A student-based forum being held Thursday will delve into numerous prominent issues on campus.

The forum is from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. in the Grand Ballroom of the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union and is open to the public. However, 20 students were selected to be representatives of the wide range of Eastern demographics to discuss how they feel about varying campus and community issues.

The student panel was assembled by Eric Davidson, assistant director for Health Education and Promotion, who wanted the group to represent an accurate percentage of different demographics across campus. The panel will answer questions from Davidson and then take audience inquests.

First to be discussed is closed-ended questions by Davidson about the students’ lifestyles, their involvement in greek life, gender, background and other statistical information.

“I’m going to ask yes or no questions for the audience so they will get a feel for who is up there and how diverse they are,” Davidson said. “The students up there are a good representation of Eastern’s population.”

The bulk of the discussion will be based on open-ended questions from Davidson concerning the campus. Students will be asked about the quality of education provided, student and faculty relations, the university’s strengths and weaknesses, student involvement with the community and health and safety issues. Students, faculty and community members in the audience will then be given a chance to respond to answers, formulating what Davidson hopes will be a “lively discussion of the issues.”

Davidson said the discussion will help students “get a good idea of what other students have to say and get some insight on differing viewpoints.”

He also recommended the forum to student leaders, saying it would be “a good opportunity to help them get a new understanding of what other people perceive to be happening here.”

Panel members were recommended by faculty, chosen by Davidson based on certain demographics, or picked because they expressed an interest in participating.

“I’ve got students from a variety of means and lifestyles,” he said.

Many of the topics and questions Davidson will ask derive from a similar forum he helped conduct on the state level. He will also ask questions on topics that administrators, faculty, staff, community members and students expressed an interest in or issues currently facing students today.

Davidson said he wants to arrange focus groups or a mail survey to find how people who attend the forum will utilize the information learned.

“The feedback we got back from people last year was very positive,” Davidson said. “People commented that they were very enlightened and it helped them increase their awareness and their understanding of the lifestyles of our current students.”