Riskier business

The King’s Students’ Union made a mistake presenting information on the King’s Galley before the referendum, The Watch has discovered.
At the town hall discussion, Internal Coordinator John Adams had said that if the Galley were to fail in the first five years, the full $75,000 fee to the administration would be refunded. In fact, the KSU would only recover a portion of that money. If the Galley were to stop running after three years, for example, the KSU would still pay three fifths, or about $45,000.
King’s President Anne Leavitt brought the error to the attention of The Watch after Phoebe Mannell repeated it in a letter to the editor, on behalf of the elections committee. It read: “Should the venture fail in the next five years, this $75,000 will be returned to the KSU in its entirety.”
After The Watch asked about it, KSU President Gabe Hoogers confirmed that this is false. He said that the KSU made the mistake because drafts of the contract with the administration changed quickly over the negotiation process.
Hoogers says that this change doesn’t affect the result of the referendum. “I don’t think it’s going to be a big burden,” he said. “What students wanted to know is if this was going to affect the financial stability of the KSU.”
As The Watch goes to press, the King’s Galley is scheduled to open on Monday, Feb.13.