The Northern Star editor in chief, walked into the Star newsroom Tuesday and wondered aloud, “How did we not know that Student Association elections were today?”

Good question. If the Star, which is supposed to report the news to the NIU community, did not know about the elections, how was the average student supposed to know about them?

If the SA did not properly publicize the latest meeting of the NIU chess club, we would not be raising such a stink over this issue.

But SA officials are responsible for student fees. Think about that – NIU students. The people who were voted into office last week will be using your money and next to nothing was known about the elections before they took place.

These people will decide what money and how much will be allocated to certain organizations. The SA owes these organizations and the entire NIU student body an apology. Everything becomes magnified when money is involved, and this instance is a perfect example. Would you want a total stranger who you knew nothing about overseeing your financial situation?

Now, to be fair, we also dropped the ball on this one. We should have informed readers about the SA elections, even if they weren’t publicized as well as they could have been. SA elections happen every year at about the same time.

If we had written a story or two about the elections before they happened, perhaps more than 672 students would have taken part. If you’re doing the math at home, 672 students equal less than 3 percent of the student population.

With all that said, however, the SA did a poor job of publicizing last week’s elections. Willful or not, the lack of publicity cast a shadow over the elections. Did certain people not want students to know about the elections? We sure hope not, but it is easy to ask questions like that when something like this happens.

Also, the credibility and authenticity of last week’s elections are in doubt. It’s difficult to take something seriously that was done in such apparent secrecy.

The SA can by all means run these elections in secrecy if it chooses to, which is not right. There is nothing in the SA bylaws that says the SA must publicize elections. There needs to be.

There also needs to be a guarantee from the SA. It needs to make sure this never happens again.

Agree? Disagree? Contact us at

www.northernstar.info.