University Student Recreational Center officials had their wish granted Thursday night when a student attended the final fee increase forum.
The lone student, John Henken, mechanical engineering freshman, received quizzical looks and an array of questions including whether he was a student senator or UREC staff member. “So you’re just an actual interested student?” asked Tamara Jarrett, UREC director. UREC hosted four informational forums this week to discuss the recent fee increase. Only four students, all of whom were Student Senate members, attended the previous forums. Henken decided to attend the forum despite having a physics exam 30 minutes after the forum’s scheduled end. “I wanted to go to the earlier ones,” Henken said. “But I just couldn’t make it.” Henken said he was already supportive of the fee increase but wanted to know more about it. “I don’t like having to pay more in fees,” Henken said. “But if I have to, then I want to know why.” Henken said he learned much by attending the forum. “It was pretty informative,” Henken said. “They explained the deficits and what they needed to make up and how they planned on doing it.” Aside from learning about the fee, Henken was able to get one-on-one answers to other general questions he had about University Recreation. Henken said he thought it was important for students to be active in gathering information. “It’s their fault [for not attending],” Henken said. “You can complain all you want, but if you don’t understand what’s going on, then there’s not much you can do besides that.” Jarrett said she wished more students had attended the forums. “I think we need more Johns,” Jarrett said. “We need more students who take a more active and open-minded interest in the experience they have at LSU.” While forum attendance did not meet UREC officials’ expectations, they still plan to use forums in the future. “As we grow and start initiating more technology, we may tweak it a bit,” Jarrett said. “Maybe blogs or something will make it more accessible.” Jarrett said even though the forums are over, the information is still available. “I don’t want students to feel like if they didn’t attend the forum, then it’s too late,” Jarrett said. “We still work here, we still answer our e-mails and phones. We are here and open to whatever students want to share with us.”
—-Contact Katie Kennedy at [email protected]