A forum for discussion among students and other members of the community featured low attendance and a few barbed questions toward police and administrators.

At 7 p.m. Thursday, less than half of the Memorial Union’s Great Hall, where the forum was held, was full, with the bulk of the attendees belonging to student and city government, ISU administration and the Ames Police, resulting in what some called a dilution of the forum’s intended goal.

“Most of the people asking questions are members of the student government,” said Andrew Tugan, who played a significant role in the forum’s creation. “Most of the people asking questions right now are more informed than the average student.”

Because one intention of the forum was to illuminate details of the April 18 Campustown riot from different perspectives, the forum did not accomplish much of what it was intended to do, said Tugan, Government of the Student Body ex-officio member of the Ames City Council.

“Not as much will come out of this as we hoped,” he said. “I hope some understanding will come from it, but it won’t be to the degree that we imagined.”

A panel of nine speakers, including GSB President Sophia Magill, Dean of Students Pete Englin and Ames Police Chief Loras Jaeger, answered questions regarding the riot and its implications before the floor was opened to suggestions from the audience as to how situations like it could be dealt with more successfully in the future.

Also on the panel was Joe Paulson, 3213 West St., a Campustown property owner; Pat Bailey, president of the Campustown Action Association; and Gloria Betcher, academic adviser of English and a member of the South Campus Area Neighborhood. Jeff Johnson, president of the ISU Alumni Association, provided the perspective of the Alumni Association, and Ames Mayor Ted Tedesco spoke for the city.

Much of the discussion centered on a “rift” between students and police, city government and university administration, due to recent actions such as over-occupancy laws and establishment of “dry” Veishea — actions some students feel are unfair.

City Councilman Matthew Goodman moderated and attempted to keep the questions civil as the panel and its audience delved deeper into some of the more controversial subjects.

One such question was that of Tony Borich, GSB College of Design senator, who, referring to the recent suspension of the Veishea festival, asked Englin to identify any final decision the student body supported.

Englin said the sheer mass and diversity of the student body made it difficult to decipher the stance of students as a whole. The answer failed to please Borich.

“I thought it was interesting that the only extension of student rights they could provide, out of the whole panel, was the food stands at Veishea,” he said.

Also Thursday, Alexander Brokman, sophomore in computer engineering, 4400 Westbrook Ave. #24, was arrested and charged with three counts of criminal mischief, one a felony and two misdemeanors.

According to the Ames Police, photos showed a man damaging a parking meter and a glass window at Copyworks, 105 Welch Ave. A police press release credited “help from the public” in identifying the man as Brokman.

Brokman was released Thursday on $20,000 bond.