The East Lansing Police Department made a good effort to make itself available and meet with the MSU community at an ASMSU organized forum. But no students showed up due to lack of publicity.

The State News takes part of the blame for not letting students know about the forum beforehand, but it wasn't our sole responsibility.

The police-student forum that was held Wednesday consisted of five officers and only two students, who were required to attend. At the meeting, it was acknowledged that students have busy schedules and might not have been able to attend on such short notice. Organizers of the forum are considering rescheduling another meeting for students to attend.

It's our responsibility to inform the public of important student events, such as the forum. But our purpose is not to provide advertising for everyone. The ELPD and ASMSU could have worked with The State News to help make students more aware.

In fact, both the organization and department could have sought other methods of publicizing the event.

It is good that police try to open the lines of communication with the MSU community. They are showing an effort to work with students and hear issues and concerns.

Students need to participate in these forums, which are held many times a year. It's important to discuss problems, such as the April 2-3 disturbances, and to prevent issues like this from arising in the future.

If students and readers care about these issues, as many seem to, judging from the letters to the editor, they will make time to participate in at least one of these forums.

The forums are informal and students can sit and talk casually with police officers about personal concerns, such as parking and noise ordinances. A strong relationship with the police will help facilitate communication when a major problem involving the campus or city arises.

We encourage people to go to the next scheduled forum and help ease relations with the ELPD and students.