The recent actions of the Student Senate and University Court Chief Justice Neal Hebert have called into question the very notion of checks and balances in Student Government. The situation occurred last week while SG President Michelle Gieg was out of state and Arts and Sciences Senator Evan Bergeron filed two complaints against acting SG President Patrick Downs and Senate Speaker Bo Staples. Chief Justice Hebert granted both injunctions, which removed the two from office for 72 hours, focused on the issue as to whether SG should pass a resolution encouraging the University administration to keep the African American Cultural Center open during Saturday’s Homecoming game. Gieg and Downs said they decided not to sign the legislation because they were concerned with student safety. Bergeron filed both injunctions when Downs did not sign the resolution and Staples, who had already signed the legislation as senate speaker, could not sign it again as acting president. When the administration decided to keep the AACC open, the injunctions were no longer necessary and withdrawn. This was a bold and totally unnecessary attack on the separation of powers between the executive, legislative and judicial branches of SG. Regardless of our own opinion on whether or not the AACC should have remained open Saturday, we see no reason why the wheels of government should be ripped off solely to satisfy the emotional whims of individuals. This lack of respect for the process is alarming as the foundations of our system of government rely on valued devices such as compromise. Attacks on the constitutional basis of decision making and the chain of command structure will serve not to strengthen, but to weaken the political process and give rise to those who seek power above principle. We would have hoped that those who are learning politics in our state had learned the lessons of men like Huey Long and refrained from acting on matters outside their domain. Still, we acknowledge that the University is a place to learn and make mistakes. At the same time, those responsible have to realize that their responsibility is not to their agendas, but to the student body, a student body who will no longer tolerate petty deeds. Indeed, Gieg herself told The Daily Reveille actions like these make SG look bad. We couldn’t have said it better ourselves.