Government bodies’ use of wireless chatting to covertly conduct public business has recently come into question, with one committee of the Government of the Student Body having used this kind of communication during meetings.

A March 15 Des Moines Register op-ed piece brought to light a possible discrepancy with using technology to help speed up the transaction of public business.

In her column “Democracy can be messy,” Kathleen Richardson, executive secretary of the Iowa Freedom of Information Council, wrote about the use of laptop computers by a state student government committee to relay information among members through the use of a wireless connection.

The GSB Finance Committee uses similar technology, with up to nine members of the 13-person committee using laptop computers during a meeting at any given time.

Finance Committee at-large member Jeremy Schweitzer said the committee does this to communicate information to other members of the committee swiftly and efficiently.

A section of Iowa open-meetings and open-records laws does address electronic meetings, stating electronics may be used “only in circumstances where such a meeting in person is impossible or impractical” with reasonable public access as a stipulation, though it does not have prohibitions against instant messaging.

Critics like Richardson argue this section is outdated and does not cover wireless technology used during public meetings.

Iowa open-meetings and open-records laws are intended to provide a framework of guidelines for public disclosure of information among taxpayer-funded organizations, which requires government bodies to provide minutes and agendas.

Kristi Kramer, GSB finance director, said she does not believe the GSB Finance Committee has breached any open-records laws.

Minutes of the meetings are kept by the committee’s clerk, Ross Kelderman. Digital audio recordings are also available.

Student organizations are told to contact either Kramer or the committee’s vice chairman, Jason Carroll, if they have any concerns about the allocation hearings, Kramer said.

“No organization has ever made a complaint directly to me,” she said.

Kramer said the allocations process was converted to an online process last year by Academic Information Technologies.

Before going online, each member of the committee received a six-inch notebook to keep track of the changes made during the meeting to student organization budgets, requiring each member to do his or her own math.

Now, members can immediately retrieve changes made during the meeting and make faster, more accurate calculations.

All the members of the committee and student organizations who are receiving funding have access to the changes, Kramer said, which creates a more fluid process.

Schweitzer said he uses instant messaging during the meeting to relay information to people not at the meeting.

He said he often uses the wireless technology to inform others that meetings are going long, as allocation hearings have lasted nearly 12 hours in the past.

“This has saved us hours of time and literally thousands of pieces of paper,” Schweitzer said.