Chancellor Michael Martin explained tuition increases may be necessary in the future along with discussing Northgate safety at Chats with the Chancellor on Tuesday.Student Government accompanied Martin in Free Speech Alley to answer passing students’ questions.”I think it is a good thing. I want students to feel as though they have the right to inquire of the administration what is up,” Martin said. “I think it is important that we see the University as more as colleagues than as sort of a hierarchy.”About six students approached Martin during the hour-long session asking various questions mainly involving student tuition and fees.”In a practical sense, I do believe if we take another budget cut even approaching the one we took last year, we are going to have to turn to students to say, ‘We are either going to have to expect you to contribute more or the quality of your education will decline,'” Martin said.Martin said he wasn’t approached by many students, but the event is still a useful indicator of student concerns.”It’s good to know these things — I wouldn’t hear them otherwise,” Martin said. “I presume that those five or six [students] at least have a sense of what another 50, 60 or 70 [students] are thinking, so I feel like I get the flavor of what is going on.”Eric Landry, mass communication sophomore, approached Martin with concerns about safety in the Northgate area.”There are always people out there asking for money,” Landry said. “I don’t mind people asking for stuff, but really doesn’t seem safe, especially when they get mad at you when you offer to just buy them something instead of giving them money.” Martin meets regularly with the Northgate Merchants Association, and he said they have taken steps to have the area better light the area. Martin said he would confer with the Merchants Association and LSU Police Department about how to better ensure the safety of students in the area.————Contact Xerxes A. Wilson at [email protected]