If a certain Illinois senator has her way, the controversy about ROTC and homosexual discrimination that NIU thought it had shelved last year will burst out again, worse than ever.

Sen. Judy Topinka, R-North Riverside, is trying to pass a bill forbidding Illinois public universities from banning ROTC programs because of Defense Department policy. If passed, it would negate the University Council decision last April calling for the removal of the ROTC if its policy of barring homosexuals is not reversed.

What it also would do is render meaningless NIU’s constitutional clause barring sexual-orientation discrimination.

In attempt to weasel out of criticism, Topinka staff member Dave Elder said the bill does not prohibit NIU from banning ROTC for any reason, just reasons of “policy.”

This is a hollow attempt to hide the real meaning of the bill, which is to prevent Illinois public universities from protecting homosexuals from discrimination, period. As the Philosophy Club aptly illustrated last year, a constitutional mandate that doesn’t apply to one student organization cannot fairly be applied to any other.

If NIU is serious about its constitution, then some administration types need to place a few calls downstate to prevent dealing with a bigger problem later.