After claiming to be "sidestepped" by the city council, ASMSU officials are working to rectify the mistakes of the summer by proposing an amendment to the party-noise ordinance.

MSU's undergraduate student government will vote this week on amending and clarifying the eight-week-old East Lansing policy. If it passes, the proposal will be presented to the East Lansing City Council.

The current policy defines a noise violation as having at least two party indicators, which include fees for alcohol or entrance to a residence, kegs or other common sources of alcohol, live entertainment, amplified outdoor music and having more than one person per 20 square feet of habitable living space.

For the most severe noise offenders, the ordinance currently calls for jail time and fines of up to $1,000. Under ASMSU's recommendations, jail time would be eliminated.

As we have argued before, putting a student in jail over a so-called crime of being too loud is unjust.

With other important crimes going on in the city, police should not have to continue to overcrowd jail cells.

Another one of ASMSU's recommendations would change the current "habitable living space" to "square footage." Although this portion of the ordinance is still an easy target for police, at least the language is being clarified.

ASMSU is also proposing to combine two current party indicators: having a common source for alcohol and charging a fee for alcohol at the residence. Since the two indicators include alcohol, it only makes sense to group them together.

Under the recommendations, all indicators instead of two of the five would have to be present for the hosts to be charged.

Both ASMSU and the city council must be willing not only to communicate on this issue, but to compromise as well.

We're thankful that ASMSU is finally taking action on an issue that students have been speaking against for the past two months. Not every single person will be happy, but it's a start.