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Wednesday, April 14, 2010

Turlock Journal - Attorney General to investigate CSU Stanislaus Foundation

Turlock Journal - Attorney General to investigate CSU Stanislaus Foundation
Attorney General to investigate CSU Stanislaus Foundation
Shredded documents found in university Dumpster

Shortly after announcing that former vice-presidential candidate and Alaska governor Sarah Palin would be speaking at CSU Stanislaus’ 50th Anniversary Gala, State Senator Leland Yee (D-San Francisco) started a campaign to release documents regarding her visit.
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By Alex Cantatore
Civic Desk
acantatore@turlockjournal.com
209-634-9141, ext. 2005
POSTED April 14, 2010 midnight
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Attorney General to investigate CSU Stanislaus Foundation
Shredded documents found in university Dumpster
BY ALEX CANTATORE
acantatore@turlockjournal.com
State Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. announced Tuesday that the non-profit California State University, Stanislaus Foundation will be investigated for allegedly dumping documents related to former vice-presidential candidate and Alaska governor Sarah Palin’s upcoming fundraiser at the campus.
“This is not about Sarah Palin,” Brown said. “She has every right to speak at a university event, and schools should strive to bring to campus a broad range of speakers.
“The issues are public disclosure and financial accountability in organizations embedded in state-run universities. We’re not saying any allegation is true, but we owe it to the taxpayers to thoroughly check out every serious allegation.”
The investigation comes as the result of amateur sleuthing performed by CSU Stanislaus students Alicia Lewis, 26, and Ashli Briggs, 23, both Political Science majors, and about five of their friends.
According to Briggs, a friend phoned on Friday to inform her that “suspicious activity” was ongoing at the CSU Stanislaus Administration Building and that “administrators were destroying documents.” Briggs then called Lewis and five other friends to drive over to campus to investigate.
Upon arriving, Lewis said she saw numerous cars parked outside the Administration Building — despite the administration staff being furloughed on that day — and witnessed a student carrying a bag of garbage to a Dumpster. Lewis and Briggs examined the contents of the Dumpster and found shredded finance department documents dated March 28, mixed in with the unshredded pages 4