Spring break broken for York students

By MICHELE E. JOHNSTON
Collegian Staff Writer

As the deadline to receive money for a spring break trip came and went, York Campus students who had planned to spend their week in Florida were left looking for a new ticket south.

Intercampus Programs, the company in charge of the trip, had not received the money for hotel accommodations as of the deadline yesterday.

York Campus students paid money to Aaron West, former Student Government Association president, for a spring break trip to Florida, but Intercampus Programs did not receive the money.

Douglas Bare, Aaron West's attorney, said nobody contacted him about the missing money for the trip West organized. Bare added that his understanding was that the deposits were made and students who had changed their minds about going on the trip were asking for refunds.

He also said he believes students who had not paid the full amount had forfeited their deposits.

West does not have the money and if mistakes involving the money are brought to West's attention he will correct them, Bare said. He said he believes the missing money is a dispute with the travel agency.

"It sounds like a civil suit to me and not a criminal suit," Bare said.

A meeting was held with University officials and law-enforcement officers to inform students of their rights, said Thane Fake, York Campus SGA interim president.

Because the event was not sponsored by the University, the University cannot reimburse the students -- but the student affairs office is helping students become aware of their options, Fake said.

"The trip was a nonsponsored event," Fake said, "and was not connected with SGA or the University because of liability."

Phillip Berry, general manager of Intercampus Programs, said when no money from any of the York Campus students was received, the company tried to contact West, but their calls were never returned.

After being unable to contact West, the company called the University to find out if the spring break plans had changed.

Berry said the company has no problem with students changing their minds about going on the trip.

"We just like to keep the University involved," he said.

Students should have made the checks out to Intercampus Programs rather than to a specific person, Berry said. Intercampus Programs' policy is that checks or money orders should be made out to the company.

Checks written to a certain individual are not accepted by Intercampus Programs, Berry said, adding that the company also does not accept cash.

If the money had been sent to the company, Berry said, there would have been a receipt. Whatever bank cashed the students' checks will be listed on the bank statements, so students can discover who endorsed the checks. Berry said if a check from a York Campus student did go through his office, the company would issue a refund.

"Our company has issued refunds for up to a year after a trip and sometimes without documentation," Berry said. "In this case we want hard-copy proof because we did not cause this (problem)."