Three University Board of Trustees members fielded questions from students Wednesday evening about concerns such as the open budget, tuition freeze and communication between the administration and students.

Trustees Mimi Coppersmith, Ben Novak and Christina Henke participated in the discussion designed to increase communication between students and the University.

The "Crosstalk" program, sponsored by the Association of Residence Halls Students, attracted a number of student leaders and alumni who questioned the trustees for almost two hours.

The meeting began with a student voicing concerns about the "closed budget." Coppersmith, the board vice president, responded, "I wouldn't agree that the budget is closed."

Salaries should not become common knowledge because it would be dangerous from a business and an "operating the University" point of view, Coppersmith said. Also, academic competitiveness would be in jeopardy because the "stars" of the University could be stolen if salaries were released, she added.

Other students questioned the trustees about student representation on the board.

"It is not guaranteed that the students will always have a student trustee . . . for now, you do have good student representation on the board," Coppersmith said. However, discussion of a permanent student seat on the board is an important issue, she added.

One individual at the meeting expressed concern with the protection of free speech on campus. Henke, the student trustee, emphasized the importance for students to freely voice their opinion, regardless of what it may be.

Novak, the alumni representative to the board, called for the creation of a "journal of thought" where ideas and concerns could be examined in depth. He stressed the need for students to take the initiative to identify problems and present solutions themselves.

"My personal priority as a board member is to try to convey to students that you are not impotent. . . You have to set the moral tone of this University. The students are the University. You have the ability to set the thinking," he said.

Coppersmith also touched on the importance of setting the ethical and moral tone of the University. "Divestment said something significant about a moral change in the board."

"The Board of Trustees of the Penn State University is 60 to 75 percent more liberal than it was when I was when I was elected in 1976, " she said. However, the board is probably not close to where it needs to be, she added.

When students expressed concern with the lack of student input in policy making, Henke said she was concerned about the administration "trampling" the ideas of students in addition to the communication difficulties that exist between the groups.

Novak said he was concerned with the centralization of policy within the University, adding that the administration must begin to trust people to govern themselves.

While Coppersmith said she was disappointed with the lack of discussion about a tuition freeze at the meeting, she did address the issue.

"We need to be sure that we take care of the people who can not afford a Penn State tuition," Coppersmith said. However, her priority as a board member is the quality of the education at the University and she would not sacrifice that in order to freeze tuition, she said.

Seth Williams, president of the Undergraduate Student Government, said after the meeting, "Students, faculty and staff should be the ones to run the University . . . "