Staying on track?

MSA performs some practical services

It's easy enough to get burned by the parking patrol in Ann Arbor. Well, it's easy enough if you can find a spot in the first place - but that's another story altogether. Even the brief stay in a designated spot or a fleeting moment of parking meter shortsightedness can leave you out $10-$20 or more if the dreaded city employees have batteries in their ticket printers. Adding insult to injury is the fact that tickets had to be mailed or taken down to city hall in person. That's something that most of the community and stress-thriving student body just doesn't have time to deal with. The Michigan Student Assembly - realizing that most students don't have the time to make the trek down to city hall - recently announced an effort to make paying city parking tickets easier.

In conjunction with the city of Ann Arbor, MSA initiated a program in which ticket payment can be made in drop boxes at either the Michigan Union or Pierpont Commons. Couriers will then take the tickets to the appropriate government office daily. The city's rule of cutting ticket fees by $5 if the they're received in the next business day will still hold true when you drop off the penalty for your little misdeed in the new boxes.

Realistic goals like establishing the ticket drop-off box should be MSA's primary focus. Unfortunately pragmatic measures have been overlooked. Instead of taking a cue from practical successes like Advice Online, the Website where students evaluate courses and instructors and the coursepack store, MSA sometimes seeks to change things beyond its control. This attitude has resulted in few actual benefits for students.

Rather than focus on larger issues beyond their sphere of control, MSA's goals should be practical. Voting at meetings on whether or not MSA should support a larger issue is fine, but should not occupy any significant portion of time for the body.

The truth is that few people outside of MSA even know what their student government is doing with its time and money. In addressing this problem, MSA might want to start with its Website. This might seem harsh, but when the "true communications hub for MSA" still contains press releases from last December, we wonder where MSA's priorities lie.

Of course, not all of the blame should fall on the shoulders of MSA representatives; students should get involved in student government as well. Students should take the time to discuss issues with representatives, many of whom make a sincere effort to interact with the rest of the student body. Students should keep abreast of MSA's activities and vote ineffectual members out of office.

MSA does not deserve outright condemnation. Judging from its practical successes, it clearly has the potential to do a great deal of good for students. But the obvious cycle of ineptitude on the part of some members needs to change. Honest, realistic efforts by students and representatives will surely result in a more effective student government. A focus on immediate issues may not manifest itself right away, but representatives can start by shifting concerns away from impractical matters and back to meaningful challenges in Ann Arbor.

10-15-99