The Associated Students Legislative Council received its annual budget audit report and advice on how to effectively allocate funding during last night’s weekly meeting.

Auditing firm Nasif, Hicks, Harris & Co. reviewed the council’s meeting minutes and budget report to provide professional analysis of the board’s finances compared to previous years. The council also addressed topics including yesterday’s tuition rally, council members’ honoraria and former Representative-at-Large Sophia Armen’s resignation.

According to NHH & Co. partner Jeff Harris, the audit helps teach the student group how to responsibly manage its multi-million dollar resource pool.

“One of the things we do in the audit is read through the minutes of all of the legislative meetings,” Harris said. “A lot of times, we see you arguing about a $200 or $500 amount. You are responsible for $5 million of assets and the students elected you to manage this. It’s important to recognize that you really have the same responsibilities as a major corporation or board of directors.”

Harris said the council should allot more funds to student programs while maintaining its overhead, including staff salaries and honoraria.

In addition, External Vice President for Statewide Affairs Ahmed Mostafa gave a report to the council regarding yesterday’s rally, during which a group of students linked arms and marched from the Arbor to Cheadle Hall in solidarity with students at UC Berkeley.

According to Mostafa, the event’s visibility and decibel level engaged the campus community.

“It was very empowering all throughout there,” Mostafa said. “We went to Cheadle Hall and we started chanting really loud and people at Cheadle Hall started looking through the windows. We really got everyone’s attention and it was so sick.”

The council also voted to accept Armen’s resignation after she stepped down for personal reasons. Armen has served as co-chair of A.S. Womyn’s Commission and co-president of the organization’s Human Rights Board and is actively involved in the Student Commission on Racial Equality.

Off-Campus Representative Kadeem Coad said the process to replace Armen will involve a series of interviews with potential candidates.

“We have now exhausted all of the runners-up for the Representative-at-Large position, so we now have to interview for the position,” Coad said.