The Undergraduate Student Government Senate organized a new committee last spring to focus on town issues.

The Governmental Relations Committee, made up of 12 USG senators, was formed last April to research and report on local government activities affecting students, committee chairman Joe Atkinson said.

Last December the committee submitted a report to the State College Borough Council detailing students' opinions on town issues. The report complemented an earlier borough report that had insufficient student input, said USG Senate President Kurt Derr.

The borough's project management team submitted the earlier report, called the Neighborhood Conservation Action Plan, senior planner Lu Hoover said.

The committee surveyed 215 off-campus students and reported recommendations for improving student housing, the crime rate and parking problems.

"I've made it a requirement that members of my committee attend borough council meetings regularly," Atkinson said, but he added that only about eight committee members have been attending the meetings this year.