Every now and then, a problem arises that draws a group of individuals together in an effort to find a solution.

In recent weeks, the Student Committee on Political Action has served this capacity while dealing with the tuition increase package forced by massive budget cuts to Higher Education.

From the time it was evident there definitely would be a tuition hike, SCOPA has worked diligently on behalf of those most affected—the students.

The SA committee has been involved in letter-writing campaigns, petition drives and has even worked to get a bus to take students to Springfield Oct. 21, the statewide Day of Action.

All of these are solid endeavors based on strong logic and thought. Each can be considered a mature and effective way to capture the attention of the General Assembly and let legislators know students are extremely unhappy with the tuition situation.

owever, SCOPA now might be jeopardizing all of this by contemplating an action that, if it were to occur, could justifiably be called sheer stupidity.

At its Wednesday meeting, SCOPA discussed the possibility of physically disrupting traffic on Lincoln Hwy. by standing, en masse, on the thoroughfare.

SCOPA member Todd Kuzma said he felt this would be an effective way to show the state how angry students are with the tuition jump. He targeted Lincoln Hwy. because it is a state-funded highway and tuition is a state matter.

Kuzma should realize blocking Lincoln Hwy. only would serve to make motorists—many of whom are students—angry and to detract from the positive aspects of what SCOPA has planned and done already.

In addition, SCOPA is a student group that receives its financial backing from the students and is supposed to represent all students. So while some students might think it’s all right to perform illegal acts—such as blocking a road—in the name of protest, no student group has any business breaking the law while representing the entire student body.

Until Wednesday, SCOPA was handling itself and the budget crisis in a professional manner.

opefully the group will scrap Kuzma’s plan rather than destroy both its own credibility and the credibility of students as a whole. Hopefully it will stick to its previous ideas and avoid the embarrassment that surely would arise from blocking Lincoln Hwy.