“A leader needs to ultimately decide what’s right for the community, to perpetually move forward and strive to actually do something.”

Next time you’re walking by the Associated Students of CSU offices in the Lory Student Center, ask yourself: What has your student government done for you?

At this time last year, your student government had provided free blue books, a CSU car share program and a RamRide Old Town pick-up route.

So far this year, ASCSU President Regina Martel and Vice President Joe Eden have created a committee, held “finance forums” to discuss changes to the student fee process, “increased outreach” with residence halls and student organizations… and maintained the programs created by last year’s administration.

It’s pretty obvious which accomplishments were more tangible, and which ones made a bigger impact on the life of the average student.

And this has been the underlying issue plaguing this year’s ASCSU administration: The focus has revolved around vague statements like “increased outreach” and “soliciting student voice,” rather than actual promises to take action.

Thus far, being adaptive to student voice has accounted for the bulk of their campaign promises. Sure, it’s important for a leader to heavily consider the needs of their constituents, but a leader needs to do more than that. A leader needs to ultimately decide what’s right for the community, to perpetually move forward and strive to actually do something.

The good news is that Martel and Eden still have a semester and a half left in office to make a real impact on our university. And we implore them, the next time they’re walking through campus, to stop and ask themselves: What can they do for students?

Hopefully the answer is far more tangible than “increasing outreach” or “soliciting student voice.”