A student protest against tuition hikes proved a point without protesters having to say a word: students are apathetic about the issue.

The protest started with seven people protesting, swelled to nine, went down to only two people and then jumped back up to five. There are 25,282 undergraduate students at Iowa State.

“No one on the student level is talking about [tuition hikes],” said Sheena Green, junior in graphic design.

The protest was led by Shawn Carter, who is running for Jane Greimann’s seat as a state representative.

“Tuition is supposed to go up between 4 and 5 percent a year, not 20 percent,” he said. “The interest on my mother’s 401K isn’t 18 percent, the interest in my bank account isn’t 18 percent and pay increases aren’t 18 percent.”

Carter said politicians don’t listen to students because they don’t vote and don’t fund campaigns. He said politicians listen to senior citizens, the parents of K-12 students and those who are in charge of roadwork statewide because they are the ones voting, paying taxes and funding campaigns.

“We’re not very high on the list of priorities,” Carter said. “It’s not about [being] Democrat or Republican … If 70,000 students vote, then they’ll be less likely to screw us over.”

Karla Hardy, senior in history and sociology, held a sign that read, “No more tuition increases.” Hardy said she knows people who have had to drop out of school because the price of tuition is too high.

“These people aren’t poor people we’re talking about — they’re middle and upper class,” she said. “Is this a more welcoming environment for the rich and the few?”

Students passing by agreed tuition increases will make it harder for them once they graduate.

“I have to take on more student loan debt. It will affect my ability to contribute back to the economy in the form of [income] tax and spending because I’ll be so saddled with loan debt,” said Jeff Cullen, graduate student in educational leadership and policy studies.

Matt Jursich, freshman in mechanical engineering, stopped to talk to protesters as he was Rollerblading by. He said he thinks most students are so caught up in their daily routines they don’t stop to think about how much tuition has risen and what they can do to stop it.

“I pay out-of-state tuition. There’s nothing I can do unless I get a majority of students to agree with me,” he said. “Most kids don’t seem interested enough.”

Patricia Coleman, senior in sociology, said she thinks tuition hikes are decreasing diversity on campus.

“Students of color are mostly from out-of-state, so they pay out-of-state tuition, which is more. The long-term effect is people of color can’t stay here,” she said.

Jasmyn Dyer, junior in biochemistry, pointed to students at the Homeless Awareness Sleepout in cardboard boxes south of the Campanile. She said students who keep having to pay more in tuition may end up with the same fate.

“We better stick together, or we’ll all be homeless!” she said.

Hardy, Green, Dyer and Coleman are all on full scholarships, but found themselves as some of the few, along with Carter, protesting tuition hikes.

“Students don’t care enough to say something, so I have to say something on their behalf,” Coleman said.

Carter said tuition increases lead to students going out of state in search of lower tuition costs.

“In the next 10 years, our parents will retire,” he said. “This state could possibly turn into one big nursing home surrounded by factory farms … and there won’t be anyone to take care of them.”

The protest was sponsored by the Black Student Alliance, Hardy said.