President Steven Leath wants to seem more approachable to students.

When asked what he loved about his job most, Leath replied, “unquestionably, the students.” Leath said that his only complaint about the student body is their hesitance to approach him.

“Whenever Janet and I go to the dining halls, we always end up eating alone,” said Leath. “Originally, we were eating at the MU, but nobody would eat with us there either. I love students, and interacting with students. I think I’m pretty approachable, and I would welcome more interaction without feeling like I’m making someone uncomfortable.”

Leath also talked about his first year as ISU president and the goals he has set for the future.

“My goal is to leave the university better than it was handed to me,” said Leath. “We’re all committed to leave our mark.”

Leath discussed the huge increase in student enrollment. He said that when he first came here, enrollment was at 28,000, and he was told it would never reach 30,000. “We’re doing something right,” Leath said in regard to enrollment.

One of his goals is to hire 200 more faculty members, which would be a 10 percent increase.

“We have not grown our faculty at all [compared to the rise in enrollment], and that is a scary thing for a president.”

Leath said he is committed to holding tuition costs down, while also staying efficient. He said he wants to make sure the students are getting what they want out of their education.

“I pledge to raise $150 million more in scholarships over the next five years,” said Leath.

If he is able to accomplish this goal, along with gaining an additional $40 million from the government, “we could roll tuition back 15 to 20 percent.”

After hearing from Leath, the Government of the Student Body Senate voted on and approved five bills.

Last week, the GSB Senate passed a bill granting Iowa State IT Services $25,000 to rewrite and improve the student organization database. President Jared Knight vetoed this bill.

Senator David Pedersen motioned to override the executive veto, which requires a two-thirds vote from the senate.

After a thorough discussion of the bill, many senators agreed it was a great bill and very necessary, but due to the lack of funds GSB currently has, this was not the right time.

On a vote of 8-18-0, the veto stood.

“Supporting our Graduate and Professional Students,” a bill granting Graduate and Professional Student Senate 60 percent of graduate students’ fee money and GSB 40 percent, as opposed to the other way around, was discussed.

Senator Joseph Maween spoke on the subject. “This seems like too much to me,” Maween said. “I’m a fifty-fifty guy. I believe that would be a good deal.”

The bill was amended to give 50 percent to each group.

After it was amended, the bill passed on a vote of 28-0-0.

The senate also passed the bill, “Funding the Sustainability Symposium.” This granted $1,000 to the Sustainability Symposium from the Events Account.

The vote was 23-4-0

“Lets Get Ready to KILL Cancer,” was also unanimously passed with a vote of 27-0-0. This gave $190 to Colleges Against Cancer to support Relay for Life.

Relay for Life is an overnight event beginning on March 8. The funding provided by GSB will help pay for the hypnotist, a karaoke machine and an appearance from Cy.

The senate, on a vote of 26-0-1, approved a bill funding the ISU Cricket Club’s trip to nationals. They also passed “Finance Bylaw Revision,” on a vote of 26-0-1.