The Council on Student Affairs recently decided what to do with an $87,000 surplus that accumulated within its budget during the past few years.The Allocations Committee, which is responsible for dividing money among registered student organizations, wanted to make sure the surplus was used for the benefit of the students, said Undergraduate Student Government vice president Magi Swartz.”It was our feeling that it was the students’ money and should go directly back to students and their organizations,” Swartz said. As vice president of USG, it is Swartz’s duty to coordinate committee activities.Teniell Trolian, chairwoman of the council, said $25,000 of the $87,000 surplus went toward a fund for which registered student organizations can apply.”We will evaluate the groups on their activity basis and decide whether they’re worthy of the funding,” Trolian said.Donald Stenta, coordinator of the Office of Student Activities, said registered student groups can apply for up to $1,000 of the $25,000 fund.However, he stressed that organizations can be awarded more than $1,000, depending on the request.”If a sports team is in dire need of an important piece of equipment we would consider giving more than that,” Stenta said.Trolian said $5,000 of the $87,000 surplus is reserved for student referendums. About $3,000 of that fund already went to the Central Ohio Transit Authority referendum in January, she said. Students approved the pact in which a $9 fee is added to OSU fees allowing unlimited use of the bus system.About $10,000 of the surplus will be used to help train advisers for student organizations, Trolian said.”New advisers don’t necessarily know the processes of registering their organization with [the council], the processes of applying for funds, or where there are resources available for their group,” Trolian said. Trolian said $20,000 of the surplus was allocated to pay off debts that student organizations accumulated.”Years ago some student groups acquired debt and [the council] took on the full burden of paying this off,” Trolian said. Another $20,000 will be used for new technology in the Student Organization Research Room, which is in room 313 of the Ohio Union, Trolian said. This money will help buy new computers, supplies and possibly a portable overhead projector, she said. “The idea is just to supply [student organizations with] more resources,” Trolian said.The remaining $7,000 will go toward making a video about student organizations to inform students of what groups are available for them to join, Trolian said.OSU’s Student Visitor Center will keep a copy of the tape for prospective students to view, she said. The tape will also be shown at orientations as a recruitment technique for student organizations.Cathy Allendorf, a student affairs council member and a senior majoring in marketing and psychology, said the budget surplus emerged because groups didn’t pick up money that was allocated to them.Stenta explained that the Office of Student Affairs allocates to student organizations the funds they request.”If a student organization applies for funds, we encumber, or dedicate to that group, the money that they’re awarded,” he said. “When we budget the money and they don’t pick up the checks, it goes into a pool. This prevents us from giving the money to other groups because it’s already promised to an organization.”The money that funds the Council of Student Affairs and student organizations comes from a small percentage of general fees that undergraduate students pay each quarter, said William Shkurti, vice president of finance, business and administration.The general fee income from 1998 was about $14 million, Shkurti said.Eric Busch, assistant vice president for student affairs, said the total budget for the council in 1999 is $214,579, which shows that 2 percent of the general income fee goes toward funding the council and, in effect, OSU’s student organizations.