The survey said 70 percent of freshmen live in residence halls, which is a number that drops to less than four percen t by the students' fourth year. Although this year's MSA administration is talking about initiatives for commuters, while past administrations have basically ignored them, many of the association's 12 goals target students who are already involved in student groups. With students in the dorms, you have a captive audience. Efforts to recruit new students into organizations are generally targeted at freshmen and other residence hall dwellers. One such example is Prospective Leaders Among New Students.
Many older students move away from campus and become commuters.
And older students have been around long enough to be affected by the apathy MSA says pervades the University. Another reason student government tends to target non-commuters is that they are often more willing to get involved. Madia said MSA is talking about storming MTC buses and giving out one-day passes to commuters sometime this month. He said they also plan to raffle off a parking pass. But Institute of Technology senior Jodi Kormanik, who commutes from Minneapolis, said she's pessimistic about MSA doing anything permanent for her as a commuter.