Worse, the council is in financial straits of its own, and may be ill equipped to fund an extensive network of student groups next year.

Because of accounting slip-ups in past years, the council could rely on significant windfalls from grants that were awarded in past years but never claimed.

However, with new accounting practices, such windfalls (which totaled $17,674 this year) will be rare, Darling said.

In addition, the council allocated only $31,000 to its "committee fund" this year, even though its costs include "Springfest," which last year set the council back to the tune of $43,000

That's because the committee fund is banking on a $25,000 cash infusion in February when funds committed to the construction of a new student center will be freed up if the College does not sign on to the plan.

As such, the members of the council are in the peculiar position of counting on the college to refuse their gargantuan lobbying efforts for a student center, in order to balance the budget.

The $25,000 committed to the student center was part of the infamous $40,000 that the council discovered in its coffers last year.