• MUSG is making new efforts to further communication with students.
• A new publication through the MUSG communications office is intended to inform students.
• Student responses from an Oct. 23 questionnaire are being addressed by MUSG.

Some Marquette students, like Joseph Godziszewski, say they don't know much about the purpose or role of Marquette Student Government.

Godziszewski, a freshman in the College of Arts & Sciences, says he doesn't know anything about the Student Activity Fee, for example.

Student Organizations Allocations, based on the $54 fee students pay with their tuition, is just one of the areas of MUSG responsibility. But informing students about this and other duties of MUSG has been a challenge-something this year's leaders are looking to change.

"MUSG has always made an effort to be transparent. This year we are pushing these efforts even harder to let students know that we are there to serve them," said MUSG President Ray Redlingshafer, a senior in the College of Business Administration.

MUSG Legislative Vice President Abe Matthew, a senior in the College of Arts & Sciences, said results from student interviews conducted by senators on Oct. 23 showed students are not aware of MUSG and its duties.

Low student awareness of MUSG and its role on campus hinders the senators' ability to better serve the whole student body, Matthew said.

Yet MUSG says it is determined to stay more connected to students this year.

"We have come up with creative new publications which we hope to distribute each month to help better explain MUSG as an organization and also the programs we are putting on," Redlingshafer said. This new publication is published through the communications office of MUSG.

Matthew said one of his top priorities is to have senators become more visible within their constituent bodies. Senators seem to be following this recommendation, holding weekly office hours in more public places such as the Alumni Memorial Union, Raynor Library, academic buildings and residence hall cafeterias.

Redlingshafer said the publication can also help students get to know who represents them in MUSG.

If students know their MUSG representatives, it will become much easier for students to voice their concerns, Matthew said.

Redlingshafer said students communicate with MUSG through the Student Organizations Allocations process. He said more than 85 percent of students take part in a student organization. MUSG's financial office can see what is important to each organization through funding requests.

"Funding these groups and informing them of the process to get funding is one way that we stay directly connected to many of these groups," Redlingshafer said.

In addition, MUSG's Web site makes minutes from each Senate meeting and MUSG publications available to students, Redlingshafer said.

The results from the questionnaires conducted during the Oct. 23 MUSG senate meeting showed that students are concerned with a variety of issues, including textbook pricing, food costs and waste, and campus safety, Matthew said. Senators have already begun to tackle such issues in their committees.

Gathering student opinion is easier and more effective when students are directly asked questions, Matthew said.