In response to the editorial article, “SA deserves praise for new bylaws policy” I would like to address a few issues that seem to have been overlooked.

The article (and Student Association) appear to be targeting only groups with founding values that contradict the puritanical morality common to the DeKalb community and NIU.

Atheists, Agnostics, and Freethinkers (AAFT), Advocates for Choice (AFC), and Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP) are groups who fall outside of the conservative agenda; however, they represent a portion of the student body and deserve equal consideration from the SA. If appropriate categorization of campus groups is the goal of the SA, then it would only be appropriate for them to review all of the organizations under the SA umbrella and treat each group with equal consideration.

Also, is it fair for SA senators who hold executive positions in SA-recognized groups whose values are in opposition with another student group to vote for or against the recategorization of the group he/she opposes? Last year, one individual spoke adamantly against the initial SA approval of AFC. This individual is now the president of an SA-recognized anti-choice group as well as an SA senator.

I agree that the SA needs a comprehensive method for organizing student groups. However, if this method is used to discriminate against certain organizations by denying them equal funding, as it appears presently, then the SA must be faulted for unfair treatment of student groups. It is the job of the Student Association to represent the student body, not act as moral police.

Emily Dow

Senior

Vice President of Advocates for Choice