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VP says Miller allegations are true

Quintanilla says Miller asked him to help her create false statement

By Ray Hafner
Senior Staff Writer

AUSTIN -- The Student Government Association vice president spoke out Friday, saying it was clear President Dawona Miller had used campaign materials paid for by student fees and tried to cover it up by forging her financial statement.

Jon Quintanilla also implicated David Burkley, the Senateis speaker pro tempore, in the scheme, saying Burkley helped Miller make the fliers and handbills that were used by the Student Voice party during this monthis elections. Burkley had previously told the Cougar that Miller made the copies off campus by herself.

"The day before the elections they stayed in the SGA offices way after midnight making materials," Quintanilla said. "Itis pretty obvious."

The next morning, on election day, Quintanilla arrived at the offices to find that between five and six reams of paper had been used and there was blue paper of the kind used by Student Voice in the copier.

Quintanilla also said Miller had asked him to help forge her and Student Voiceis financial statement, by faking college letterhead from a school in Austin. Quintanilla, who was Student Voiceis candidate for vice president, said he did not help her and then filed his own financial statement independently of the party.

Miller continues to maintain her innocence, saying only that the charges are false and that she is cooperating with the Dean of Students Office. Burkley could not be reached to respond to Quintanillais statements.

Quintanilla said he filed separately because he expected the information might get out. One other Student Voice candidate, Abby Forgarty, who ran for a Senate seat, also filed independently.

Miller is being investigated by the Dean of Students Office and may face sanctions for theft, unauthorized use of school materials and falsification of records.

The investigation began after the Election Commission checked into the financial statements that were required from all candidates. In a letter to Assistant Dean of Students Heidi Kennedy, the commission wrote that the Student Voice statement was "fraudulent and may need further investigation."

The statement in question is designed as a letter from Kathy Williams, who claims to be the director of the Trio Upward Bound program at Huston-Tillotson College in Austin, Milleris hometown.

A visit to the collegeis campus found officials unwilling to talk about Milleris involvement in the Upward Bound program. The program is a national one, with offices across the country, designed to help get first-generation college students through the rigors of upper-level academia.

Bronte Jones, Huston-Tillotsonis dean of enrollment management, would only say that the letter was not printed on Huston-Tillotson College letterhead and that no Kathy Williams had ever worked there.

Jones would not say if Miller was or had been part of the program. She also would not say if the program had sponsored either Milleris or the Student Voice partyis campaigns.

Jones did say that a number printed in the letter, as a means for the Election Commission to contact Williams, was not a campus number.

A reverse directory search of the number returned an address in north Austin on the 1000 block of W. Rundberg Lane. Ten miles north of Huston-Tillotson, just off I-35, the address is identical to the one given as Milleris home address in the 2002-2003 UH Telephone Directory. 

Assistant Election Commissioner Cullen Newsom said the commission first became suspicious of Student Voiceis campaign materials when Assistant Director of Campus Activities Bruce Twenhafel began inquiring about their paper usage.

Newsom said Miller was trying to shift the cost of the material to the Election Commission, but at the time the commission had used about 100 pieces, nowhere near the amount Miller was claiming.

SGA supplies are paid for out of student fees. In February, SGA was given $119,000 for Fiscal Year 2003-i04. The Student Fees Advisory Committee praised SGA for their fiscal responsibility following the last administration, which had to be bailed out after spending more money than it had been allocated.

Miller was this yearis homecoming queen and is one of UHis most influential students, with easy access to university officials. This year she is serving on the presidential search committee, the team interviewing candidates to be UHis next president after Arthur Smith steps down in September.

The search committeeis chairman, Gene McDavid, would not comment on the allegations and would not say what effect they might have on Milleris role on the committee.

"Dawona has been a tremendous representative for student interests," said Vice President for Student Affairs Elwyn Lee. Lee said that if Miller continued in her role on the committee she would still be vocal on behalf of student interests.

"These allegations certainly donit come anywhere near the most egregious allegations Iive seen," said Lee, who has served UH in his current role since 1991. Lee said that the normal process for investigation was under way.

Several senators have said if the allegations prove to be true then Miller should step down or face impeachment.

Lee said that because of the way SGAis constitution is written, university officials, including Lee himself, "could be drawn in to interpret what procedures the Senate ought to follow."

Miller is the official representative of the Student Voice party and took the responsibility of filing all its paper work, the Election Commission said. Itis not clear whether other members of the party might also face sanctions.

Student Voice members must already serve two hours of community service as part of the sanctions for improperly posting their campaign material.
 

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