Members of the Student Association, as representatives of the student body, should be aware of how heavy their decisions weigh on student life.

The SA allocates funds gathered from student activity fees to organizations on campus.

Recent events illustrate the association’s occasional inability to do this effectively and constitutionally. A revision to the election of senators should be implemented.

On April 6, the Senate passed a resolution to allocate $8,925 in supplemental funding to the Black Student Union.

The resolution, which has been controversial because some senators didn’t think the BSU’s situation constituted an emergency that required supplemental funding, passed with 17 yeas and 15 nays.

Joseph Palmer, junior political science major, contested the resolution by filing a petition on April 23 to the SA Supreme Court, requesting a hearing to interpret the bylaws and the constitutionality of the action taken by SA senators.

Unfortunately, it seems the case submitted by Palmer, who was appointed director of Public Affairs for the 2014-2015 academic year by the SA Senate Sunday, will not be heard in SA’s Supreme Court.

“The understanding of mine is that the case has been officially withdrawn,” Palmer said. “It was done in tandem with the SA. [SA] will be releasing a release on the matter this week.”

The case should be heard by the Supreme Court, as the petition points to a problem in the senators’ understanding of the bylaws. Exams to evaluate a potential senator’s knowledge and qualifications to the post should be required before a senator is appointed or put on the ballot.

Senators at large are appointed at SA Senate due to the Senate’s inability to fill its 40 seats with a fall election.

These representatives, who are not elected by the student body, contribute to decision-making.

A Supreme Court decision on the bylaws would help clear up future interpretation issues.

It is the responsibility of SA’s Supreme Court to provide an interpretation of the bylaws, regardless of their decision, in order to provide a concrete explanation to the student body.

The Supreme Court should be given the opportunity to exercise its authority and deliberate on the case, instead of the closed-door decision.