Wednesday’s Government of the Student Body meeting will mark the start of a new semester with new projects and new legislation.

“A big goal this semester will be to work on lobbying efforts,” said Emily Jensen, GSB president and senior in political science.

The three Regent institutions are asking for a total of $72 million, which will only cover operating costs, Jensen said.

ISU Ambassadors do a good job of getting students down to the capitol, which will be essential to get the amount requested, Jensen said.

“In order to get that money, we’ll have students down at the capitol quite frequently,” she said.

GSB will also be working with alumni groups to get former students involved in lobbying efforts as well.

Jensen said the Multicultural Center will also be a focal point this semester.

“That will be another big initiative this year … developing the plans for that center and making sure that student groups have impact on that,” she said.

This week’s GSB meeting will have a wide range of bills up for first read, Jensen said.

“Essentially, everything should probably get passed through first reads,” she said.

Authors of the bills will be asked questions of intent, Jensen said. Discussions for the bills take place next week. Seating bills only have to go through one read and therefore will not be carried over to next week.

Two new bills will be introduced regarding the Student Organization Recognition Policy; one supporting the direction being taken and one in opposition, said Zaal Tonia, senior in physics, GSB senator and chairman of the University Affairs Committee.

A brief explanation of information gathered about the policy from last semester will be given on Wednesday, with a full presentation next week, Tonia said.

Tonia encouraged students who want to voice their opinions about legislation to come to both this and next week’s meetings. However, he especially encourages coming to next week’s meeting, since more will be discussed and debated and the bill will either be passed or voted down.

Another GSB-related event will be the second Student Affairs Commission meeting on Thursday.

Also on the agenda for this semester will be elections, Jensen said, which start in late January or early February, when people can declare their candidacy, get signatures and start campaigning.

The GSB meeting will take place at 7 p.m. Wednesday in the Campanile Room of the Memorial Union.