Juniors Tim Lefeber and Emily Rostkowski, the new Marquette Student Government president and executive vice president, have only been in office since April 1 but say they already have a vision for where they want the organization to go.

"We really want the students to feel like Marquette is going to meet their needs in terms of academics and in terms of life," Lefeber said.

Including all students and creating a better awareness of MUSG are two aspects of that vision that Lefeber and Rostkowski cited as important goals. Rostkowski said all students are welcome to stop by the MUSG office, room 133 in the Alumni Memorial Union, to see what the organization is all about.

"Students should know MUSG isn't a place just for senators or people on program board," Rostkowski said. "It's really a place for all students."

Lefeber said open houses are a possibility and free food like doughnuts or pizza may provide incentive for students to visit.

"We're willing to put ourselves out there so students know they can have an impact on campus," Lefeber said.

He also said it's important for students to realize there is more to him and Rostkowski than MUSG.

"We're students too," Lefeber said. "We have to study. We have to do everything normal students have to do. But we're also saying we want to represent other students and listen to what they have to say."

Communication goes both ways

Former MUSG Executive Vice President Paul Bergl said during his administration, he and former President Kate Agnew focused more on building a relationship with university administration instead of communicating with students.

"I really hope Tim and Emily can reconnect MUSG with the student body and convince them that MUSG has a strong, influential presence on campus," Bergl said.

Lefeber and Rostkowski say they want to make their presence known and are currently discussing utilizing CheckMarq to reach students and updating the MUSG Web site to include a discussion board.

A plan already in the works is the establishment of information kiosks on the academic side of campus to advertise student organization events, including MUSG events. Rostkowski began working on this project as a senator this year as part of the student life committee. She said plans for the kiosks are drawn up and MUSG is currently looking into sources of funding.

Lefeber said he and Rostkowski are already receiving positive feedback from students about the kiosks.

"People seem very excited to have a very organized and visible way of displaying events and getting people involved," he said.

Another idea to keep students informed is a media screen in the Alumni Memorial Union to list daily on-campus events, their times and locations. Lefeber said students need a permanent, central and stationary posting of events.

In addition to getting their message out, Lefeber and Rostkowski said they needed to hear what students are thinking. With a campus population of roughly 7,000 people, Lefeber said surveys are a great way to hear from large number of people.

The weekly Senate meetings, 7:30 p.m. Thursdays in AMU 227, are open to students. There is a forum for concerned students at every meeting, a portion of the meeting that is typically skipped when no students outside of the organization attend.

Rostkowski said she and Lefeber would like members of the general student population to attend Senate meetings. She said she would like to begin working toward this goal by inviting student organizations.

In addition to welcoming students with concerns to attend Senate meetings, they encourage students to attend to see what MUSG is doing for them.

"From either perspective, if you want something done or if you want to know how something is being done," students are welcome to attend, Lefeber said.

Connecting students to the university and the community

During Lefeber and Rostkowski's time in office, they said "coffee talk" could be more than an old "Saturday Night Live" skit.

The two said they hope to put students in touch with university administration by holding discussions over coffee. Each talk would focus on a certain issue, and students affected by each issue would be invited to speak with relevant members of the administration. Rostkowski said she hoped this would allow students to work with administrators to solve problems that affect campus life.

A possible issue for a coffee talk is student safety, which is also a large focus of their platform. Lefeber and Rostkowski want to improve safety on campus by working closely with the Department of Public Safety. They said they hope to promote DPS' self-defense and other safety programs and make sure students know all of the situations blue light phones on campus may be used for. Off campus, they said they hope to institute break-in screenings for student houses and apartments.

The surrounding community is important to Lefeber and Rostkowski's platform, and not just concerning safety. They said service is a big part of their life at Marquette, and that they have participated in service trips and Noon Run, among other things.

Lefeber and Rostkowski said they plan to make students more aware of the numerous service opportunities offered by campus organizations. Rostkowski said she would like MUSG to co-sponsor events with these groups in order to involve more students in service.

Lefeber said he would like to expand MUSG's connection with the Office of Student Development and use MUSG resources to advocate for community service activities offered by Marquette groups.

The path to leadership

Lefeber and Rostkowski beat four other tickets to win the position of MUSG president and executive vice president and cited an issue-based campaign and across-campus support as the reasons why.

"We tried to run a very assertive, but not aggressive, campaign," Lefeber said. "We made ourselves visible and there if (students) wanted to look at what we had to offer."

Bergl said he thought students recognized the potential Lefeber and Rostkowski had to offer MUSG — an all-encompassing experience at Marquette that is valuable preparation for their new roles.

Rostkowski said they used posters and handed out quarter sheets of paper to inform students of their platform.

"We tried to rely as much as possible on our platform ideas instead of relying on other means to get people to notice us," she said.

Lefeber said they wanted to make sure students identified their names with the issues, not just a specific color.

Besides posters and quarter sheets, Rostkowski said their campaign workers were a huge asset to making students aware of their platform.

"A lot of them are leaders on campus," she said. "Their support behind us and their spreading the word among the groups and circles they work within really helped us a lot."

Lefeber, who said he greatly admires the student leaders on campus for all the work and time they devote to their organizations, said he thinks he and Rostkowski will gain students' trust by being honest and open.

He said his parents taught him a solid work ethic as well as a willingness to help other people. He said he learned a good leader knows the importance of what he/she has to offer others.

Rostkowski cited Dorothy Day's leadership by example as an inspiration to her leadership. Together, she said she and Lefeber recognize the importance of teamwork.

"Tim and I have been a team from the beginning," Rostkowski said.

"We can look to help from everyone here," Lefeber said of MUSG. "There are a lot of people, especially on executive board, who really want to be team players."

Bergl said he learned the importance of teamwork during his administration.

"No matter how many brilliant ideas you have, leadership positions you've held on campus or how personable you are, you really need to rely on the other members of the organization to get anything accomplished," Bergl said.

Picking up where others left off

Lefeber said his and Rostkowski's administration would not only work toward new initiatives but also continue the work from Agnew and Bergl's administration.

He said while Agnew and Bergl did an excellent job as MUSG president and vice president, their initiatives can still be improved on.

"Change takes a long time to happen," Lefeber said, and the term only lasts for one year. "It's not unfinished business, but continuing progress and improvement. (Agnew and Bergl) have done an excellent job of opening up opportunities for others who will follow them to make even more progress."

Lefeber said he and Rostkowski plan to continue the "We are Marquette" program, an event where students, faculty and administrators gathered to discuss the meaning of this slogan.

Bergl said he hoped Lefeber and Rostkowski would continue this program and also involve more people in the event.

Lefeber said the Norris Playground Project, which some senators were working on before their terms ended, is also important to continue. MUSG expressed its support and desire to help the Avenues West area improve the plot of land located between West Kilbourn and State streets and North 18th and North 19th streets, and make it available for recreation.

Rostkowski said Bergl's work to improve relations with the athletic department should be continued, and Bergl said some senators would help the new administration follow up on this.

The main focus

Lefeber and Rostkowski's goals include reaching out to many groups on campus — service groups, student organizations, university administration and the athletic department — but they said they couldn't stress enough the importance of reaching the general student population.

"We just want the students to know we are here for them, regardless of how much they are willing to give back," Lefeber said. "All we ask for is their input."