ASI officials have given little thought on the behalf of the student body in its handling of the Children?s Center evening program. Our elected officials, especially ASI President Jason Bryant, seem content to let ASI Executive Director Carol Ackerson run the show. Not only does the Children?s Center not have support from ASI, but its own Director, Teri Mahan, and the Parental Advisory Council have demonstrated spines of jello in their support of the Center.

The PAC stopped fighting for the program long ago. They have been looking for a “self-sufficient” model in place of the ASI funded evening program since the fall of last year, and have yet to devise a concrete proposal. Instead, they have spent the last six months devising “criteria” for a self-sufficient model that we may, or may not, ever get to see implemented. These criteria include care that is equal to the day program and stipulate that any model should cover the cost of the evening staffing.

Considering the time it has taken the PAC “think tank” to arrive at these criteria it is unlikely that it will be able to come up with a competent alternative before the evening program is shut down this fall.

As program director, it was Mahan who devised the budget that does not include an evening program. Although the budget is Mahan?s responsibility, it is questionable whether the decision to cut the evening program was hers. Unfortunately, she has offered no explanations. However, Carol Ackerson was a bit more forward. She said that Mahan, in her first budget, worked closely with Pat Worley, associate director of ASI. According to Ackerson, cutting the evening program is a part of an ASI-wide staffing problem and she makes no secret of ASI?s involvement in devising the budget. With Mahan?s inexperience, and two staunch advocates of cutting the evening program involved in the budget proposal, the evening program never had a chance.

As the process continues, Ackerson and Mahan have been avoiding pointed questions from Hornet reporters. Additionally, Ackerson has been ambiguous about what ASI is doing with its $350,000 surplus while Mahan seldom returns phone calls about the issue.With a university of 25,077 students, it would be a tragedy to go without an evening program?particularly considering how many students have children. It?s time for the “brain trust” of ASI to wake up and find the money necessary to operate an evening program at the Children?s Center.