Marquette Student Government on Thursday night approved its proposed 2006-'07 budget, which includes an increase of just over $5,000 in student organization spending from this school year, and filled the final opening on the Student Organization Allocation board.

The budget was "completely" approved in that the senate "sanctioned the entire budget without any revisions," according to College of Arts & Sciences sophomore and MUSG Legislative Vice President Brock Banks.

The budget passed with a 20-0-2 vote by the senate, which means the budget passed without a single negative vote, according to Banks.

"I'm excited about next year's budget and what it means for Marquette," MUSG President and College of Business Administration junior Dan Calandriello said. "The students are getting more money, there are cuts in administration costs and the budget is going to help us to serve the students' needs."

The SOA committee, which provides funds to various club sports and student organizations on campus, will have a budget of just under $121,000 next year, up from last year's near $116,000.

Other increases in the budget include a nearly $2,000 increase in After Dark programming, a $1,000 increase in Marquette Excursions spending and a $1,000 increase in spending for MUSG-sponsored films.

MUSG received the money for these increases in budget from the increase in Student Activity Fee revenue due to the anticipated increase in the number of students attending Marquette next year, and by cutting administrative spending by 4 percent and cutting spending in various programs including Senior Week.

According to MUSG Financial Vice President and College of Business Administration junior Kori Fojtik, the decrease in funding for Senior Week was due to the "decrease in turnout."

"We've cut the spending for programs with that have shown a decrease in turnout, like Senior Week, and increased our spending in programs that show growth like After Dark programming, which has shown a great turnout this year," Fojtik said.

Banks said he supports MUSG's decision to cut some of the funding for Senior Week.

"Senior Week is only for one class, and the program boards decided they need to develop more popular programs. So the new budget gives more funds to the more successful programs which allow for all Marquette students to benefit from," Banks said.

Another reason for the decrease in the budget of various programs is an additional $2,000 tax placed on MUSG program spending, Calandriello said.

"Overall, we tried to cut as much from administration as possible," Calandriello said.

The administration budget includes funding for the executive board; salaries for receptionists, the MUSG president, MUSG executive vice president and all the MUSG vice presidents; and office materials.

"Anytime you can give more money to the students it's good. That's the whole point behind MUSG. I'm glad to see a decrease in the administration budget. But, overall, it's a lot like last year because last year's budget worked so well," Fojtik said.

Calandriello agreed.

"The senate has done a fantastic job in budgeting funds. We're making sure the successful programs are getting funding and still have the reserves to start new programming," he said.

During the meeting the senate also elected College of Arts & Sciences junior Sara Stellpflug to fill the final opening in the SOA.

"Sara's been on senate for three years and is a great believer in outreach and knows how to get things accomplished. She'll help SOA get results," Calandriello said.