by Chris Barber

Students at the Nov. 5 town hall meeting had the opportunity to voice their concerns about issues on campus before the Student Government Association and campus administrators. Attendees submitted questions for discussion both through text messages and in person.

Throughout the semester, students have dealt with issues like car break-ins, vandalism and theft. These issues were at the forefront of discussion during the Town Hall meeting.

“My bike was stolen a few weeks ago from right outside my dorm,” one student said. “What will housing and police do to solve that?”

To combat the security issues, the university plans to set-up security cameras throughout campus. Armstrong police chief Wayne Wilcox explained that he has to confer with the director of business and finance Chris Corrigan about the parameters of the project.

“Before we can install cameras, we must have discussions about a policy that would answer various questions regarding the most effective places for the cameras, which cameras to buy, how much money we could spend on cameras and who to hire to perform the complicated task of creating the network required for the cameras,” Wilcox explained.  

Several concerns were addressed at the meeting. For brevity, some important administrator responses include:

• Safety procedures are being revised after September’s shot fired on campus. Public record and additional info will be available following GBI investigation

• The smoking ban is a University System of Georgia policy, not Armstrong’s decision

• SGA and Police Dept. working toward more outdoor lighting

• Letters for Greek housing have been ordered

• A sidewalk leading to University Crossings is in the works

• A committee has formed to discuss a campus daycare following results of climate survey

• Construction is being funded for a new health professions building

• The UGA/ASU game can be viewed on UGA’s website or SEC Network

“I wish more students would come to these events. I hear a lot of students concerns and issues on a day-to-day basis and this is the time to voice them straight to the directors who can actually implement things,” Henry Laxson, vice president of SGA and town hall mediator, said.