ASMSU's offices will updated by the end of the year with about $36,000 worth of new technology and furniture.

It is the second of three upgrades this year. ASMSU approved nearly $9,000 for new workstations for its offices in the Student Services building Thursday.

In September, ASMSU spent $18,800 on technological upgrades for its Internet server and new computers. A later proposal, including new paint and carpeting, will bring the total cost of upgrades to about $36,000.

Included in the upgrades are new office workstations, chairs and $27 mouse pads from Smart Office Systems.

"Probably something like the mouse pads were overlooked," said Student Assembly Chairperson Andrew Schepers.

Robert Murphy, a representative for the College of Social Science, also said he had not seen the price of the mouse pads, but said all representatives had looked over the bill before it was passed.

The Residence Halls Association, another student government group, spent about $3,000 this year on office upgrades. RHA President Ernest Drake said in the past two years, RHA has not significantly upgraded its offices.

But before ASMSU ordered office furniture from Smart Office Systems, it compared quotes from OfficeMax and Office Depot, Schepers said.

Schepers, who constructed the proposal for the office upgrade, said the new office furniture and stations make student leaders more responsible to the student taxpayers.

"By putting in this investment, there's no reason why people should be able to discharge their duties," he said. "Some of the (offices) here did not allow folks to get out and do their job."

The office upgrade bill passed without any debate within the assembly.

Schepers said he wasn't concerned representatives didn't debate the bill to allocate a total of $10,500 Thursday for upgrades because they had individually contacted him beforehand with questions.

He said the upgrades were needed because earlier this semester, ASMSU's Web site could not be updated in their offices because their Web designer did not have a computer.

Murphy said once Student Assembly representatives saw the bill, there wasn't much need for debate.

"Because Schepers has shown commitment to keeping costs low and shopping for the best deals, they trust Schepers to put together a quality bill and make careful use of student taxpayer money," he said.

He added that most representatives "don't want to sit in a meeting until 2 a.m." to debate bills.

Schepers said the planned upgrades to ASMSU's offices were brought to the assembly individually so representatives would not be overwhelmed with the cost.

"We figured it wouldn't be such a big bite at the beginning (of the semester) for the representatives," he said.

Schepers said he expects the new office furniture to last for the next five-15 years.

Andrew Bell, Student Assembly external vice chairperson, said a lack of discussion on a bill is usually a concern, but because this proposal has been around for more than a month, there was not much more representatives could discuss.

"They scrutinized it enough that I'm confident with it," he said.