Members of the Government of the Student Body and other student groups have been working to lobby the state legislature on student issues.

Over the holiday break, Jon Turk, president of GSB and senior in political science, said he plans on choosing what GSB will specifically lobby for as well as learn about the state legislatures.

Chandra Peterson vice president and junior in political science, said she was also looking forward to the day on the hill.

“There is a lot of preparations that go into the day on the hill and meeting with our legislatures,” Peterson said.

The Iowa Board of Regents will discuss a $100 tuition surcharge at Thursday’s meeting, an item GSB has lobbied against.

Turk has been against the surcharge since its proposal for various reasons.

Turk has previously stated that students knew how much they were going to pay when they came here in the fall, so tuition shouldn’t be increased in the middle of the year.

He has also said that with a $22 million cut, the university needs to realize the state is suggesting this is a permanent cut, not something that will be fixed through temporary tuition increases.

Turk has been working with representatives from the University of Northern Iowa and the University of Iowa to fight the surcharge.

The University of Iowa student body president has been for the tuition surcharge; however, representatives from government relations of Iowa’s student body have told Turk they are against the surcharge.

Turk said that even though the University of Iowa has differing opinions, he can’t only talk to senators from the university since they are under the leadership of their own student body president. He has, however, been talking with representatives from the University of Northern Iowa about various projects and diversity issues they have been dealing with.

“Overall opinions about the surcharge haven’t really changed, but I am looking forward to the day on the hill,” Turk said.

Peterson said GSB also needs to work with other schools from the Big 12.

“We need a plan, a unified voice,” she said. “We won’t sit down and say nothing while these changes go on.”

“Tuition now makes up more of the budget than state funding does, and we have to let them know where we stand,” Peterson continued.

GSB has also been attempting to tackle the student debt issue by creating a Student Debt Committee.

The purpose of the Student Debt Committee, so far, has sort of been a question mark, Turk said.

The Student Debt committee has been taking on the student angle of how to control personal debts, and Turk said he can see them continuing on that road in the future.

Turk is also planning on working more with Jeanne Hogarth, program manager for the consumer education and research section of the Division of Consumer and Community Affairs at the Federal Reserve Board, in January on a financial literacy symposium which will take place this spring. He has been working with Tahira Hira, executive assistant to the president, and individuals from the financial counseling clinic to set up presentations on loans and credit card debt for next semester.