HERSHEY -- Graduate Student Association President James Dailey unwrapped more than chocolate kisses at the University Board of Trustees meeting Saturday -- he also opened up a discussion about problems with board meetings.

Dailey, Undergraduate Student Government president Chris Saunders, and Keith Kozo, Council of Commonwealth Student Governments representative, all made farewell speeches to mark their final board meeting.

Although Dailey said he enjoyed his time as a representative to the board, he asked the trustees to address the University's "bad news" instead of avoiding it.

"Hearing something that isn't necessarily good isn't always a bad thing," he said.

The board, the highest governing body of the University, meets six times a year to discuss issues related to education, tuition and construction. Board members are appointed by the governor or elected by alumni or delegates from agricultural and industrial societies.

Discussion of issues is minimal, restraining trustees from expressing their views, Dailey said. When trustees do ask questions, they receive "cropped and correct" answers, he added.

"Everything always looks rosy -- I think we all know that's not always the case," he said.

Trustee officers disagreed with the perception that only good news is presented at the meetings. Enrollment problems, high tuition and low state funding were all discussed, said University President Joab Thomas, an ex officio member of the board.

"I suspect that Jim doesn't always recognize when we're giving bad news," he said.

But Dailey said more discussion and more information will lead to more improvement at the University.

"The more information one has, the better one is able to do one's job," he said.

William Schreyer, board president, said Dailey's comments were delivered in a constructive manner, but added, "We certainly don't suffer from information shortages."

Thomas agreed open discussion is vital and important, but said the board discusses issues either in committees or informally through mail and telephone correspondence and casual conversation.

Because Dailey is not an official board member, he does not receive all the mail and information that the trustees get, Thomas said. The board is heavily involved with a great deal of information, but not everything is discussed at meetings.

H. Jesse Arnelle, board vice president, said trustees arrive at decisions in many different ways.

"There's nothing going on behind closed doors here," he said.