Most of us have been charged for room damage at one point or another in our Binghamton University careers. The scenario is usually the same every time: Joe SUNY opens his letter and looks at the bottom line.

“’Lounge repairs, $14?’ What the ass does that mean?”

Well, Joe, it means that you and everyone else on your floor — or possibly everyone in your building — is coughing up that $14 to fix something in the lounge. What that something is, though, is anybody’s guess. The nonspecific bill only tells you how much you owe, not what the damage was or even whether you had any part of it.

What’s worse: if you don’t cough up in a timely manner, you’ll be barred from such amenities as the library, registering for classes and other vital University services.

If the penalty of not paying the bill is so high, surely it wouldn’t be too much to ask to know exactly what we’re being billed for, would it?

Well, a recent Student Assembly resolution (see Page 1) calls for just that: it says a letter detailing the damages should be sent with each bill. (Disclosure: the resolution’s author, Chris Strub, is a sportswriter for PIPE DREAM, and also a candidate for Student Association president.)

It’s great to see the Assembly introducing resolutions that actually matter to students, and not ones that further petty junior political agendas or measures that are merely housekeeping.

But the resolution’s good intentions are marred by the fact that it’s entirely outside the SA’s power to enforce. The resolution’s action line reads as follows:

“… be it resolved that an accompanying letter detailing each item or service we are paying for be sent to every resident that is being charged for repairs in his/her dorm, in every dorm across campus.”

It doesn’t even make clear who should be sending the letter, although Physical Facilities is implied.

The sentiment is there, but like so many of the Assembly’s initiatives, this one fails to take into account that the body has no ability to follow through on its call to action.

The best the SA can do is engage in dialogue with Physical Facilities staff (if this hasn’t happened already) and make it understood that detailed billing is a priority for students. The resolution should be worded as such, so that such talks can begin in earnest as soon as possible.