The Government of the Student Body’s Wednesday senate meeting was dominated by reports from the Finance Committee and bills concerning funding for student organizations to be allocated within the next three months.

The senate approved funding for the Marine Biology club and the Triathlon club, to be dispersed immediately. Finance Director Kristi Kramer said the immediate funding came for capital purchases that needed to be received before Jan. 1. Because of the immediate need for the funding, both allocations will come from the Special Projects account and not the Special Allocations account.

The Special Projects account is a general account available to organizations throughout the fiscal year. The Special Allocations is the spring semester accompaniment to regular allocations typically dispersed on July 1, the beginning of the fiscal year.

Stephanie Fox, associate account controller, spoke to the senate concerning GSB’s university investment account and how investing $150,000 of funds into the account could benefit GSB and the student body.

“We’re required by law to be really conservative with our investments,” Fox said. “It’s not the stock market.”

Fox said groups must invest at least $5,000 of idle cash for at least three months. The money goes into the university’s investment pool and returns about 2 percent interest.

For the GSB’s initial investment of $150,000, GSB would receive $3,000 each year in interest returns. There was a bill on the table to allocate these returns to a student appreciation account.

College of Engineering Senator Alan Johnson and Off-Campus Senator Matt Denner objected to the bill. Both said they felt there was no need for a special account for student appreciation.

“I would much rather see it as a choice,” Denner said. “We could use that money to potentially fund a student appreciation activity.”

Off-Campus Senator Jacob Larson said he agreed.

“I think $3,000 can make or break some groups,” Larson said. “We could give students ice cream every semester or we could help them, like help the Travel club buy bikes that will last for four to five years.”

The bill creating the account was passed, however, along with its accompanying bylaws.