Robotics Club, Legal Services get GSB money

Joe Augustin and Rhiannon Nagys

Three monetary allocation bills were considered by the Government of the Student Body on Wednesday, one of which caused some reluctance on the part of some senators because of possible overspending.

After discussion about the possibly overly powerful specifications of computers to be purchased for Student Legal Services by Jason Stanek, graduate senator and graduate student in computer and electrical engineering, the senate passed a bill by a vote of 25-6 that allocated approximately $5,000 from the capital projects account to the organization.

David Miles, engineering senator, senior in aerospace engineering and one of the authors of the bill, said the current computers are outdated and inefficient.

Student Legal Services asked for new computers two years ago, but GSB instead issued extensions on the warranties for the computers. The new computers are expected to last five years.

Another bill, which allocated nearly $9,000 from the capital projects account to the ISU Robotics Club, passed unanimously. The club received funds last spring from GSB.

The club did not spend any of the funds it received and were under the impression that those funds would carry over to this fall, said Jason Carroll, GSB finance director. Funds not spent by GSB-sponsored organizations, however, are placed back into the capital projects account. This bill was a reallocation from the bill last spring.

“We have been doing things for free so far,” said Jake Ingman, president of the Robotics Club and graduate student in mechanical engineering.

Before the bill passed, the club was relying on money from fundraising efforts and sponsorships from robotics companies, Ingman said.

The final bill, which also passed unanimously, was to reallocate funds from an organization that no longer exists. Leaders INspiring Connections was created after the suspension of Veishea to provide an alternative for leaders to get involved in the community. The initiatives LINC created will be passed on to the members of Veishea Inc. and the Student Affairs Office.