Do East Lansing City Councilmembers believe that students hate them, or is it the other way around? Do the students not understand that MSU and its facilities account for only about 10 percent of the council's business, or is the council still not aware that students believe MSU and its facilities are the only thing keeping East Lansing from being a stoplight and a McDonald's?

It seems to us that maybe MSU students and the East Lansing City Council should have a little sit-down to address the beef flying back and forth.

Perhaps the students actually would learn the facts about the party-noise violations policy and stop griping. But then again, maybe the council would realize that as long as the party-noise ordinance is in effect, students will forever despise it.

Relations still are moving with the efficiency of a U.S. Senate subcommittee and all the expedience of World War I, eastern front.

So, submitted for your approval, we have a hardly novel idea. Save a seat or two on the East Lansing City Council for a registered MSU student. In October, Mayor Pro Tem Sam Singh told The State News that MSU only takes up about 10 percent of the council's concern.

So, give 10 percent of the council to the group that seems consistently contentious with the council itself. But here's why that will never work - 'U' don't care, and the East Lansing City Council is under no obligation to do anything at all. The blame game is more fun - and certainly more convenient - than running an effective campaign to shake up town hall. Consequently, the East Lansing City Council has been threatened with student campaigns in the past and dealt with them with all the difficulty of the MSU men's basketball team playing the local under-12 recreational league champions.

Last fall, when MSU students came back from summer to learn that any noise violation for a party carried a hefty fine and potential jail time, two students "ran" for a seat on the council that November. These two students, whom you might remember as Jared Rapp and Joey Marcus, banked on a write-in campaign and then passed out bumper stickers with "council" misspelled.

That inherently teaches students at our university that the council fears student attempts at a council seat much like it'd fear a sock puppet, and it teaches council members that whenever the Spartans get restless, we're incapable of mustering enough troops for a fight.

Sad, but true. Not enough MSU students are registered to vote in matters of local politics, and more likely than not, there are too many MSU students unregistered to vote at all. The absolute likelihood of an MSU student running for an East Lansing City Council seat and procuring it is slim to none, and our local Mobius strip of mutual understanding continuously flows flawed.

We implore the East Lansing City Council to explain to the MSU community the likelihood of a student-reserved seat on the council, the benefits and disadvantages and what can be done to help students understand that you're really on our side.