There was some controversy Tuesday night at the Associated Students of NMU meeting; another budget for the next Student Association of Michigan conference was debated.

The budget was proposed by arts and sciences representative Chris Hoffman, who stated the budget was significantly less than the previous one that was presented to the board, coming in at only $167.

The majority of the meeting consisted of back and forth between sending representatives to Ann Arbor for the SAM conference or setting up a video-chat so the members of ASNMU can still participate without having to spend any of ASNMU’s money.

“I believe there are some benefits to SAM, I don’t think the benefits are worth the cost though, because I believe it can be done in another way (video conferencing),” off-campus representative Robin Feuerman said.

Skipping this weekend’s conference was an idea that came up during the discussion; however, some thought it would be a bad idea.

“If we’re going to skip a conference, it would be better to prepare in advance so that maybe accommodations can be made for us instead of just last minute saying, ‘Northern’s only going to show up on this laptop,’” arts and sciences representative, Troy Morris said.

After much debate, the discussion was tabled due to the fact that approving the budget would go against the ASNMU bylaws.

Morris also updated the board on the progress of the bridge program. Although the project is in its early stages, according to Morris, the four or five emails he received immediately were glowing reviews saying this is a great program.

The bridge program is an email system for student organizations to share volunteer opportunities with others; a network for all organizations.