The city of East Lansing has made a positive step toward rebuilding good relations with MSU students by forming an independent commission to review the April 2-3 disturbances.

However, upon closer inspection of the list of individuals on this commission, it seems the city has not gone far enough in its efforts to hear students' concerns. Out of a total of 11 members, only two are students: Derek Wallbank of the University Student Commission and Andrew Schepers, chairperson of ASMSU.

Wallbank and Schepers are good choices with their experience as student leaders, but why are there no average students on this commission? Representing average residents of East Lansing is Nancy Schertzing (a former chairperson of the Community Relations Commission, or CRC), yet there is no such spot reserved for students. This is disconcerting.

There are about 50,000 people living in East Lansing, and there are about 44,000 students enrolled at MSU. Once again, only two out of 11 members of the review commission are students - a lopsided representation.

There's no doubt the other members of the commission have the necessary credentials to perform the task at hand: They include people such as a representative from the American Civil Liberties Union and the director of MSU's School of Social Justice. Still, they aren't students nor do they bring to the table the same perspective as students.

That said, the biggest remaining question is: What will come of all this? The worst that could happen is thousands of pages of wasted words and wasted paper, followed by another student-police confrontation during the next big NCAA Tournament appearance. The best that could happen is that the city of East Lansing could rebuild a mutual trust with MSU students.

Currently, when there is a big gathering in the Cedar Village area, students tacitly expect police to come out shooting off tear gas. Likewise, the police expect us to burn and break things, which is clear from the report presented to the City Council. The premise of this report is that the only way to prevent a riot is to take pre-emptive action against a large gathering of people, whether or not they are rioting at the time. At this point, due to a long history of rioting at MSU, students can't do anything right in the eyes of the city but stay at home after games.

Without question, MSU students need to act responsibly. In April, most did anyway. This will be easier if students feel a mutual trust with the police and the city. There needs to be assurances of responsible action in the future from both sides of the table. The independent review commission is a good place to start forming such solutions.