Physical and mental fatigue set in late Thursday night as the Student Service Finance Committee meticulously sifted through the budgets of four organizations, assessing the fiscal responsibility of each group.

SSFC approved the $88,849 budget for Sex Out Loud, as well as $49,746 for the Rape Crisis Center.

Technicalities about funding Sex Out Loud's rent were raised because of a recently adopted rule that specifies student-segregated fees cannot be allocated to fund rental costs for off-campus student organization offices, in this case Sex Out Loud's office located on State Street. SSFC is awaiting a memo from the Board of Regents that would grant a one-year exemption from this rule.

"They promised us we would have [the memo] before our budget hearings," SSFC Chair Zach Frey said. "Since [the Board of Regents] are being sued, and other issues — they are handling some more time-sensitive issues."

In addition, representatives debated at length a numerical discrepancy in Sex Out Loud's budget requests regarding sex toys, lubricants and condoms for their programs. SSFC representatives eventually agreed to reduce Sex Out Loud's funding, thereby correcting the error.

SSFC representative David Lapidus also brought up the overarching issue with providing free merchandise — condoms in the case of Sex Out Loud.

"I've always been a little wary about handouts," he said. "There could be a group of gamers who get together and start handing out PlayStations. I'm not sure it's certainly serving the campus."

SSFC representative Michael Manuel argued that dismissing the group's application for condom supplies would defeat the purpose of the entire budget hearing.

"You can't have a builder try to build a house with no tools," Manuel said. "If we don't have the supplies to produce a program, why even have the program?"

SSFC representative Sree Atluru challenged the large budget allocated for sex toys — she said the group could seek out a more cost-effective supplier. After debating the issue, SSFC decided to cut $300 from this fund.

"I understand the reasoning behind the toys, but the organization needs to explore other options," Atluru said. "You can find toys online for a much cheaper price — like on Amazon.com with free shipping."

SSFC also approved funding for the Rape Crisis Center that relies on segregated-fee funding to pay for its 24-hour crisis line and people to accompany victims on trips to the hospital.

Rape Crisis Center Director Kelly Anderson said the budget approval helps the center provide proper services because it is mainly funded by numerous outside contributions.

"Unlike some of the student orgs, if SSFC didn't fund us we'd still have to serve students," Anderson said. "With a budget like ours — with all of these little pieces — every year this funding makes such a difference to make sure we can keep doing this."

The Multicultural Student Coalition and Vets for Vets also presented their budgets to the committee, which will be discussed next week.