As wrote about in my last column, MUSG punishes its Senate members by making them actually talk to the people they represent. How many? 25.

So, is talking to 25 students really a punishment? Not really. It actually should be their duty and goal to talk to 25 people a week about what they do and what students want. So I thought that I would try out this “punishment.”

I went out and asked 25 students questions about MUSG and all answers point to one conclusion: MUSG is failing. Almost every single person I asked said that they didn’t even know what MUSG did. MUSG has become a body of select individuals who make decisions affecting all of the student body (if they can ever get around to it) with little to no student say in the matter.
One of the biggest dissatisfactions with MUSG came in the allotment of spending. An example of this is the Late Night functions. Very few of the 25 people I interviewed actually attended these functions and those that did said they were only “okay.” Many suggested having fewer Late Nights with more appeal to the universal student body.

One idea that I had was to sell Late Night passes at the beginning of each semester instead of collecting a student activities fee. This way, those who wish to attend can benefit, and those that aren’t interested will not have to pay for something they see as a waste of time and money.

Also, where are the Late Nights for the 21+ crowd? Marquette used to have socials when they would roll out the kegs and have parties on the Central Mall. Where did they go? Marquette and MUSG should offer safe and fun drinking options for the upperclassmen. They have all students’ birthdates on record so there would be no way for underage drinking to happen, and it would be a great way to raise money for the MUSG budget and other student functions – possibly weaning MUSG off the student activities fee.

The legislation MUSG is working on isn’t a great concern to many students. The ISBN Bill is a great example. MUSG is trying to get the university to publish the ISBN numbers along with book title, author and edition number for all books sold in the book store so students can look elsewhere for their books. Heads up, MUSG, people have been buying books online without any problem. Congratulations for creating a bill that only the people who are too stupid to do a quick Google search of the book they are looking for would use. I hope it passes; I wouldn’t want to disable anyone from buying cheaper books.

Clearly there is a communication barrier between students and their government. When the majority of the students on campus don’t know what MUSG does, how are they supposed to know where to make requests or voice criticisms? Knowledge is power and without student knowledge of MUSG, our Senate has the power to make decisions without being held accountable to the student body they are supposed to represent.

So MUSG, while you were busy bonding on your retreat, you missed talking to the students. Here’s what they want: student employee pay raise, more relevance of MUSG in student life, greater advertising for campus events, information on what you actually do, more big-name concerts on campus, more library study space, a decrease in or elimination of the student activities fee, refurbishment of the Johnston Hall staircase, renovation of existing academic buildings, creation of physical education classes for credit and publicity of when/where students can voice their concerns.

I shouldn’t have to do your job for you.

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