The recent posting of more fences around Central Campus, although appearing on the surface to be a classic “administration vs. student body” issue, might be coming to fairly quick solution next week with a public forum and a fence walk around the campus.

The ISU administration and the Government of the Student Body, while searching for a more pragmatic approach to the problem, held two meetings Monday in the West Student Office Space of the Memorial Union to plan out the best way to get both ISU students and faculty involved in bringing a satisfactory end to this problem.

The University Affairs Committee decided the public forum will be held on Dec. 4, in the Campanile Room of the Memorial Union at 7 p.m.

The fences walk will start at 2 p.m. Dec. 6, starting at the Memorial Union. During the fence walk, said the UAC, any fences deemed to be unnecessary will be removed.

“According to the VP, if there are any fences that we don’t want, they will be taken out. If you disagree with a fence, we’ll take them out,” said Ian Ringgenberg, GSB director of student affairs and senior in anthropology.

The first meeting brought together Ringgenberg; Ian Guffy, GSB vice president and senior in computer science; Ryan Myers, GSB finance director and graduate student in accounting; Warren Madden, vice president for business and finance; and Tom Hill, vice president for student affairs. The meeting took place Monday morning and the idea was raised for a public forum and fence walk. The second meeting, held in the evening, saw the UAC finalizing the details of the forum and the fence walk.

“It’s a step in the right direction, actually,” Ringgenberg said. “We’re trying to deal with this before the semester ends.”

Ringgenberg said the forum will be in a panel discussion including facilities planning and management, students and himself, and he hopes FP&M will explain why it put up some of these fences and address other issues of foot traffic on campus – although he also said he sees cowpaths as an outgrowth of a select group of students who have decided to disrespect the campus by walking on the grass.

“We can’t let the aesthetics of the campus get in the way of the mechanics of the campus,” he said.

During the fence walk, Ringgenberg said, those assembled will be split into three, and each will be going to sites where fences have become unsightly or where cowpaths are made.

He also said he would like to have each group have a landscape architect, a member of the UAC, and students.

After Hill heard of student’s reactions about the fencing issue through members of the GSB and the Facebook group called “Remove the Chains from the ISU Campus!!!” created by Ashley Rosener, freshman in English, he said the solution should come from students and faculty working together and not apart.

“[With] the feedback we got from students via GSB and the Facebook group, it was clear that we had a communication issue going on,” Hill said. “But philosophically, we are on the same page.”

Guffy said the morning’s impromptu meeting was “hastily put together,” and was mainly for planning purposes, but fortunately now the underlying issue of preserving the campus is being addressed.

“The discussion was focused on what to do now, since clearly the students don’t feel that they are involved,” Guffy said. “I think that students care about the areas they use every day.

And that can be something people can get passionate about.”

Some students want to keep the campus as green as possible and have an open space to “lay around or play Frisbee,” Myers said.

“I think that it is important to find a balance between putting up fences and preserving the campus,” Myers said. “I don’t think that cement is something students are interested in.”

Hill said the forum is about trying to find a solution to the fencing problem that includes both faculty and students, since this issue affects both.

“If the fences aren’t good, how do we do it?” Hill said. “[I think we’re] working together for a solution.”

Hill said since fences or more sidewalk might be acceptable solutions, he’d personally like to see students discourage those who wish to make cowpaths throughout the campus.

“I’d like to let students preserve the campus themselves,” Hill said. “If that happens, we don’t need fences.”

Rosener said she is happy with how this situation has unfolded in such a short amount of time and started the group because she was “annoyed that there was no discussion or interaction between students and FP&M, or the administration, basically.”

“This is more than what I had hoped for. This is more than what I had expected,” Rosener said.