Are you upset about May graduation changes and are tired of getting the runaround? Do you have other concerns over campus issues and want to have them addressed? The Student Government Association, Office of the Vice President for Student Services and SAM C.A.R.E.S. will give students the chance to talk to administrators face to face at the Eighth Annual Bear F.A.C.T.S. Forum, which stands for Fielding Academically and Co-curricular Topics of Students. The event will be held tonight at 6 p.m. in the LSC Kat Klub, the game room on the first floor of the LSC.”The students of Sam Houston State always seem to have issues and this is the time for them to address these issues to the proper people,” said SGA president Helena Banks. “This is the time when the administration will be there to answer the questions that they have and the administration can’t run from them, like over the telephone.”Administrators such as University President James Gaertner, the university’s vice presidents, and representatives from ARAMARK, the Physical Plant, Residence Life, Financial Aid and Career Services will be on hand at the Bear F.A.C.T.S. Forum, according to Student Life Committee chair Angie Cartwright, who is responsible for putting the program together. “Basically every department should have someone there,” Cartwright said.The issues raised at the forum are taken seriously, Banks said.”It will go from your mouth to their ears, and believe me, they’re listening, they’re taking notes, they are recording the entire event so they can make a detailed list of what’s going on and attend to it,” she said. “They absolutely make a difference because if it comes from me, granted I’m a student leader, but as long as there are 13,000 people behind it, if there’s a strong voice, the administration has no choice but to listen to it.”To encourage student participation, free food, door prizes and cash prizes will be given away.”We have tons of door prizes from area vendors,” Cartwright said, including items from Barnes and Nobel, different bookstores, pizza places, restaurants, movie tickets.In addition, Program Council will sponsor karaoke night after the program.”We’re going to ask our administrators to stay for a little while and karaoke with us,” Cartwright said.The main objective of the forum is to allow students to get answers to any questions they may have.”Bear F.A.C.T.S. Forum is the time to voice your concerns,” Banks said. “Instead of voicing your concerns to me, or to other student leaders, this is the perfect opportunity for people to voice their concerns over graduation, over fees, over the new parking structure, over all that information, this is the time for them to voice those concerns as a unified voice.”Cartwright said she hopes students will take the opportunity to ask questions over some of the many new issues that have risen this semester, including the new parking garage, safety issues associated with it, and graduation, among others.”I really hope that a lot of seniors come out because I know there’s a ton of problems with this whole graduation thing going on. Nobody knows what’s going on, and nobody knows when the graduation date is. It’s so confusing,” she said. “(At the forum) they can confront whoever they need to confront about this, and it’s not like (administrators) are going to say, ‘Oh, well, we’ll get back to you later’, because the president’s going to be there, other students are going to be there. I think it’s a great time to get some answers.”
Sections