Students spoke out on the issues of smoking, housing and construction on Monday during the student government association’s first town hall meeting of the semester.

Rashanda Sanders, who did not specify her class or major, objected to the current smoking rules on campus.

“I don’t like walking down the main way and having second-hand smoke blow in my face, it is not good,” Sanders said.  She asked if designated smoking sections would be possible.

“We were drafting a resolution towards the end of last year in the Senate, and one of the biggest arguments is, well, how are you going to prohibit somebody from doing what they want if it’s not harming somebody, but you know, second-hand smoke is harming other people,” Ryan Baerwalde, SGA president, said.

Baerwalde also said that there is a state law prohibiting smoking within 25 feet of a building entrance, but the issue with that law is with enforcement.

One student, Edgar James, a middle grade education junior, had a grievance over the payment of housing over the summer.

“Over the summer, there was an issue where they used to allow you to pay housing for the summer out of your fall tuition, because some people just don’t have $1700 in the summer on deck like that,” James said. “They would give you the opportunity to pay for it in the fall using your excess check, if you had excess available.”

James went on to say that he recently received an email explaining that his housing payment was due before the semester, and that it indeed said it in the housing contract, but felt that he should have been given time to save the money before the exception was cut off.

Because of personal issues, James was not able to cover his housing fees for summer which raised a new issue.

“If you don’t pay the $1700, you get a financial hold placed on your account,” James said. “What does that mean? You can’t register for classes, and you’re going to be sitting at home with your parents for the fall.”

SGA vice president Amber Worthy noted that she agreed with James, and said that she felt like “it was a communication problem.”

Another question was brought up about the ongoing construction projects here at VSU, and when it would be completed.

“(The construction at Ashley Hall) is coming to a close by the end of this semester,” Baerwalde said. “That will be gone.”