At tonight’s Student Government Senate meeting, Senators will vote on amendments to two of their governing documents — the SG Constitution and the SG Bylaws. While making revisions to framing documents rarely snags headlines or ranks at the top of student concerns, this Board is glad Senators are taking the time to do it.Since the summer, members of Student Government have pored over the documents — and the results might not be exciting in the same way government malfeasance is, but they are heartening for students at the University.Language has been fine-tuned for the sake of clarity. Outdated or otherwise archaic requirements have been altered to reflect the student government changes made during past years. And the documents have both been given much-needed facelifts.The amendments to the SG Constitution, if passed, will be referred to the student body for ratification in the fall election, while the Bylaws amendments will take effect after an affirmative vote and SG President Colorado Robertson’s signature. These changes may not be exciting, but they are a big deal.One of the constitutional amendments establish that all students — regardless of full-time enrollment at the University — have the right to be represented in Student Government and vote on the things that will affect them. Another stipulates that LSU Law students can no longer hold positions within the organization’s judicial branch. Most importantly, deadlines regarding Senate apportionment and enacted legislation have been accelerated.The bylaws changes are more sweeping.The list of established academic areas has been moved from the SG Constitution to its Bylaws. This list determines the representation of the Senate — so if new Colleges are established, the changes to apportionment can be made quickly upon a vote of the Senate. Of course, if the Senate decides freshmen don’t really need Senators, they could eliminate the first-year delegation just as easily.Other changes include making the absences penalties more stringent, increasing the amount of communcation between Robertson’s executive staff and the legislature and formalizing the requirements that allow student organizations to receive SG funding. Most important to regular students who might want to get involved, college councils are now required to disclose when meetings take place.We understand these bills aren’t the kinds of legislation that most students who join student government dream of writing. This isn’t the kind of work that gets good publicity.But at the end of the day, this is the kind of work that needs to happen so that everything else can happen — be it good or bad.We urge the Senate to pass both sets of amendments, and we urge President Robertson to sign the legislation. In their current form, the SG documents in question are unhelpful and antiquated — and do more to bar student understanding of the organization’s rules than they do to help.—-Contact the Editorial Board at [email protected]