The Student Association’s handling of the loss of two megaphones checked out for use in the spring’s Day of Action can be called careless at best.

The megaphones, valued at $290, disappeared after the event, and now nobody seems to know who is to blame or how to get the equipment back.

So what does the SA do about the situation? It uses its money to pay for the megaphones.

The SA explains this was done because the megaphones were passed around at the Day of Action, and it is its own responsibility to pay for the equipment, not any individual’s.

However, the SA has to remember it is the students’ money, not the SA’s, being used to pay for the lost merchandise.

There’s little doubt the SA would have made the person who checked out the megaphones from NIU’s Audio Technical Services pay for the equipment, but there is one problem. The SA doesn’t seem to know who did check them out.

SA Research Adviser Susan Greene said she reserved the megaphones but does not know who picked them up. Diana Turowski said the items were reported stolen to the police, but little has happened.

So, when in doubt, use $290 from student fees to pay for the SA’s mistake. Right?

Wrong. This issue should be pursued until either the megaphones are found or the person responsible pays.

Some might say $290 isn’t much to get excited about, but that isn’t the issue. No matter how much the items are worth, the students should not be held accountable for the SA’s negligence.