Student Government members discussed University issues with students Tuesday afternoon at the first fall Straight Talk, a Student Outreach Committee event where students can express any concern or compliment about the University to SG officials.
Hilary Soileau, Student Outreach director and mass communication sophomore, said SG hopes to hold itself accountable and gain trust from students by responding to their issues in a timely manner through Straight Talk, which was held at The 5 and 459 dining halls.
“Student Outreach has always been about talking to students,” she said.
But Soileau said student concerns often remain unaddressed. Sometimes SG makes legislation that goes unheard by the student body, or the list of student concerns is lost in communication between the executive and legislative branches.
“It completely defeats the purpose of Straight Talk,” she said. “We want to ask students what they are worried about on campus and let them know that SG is taking their ideas listening.”
Prior to this semester, SG members would copy down student concerns at Straight Talks, but this year, SG collected students’ names, e-mail addresses and specific issues. 
Soileau said students will be connected to their legislators in order to keep students informed about the progress of their concerns.
“We wanted to make this change to open the lines of communication between students and SG,” she said.
Joseph Schenck, computer engineering sophomore, said tuition increases are his main concern this year and have forced him to take out additional loans.
“[Now that tuition has increased], the amount of money federal aid covers has lowered, and I have to worry about the rest,” Schenck said.
Lauren Adams, mechanical engineering sophomore, said she thinks the biggest issue on campus is transportation.
“Parking is definitely an issue for students who live off campus,” she said. “We either need more parking or more buses. It would be helpful if another Tigerland bus route was Hur.”
 
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Contact Kate Mabry at [email protected]