While students, led by ISU Ambassadors, will be lobbying in opposition to proposed state cuts to the regent universities, another, led by ISU College Republicans, will be lobbying in favor of the cuts.

Logan Pals, president of the ISU College Republicans, called on members of the organization to lobby for the cuts in response to an e-mail from the Iowa State Ambassadors director, Jessica Bruning, which called on students to attend Regents Day on Monday in order to protest potential budget cuts to the Board of Regents.

His primary criticism is that although the student ambassadors are a political body stating that they “will serve as a connection between Iowa State University, the state legislature and Iowa communities in a professional, non-partisan manner,” on their website, the e-mail was, in fact, partisan.

“This is way out of their realm of what they should be doing,” Pals said.

Pals voiced his frustration with the fact that President Gregory Geoffroy authorized the e-mail, and the university made no effort to balance it either left or right because it called on students to protest the cuts, not just to protest.

“They don’t feel that this e-mail is partisan,” Pals said. “I’m not sure where they get their definition of partisan, but I read that e-mail, and it is definitely, definitely partisan. I don’t care if it’s left or right, but it’s one-sided.”

Pals was referring to the line in the e-mail that stated, “The legislature wants to propose a 10 percent budget cut to the Regents Universities. A 4 percent increase from Gov. [Terry] Branstad’s already hefty 6 percent cut. We as a university quite simply cannot endure a cut of this magnitude,” and later stated, “Do your part, help Stop the Cuts!”

“I don’t think my e-mail was partisan, because my only reference was Brandstad’s cuts,” Bruning said, “Last year the governor cut as well, and it’s a matter of how the Legislature cuts the budget. There is always someone who has an opposition, and this year it happens to be the Republicans.”

Pals requested that a second e-mail be sent out, stating that they did not have to protest against the budget cuts and could simply represent their own interests. However, his request was denied, and he was told that another e-mail could not be sent because the university cannot afford it.

“I didn’t feel it was necessary to send out another e-mail for opposition, and he was told that he could send out his own e-mail,” Bruning said.

He also claimed that the Legislature has less to do with budget cuts and tuition increases, and instead, the responsibility lies in the hands of the Board of Regents and universities.

“They should be lobbying the university, not the legislature because a budget cut does not have to mean an increase in tuition,” Pals said. “There’s stuff that can be cut, there’s stuff that we can be more efficient on because we can’t live this lifestyle anymore.”

Bruning was surprised by the student’s reaction to her e-mail. She received e-mails questioning either why they were being sent the e-mail in the first place, or confirming that they did not want a potential rise in tuition, so they would protest.

“The Legislature does in fact do the cuts, and the Board of Regents handles tuition, but we as student can’t afford such a large budget cut,” Bruning said. “The possibilities of having such a high cut allows a high chance for a rise in tuition to cover the programs we might end up cutting. The outcome becomes a joint thing between the Legislature and Board of Regents.”

Bruning stated that her role is to represent the majority of the student body, and while she knows there is a minority’s opinion, there is someone else that is entitled to represent them.