Student Union Treasury reversed its rule of refusing repeat speaker appeals after a straw poll of members at its meeting on Tuesday. The need to change the standard arose out of complications from the new SU Speaker Series, which was created to encourage groups to appeal for high-cost speakers at the beginning of the first semester rather than throughout the year.

Sofia Vergara fans will have to settle for seeing her on TV as she will not be coming to speak on campus this semester. Her shooting schedule for “Modern Family” conflicted with her ability to visit.

This week, 37 students will be running for 24 seats in an unusually contested set of Student Union elections. Three constitutional amendments and half the seats in SU Senate and Treasury will be up for a campus-wide online vote. Elections will take place from Tuesday, Nov. 1 at 8 a.m. until Wednesday, Nov. 2 at 5 p.m.

Legislation intended to prevent a repeat of last year’s Bristol Palin fiasco failed to pass Student Union Treasury by one vote on Thursday. The constitutional amendment would have made student referendums faster and more effective. The final vote was 11-6, but it needed a two-thirds margin to pass.

Although Student Union continued to reject appeals last week due to budgetary constraints, an account outside of the group’s general operating budget continues to grow. A savings account, comprised of funds that were allocated to student groups but were never spent, has accrued to more than $300,000.

Washington University announced several weeks ago that Janet Napolitano, the current U.S. secretary of Homeland Security, would be speaking on campus. And even though her visit was cancelled, the announcement of her intended arrival came as a pleasant surprise in light of the lackluster lineup of speakers who have come throughout the year.

Student Union Treasury voted to allocate funding toward an individual appeal for U.S.-Mideast Hip Hop Exchange Week. The week will feature hip hop artists from the Middle East and St. Louis and will take place from April 10 to April 17.

Students signed up in larger numbers this spring to run for Student Union Treasury and Senate, with many taking motivation from the fallout over Treasury’s vote to fund a panel featuring Bristol Palin. The majority of the candidates are coming from outside SU. The influx of candidates has made this spring’s elections much more competitive than normal.

Treasury exists to serve the interests of the student body and the needs of SU student groups. Unfortunately, however, its funding choices often fail to reflect the student preferences.

Student Union Treasury approved the funding of a speech from actor and dancer Harry Shum Jr. in an appeal made by the Chinese Students Association on Tuesday night. Shum, 28, is known for his role as Mike Chang on Fox’s “Glee” and is scheduled to come to campus on Saturday, April 2.