About 20 students attended Students’ Association’s first public forum on Sept. 29. Every current ACU student was invited to attend, ask questions, and discuss issues they think SA should be addressed.

To encourage student participation, SA provided a free dinner from Carino’s to anyone who attended.

Sherrod Building Representative Travis Meadors, sophomore advertising/PR major from Burnet, said the turnout was much higher than expected, about 20 students. He also said the students who came were interested in meaningful discussion, which made the forum worthwhile.

“We had great feedback from it,” Meadors said. “The feeling was, ‘Man, we’ve got the students on our side now.'”

The forums will be a weekly event, and SA Vice President Tony Godfrey, junior political science major from Burleson, said he is excited about the opportunity to hear students’ voices.

In the spirit of openness, Godfrey says, SA Congress meetings have gone live on UStream.

Students can watch meetings in real time at www.acustudents.com/live every Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. Viewers with Twitter accounts can log in on the site and “tweet” questions or offer feedback.

Godfrey said they hope to add Facebook connectivity in the future. He said although no one has used Twitter yet, statistics show there were about 20 viewers at one point last week.

Finally, many students have heard about SA sponsorships for anyone interested in running in the Dallas White Rock Marathon. However, in addition to $20 off the registration fee, social clubs can earn intramural points for members who register.

Intramural Director Kenli Edwards said points will be awarded as they are for intramural sports: five points for each person up to 40 points. SA members said they hope this will encourage more students to participate. Registration can be completed online at www.acu.edu/whiterock.