The question of people’s voice in making decisions at NIU has come up once again.

This time the question concerns members of the Campus Parking Committee. Chairman Robert Bornhuetter, Parking Manager Lynn Fraser and four NIU officials met absent the rest of the committee to change color coding in some NIU parking lots.

These are routine changes, but committee members were right to question why the changes were made in an “emergency meeting” without their knowledge. “Have we lost our voice?” said one member.

William Parker, associate vice president for business and operations, said that since there was empty parking space that needed to be used quickly, he thought it was appropriate for the administration of the parking program to address the concern.

But perhaps the administration of the parking program should go a step further by making all decisions and eliminating the parking committee. This would certainly be more efficient.

The committee was created to give constituents more voice in parking policies. It also was formed to take the heat off the administration for unpopular decisions. The public’s anger is aimed at some 30 committee members instead of just one administrator.

However, the administration’s willingness to make changes without committee members present appears to undermine the most important reason for creating the committee.

The voices of constituents are lost when decisions are made at meetings that representatives have not been notified about. Certainly decisions made at such meetings do not serve the public interest.

If the committee’s only purpose is to take heat for unpopular decisions, then there is no reason to have one.