President La Tourette has pulled a fast one in an attempt to slip the Student Life Center proposal through with as little hassle as possible.

At Thursday’s Regency meeting here, La Tourette suggested that the Student Life Center proposal be moved to the next meeting on Jan. 30. The catch is that the next meeting will be at Illinois State University in Normal. How convenient.

By moving the date and place, La Tourette is showing a disregard for students’ opinions. It is not going to be easy for students to protest the Center if they have to trek all the way to ISU.

La Tourette and Vice President of Finance and Planning Eddie Williams seem to have a notion that students do not care about the Student Life Center or the money being used to build it.

Of course, everyone denies the reason the center got pushed back is because the students might actually protest the entire project (as they did) and it would look bad if the Regents saw this.

La Tourette said he wanted the Life Center issue to be moved to the next meeting because it was being confused with bond refinancing. Actually, the bond refinancing is allowing for the extra money to pay for the center – they aren’t really separate issues.

Another stab in the back for students is the fact that Williams and Vice President for Student Affairs Barbara Henley keep saying they want their input, yet they agree with La Tourette about moving the proposal to a strange campus where there will be no contention about it.

If there is going to be a vote on the Center which will be on NIU’s campus and will be paid for by students, directly or indirectly, it should take place at NIU.

The worst that can happen is the students will be heard for once. The SA’s “Day of Mourning,” held in the commons yesterday, is an example of a student protest that couldn’t have happened at ISU.

NIU higher-ups should start thinking about its students and stop thinking about its own money-grubbing ways.