The results are in for this fall’s Student Association senate elections, and while some returning candidates discovered they were not re-elected, it appears they will conveniently continue to influence the SA senate.

Seven candidates were not re-elected, but there happens to be seven positions open for them anyway. There are five student-at-large positions and two District 5 positions open.

Those who will occupy the open seven positions still hold the power to vote on SA decisions. If the seven candidates did not have the trust of the student body to be re-elected, why should they be appointed to other equally powerful positions?

The process for appointment is relatively simple: All a candidate must do is attend the first senate meeting after the election has been closed to apply for a vacant position. Each candidate is then reviewed by the senate as a whole in the order in which they applied.

This reliance on open positions seems a lot easier than the bother of campaigning for student votes in the first place.

Robert Batey, Jason Barsema, Holly Creamer and Lee Blank may have not been re-elected by the students, but they will most likely be appointed by the current members of the senate because of the empty positions.

We don’t know for sure that these candidates will apply because the first senate meeting, which will determine who fills these positions is on Sunday. However, if these members choose to apply, they will unfortunately be granted these position by default and not by of the results of the election.