The Facts: Students voted in large numbers on Tuesday’s fee referenda. More than 61 percent of students voted that the fee not be passed in its current form. Student Senate went against the referendum and recommended that the University fee committee approve the Talley fee — it did.

Our Opinion: Student Senate blatantly rejected what was a clear and decisive decision by students. It shouldn’t expect students’ votes in the future.

Student Government held a fee referenda for students to give input on the fee process Tuesday. It is one of the few instances during the year where all students can give the Student Senate direct input about the fees they would like to see.

Technican regrets asking students to vote in the election, and sincerely apologizes to the students who wasted five minutes of their time on what amounted to glorified fraud.

Student Senate perverted the Talley-Atrium fee’s unequivocal results and used a ridiculous criteria system where students’ could clearly vote against the proposed fee, but it could still pass as the students’ will. Their astounding intelligence and insight is nothing short of brilliance. It takes truly heroic characters to valiantly vote against the will of a voting body that included slightly less than 6,000 well-informed students.

Secondly, students should congratulate senators for pointing out how inferior they are compared to the scholarly lions in the senate chamber. Students should appreciate the senators incredible omniscience on the size of their wallets and appreciate the ways they insulted students on Tuesday.

There is nothing that excites students more than having their direct will subverted by students who are on the cusp of justice and civic duty.

Essentially, the student senators — students’ “advocacy body, addressing the concerns of the student body, and bringing these concerns to the attention of the University” — took what could have been an opportunity to represent their constituents and used a bizarre interpreting methodology to do the administration’s will.

Chancellor Jim Woodward sent the University fee committee recommendations for what he would like the University to do. Many leaders have indicated that the entire process was a done deal before it got started. The referenda didn’t matter and  the fee review committee was just going to give the chancellor’s proposal a rubber stamp of approval. The Student Senate may not have been had the power to unilaterally block the fee in its current form, but Student Body President Jim Ceresnak and Student Senate President Kelli Rogers had votes at the University fee review committee.

Student Senate had an opportunity to represent students and recommend that Rogers and Ceresnak follow students’ will and fight against the proposal in the committee Wednesday.

Instead, the Student Senate ignored students and did what it wanted. Technician apologizes for asking you to believe the democratic process has any weight in the decision-making processes of the University.