Legal Aid committee holds
forum for students' questions tonight
By Lynde Smith
Staff
Writer
Students who have questions regarding lease signing,
parking issues, students' rights or legal issues can attend a forum
at 7 tonight in Stewart Room 206 to get some answers.
The forum will be presented by Legal Aid, which
is part of Purdue Student Government. Gari Mparutsa, chairman of Legal
Aid and chief justice of PSG, said Legal Aid is PSG's "best-kept secret."
"The committee assists students with legal issues
which may arise on campus," said Mparutsa. "We are the committee you
can call for advice, and if we can't come up with an answer we will
refer you to a lawyer, who will charge no initial fee."
At the forum, students will have the opportunity
to ask questions and get answers from a panel. The panel will consist
of Mike Jasper, manager of Purdue parking services; Steve Akers, executive
associate dean of students; Mike Dowler, of the prosecutor's office;
Linda Stump, chief of police and possibly a Tippecanoe County Superior
Court judge.
Mparutsa said he encourages all students to be
at this forum. He said students who are thinking about getting an apartment
for the first time are especially encouraged to attend and ask questions
about signing leases.
Akers said he will be there to address questions
on the rules and regulations of the University and how students can
respond to them. He will also be answering questions about students'
rights and responsibilities.
Jasper will be there to answer any questions that
attendees may have about parking issues.
"Students are always interested to know why parking
is not more available and convenient to them," said Jasper.
Mparutsa said Legal Aid gets quite a few phone
calls in a week. He said that when he is in the office he himself will
get about four phone calls a day and he is in there four days a week.
This does not include the other members that work in the office.
"Legal Aid gets a lot of phone calls because students
do not know the rules and regulations of the University," said Mparutsa.
He said a lot of students get into problems because
they don't know how to handle situations and end up making silly mistakes.
In addition to the previous issues mentioned, Legal
Aid has also helped students with bankruptcy, divorce and rape. Mparutsa
said that in these cases the group refers the student straight to a
lawyer.
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