Five organizations allocated funds by the Student Associaton Finance Committee Wednesday said they will use the money for improvements to and functioning of their groups.

The finance committee’s funding recommendations must get final approval from the SA senate.

The Residence Hall Association was allocated about $11,850 and will be applied to social and educational programming, RHA President Willie Fowler said.

The RHA helped fund Unity Through Diversity Week, Little Siblings Weekend, Springfest and last year, they sponsored the World’s Largest Leapfrog Contest, he said.

The RHA tries “to unify the halls and program activities for halls,” Fowler said. The RHA also tries to establish ties with off-campus students. Greek Row-RHA collaboration will be expected in the near future, he said.

The 12-year-old Council for Exceptional Children will use about $190 from the SA to help them “serve handicapped people in the community,” Kim Special, the council’s president said.

The council needed money for travel expenses to the St. Charles Youth Center, which is an alternative to jail for delinquent youths, Special said.

The members of the council participate in tutoring youths at the center and also serve as surrogate parents, she said.

A surrogate parent attends Individual Educational Planning meetings if a child’s parent is unable to attend, Special said. The meetings review the curriculum for the students and surrogate parents will sign forms on educational planning, she said.

Forensics, an organization for debate and speech competitors, was allocated about $18,970 for travel expenses to tournaments, Forensics Faculty Adviser Jack Parker said.

The cost of NIU vehicles for travel, overnight stays and food are covered by SA funding.

The organization’s key activity is to “travel to tournaments to improve the skills of advocacy,” he said.

Forensics is divided into debate and individual events categories for competition with other colleges and universities nationwide. Parker said, however, “most of the tournaments we go to are in this part of the country” for practical purposes.

Forensics has been in existence at NIU since the early 1900s as “one of the oldest student activities,” he said. It is the extension of early literary and debating societies on campus.

The Black Graduate Student Association will use about $1,490 for speakers and to attend a Graduate Student Association Conference in South Dakota.

Towers, the organization which publishes Towers literary magazine, received about $8,480 for fliers for recruitment, submissions and submission advertising in the Northern Star.

Co-editor Jeanne Forst said anyone can submit work for publication since it is open to all fee-paying students. The magazine is an all-student publication which includes pictures, artwork and literary submissions and is distributed on campus.