When I first came to NIU, I was appalled at what I perceived to be a large amount of stupidity. I recently realized what I thought was stupidity is actually people failing to think.

For example, President La Tourette was recently granted a year towards his retirement because he got good evaluations. You would think that we would want to keep him as long as possible if he is such a good president, but no, someone in the bureaucracy forgot to think.

A more recent example is the proposed SA shutdown day. The Student Association Senate is considering shutting down the SA functions for one day, as “a PR campaign that is a response to all those who don’t know what the SA’s functions are.”

Excuse me, but someone once said that students ARE the Student Association by virtue of attending this university. That makes me a member of the Student Association. I’m involved in the Student Association every day I’m here!

The Student Association Senate is NOT the Student Association itself. The Student Association Senate merely allocates funds for the Student Association. It does NOT perform the “functions” funded by our student fees.

It appears someone failed to think here. But that’s not surprising. As Henry Ford once said, “Thinking is the hardest work there is. That’s why so few people engage in it.”

Think about it.

Burton Kent

Computer Science