ASMSU, the undergraduate student government, has stepped up.
The State of the Student Address on Tuesday night laid out ASMSU's future goals for MSU and students — including program proposals, projects and lobbying activities. The student government's presentation was attended by many administration officials, including MSU President Lou Anna K. Simon.
The address served to let administrators know what ASMSU will be working on.
But it also served as an invitation for students to become more involved with their student government and the decisions it makes. ASMSU must continue to communicate with students to effectively represent them.
Two speakers raised many issues during the address, especially lowering tuition, naming the new residential college, educating students on cheating and plagiarizing and improving ASMSU.
They challenged Michigan to raise funding for higher education, which will be a major lobbying effort by ASMSU in the future. Although it might seem like a large task that can't be accomplished by just a student government, ASMSU has students' priorities in mind.
ASMSU also spoke out against the Faculty Voice report, which would decrease student representation in academic matters by adding more faculty. The report is something only a handful of students know about, let alone understand. Using this opportunity to bring it to everyone's attention was needed before any possible decisions could be made.
And although it seems like common sense, cheating in college is not as clear-cut as copying off of someone's spelling test in elementary school.
Sometimes students are not aware of the actual definition of cheating or plagiarizing and need be reminded, especially when information is so readily available on the Internet. Students might not know how to cite other people's work in a paper or how much they can rephrase another paper. It's still an issue, even into junior and senior year — protecting students by making them aware is a smart move by ASMSU.
With these new proposals and issues brought to the table, ASMSU is beginning to evolve into a very effective government.
