Q&A Student and President Pizza Party

UTA President Vistasp Karbhari (left)

First off, I must apologize to my fellow music fans for taking my emphasis off of music in this particular post. Because of a misunderstanding, I am going to share what the president of UT Arlington discussed during a Q and A session today on campus. You can see my live tweets on the spot at https://twitter.com/soundlot

 UT Arlington President Karbhari held an open discussion this afternoon in the Palo Duro Lounge allowing students to ask questions about current and future issues at the university. The main incentive, of course, was free pizza. But surprisingly, many students did stick around and stretch it out to an hour long session.

The president began with a brief introduction and then went straight into questions. Although the questions were not the most original, they highlight some new additions on campus. 

Topics of discussion included:

• Q: Will the university be providing more bike accessibility? A: Karbhari said that in addition to the newly added bike lanes, The university is planning to add more bike lanes as well as more bike racks.

• Q: Why is a UTA football team not being funded? A: Karbhari answered by saying that a football team requires millions of dollars to fund and operate, and the risk of its success would fall upon charging students/faculty more money to access the university included tuition, parking, food, etc.

• Q: Because of such a high student population, is the University planning on adding more classrooms, labs and dining facilities? A: The president replied with a yes, but also said that this too, depends on more funding. He said that if one new area is to be improved, another particular area might be affected negatively.

• Q: UTA is supposed to be smoke free. What can be done about smokers that still smoke on campus? A: Because the university is so large and the university police must attend to so many issues, officers are not able to patrol the campus just to catch smokers in the act. The best way to help the university out in these situations is for students to tell or encourage students that are smoking to not smoke on campus. If an officer does catch a smoker, however, the smoker will face the appropriate warnings and disciplines.

• Q: Can rest/nap areas be considered for commuting students? A: As of right now, no designated rest areas are available on campus, although nothing in particular prevents a student from resting in certain areas provided they aren't disturbing anyone. Rest areas can be considered if enough students requests them.

My fellow UT Arlington students, what questions would you have asked? What kind of concerns do you have about the university this semester? What things would you improve?