SAC chair resigns to refocus energies

Jared Susco said he will work to create an online budget-tracking system. After serving as the Student Activities Council's chairman since last February, Wharton junior Jared Susco last night announced his resignation, citing a desire to devote himself completely to the development of an online budget tracking system for the council. At a meeting last night, Susco explained that he wishes to relinquish his SAC duties in order to work on the project, in which he has played a crucial role since the idea came up last spring. "I realized the great need in SAC for an online budget tracking system," Susco said. "Unfortunately, my efforts to plunge into this project have been set back by my position as chair." Although Susco will remain on the executive board of SAC, he will be directing much of his energies to the ongoing project, which will give all SAC-funded student groups easy access to all financial information, including debts, revenues and expenses. Susco will be succeeded by Wharton sophomore and SAC Vice Chairwoman LaToya Baldwin, who will assume the role of acting chairwoman until SAC's annual executive board elections next month. Jay Haverty, an Engineering junior, will serve as acting vice chairman. The online budget tracking system, Susco hopes, will be more accessible to council members than the current one, which is distributed to SAC members once a month and includes all financial information in what Susco called an "incomprehensible" fashion. "The report is worthless for SAC groups" because of its incomprehensibility, Susco said. Baldwin added that if a SAC organization requests to see the past financial statements, it can take up to three weeks for the Office of Student Life's financial center to produce them. Susco said that under the new online system such problems will be eliminated. Students will not only have instant access financial information expressed in a more comprehensible manner, but past records will also be available online for instant viewing. "Student groups have no concept for how they get [into] debt," Susco said, adding that the new system will allow groups to carefully monitor their funding histories. Susco said that he started thinking about resigning during winter break, certain that investing his energy in the online project would be the best way to improve student life on campus. He added that SAC would be in great hands with Baldwin serving as acting chairwoman. "While I am pleased that I can work whole-heartedly [on my project]," Susco said, "I am also pleased that I have such a fantastic successor." Baldwin represents the a cappella group The Inspiration as its general manager, and said that she plans to run for re-election as SAC chair in the coming weeks.