Well, here we are again. The end of the semester and the beginning of finals is upon us. While most of us will probably spend the next week burying our noses in books and sleeping at the library, this might be a good time to look back at the semester and the decisions we’ve made regarding our university.

Just last week, students voted to add a Green Fund to the fess already paid. The fund, which was passed with 53 percent, will add on a $5 fee for each student during fall and spring semesters plus a $2.50 charge during the summer.

We’ve elected a new Student Government Association president. We voted “No” on a raised parking and transportation fee. We saw the opening of a new resturaunt, Chilis Too, on campus, and now we’ve approved a Green Fund. Even though voting statistics high as they should be it is still nice that the university allows us to be a part of their decision-making process.

Just like the students who are studying right now instead of reading this editorial are probably closer to an A than the rest of us, we have to put in work to get the results we want. Sure, individually we can bring our grade point average up, but we can’t save the world by ourselves.

According to House Bill 3353, the UTSA Green Fund will provide environmental improvements through services related to recycling, energy efficiency and renewable energy, transportation, employment, product purchasing, planning and maintenance, irrigation and other sustainability issues. A campus committee with majority student representation will oversee the Green Fund.

In the long run, this extra fee will help the university. It will make UTSA a more environmentally conscious campus, and even those who would rather not pay the fee can’t argue with that.

Whether or not you think it’s right that students pay extra for this service is beside the point. Instead, it’s important to realize the fact that we had the chance to vote on an issue like this, an issue that really will affect every person at this university. We vote on athletics. It is because of the students vote that we will have a football team in less than a year. We vote on parking. It is because of our voting that we are not paying extra parking and transportation fees. We vote on SGA president, a student who represents all 28,000 plus of us. And hopefully our vote on the Green Fund will prove to be an important one.