With the Board of Regents meeting at NIU today, several student activists plan to protest unpopular decisions such as increasing tuition, granting a paid leave of absence to former president Clyde Wingfield and firing a CHANCE counselor.

Demonstrations such as today’s planned by the Student Committee On Political Action should not be discouraged because they spur public debate about the actions of public bodies. But protesters should not escalate their actions into an incident that only will cause ill will on both sides and attract the wrong kind of media attention.

SCOPA co-chairman Fritz Fiebig said today’s rally “could get bad if the Board of Regents doesn’t listen to us.”

Another SCOPA member, Tom Rainey, said, “The more trouble we make, the more power we’ve got.”

The Regents, who govern NIU and two other state universities, might respond to petitions, testimony or peaceful demonstration but not temper tantrums.

Causing trouble will not give students more power. Students lack power to change things because many of them are apathetic and do not even use their right to vote. Votes mean power. Certainly, voting in elections will bring about a more positive response than threatening outbursts every time things don’t go your way.

The tuition increase is a political issue. The Regents probably favored a tax increase to provide more funding, but because that didn’t happen, what options are open to them?

A large student voting block in DeKalb certainly would catch the attention of legislators. If the Regents are unwilling to listen to student grievances, pressure could be applied through state representatives or the governor, who appoints Regent members.

Students must be louder and more active at the polls if they are to have more power. Student groups, especially SCOPA, should spend their time and energy registering students to vote in DeKalb and getting them to the polls on election day. A large student voting block would be a voice impossible to ignore.