Senators unfamiliar with Government of the Student Body rules caused unnecessary debate during Wednesday’s GSB meeting, some more-seasoned senators said.

A bill allocating funds for new hardware for the SUB/GSB Computer Lab took the Senate about 40 minutes to pass, 27-8.

The bill, which was introduced by Senators Wassef Masri and Matthew Goodman on Sept. 20, called for $352.45 to be allocated from the GSB Senate Discretionary Fund for the new equipment.

The monies from this fund go toward special projects. The Senate Discretionary Fund has a budget of about $14,000.

Sen. Stein Avloes offered a successful amendment, asking for the funds to come from the Special Projects Budget instead. Special projects are capital expenditures that directly benefit student organizations and students, according to the GSB Bylaws. The fund has a budget of about $55,000, said Steve Elliot, GSB finance director.

Debate over which budget the funding would be pulled from had senators leaving their seats to discuss the issue with their colleagues in the middle of the meeting.

“I don’t think we should be pulling things out of the Special Projects,” said Sen. Brian Hille.

Sen. Alan Beck agreed with Hille, saying the equipment isn’t a capital expenditure.

“A capital expenditure is something that can be depreciated over time,” he said. “It’s relatively hard to get a salvage value on it [the equipment] for the most part. I think this is a perfect discretionary fund item. It’s not a capital expenditure; it wasn’t meant to be taken out of Special Projects.

“You’re taking $352 out of a $55,000 account which, I disagree with to begin with because it shouldn’t come out of Special Projects, but we don’t care about that either,” Beck added. “So just don’t worry about the $352 unless they go on a spending spree and buy everything you want for $352.45, but it’s not overly important.”

Scott Terpkosh, software administrator for the lab, said the lab is shared by the Student Union Board and GSB and is primarily for the use of student organizations.

The Senate voted, 17-14, in favor of having the computer equipment funded by the Special Projects fund.

Some senators expressed their disappointment in their colleagues’ behavior and the time wasted discussing the bill.

“Tonight, I’m ashamed to be a senator,” one senator said.

Elliot advised the Senate to learn the GSB Bylaws, the GSB Constitution and Robert’s Rules of Order, the parliamentary procedure by which GSB conducts its meetings.

“To debate is OK, but to waste time to debate topics because you’re ignorant is not OK,” he said.

GSB President Dan Mangan agreed saying, “90 percent of the discussion tonight could be held outside the meeting.”

In other business:

* Peter Van Alstyne was seated as the Family and Consumer Sciences College senator.

* The Senate allocated $3,587.20 to Iowa State’s Student Society of Landscape Architects for the American Society of Landscape Architects Annual Conference in Cleveland, Ohio Oct. 7-9.

* The Senate voted to remove the University Budget Oversight Committee and Article X of the GSB Bylaws.