Student Association members are focusing their attention on last semester’s unfinished business.

Gaining handicapped accessibility to the Holmes Student Center’s west entrance is top priority for the organization, SA President Huda Scheidelman said.

Last semester, SA officials accompanied Student Center Director Judd Baker, NIU Associate Vice President Patricia Hewitt and NIU Handicapped Services Coordinator Sue Reinhardt on a tour of the HSC. With their guidance, a chairlift and ramp to the Huskie Den, Students’ Legal Services and Campus Activities Board offices will be installed.

The SA Supreme Court bylaws, discovered last November in the SA archives, are another item the SA would like to work on. Senate Speaker John Fallon said the Supreme Court will be revising the bylaws and he wants to make sure the SA follows them.

“I don’t know if we can remedy the situation (from last semester), but we can take steps to make sure it doesn’t happen again,” Fallon said, referring to not knowing the bylaws.

An invitation to the first senate meeting has been sent to Chief Justice Ed Gil, so communication between the SA and Supreme Court can be established, Fallon said.

SA members also will discuss NIU student representation in the Joint University Advisory Committee, because “JUAC responds to the Board of Regents,” and NIU is the only university that does not have a student voice in the committee, Scheidelman said.

Search for a sculptor of the Martin Luther King statue project is another task the SA plans to tackle. Currently, the SA does not know where to find funding for the project, Scheidelman said.

A sculptor was contracted to make the statue for $17,000, but SA officials recommended finding another artist to create a better likeness of King. NIU has agreed to pay $7,000 and the students have set aside $10,000, Scheidelman said.

However, the statue will cost between $80,000 and $140,000 according to SA estimates. A student fee poll will be conducted this semester to determine where the money will come from, Scheidelman said.