During the March 27-28, 1999 riot, 10,000 MSU students hit the streets after the men's basketball team lost in the NCAA Tournament, causing about $250,000 in damages. Four years later, 2,000 students followed suit.
In the face of all this, it's good to see that wounds are healing and the relationship between permanent residents and university students is improving.
East Lansing's residents are satisfied with the city based on a survey conducted by Adaptive Research Systems. Of the 400 people surveyed, only 5 percent were students. The next time the city does a survey, it should include more students.
The problem is the survey only included voters registered in East Lansing. With a law requiring people to have the same address on their driver's license as on their voter registration card, it's difficult for students to register locally.
Deputy City Manager Jean Golden said, "Because of the size of the sample you can't really draw an accurate conclusion of what students think."
If the city is going to spend $10,000 to do a survey of its residents, it would be prudent to get a more complete sampling of the people who live in East Lansing.
When people think of MSU, they think of East Lansing and vice versa. With a symbiotic relationship such as this, it's only natural a city survey include the voice of students.
Still, it's good to see residents speak highly of the city. In fact, 52 percent of residents wouldn't mind if the city raised taxes if it meant maintaining city services. Eighty-four percent rated the relationship between residents and the police as good or excellent. All of this speaks well upon the city, its employees and its services.
Also, 38 percent of those surveyed feel the relationship between permanent residents and MSU students is good. Only 12 percent felt the relationship is poor. Meanwhile, 13 percent felt the second-biggest problem facing the city is student behavior, such as noise and vandalism.
This is a small percentage shows city residents are taking a step in the right direction. It's also an example of two conflicting lifestyles getting along more in the same space.
The survey results could have varied if more students were involved.
With so many students living in East Lansing, and subject to city services such as trash pickup and snow removal, the voice of MSU students should have been in this survey and should appear in any subsequent surveys the city undertakes.
It's the city's responsibility. If administrators want to know the best way to run East Lansing, they must not only poll permanent residents but students to get an accurate voice of East Lansing's citizens.
But it's still good to see the community healing and getting along.
