There’s a lot to be said about the student association Some have claimed it has been mired by controversy and corruption for years. Others claim they are doing their job, yet lack students’ voices to accomplish even more than they have thus far. The SA allocates $1.3 million to the more than 200 student organizations on campus, as well as Campus Recreation Services, Students’ Legal Assistance, Campus Child Care Center and Health Enhancement, all the while operating one of the nation’s largest student-run busing systems, the Huskie Line, according to its Web site.

OK. So what, right?

Well, if you haven’t noticed, SA senate elections are going on as you read this column. In fact, after class, or after you’re done not reading this in class and on your free time, you can vote for senate candidates until 6 p.m. You can vote in DuSable, Founder’s Memorial Library and the Holmes Student Center.

Why should you worry about the SA?

To recap, the SA was responsible for the protest of the much publicized 50-cent liquor ordinance. For those keeping score at home, the SA loaded a bus to attend the DeKalb City Council meeting. SA president Adam Novotney rallied students at several bars, along with other destinations on campus, to go to this meeting. Students began blurting out of turn, loudly, to make their point, despite having to be reprimanded by Mayor Van Buer. In what seemed like a choreographed walk-out of the meeting, the SA thought they were representing NIU students.

Does anyone else, besides this columnist, think differently? It’s nice to have our voice at city council meetings, but what image does that leave us with to DeKalb residents? We only care about booze and screaming out our view obnoxiously. That’s not my voice, and should be ours.

Then again, how could the SA know our voice if they barely hear it? Last spring, the SA held a town hall meeting in the Stevenson Towers Multipurpose Room. Only one person outside the SA showed up.

Just one.

For four years, fewer than four percent of NIU students voted in the SA general election. Last fall, under two percent — to be precise, 410 people — voted.

We’re whispering, ladies and gentlemen. This columnist has been a student at this university for three years, and upon my fourth year, I hope this trend ends. There are three political parties represented this year: The Huskie 8, The Student Rep Party and Students for Change.

Yesterday, my dear readers, you were probably approached by someone from one of these parties asking you to vote for people, who promptly handed you flyers. While this is a political tactic that has been used since the beginning of time, don’t settle for their rhetoric. Make them explain their platform in layman’s terms. They are representing you, and if you take the time to vote for them, you should at least find out what they plan to do once they’re in office. If you make them sweat, you’ve done your job as a voter.

The SA is meant to represent us. We should not tolerate anything they do that we feel is wrong. At the same time, it’s up to us students to speak loudly about what we want changed, enforced or reviewed.

Joey Baskerville is an opinion columnist for the Northern Star.