THE SEPT. 17 ISSUE OF THE COLLEGIAN FEATURED in its top story the admissions of Associated Students, Inc. (ASI) President Mackee M. Mason and Executive Vice President Sandra Flores to allowing underage students to drink in their hotel while on a retreat for ASI.

Additionally, Mason admitted to using his ASI credit card to pay for alcoholic beverages on two separate occasions, while on ASI trips.

Their admissions came to The Collegian as letters to their fellow students, delivered around 6:30 p.m. on Sept. 16.

That evening, The Collegian made efforts to contact both Mason and Flores, with regards to questions we had about their letters. Neither Mason nor Flores responded to our inquiries that night.

Since Sept. 16, The Collegian has made several efforts to arrange interviews with these two ASI executives. This included two calls to Mason and one call to Flores, placed through Director of University Affairs Tara Powers-Mead. We also sent e-mails directly to both Mason and Flores.

Late Thursday, in his first direct contact with The Collegian, Mason proposed an interview conducted by e-mail.

The Collegian believes e-mail interviews lack the same integrity and candidness as a direct interview, either face-to-face or over the phone.

Mason has, however, said he would give a direct interview regarding ASI’s “Why 1509?â€Â campaign.

We are not the only news organization that still has questions about the matter.

On Sept. 17, at an ASI Senate meeting, Mason also declined to grant interviews to The Fresno Bee as well as several local television stations present at the meeting.

Flores was also unable to be reached for comment.

Previously, on Sept. 8, The Collegian made an in-person visit to the ASI office to formally request documents including the ASI credit card statements of executives and executive expense forms dated between June 1 and Aug. 31.

The Collegian also requested an itinerary for the July ASI retreat, as well a list of attendees.

On Sept. 12, The Collegian hand-delivered a follow-up letter to the ASI office, again requesting these documents.

As of today, 11 days later, ASI still has not delivered these documents to The Collegian. They have told us, however, that they are compiling the requested documents.

President Mason has made the idea of an “open-door policy on student issuesâ€Â a cornerstone of his presidency. In his “President’s Message,â€Â located on the ASI Web site, Mason says he is “more than willing to meet with [students] in person.â€Â

Likewise, Executive Vice President Flores, in her recent letter to the student body, expressed a “personal belief in transparency.â€Â

We believe our recent experiences with these two executives have been far from “transparent.â€Â We have found very few open doors in trying to work with Mason and Flores.

We believe, first of all, that if these two are going to proclaim a policy of openness with the student body and the public, then they must subscribe to that policy 100 percent.

They should not pick and choose which issues should be transparent and which should not. They should not choose when to lock the gate in front of their “open door.â€Â

Further, we believe it is in the best interest of President Mason and Executive Vice President Flores to speak with The Collegian, whose staff is made up of their constituents, so that their stories might be clarified and their voices heard.

They owe it to themselves, and they owe it to the student body.