of the petty cash,” Etarsky said, “That did not happen.” He could not recall the purchase, calling it “a random receipt” stolen from the office and that the matter would be cleared up in an audit. Wu said she had obtained the receipt legitimately from the VP assembly affairs, Yin Cheng, who could not be reached for comment at press time.

Joeita Gupta, VP external of the Association of Part-Time Students, accused the board of not doing enough for mature and part-time students. She pointed out that the budget allocation for mature students is small in comparison to other portions.

WCSA spent $85,676 on regular Frosh Week programming, and only $1,144 on a program for mature students. In 2007-08, WCSA had a $54,000 deficit, spending $43,000 on an open bar gala and $81,500 on Frosh Week.

“We do as much as we humanly can,” Etarsky responded. He said the association never tries to cater to one specific group and that only so much can be done with a volunteer force.

Summer retreat to Algonquin Park for board directors:
$4,697

Personalized green sweatshirts for board directors:
$1,642

Boat cruise:
$24,131

Open-bar gala
(‘07-’08):
$43,279

Forecasted deficit:
$28,112

Proposed levy:
$10
per Fall/Spring semester

Voting on the referendum is open from 9 a.m. on March 30 to 4 p.m. on April 3 on voting.utoronto.ca