There were sighs of relief and surprise last night when the Associated Students of the University of Arizona Senate approved $3,076 for club funding unanimously and with no discussion.

The usual back-and-forth disagreements were traded for a unanimous approval right after the announcement of the item.

The money approved is going to more than 10 different clubs.

The largest approved request, for $488.58, was allocated to Alpha Phi Omega for an on-campus conference.

Another amount, $444.20, was given to the American Pharmacist Association for their annual Women’s Health Expo held on campus.

The Appropriation Board has about $3,000 to allocate to clubs each week for their last three meetings this semester, said club advocate Charles Wollin, a theatre arts sophomore.

The Senate also approved the appointment of five Appropriation Board directors to replace the four that resigned two weeks ago.

Tim Hart, a political science senior, Aaron Ohms, a marketing senior, Joshua Volpert, a biology junior, and Kumari Fulbright, a first-year law student, were all appointed by Executive Vice President Rhonda Tubbs last Friday.

Daniel Watson, an aerospace engineering sophomore, was also approved by the senate last night although he is not a new board director. Former Executive Vice President David Reece never confirmed him during his term, so he was approved along with the new directors last night.

“”I am really impressed with how well the meeting went on Monday, and I would really like to thank all the new directors because they are doing a great job so far,”” Tubbs said.

Senators had a debate on the proposed executive branch-elect’s stipend change, disagreeing on whether stipends for next year should be cut.

The proposal would cut all executive branch stipends, including decreasing senate stipends from $1,100 to $800.

“”We need to either cut stipends and ask people to volunteer their time or pay them a decent amount to be here,”” said Shawn Ingram, a finance junior.

Many senators said that stipend cuts would hurt ASUA because people would be less excited to get involved and run for positions.

“”$800 is too little to expect senators to show up for at least 10 hours per week,”” said Bryan Hill, an economics senior.

President-elect Tommy Bruce said stipend cuts are the best way to deal with overall budget cuts because they are the only thing within ASUA that do not directly affect UA students.

“”I am not for increasing stipends at all,”” said Melodie Schwartz, a pre-communication sophomore. “”The money is not why I am here.””

– compiled by Andrea Lerch