The student group Leaders INspiring Connections — formerly Veishea Inc. — was the only group singled out for scrutiny over special allocations funding at the Government of the Student Body meeting Wednesday.

Despite the debate, LINC’s special allocation was not referred back to the finance committee and was approved at $9,995.

Vice Speaker of the Senate Leia Guccione moved to separate LINC from the rest of the groups being considered for funding and recommended the bill be sent back to the finance committee for reconsideration.

Guccione said she wanted to make sure the senate was funding the organization for the “right reasons.”

“I do think there are other student organizations that are doing things you’re trying to do. We may have made some special exceptions we shouldn’t have,” she said. “It’s important we have the same discrimination over dollars that we do for other new organizations.”

LINC Co-Chairman Kyle Chesnut said much of the concern the senate may have over its allocation rested on the amount of advertising money it was requesting — about $4,000 worth.

“We’re a new organization, and no one knows our events,” he said. “We have to do a massive ad campaign to get people involved.”

Other student groups are working with LINC to hopefully regain some of the funding they will lose without a Veishea celebration in 2005, Chesnut said, and the advertising will help them as well.

“It’s not just us who you’ll hurt by reducing funding; it’s also the clubs you represent that are working with us,” he said.

In defense of LINC’s budget, Chesnut said the amount of money it expects to receive this year from outside sources is substantially less than what Veishea Inc. received last year because LINC is not as widely known.

“Soliciting donations isn’t as easy when you’re a new group,” he said. “We’re asking for more money knowing that some money and contributions won’t be there.”

Jeremy Schweitzer, at-large member of the GSB finance committee, said the committee debated LINC funding for nearly 45 minutes to make sure it considered every aspect of the situation.

“We were trying to find the balance between cutting unnecessary funding and helping out other student organizations, and I think that’s what we’ve done,” Schweitzer said.

When student groups’ special allocations recommendations were brought up for consideration in the GSB senate, every other group’s funding was passed unanimously.