Student government approved the new slate of Student Services Fees Committee members last week to kick off what will undoubtedly be another exciting year of divvying up fees to student groups and administrative units.

The 23 members of the new fees committee should take their job very seriously this year and learn from past mistakes.

Each student who attends the University of Minnesota helps support student groups and administrative units (including the Minnesota Daily) who choose to participate in this process. For that reason, students should know âÄî and have a say âÄî in where that money goes. The Fees Committee is that say.

The Fees Committee must be impartial, no matter which groups they are members of. Until the fees process is reviewed next summer, theyâÄôll have to follow the rules currently in place, but do so bearing in mind that the goal is to allocate money wisely, not serve an agenda.

It seems that every year the process gets bogged down with confusion and unfair allocations. ItâÄôs important for the committee to be critical of student groupsâÄô requests, but also bear in mind the student bodyâÄôs need for different kinds of student groups with resources to support their operations.

The same thing goes for following policies. Rules are important, but weâÄôre all human beings. The committee should use its discretion with issues like late applications.

Most importantly, the fees process is one entrusted to a committee made up of mostly students. ThatâÄôs a rare thing on this campus. If an administrator has to clean up after every year, it sends a bad message: that students canâÄôt handle important responsibilities. The committee must show that this is not true.