Representatives from the Government of the Student Body will travel to the Capitol Thursday to make students’ voices heard at the annual Day on the Hill event.

The schedule is never set until the students arrive. Jon Turk, GSB president, said they arrived and the legislatures went into caucus last year.

Turk said this year the plan is for students to speak with their hometown representatives after arrival, followed by a luncheon and a joint statement from Turk and student body presidents from the University of Iowa and the University of Northern Iowa.

GSB members will be lobbying against State Study Bill 3030.

The bill reads, “The state Board of Regents shall not be required to obtain any service for the state Board of Regents or any institution under the control of the state board of regents that is provided by the department pursuant to this chapter without the consent of the state board of regents.”

This bill would create a centralized office for information technology for the Board of Regent schools, which is being considered as a cost-saving effort, Turk said.

“We have three schools each with 15,000–20,000 students who pay for IT services,” Turk said. “This would prevent schools from choosing their own e-mail carriers.”

Every time a student might have difficulties logging on to his or her school Web accounts, they would have to make a phone call to the central office in Des Moines, Turk said.

“It’s a rare opportunity when we match up when we are there and when a specific piece of legislation is there,” Turk said.

Last year the GSB lobbied for a textbook refund. The bill was not submitted.

The bill could come up again in the future, but the GSB agreed that this year was not the time to ask the state to give up $3 million of tax funds, Turk said.

If enough students take advantage of the tax rebates that are offered when filing individual taxes the $3 million total will drop, making the bill more likely to be submitted in the future, Turk said.

Next year’s tuition will be voted on by the Board of Regents on Thursday, but the GSB is still planning on discussing the effects of tuition costs on students.

The state cut 25 percent of ISU’s budget, bringing it down to the same budget it had in 1997, whereas the state is still running at the same level as 2004, Turk said.

“We understand this is an economic downturn, but we need to remind the state of Iowa of its commitment to education,” Turk said. “They need to remember we are importan,t too.”

GSB Vice President Chandra Peterson agreed.

“This is our chance to get together with Senate and cabinet members from UNI and Iowa and voice the same thoughts and same messages,” Peterson said. “It’s a great chance to be heard.”

Anthony Maly, a liberal arts and sciences senator and senior in political science, said that going to the Capitol is something worthwhile. It shows the legislature that students care about the issues, and how to get involved.