It seems the Student Association needs help divvying up the money in its activity fee-based wallet.

For the past two weeks, the Campus Activities Board has gone before the SA Finance Committee requesting more money for its dwindling budget. Last Wednesday, an SA ad-hoc committee had to propose more requirements for funding options because seven rules aren’t enough already.

Here’s a suggestion: stop spending money until you know how.

CAB president Mike Brady and the rest of his staff are upset that their organization isn’t as much of a driving force on campus as it used to be. Although CAB has a few internal glitches it still needs to work out, especially with the likes of an arena on the way, the recent struggle for funding has made us realize just how tough it is to get a break around this campus.

SA senator Jeff Meyer said during last week’s meeting that CAB’s increase could not be granted without increasing student fees or taking money away from other organizations. Although those two options are extreme, it may not be a bad idea to reevaluate the groups who currently receive funding and the quality of those who are applying.

There are more than 223 SA-recognized organizations. That doesn’t mean that all of those groups receive money, because any organizations with religious, political or Greek affiliations don’t get funding. The ad-hoc committee also wants to stick with not giving money to pre-professional organizations because they usually get funding from the individual departments or colleges they represent.

According to the SA Web site, “The Student Association funds innovative services that are comprehensive for all students, as well as providing centralized programming that will improve the quality of life on campus.” For some of the organizations on this campus, that little credo is questionable.

All newly funded organizations get $400. Every dollar of that money, remember that it is ours, needs to be accounted for. The process for receiving money should be competitive and aggressive, even if that means passing only a few groups per semester.

Our advice: refer to the SA Web site, located at www.sa.niu.edu, and take a long look at the seven criteria for evaluating SA budgets. Scope of services provided, past use of SA funds, duplication of efforts, etc.

These are aspects critical to budgeting and spending students money.

And it doesn’t seem like anyone’s realized that yet.