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Students who voiced their opinions at the State of the Student Body address earlier this month were certainly just in their concerns; indeed the cost of higher education is continually rising and someone must look out for students who are on tight budgets. Calling attention to the situation – and what Student Government Association officials may or may not be doing about it – is merely part of the system of checks and balances that free speech promotes.

But those students were not just in the commotion they caused at the event. Their actions were ineffective.

The demonstrators at the speech would’ve been more efficient had they voiced their concerns for student interests through other channels.

The students seemed especially upset about how SGA President Darrell Messer, a senior engineering major, has handled tuition issues at the university. Messer serves as a member of the U of L Board of Trustees, the university’s decision-making body. But the rise in this year’s tuition rate and the implementation of a new health fee should be attributed to last year’s board members. Blame for changes in costs between last year and this one lies with, if anyone, Bill Brammell, last year’s SGA president.

But is the SGA president really to blame for rising tuition costs? No.

There is only so much that any SGA official can do to protect students’ interests. They serve on committees and hold a spot among the university trustees, but one vote is just that; one among 20 board members. Perhaps the better solution to a tuition problem would be to lobby the trustees themselves. They, after all, approve tuition increases and other student fees before they’re put into place. SGA has an extremely limited role in the hierarchy of the university.

A more productive channel to use would be to take concerns to state lawmakers. These are the people who approve budgets and allocate funding for state colleges and universities around Kentucky. If legislators in Frankfort heard more from upstanding students, perhaps they’d be more apt to keep higher education affordable.

The eight students who showed up during the SGA speech could better use their energies if they refocused them a bit. Make noise among those who really control the purse strings at an statewide rally for higher education in Frankfort on Feb. 7.

Still, the protestors and their supporters shouldn’t be scolded entirely. Change would never come about if it weren’t for someone deviating from the norm. If it weren’t for women like Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Sojourner Truth speaking up, the state of the women’s movement – black and white suffrage included – would be entirely different today. If it weren’t for the efforts of people like Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X, the state of civil rights would be entirely different today.

So don’t be quiet. And that goes for all students, not just those who landed themselves in the spotlight with their recent protest. If these issues matter enough that we will disrupt our own campus, why not share our thoughts with the people who can actually make a difference.

To find out how to contact a state legislator, visit http://www.lrc.ky.gov.