East Lansing city officials and ASMSU members met on Wednesday for dinner to converse about local issues and to improve relations. That had to be one of the strangest dates ever.
Although it's a positive step in opening dialogue between the university and the city, it doesn't really feel like students or residents were truly represented.
According to ASMSU, members of the greek community and Residence Halls Association were invited to the party, but were busy with previous engagements. It's kind of odd two groups, closely aligned with the students, were not present. What were these "engagements" that were so important?
True, ASMSU is the student government and it has done a lot within the past few months to bridge resident-student relations, but it's still only a representative body.
But when we think students, ASMSU doesn't come to mind. Likewise, when we think local residents, we don't think city officials. There should have been a more diverse range of university organizations available for city officials to meet.
Some of the ideas that were brought up at the meeting show this disconnection between constituents and representatives.
Honestly, Student Assembly Chairperson Andrew Schepers' idea of sending a letter to students' parents informing them of the problems their children face with drinking is ridiculous. Parents aren't here at college and they control very little - for many students, that's part of the appeal. Sending a letter might be a good political move for students to make in regard to the city, but will do nothing to curb the drinking on or around campus. If anything, it will look like ASMSU is telling mom and dad on students.
It's also a counteraction to students who want to be viewed as adults. Going over the heads of the students to their parents shows little respect.
Still, the partnership between the organizations will help in case things go wrong and help make sure students are represented in the city government. It's a beginning in what should be a long string of events - which means there might have to be a second date.
