I write this message as a former Northern Iowa Student Government senator, NISG Speaker of the Senate, member of the Student Services Fee Committee, University of Northern Iowa athlete and as a UNI alumnus. Every year, students pay a Student Service Fee to be a member of the UNI community. Within this fee, the students pay for a significant portion of the Athletic Department's (AD) budget. When I was in school, the AD portion of the fee comprised 20 percent of the AD's budget.
The NISG president has always served as the head of the committee. During my time in NISG, the NISG president and vice president received presidential "kickbacks" from the AD. The kickbacks were all-expense-paid trips to the NCAA tournaments, away football playoff games, and the MVC Tournament in St. Louis. I found it questionable as to whether the money paying for these particular trips came from the subsidy the student body presented the AD on a yearly basis. I regret to say that it appears the tradition continues.
This is in no way to be construed as an attack on the great things the current president and vice president are implementing on campus, but a hope for an end to an unethical practice by members of NISG. In the interest of transparency on the part of the Student Services Fee Committee and in fairness to the student body that pays a significant portion of the AD budget, the practice of sending the NISG president on these trips needs to stop now.
Sincerely,
Mitch Lingo
Speaker of the Senate, emeritus
BA 2008
is a member of the 
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