Only two-thirds of Marquette Student Government's senators showed up at last week's meeting.

Yes, you read correctly. Just two-thirds of MUSG's senators attended.

This attendance figure is more than disappointing — it's distressing. That only 20 of MUSG's 30 senators find it important to attend their weekly meeting truly disturbs us. During their Thursday evening meetings, senators vote on various proposals, hear committee reports and receive presentations on issues facing the student body.

We cannot fathom why one-third of senators believe it is appropriate to miss meetings. Putting aside the important agenda, attendance at Senate and committee gatherings is one of the best ways for students to gauge whether senators are doing their jobs. A two-thirds attendance rate is unacceptable and, frankly, atrocious.

In fact, 20 senators out of 30 is a 67 percent attendance rate. In most academic courses, that percentage constitutes a grade of D.

Of the 10 absent senators, MUSG's Executive Board excused three due to academic and personal obligations. Another senator left the meeting for the same reasons before any votes were cast. One outgoing senator skipped the meeting because she was unaware that she must cast Senate votes until her replacement is found. That leaves five senators simply missing in action.

And what action they missed.

MUSG senators last week voted on the allocation of $18,000-worth of extra money from the Student Activity Fee that they had not anticipated in the budget. The proposal — had it received even just one additional vote — would have sent an additional $3,850 to club sports organizations. Club sports will receive none of the extra funds, as the period for allocating money to club sports has now passed.

Absent senators also missed presentations by Student Health Service and University Dining Services regarding issues MUSG itself identified as among the most important on campus — student health and dining.

Students who participate in MUSG are busy people. A weekly meeting lasting up to two hours or more certainly eats away at study and social time. But perhaps senators who believe the meetings are disruptive to their schedules should relinquish their positions to students who can steadily represent their constituents.

At tonight's meeting, the Senate will make allocations for student organizations and club sports, without the additional $18,000 voted on last week. (Those additional funds will be allocated after the MUSG Budget Committee reformulates its recommendation about how they should be used.)

Student Organization Allocations are one of MUSG's most important responsibilities, and we expect all 30 senators to be present this evening.

MUSG President Ray Redlingshafer addressed the Senate at the end of last week's meeting, urging senators to develop better attendance habits. We'll ignore the ridiculousness of preaching attendance to already-present senators, in order to speak directly to last week's absentees:

Senators, you are all adults. Neither Redlingshafer nor this editorial board should need to remind you of your senatorial duties. A grade of D might be considered "passing" in class, but Marquette students deserve better representation than that.

Get it together, MUSG — before you flunk.