This semester, perhaps in an attempt to escape "the bubble" and to have the privilege of parking a car in D6, I decided to take the opportunity to work as an intern on the editorial page of The Truth, a local newspaper in Elkhart County.

On Tuesday, I took my first drive down the toll road into Elkhart to meet with my editor, Larry Murphy. Mr. Murphy introduced me, a virtual foreigner to Indiana, to the region that the newspaper serves. He gave me brief history of the state, an explanation of the layout of Elkhart County and finally an outline of the structure of the county government, including various officers, councils and their respective responsibilities. In effect, he told me how things happen in Elkhart and who has the authority to make them happen.

His orientation served not only to broaden my knowledge of Elkhart County, but also to expose my own ignorance about the communities, within which I live, namely my hometown and this University. I have little idea of the structure and function of the government of my home county. I also sadly have only a vague knowledge of the structure of the government here in "the bubble." Among the students, I am not alone in my ignorance.

This community, like a county or state, functions through the work of many individuals, councils and groups that each possess certain authority and hold various responsibilities. Each facet of the local University government plays a particular role in making the lives of the students possible. Yet, from the standpoint of those of us who go to school here, this University often seems to function under the invisible hand of an all-powerful "administration," intent on squelching fun and enjoyment and distributing punishment.

This negative impression of the University government exists for many reasons. First, many students, consumed by their own lives and activities, have no regard for the work of others that enables them to go to their classes and partake in their activities. I often recognize my own propensity to see my life on campus outside of the community context.

Consequently, administrative policy changes that affect student life are often met by intense complaints from the students who are unable to see the intention or communal purpose behind the change. Yet, simultaneous with the unrest there exists an apathy on campus, an unwillingness on the part of the students to actively and constructively address their grievance.

However, this apathy does not result only from the individual student's tendency towards self-centeredness. It also stems from the student body's frustration that they have no effective means of expressing their opinion or influencing University policy.

The tailgating saga of last semester serves as prime example of this lack of communication between students and administrators. Students, unable to see the University's concern for their well-being and safety, became enraged over the apparently malicious destruction of a sacred fall tradition. Yet, at the same time, they seemed to have no power to change the University's decision, apparently made without student input. Few people even knew to whom in the administration to voice their grievance. Should they have complained to the NDSP officers, who issued the tickets? To ResLife, which doled out punishment? To Father Malloy or Father Hesburgh?

In effect, the students had little knowledge of how the decisions on campus are made or who had the authority and responsibility to make the decisions.

This question of communication on campus becomes particularly pertinent with the approach of the campaigns for student government, a body intended to serve as an intermediary between the students and the University government.

An improved dialogue between administrators and students should be the primary focus of the new student government. Students need a central and well-publicized place to voice their grievances. They need the assurance that the individual or committee possessing the authority to effectively address the students' specific concern, hears their complaint. The collective administration of the University, in turn, has responsibility to listen to the students and to truly respect their viewpoint.

Yet, just as I must learn the context of the Elkhart community to write for their local paper, the students of this University have the task of actively informing themselves about the campus community and determining their role within it.

In this community, we all play a part. We all have certain responsibilities and tasks, some of which we consciously assume and others that simply come with our position as students. And inevitably, the greatest responsibility for the improvement of campus life depends upon the students.

We are after all the reason that this learning institution exists.

Joanna Mikulski is a junior English and German major, and her column appears every other Friday. Contact Joanna Mikulski at mikulski.1@nd.edu.

The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of The Observer.

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