A new door has opened in the ongoing dispute between police and students over the April 2-3 disturbances.

Although not as powerful a reaction as could be hoped for, the East Lansing City Council's decision to create an independent review commission to hear testimony about the disturbances is, at least, one prospect to uncover the police's unnecessary action.

The council's goal is to create a nine to 11 member group consisting of community members, students, university officials and law enforcement officials who were not in East Lansing during the disturbances. Much like a jury, law enforcement officials and students alike will be given the chance to influence the commission as to what they feel really happened that night.

Such a development is better than the city ignoring the public demand to have this issue addressed, but one has to be skeptical of how effective this commission will be.

For starters, officials are only now in the process of selecting members, and they expect the group to disseminate public accounts within 30 days of their hearings. More than likely, most students will be long gone from East Lansing before the commission even forms. The largest body of people who would have the most to say about the occurrence will be largely unable to give testimony.

It will be a difficult task for students to articulate the night's madness merely with words. It would be helpful if they are able to bring forth the videos - the most biting evidence - and those who suffered injustices, to help make an account.

This commission needs to be free of prior assumption. MSU students have a history of rioting that could easily work against them. Police are justified in their actions during the violent riots that occurred during 1999 and 2003. What happened in this most recent disturbance has to be viewed as a stand-alone event in order to differentiate the tactics police used before and the ones they choose on April 2-3.

In the issue of the members of this commission, there is a conflict of interest by having city officials choose the members. It was city officials, after all, that worked to have description of April 2-3 changed from a "civil disturbance" to a "riot" in order to incur stiffer legal penalties against those who were arrested. City officials are in bed with this issue in a way that robs them of the objectivity required to fairly select a commission.

On that note, it would be an impressive step for the East Lansing Police Department to initiate an independent review of its own. The more unbiased points of view incorporated into this process - especially one that solely focuses on the actions of police - the more accurate the account will be.

Although there might now be a bleak light at the end of tunnel in this dispute, it is still a shame that the student body will not be here to see it resolved. The recent distribution of anti-police T-shirts typifies the bad blood that has been created between students and the city's municipalities. Both sides need to take part in the resolution of these grievances.