This week, Central Campus will be turned into a hotbed of political activity where students can discuss issues, ask questions and score some cheap lunch.

It’s Political Action Week.

In addition to several events during the week designed to interest students, two presidential candidates are to visit campus and educate students on important issues. Their names are yet to be released.

From 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. this week on Central Campus, ISU students will have the opportunity to question their leading city, state and national leaders on topics of interest to them. Students will also be able to buy lunch for $1.

This is the second year in a row the Political Action Week committee has worked on creating a heightened sense of political awareness among the student body.

Some of the highlights this year are the increased level of planning as well as the larger number of student groups involved in the planning and execution process.

The Government of the Student Body, the College of Agriculture and the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences are sponsoring Political Action Week.

Planning for the event started early last semester, said Devin Hartman, coordinator of Political Action Week and senior in political science.

“This year we have some of the people that are returning and based a lot of it off last year,” Hartman said. “It was a lot easier as far as the initial setup goes – we didn’t have to make as many decisions this year as we did last year.”

The format for the event will be discussion-based, allotting officials and student representatives 10 to 15 minutes to educate students on topics of interest. The rest of the time, students will be allowed to ask questions and engage in discussion on the topics.

“We want students to feel an obligation to feel civically engaged and be interested in the future. We want to make sure that when they leave, also, that they feel they have a place in the political process,” Hartman said.

Hartman hopes that, at the end of a session, students leave with a sense of political efficacy and are confident and motivated in their knowledge of the political process.

“It’s not really to try to persuade a person to be in one certain party – it’s more to try and encourage people to start thinking about what’s important to them,” said Daniel Fischer, director of government relations for GSB and junior in agricultural business.

Political Action Week schedule

Monday: Foreign affairs – speakers: Natalie Sugira (ONE Campaign), James McCormick, department chairman and professor of political science.

Tuesday: Agriculture, energy and environment – speakers: Bill Northey, Iowa secretary of agriculture, Tom Brumm, associate professor of agricultural and biosystems engineering

Wednesday: Social issues – speakers: Ed Fallon, former member of Iowa General Assembly, Karl Krueger, presidential candidate

Thursday: Student and local issues/meet your student government day – speakers: Ann Campbell, mayor of Ames; Ryan Doll, 3rd Ward city councilman; Dan Rice, 1st Ward city councilman and academic adviser; Mike Mauro, Iowa Secretary of State; GSB members; discussion starters Aaron Gott, senior in political science, and Jonathan Shelness, graduate student in interdisciplinary graduate studies discussion starters and members from GSB.

Friday: Domestic policy day – speakers: Iowa State Representative Beth Wessell-Kroeschell, D-Ames; presidential candidates (tentative)