After reviewing the budgets of the organizations that applied for special allocation funding, the Government of the Student Body finance committee decided the student group Cuffs was not eligible to receive student fees money.

Cuffs, a sado-masochistic interest organization, was denied funding from GSB by a 5-3 vote of the finance committee. The decision to deny funding came even though the committee only allocated $7,000 out of the total $10,000 available to give out to student-run organizations.

Alex Olson, vice chairman of the finance committee, said GSB couldn’t fund Cuffs because the group didn’t meet the requirements to receive money outlined in the GSB bylaws.

“The bylaws state that a group must provide a tangible benefit to the university, and that it has to be open to all paying students,” said Olson, off campus. “Cuffs holds meetings every other week that are open only to members that have gone through an interview process. The average student can’t attend these meetings.”

GSB Finance Director Stephen Medanic said Cuffs holds two separate types of meetings. They have open informational meetings and members-only meetings that Cuffs refers to as their “social meetings.”

“The bylaws clearly stipulate that to receive any type of funding, the organization must have all of their meetings and gatherings open to all of the students,” Medanic said.

John Dorsey, founder of Cuffs, said he was disappointed when he heard the news, but he understood why his group was denied the money.

“It was obvious that the majority of the committee members thought that we should have received funds due to the principle of the matter,” said Dorsey, senior in electrical engineering. “However, I understand that we didn’t receive the funds due to a technicality. Due to the nature of our meetings, we simply can’t allow them to be open to the general public.”

The lack of GSB funding does not mean the end of Cuffs’ existence on campus, said Olson, who seconded the motion to zero-fund the group.

“By no means does this kill the group,” he said. “They have every right to continue to meet and discuss whatever they want to discuss. We didn’t even take the moral issues concerning their group into consideration when we made our decision. It was all just a legal question.”

Medanic said it is illegal for the finance committee to discriminate against organizations based on moral issues, sexual preference or anything related to personal beliefs.

Dorsey said the group members understand the reasoning behind the zero-fund decision, but they will continue to work with GSB.

“We are aware that the issue concerning our meetings is the only reason why the finance committee turned us down,” Dorsey said. “We will be attending next week’s senate meeting to address the topic. Hopefully we can shed some light on what our group is all about.”