Apparently, swimming in cash is not always the most enviable situation to be in, especially when the money belongs to someone else.

The Graduate Student Council (GSC) found itself in that position last night as it heard GSC Financial Officer Euan Robertson report that a sizeable amount of the funds it had collected from graduate students remained in the coffers, unused.

Of the $258,000 the GSC collected from the graduate student general fee this academic year, $76,000 is allocated for programming purposes initiated by the GSC. So far, the council has tapped that funding source for several purposes, including subsidizing the Caltrain Go-Pass program and funding the International Foods Express, a Marguerite service to an international food market in Cupertino.

According to Robertson, however, approximately $10,000 of that money — which could be used for similar purposes — remains unused.

“We’ve taken it from the [graduate] population to use it as such,” he said, “so we should make sure we spend it.”

Robertson added that refunding the excess money to graduate students would not be the best solution, since the refund would amount to little more than a dollar per head.

This is not the first year the GSC has collected more money from students than it has used. Matt McDonald ‘05, CEO and financial manager of Stanford Student Enterprises, said that the GSC regularly rolls over an excess $30,000 to $40,000 worth of savings each year from money it does not spend. This money is added to its pool of reserves, which the council can draw upon in emergency situations.

The GSC did not reach a consensus on what to do with the extra stash last night.

The council did, however, create two new committees last night, including one to discuss how best to utilize remaining funding and money in reserves. The other newly formed committee will discuss how the Graduate Community Center could be used by the GSC and other groups more extensively.

GSC co-Chair Kristina Keating said she hopes these committees will “make sure that the discussion of these issues when they get [to the full council] is well thought through.”