Student Association President Steven DiMarzo froze the Latino Student Union’s budget on Thursday following the organization’s annual dinner because 32 attendees of the dinner did not purchase a ticket. LSU’s account will remain frozen until Spring 2011.

The dinner was held on Saturday, Nov. 13, and 250 guests attended, although only 218 tickets were sold. 32 people attended the dinner for free, DiMarzo said.

LSU President Natasha Santiago said Campus Catering told LSU that a dinner for 250 people would cost $5,400. The cost per plate would be $21.70 and tickets were sold for $8.68. The revenue from ticket sales would be used to reimburse Senate, according to DiMarzo.

"We had enough money from S.A. to pay for 250 guests at $21.70 per plate," Santiago said. "Either way you put it, if the people didn’t pay for their tickets, it still would have been covered in the $5,400."

According to DiMarzo, LSU requested $5,900 from Senate to host the dinner. LSU is a Tier II organization and cannot have more than $3,500 in their budget.

"The problem is not the fact that we had to pay for 250 people…it’s the fact that they let people in for free," DiMarzo said. "It’s a matter of being fair to the people who purchased tickets."

Technical difficulties during the dinner required the attention of e-board members, which could have pulled them away from monitoring the doors, Santiago said.

"There were a few people that probably walked in without tickets," she said.

DiMarzo found out about the attendance difference after receiving the numbers from Campus Catering and the box office.

"It’s the responsibility of LSU or any other organization holding a ticketed event to have someone staff the door and collect tickets," DiMarzo said