It’d be dramatic to say that Dan Weber can now be added to the list of corrupted Illinois politicians, so we won’t say that. But if he stays on the same track he’s on right now, he’ll shortly be heading that way. In other words, he’s off to a good start.

After a unanimous decision by the Student Election Commission to not certify Weber’s victory as trustee, Weber quickly said he will soon be filling out the correct paperwork for an appeal of the decision. Three words, Dan: Don’t do it.

Not only did he allegedly break many SEC codes while campaigning, but Weber said he didn’t know many of the codes he was breaking in his defense of the allegations. If only that were an excuse, let alone a good one. But it’s not. In fact, it’s petty.

According to Mike Wilson, chairman of the SEC, allegations brought against Weber include that he was allegedly campaigning in computer labs at the Undergraduate Library and residence halls, posting campaign signs in prohibited places such as classrooms, campaigning in residence halls and dining halls without a canvassing license and campaigning in a private residence hall.

Another empty excuse Weber made was that everybody else was doing it. Well, Dan, you’d better hope the other trustee candidates don’t jump off a bridge.

Do yourself a favor and don’t file your appeal. It’ll only embarrass you more. We don’t want someone who uses excuses such as “everybody else was doing it,” and “I didn’t know the rules” to be our student trustee.

For one, if you didn’t know the rules of the SEC, how could you expect us to trust you to be a part of the Board of Trustees and to take part in making decisions that affect the student body? Would you know the rules then? And what if you happened to disagree with some of the other trustees during a discussion. Would you just go along with what everybody else was saying? If everybody else is all for raising tuition, we can only conclude that you would support that too. Because if they’re doing it, you have to do it, too. That must be some sort of rule.

Either way, the end does not justify the means. Not this time. Washing other candidates’ names off the sidewalk and pulling down their campaigning posters is immature, and that’s not a characteristic that we want in our student trustee. Weber said he was unhappy with how the hearing was, saying it was unfair. If he thought that was unfair, we’d like him to think about how unfair it was for him to destroy some of the other candidates’ campaigning efforts. See a parallel? So do we.

However, the fact that we think Weber is not an ideal candidate for student trustee isn’t our only complaint – everybody already knew that after our endorsement. Instead, we’d like to point out the fact of how flawed the process of student elections is. If the complaints against Dan Weber had been made before he was announced as the student trustee-elect, then the ordeal of calling people in to testify against Weber and Weber’s appeal after the decision could have all been avoided.

So when elections happen again next year, the process should change. Legitimate complaints should be heard before announcing the winner. Otherwise, this may happen again and again.