In response to the Oct. 12 online article “First GSB supreme court case in 4 years raises question marks” and Oct. 15 article “GSB supreme court hears first case in nearly 4 years”:

We wanted to take this opportunity to thank the Daily for being present during the GSB supreme court trial for the case Reyes-Alamo and Combas v. the Puerto Rican Student Association last Thursday. The purpose of this letter is to state our position with regards to the case, because after reading the Oct. 12 online article and the Monday’s print article, we can feel nothing but concerns on the way the Iowa State Daily reported the news on this case.

As an educator (Laura Centeno-Díaz) and as a senior in pre-journalism and mass communication (Karla Martínez-Silverio), we were startled to read the online article and find the reported facts were not accurate, and we feel the reporter was not reporting objectively. Furthermore, and to our surprise, a similar article to the one published last Friday made the front page of the printed copy on Oct. 15.

In regards to both articles, we are distressed by the fact that the reporter did not interview any of the defendants for their version on the issue. For starters, the Puerto Rican Student Association did not request a loan. A loan implies that the association will need to reimburse the funds requested.

What the association did was apply for a grant from the ISU Multicultural Student Programming Advisory Council. The council is “an advising committee for the Office of Multicultural Student Affairs and funding source for student-organization-initiated events that promote diversity awareness and education on campus.”

As of Oct. 12, the Puerto Rican Student Association had been awarded the entirety of the requested funds from the council in support of the Noche Puertorriqueña/Puerto Rican Night, which will take place on Oct. 28 in the Great Hall of the Memorial Union.

According to the article, “the organization’s budget will result in a negative balance after all costs for the Puerto Rican Night are withdrawn and put to use.” We want to clarify that it was never the intention of the association’s student leaders to leave the account with a negative balance. Efforts were made, prior to the accusations brought forth on Sept. 24 by the plaintiffs Reyes-Alamo and Combas, to apply for funding through different departments within the university and to look for sponsors in various establishments in town. What the accusations and the trial did was hinder this process, as the time spent gathering information for hearings and meetings did not allow us to focus on finishing letters requesting sponsorship for the event. Because we are students, our main priority is our academic responsibilities.

The article states “Centeno-Díaz hadn’t completed any sort of formal training”. Although Centeno-Díaz might have not completed formal training, she did thoroughly study the information and manual for treasurers provided on the campus organization accounting Web site and visited frequently with its program coordinators if doubts arose.

Even though Centeno-Díaz was not “formally trained,” the funds of the association have always been managed according to all the rules and regulations of Student Activities Center, Office of Campus Organization Accounting and Iowa State University.

Reyes-Alamo is quoted in the article saying, “Individuals haven’t had a chance to get involved because recruitment isn’t being done the right way . In the last year, everything has changed and we’re really worried about the future of the organization.” We want to make clear that the association was active throughout the 2007 spring semester, not only by holding meetings but also by participating in events such as spring ClubFest, the Veishea 2007 parade and the International Food Fair. Other social and cultural activities were scheduled early in the semester, but because of severe winter weather conditions, they had to be canceled.

If the plaintiffs were “genuinely worried” about the future of the association, how come they never expressed their concerns to the student leaders of the association before? How come these “concerns” had to escalate to the point where the integrity of university staff and students was brought into question?

Finally, we want to correct the statement regarding one of the speakers who will be presenting during the Puerto Rican Night. Juan Diego is not a mere disc jockey, as the article reports. Martínez-Silverio gave explicit details regarding Diego’s qualifications during the trial. She explained that Diego is a sound and recording engineer and music composer with more than eight years of experience in the field, a reason why he was selected by the members of the association as a suitable candidate for a presentation on the history of salsa dancing and music.

Diego has a degree in music production and recording arts from Full Sail: School of Film, Art, Design, Music and Media Production in the state of Florida. Full Sail is a renowned school, which “over the past 28 years has built a reputation as one of the premier media arts colleges in the world. Throughout the entertainment industry, Full Sail graduates have made their names working on award-winning films and albums, acclaimed video games and design projects, live productions, working inside major media companies and more,” according to the Full Sail Web site.

With this letter we want to reiterate our availability to discuss with the Iowa State Daily the defendants’ point of view, as it was completely ignored in the publication of these articles.

I hope this newspaper understands our concerns, as these are the concerns of many, and we kindly request for a public apology and for the facts to be reported accurately.

Karla Martínez-Silverio

President

Puerto Rican Student Association

Laura Centeno-Díaz

Treasurer

Puerto Rican Student Association

Yanira Pacheco-Ortiz

Adviser

Puerto Rican Student Association

Aurelio Curbelo

Member

Puerto Rican Student Association