Student organizations may receive emergency funding from Marquette Student Government if the Senate approves a constitutional amendment proposing this.

An intense debate at Thursday's Senate meeting arose over the possibility of allowing the Senate to vote on any proposal for funding that does not receive the budget committee's approval.

The amendment stemmed from the Senate's decision to fund a service trip to New Orleans over fall break after the period deadline for Student Organization Allocation funds had passed. Before MUSG can give funding to Marquette-approved student organizations, the organizations must submit requests to the SOA committee. The committee then votes to award the whole amount requested, a partial amount or nothing at all.

During the MUSG fiscal year, student organizations have seven periods in which to request funding and may receive funds in up to three of those periods.

"When the budget committee made their decision and decided they weren't going to give the New Orleans group money, we as the Senate felt like our hands were tied, and they were," said Brock Banks, president pro tempore of the Senate and a sophomore in the College of Arts & Sciences. "There was no way that we were able to bring that proposal to the Senate and make sure that we could get them that money that was intended for them to use."

Financial Vice President Andrew Doyle, a senior in the College of Business Administration, said suggested the opportunity for the SOA committee to fund the New Orleans trip under a clause in the MUSG financial policies regarding SOA application deadlines that says, "Exceptions can be made at the discretion of the financial vice president."

MUSG adviser Jon Dooley said during Thursday's meeting that the "loophole" found was "outside of typical policies."

"Since that loophole really doesn't exist, don't look at this (amendment) as the only alternative," said Sara Stellpflug, a sophomore senator for the College of Arts & Sciences.

The budget committee is made up of the Senate president, the financial and program vice presidents, one academic senator, one residential senator and the assistant dean of student development, according to the MUSG financial policies.

MUSG President Alex Hermanny said he would not comment on the amendment because he foresees revisions that could change the direction of the legislation.

"The Senate wants to find a way to make every process in some ways accountable to their constituents and they just have to figure out whether that's the most effective and efficient way to do it," said Hermanny, a senior in the College of Arts & Sciences.

Senators said they expect the amendment to come to a vote this Thursday.

"Everyone seemed to be somewhat surprised when the bill was presented the way it was," said the O'Donnell Hall senator and College of Communication freshman Brian Henry via e-mail."It will be democracy at its finest on Thursday."

Also at the meeting, the Senate unanimously passed two changes to the financial policies.

One amendment requires the approval of the financial and program vice presidents to co-sponsor an event between the SOA committee and Program Board to encourage increased communication between the committees.

The other amendment removes the requirement for a special form to request more than $750 in SOA funds. MUSG still reserves the right in its financial policies to request any financial information from a student organization it feels may be unstable, Doyle said.