What is the purpose of a Student Association referendum?

Apparently, it is to find out how students feel and then simply ignore it.

At Sunday night’s meeting, the SA senate committed $15,000 in student fees for the long-awaited Martin Luther King Jr. statue for the King Memorial Commons. This infamous project has been in the making since the beginning of time.

In January of 1990, the SA held a referendum to determine whether students wanted to pay for part of the statue through student fees.

And guess what. They said ‘no.’

Out of the 282 students who voted, 166 said they did not think this statue should come from student fees. They didn’t vote against the statue, necessarily, just the proposed funding.

With the single exception of Sen. Richard Parkman, the senate members denied what the students had outright told them, and they funded the project anyway.

Parkman was absolutely correct for reminding them of the referendum outcome and its meaning. “This is not a student organization program; it is an administration program,” he added.

Three cheers to Parkman for being the only one to bring up and stand behind this valid point.

Eddie Williams, vice president of Finance and Planning, might have had a convincing argument. But was it really enough to ignore the voice of the students?

It is a shameful day when even the SA senate forgets about the students’ wishes.