Can a group of students still band together and bring about positive results? After last week’s veto session resulted in a student trustee bill amendment that would retain popular elections, it appears so.

SIUC Student Trustee Pat Kelly and about 30 other students from five schools the University of Illinois, Northeastern Illinois University, Western Illinois University, Illinois State University and SIUC showed up in Springfield to voice support for the amendment.

The bill gives one student trustee a binding vote on his or her respective Board of Trustees. An amendatory veto by Gov. Jim Edgar would have ended student elections in favor of a screening committee, which would choose the student trustee candidates to send to the governor for approval. The governor then would choose which trustee would receive a binding vote.

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The ability of these schools to come together in a concerted effort to get something accomplished should not end with this small victory. Although the bill passed the Illinois House of Representatives, it still must pass the Illinois Senate and the governor’s office. State Sen. Stan Weaver, R-Urbana, who sponsored the original student trustee bill, has expressed confidence that the most recent bill will pass the Senate.

Because the schools demonstrated the power to act together, and, as Kelly said, the students took down Springfield on this important issue, such action could be beneficial when considering other issues affecting multiple institutions of higher education.

If several schools were to work together on issues such as Select 2000 or the athletic-fee increase saga, students might be able to take a stronger stance and be heard by the various administrations. Consolidating their efforts and taking a unified stance on such issues might receive more response from those deciding whether to make such changes.

At the University of Illinois, more than 4,500 students voted in a referendum about a general fee increase, 4,059 of which voted against the referendum. A week later, the University’s Board of Trustees passed the increase 7 to 3. Perhaps with consolidated efforts by multiple colleges, such referendums would hold more weight.

Getting together with other universities could help new ideas come to life. At Illinois State University, the school is slowly phasing alcohol out of greek houses by 2000, even though it is not part of Select 2000. Working together and sharing ideas could provide solutions that surround the implementation of policies like Select 2000.

If 30 students from different schools can get a committee of state legislators to hear student concerns, and take them seriously, picture what several hundred students joined together across universities might be able to do.