In an attempt to get legislators and students to see eye to eye, state officials and ISU students have organized a conference to discuss budget cuts at state universities and how they affect students.

State legislature representatives, Board of Regents officials and students will gather on campus Wednesday to discuss the hardships students face as a result of the state’s recurring budget cuts.

About 70 ISU Ambassadors will take part. The Ambassadors are members of the Government of the Student Body who represent their home counties and states.

The event, Meet the Future of Iowa, was conceived by GSB to raise awareness among Iowa officials of problems students face in the wake of multiple double-digit tuition increases and statewide budget cuts.

GSB Vice Speaker of the Senate William Rock said efforts to bring legislators and students together have failed repeatedly — until this year.

“What we hope to do is bring legislators to the students,” said Rock, senior in agricultural business. “In the last couple of years, we’ve tried to bring students to the statehouse, but it hasn’t worked out. It’s hard to get students excited about getting up on a Wednesday, getting into a Suburban, driving to the Capitol, and talking all day to legislators they don’t know.”

Angela Groh, the event’s coordinator and GSB Director of Government Relations, said Meet the Future of Iowa was planned specifically to deal with the problem of lack of communication between the two groups.

Establishing this relationship could be crucial to Iowa State’s future, Rock said, particularly in light of recent cuts to state appropriations to Iowa universities.

“It’s critical that they recognize the importance of higher education in Iowa,” Rock said. “No cuts have been made to the K-12 system, but they’ve been hacking away at higher ed.”

Groh said she’d gotten a good impression from legislators concerning the conference.

“It seems as if they’re very excited about it,” she said. “They’ve been more than willing to talk with us.”

Groh said anyone wishing to attend should contact GSB.

Among those officials attending are 26 state legislators, five members of the Board of Regents and Iowa Secretary of State Chet Culver, said Groh, sophomore in political science.

Also scheduled to attend are 25 students from the University of Iowa and the University of Northern Iowa.

Activities are scheduled to begin at 5:45 p.m. Wednesday on the second floor of the Scheman Building. Following the meeting, a block of 85 seats at the Iowa State-Iowa basketball game has been reserved for students and legislators.

Groh said the seats were reserved in the hopes that legislators and students will be able to sit together and talk.

“Basically, it came down to building a relationship with legislators,” she said. “Speaking to them is often intimidating to students. We’re hoping to provide a fun opportunity to highlight achievements in higher education, while at the same time communicating to the legislature that it needs to remain affordable and quality in Iowa.”