Nelson said that by doing so, Rawlins and Stewart in effect "considered the U.C. a student group," because some of the new money will end up going to the council. Some council members contended that the Copeland and Dining Services funds should have been included under the budget heading for the council's Campus Life and Student Affairs committees. Nelson and four other council members abstained from the budget vote, citing the ambiguity surrounding the eventual destination of the funds in the Copeland and Dining Services grants. C.J. Mahoney'00 said that Rawlins and Stewart included the two new funds under the student groups budget heading in order to claim a six-figure student-group grant allocation. Rawlins said she was frustrated by what she called misunderstanding about the new funds. "Whether the money for the Levinson is coming from the Grants Fund or the committee fund is, to me, irrelevant," Rawlins said. The bottom line, she said, is that student groups will have more money than in the past. This year's total council budget contains about $23,000 more than the previous budget. And Steward said in an interview that rollover from uncollected grants from last year will still push this year's total figure for student groups above the $100,000 mark. "We have more money this year, because more people thought the U.C. was worth their $20," Rawlins said. In other council business, a bill proposing a discretionary spending fund that would enable the council president to pursue projects independently of the council failed to gain the two-thirds majority needed to amend the council's constitutional bylaws.
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