With just a few weeks left before the State College elections, incumbent Mayor Bill Welch addressed concerns of the students' role as community members at last night's Undergraduate Student Government Senate meeting.

Welch was the third municipal candidate to speak to Senate in the past three weeks. Mayoral candidate D. Josh Troxell and State College Borough Council candidate Ron Filippelli have also spoke at Senate. At the meeting, Welch mostly answered senators' questions on civic engagement and recent Borough Council decisions.

East Halls Sen. Keith Crouse asked Welch how students can improve relations with those who live in the town.

Welch said relations with the borough and the students "are better than they [have] ever been."

However, he talked about the importance of involvement in the community, which he discussed with student leaders at a USG social awareness committee roundtable last week. At the roundtable, participants tried to come up with ways to "get students to venture off Beaver Avenue," he said.

Welch furthered the advice Penn State President Graham Spanier gives at the convocation speech each year to freshmen. In addition to getting to know at least one professor or adviser during their time at Penn State, Welch said it is equally important for students to "get to know a townsperson as well."

Senate President Andy Banducci brought up council's recent decision to repeal the business privilege tax and to increase the property tax to compensate for the repeal. He asked Welch how students can ensure the borough won't raise the property tax again when there is another "funding crisis."

Welch said there is no guarantee that the borough won't raise the tax again but encouraged students to become civically engaged by talking to council and paying attention to what is going on in the town. He advised students to use their rights as rent-paying citizens and address their problems to council.

The recent issue of smoke-free bars was also raised at the meeting by Town Sen. Dang Nguyen.

"I'll be all for it," Welch said, because, he said, unlike people who go out to bars for a couple of hours, people who work in bars are in a smoke-filled atmosphere for eight hours at a time.

"It's a health and safety issue for employees," Welch said.

Welch also said he approved of the plans for the new cineplex downtown because it is a prime and accessible location for students.

After listening to Troxell at last week's meeting and Welch last night, Nguyen said he thinks Welch's experience enabled him to answer questions more informatively.

Also at last night's meeting, senators discussed the "Extend the Freeze to University Park" rally. Vicky Cangelosi, governmental affairs chair and town senator, initiated the idea to respond to the university's tentative plan to freeze tuition at 20 of the 23 Commonwealth Campuses while raising the tuition at University Park by 5.9 percent.

USG President Galen Foulke said if it is a USG-sponsored event, the rally should be passed by a Senate resolution and that there needs to be more time for research. Foulke said he has spent a lot of time looking at the university's budget and exploring reasons why the Commonwealth Campuses were included in the proposed freeze.

Cangelosi said the date for the rally has not been confirmed.