Student organization budgets were unanimously approved in front of an audience of 23 by the Student Association Senate on Sunday.

The senate also unanimously approved $30,000 for the funding of security for campus events held by student organizations, $500 for the Student Leadership Awards ceremony and $1,500 for starting the Student’s Choice Awards.

The only discussion of the night regarding any of the legislation up for approval was regarding the funding for student organizations.

One senator asked why it appeared some organizations’ budgets had been cut more than 14 percent from last year, namely the Campus Activities Board and the NIU Music Society.

DuJuan Smith, SA treasurer and president-elect, explained the cuts were based on what the finance committee had originally planned to give the organizations for next year, and not 14 percent off what they had been given last year.

“All organizations with a budget of $3,000 or more received a 14-percent cut,” Smith said. “The NIU Music Society had submitted [its] budget late, to the point where we had to cut 50 percent of their budget [from last year’s total].”

The finance committee made it clear the organizations would be penalized 5 percent per day their budgets were late, Smith said.

Questions about CAB’s budget were referred to CAB president-elect John Acardo.

“The current CAB administration did not use all of [its] funding, so it will be used to help cover administration costs for next year,” Acardo said.

Eight members of the Residence Hall Association showed up for the meeting, but never got a chance to speak. If someone is not a senator and wishes to speak, one of the senators would have had to yield his or her speaking time. RHA was given its budget back to make its own cuts.

“We are obviously upset we have to make cuts,” RHA president Keith Krutchen said. “If other organizations received budget increases, we would be screaming bloody murder because we have been cut significantly the last three years. We just have to be tough, suck it up and move on.”

RHA president-elect Daniel Chou said he has seen the new budget and thinks RHA will have enough money to operate.

“One discussion we have had is having organizations help us pay for speakers,” Chou said. “We really saw that others were getting cut, and we just have to make the best of it.”

The Student’s Choice Awards will honor faculty and administrators in three departments: Student Affairs, Support Staff and general departments outside Student Affairs. Nine awards, three in each department, will be awarded.

“These are unique from the Student Leadership Awards because they are nominated and chosen by students,” said Andrew Nelms, SA Senate speaker.

JR Perez was voted in as the next SA Senate speaker in a landslide vote over Andrew Becerra and Pam Lake. Perez received 21 votes while Becerra garnered five and Lake was shut out of the voting. Lake and Becerra abstained from the vote.

Perez, the SA director of mass transportation, is not a senator and was unable to vote.

Although the floor was open for other nominations, none were given. Nelms also informed senators that two other candidates had withdrawn interest from running for the position.

Perez was all smiles after the meeting and said he talked to senators before the vote to get ideas on what could be implemented next semester.

“I was pretty surprised to see such a majority with Mr. Becerra running,” Perez said. “All of the candidates did a fine job of presenting themselves to the senate.”

As far as adjusting to the role of senate speaker, Perez said he plans to play a complementary role to the executive board and use his relationships with Nelms, senators and the SA staff to make the transition.

Perez and members of the SA executive board will be sworn in at a ceremony at 6 p.m. May 5 in the Holmes Student Center’s Capitol Room.

The SA Senate will vote to confirm three appointments to the SA Supreme Court at its next meeting at 6 p.m. Sunday in the HSC’s Clara Sperling Sky Room. Supreme court judges can serve as long as they wish as long as they are enrolled full-time in the university and hold a 2.0 grade point average.