Jonathan Rosenthal is excited to get to work improving student and East Lansing community relations.

The business administration and pre-law junior has made a lot of changes in his life in the past year - transferring to MSU from Florida State University, taking a position with MSU’s undergraduate student government as director of communication affairs and his appointment to the University Student Commission during the Oct. 2 East Lansing City Council meeting.

But Rosenthal’s goals, and the entire commission, have been put on hold because of struggles to fill several of the 11 seats on the board.

“Students at MSU need to understand that we are a majority in East Lansing,” Rosenthal said. “With that in mind, we need to be empowered to make a difference in our community. It needs to come through our hearts and souls, course through our veins, we have a voice that is justified and we need to be heard.”

The University Student Commission grew out of a similar organization - The East Lansing Student Association, which was created in 1994 as the brainchild of former Mayor Robert Phipps. Its goal was to get student opinion on issues that caused conflict between students, city officials and permanent East Lansing residents. This would foster better communication between all involved.

The language for the present commission was revised with the help of current Councilmember Sam Singh when he was a council candidate. The terms of the new commission were accepted by unanimous vote by the city council May 16, 1995.

“The USC has been a pretty integral part of the work we’ve done to bridge the gap between students and the city and has had a strong impact on how we make decisions,” Singh said.

The council is comprised of 11 seats with three at-large students, and one each of the following: ASMSU Student Assembly, Interfraternity Council, Panhellenic Council, National Panhellenic Council, Residents Halls Association, Inter-Cooperative Council, COOL-Action and the Council of Graduate Students.

As of Wednesday, six seats still had not been filled despite a Sept. 25 deadline for groups to submit their appointments, something that troubles the commission’s staff adviser, Deputy City Manager Jean Golden.

“I think it’s because these organizations are just getting up and running for this to be on their front burner, but we encourage them to get their applications in,” Golden said.

Organizations that fail to get their appointee applications in by Monday will have their seats opened up to at-large representatives who want to serve, Golden said.

“This is a real opportunity for the student population to have a voice in the community because they work directly with the community and tackle issues that will make a difference for the student population,” Golden said.

Brian Lynch, a three-year-chairman of the commission and 2001 MSU graduate, is also concerned with organizations’ lack of interest in the commission this year.

“These groups were chosen because they represent the largest number of people and are the most upset when ordinances are changed or misunderstood,” he said.

Rosenthal is anxious for the year’s work to begin and plans to tackle issues of tenant rights and changing East Lansing’s primary elections from August to September so more students will be in town when the elections occur - an issue that has been before the commission and its predecessor since 1994.

“We have to start to speak our mind, be the link between students and the city, and things really can change.”