East Lansing, Meridian Township and other surrounding cities do it. And if everyone's doing it, why shouldn't we?
ASMSU Director Vikas Menon has been looking into broadcasting assembly meetings on campus cable. University Housing Channel 12, "U Tube," would be the most likely place to air the meetings, which take place every other Tuesday and Thursday.
Airing ASMSU meetings on our campus channel would be a great resource to encourage student involvement in government, and every decision that MSU's undergraduate student government makes - agreeable or disagreeable - can be in the public eye.
Right now, many students lack the time it would take to attend ASMSU meetings. But now students can open up their history books or sit down and chat with their friends and still be able to turn on the tube and get involved with politics.
And with students actively surfing the tube, they might just happen to stumble upon government meetings. By airing meetings on television, both students who would like to get involved and those who just happen to get involved will be able to.
And involving more students in policy is always a great move - everyone will have the ability to be informed and to voice their opinions. During its broadcast, the group could run further information about ASMSU at the bottom of the screen, such as giving students ways to write to the government or the dates, time and places of upcoming meeting.
Public coverage also will force ASMSU to become and remain accountable for its actions. The group's Web site has not been updated since before break, leaving students clueless about meeting times, locations and the issues being discussed.
Television coverage will give students unlimited access to the group, and it will force ASMSU to add structure to its meetings.
With a student population of more than 40,000, MSU is almost its own town. And if other cities get their town meetings publicly aired, we should also have the opportunity to attend government meetings and exercise our rights as citizens - through the tube.
