Several Marquette Student Goverment outreach efforts have now created active efforts to implement student suggestions, according to several members of the organization.

At Thursday's Senate meeting, senators brought several ongoing projects to the table that stemmed from student interests, including improvements to the Rec Center, residence hall weight rooms, PrintWise services and smoking policies on campus.

The academics committee is working with administrators to resolve student concerns about the discontinuation of printed class schedules, effective starting with summer classes, said Amanda Michel, chair of the committee and a senior senator for the College of Arts & Sciences.

MUSG members said the surge in outreach is due in large part to coincidence and can only be partially attributed to adviser Jon Dooley's criticism during their last meeting two weeks ago.

"If (Dooley) as our adviser doesn't realize how much work we're putting into things, then how is the average student supposed to know?" said Declan Glynn, legislative vice president and senior in the College of Arts & Sciences.

The combination of the Nov. 5 Student Leadership Summit, the Nov. 10 open forum with University President the Rev. Robert A. Wild and "where we're at in the semester" added to Dooley's comments to contribute to the "forward movement," according to Executive Vice President Beth Feste, a senior in the College of Arts & Sciences.

The jump in involvement was just a matter of timing, according to Sara Stellpflug, chair of the student life committee and a sophomore senator for the College of Arts & Sciences.

"A lot of (the projects) were just slower moving, and I think it's coincidental. We've all been working really hard all year long and I don't believe that it stems from (Dooley's report)," Stellpflug said.

She said her committee is working on Rec Center improvements regarding intramural practice time and more cardio equipment as a "really long running project" and that the university is "really receptive to our ideas."

The student life committee is also working to gauge interest in the enforcement of rules about smoking on campus and fashioning a student bill of rights, Stellpflug said.

Pat Landry, senator for Straz Tower and a sophomore in the College of Arts & Sciences, said he is working on a bill to formally recommend to the state Legislature that textbooks no longer be subject to sales tax. He said he expects the bill to come up at this week's meeting.

To manage MUSG projects, Communications Vice President Laura Herzing, a senior in the College of Communication, worked with Feste and Glynn to set up a "progress board" in the office to keep track of who is working on certain issues and what needs to be done.

"I think this will also foster more inter-departmental communication and cooperation on various issues that affect the student body," Herzing said via e-mail.

Also at the meeting, Program Vice President and College of Health Sciences senior Chris Hoff said applications would be available this week for his successor, who will take office next semester and temporarily share the position with Hoff in order to make a smooth transition.

He said applications for financial vice president, a position that requires a similar transition period, were due Monday and the person will be confirmed by the Senate by Dec. 1.

MUSG will also have two off-campus senator positions open for application starting this week due to College of Arts & Sciences junior Ryan Beaudoin's recent election as president of the Intra-Fraternity Council and College of Arts & Sciences sophomore Anton Timms' decision to study abroad next semester, Glynn said.