President George W. Bush came to Des Moines Friday to speak about pension plans to a local business and attend a fund-raiser to support Rep. Tom Latham, R-Ia.

Bush spoke to a crowd of more than 400 people at The Printer, Inc., a small printing company in the south side of Des Moines. Bush spoke about both the war on terrorism and financial planning, said William Benskin, president of The Printer, Inc.

“He wanted to, talk with our workers because we’ve have a 401(k) in effect for a long time, and we’ve got a very high participation rate,” Benskin said.

The president spent quite a bit of time talking about the war on terrorism, and security was very high at the event, Benskin said.

“It was an exciting day for The Printer and all of its employees,” he said.

A group of more than 10 ISU students went to the fund-raiser at the downtown Des Moines Marriott to protest Bush’s energy policy.

Students representing the ISU Campus Greens, Time for Peace and the Student Environmental Council handed out fliers and held signs for causes ranging from civil rights to the environment, said Matt Denner, ISU Campus Greens president.

“It was great to meet new progressives from across Iowa and get some new people involved with such a high profile event,” said Denner, sophomore in liberal arts and sciences.

The Iowa Public Research Interest Groups and the Iowa Sierra Club organized the event, and students from Grinnell College and University of Iowa attended, he said. Some of the protesters were able to grab the attention of Laura Bush with their signs at the motorcade, but the rest of the crowd gave a mixed response, Denner said.

“I think that a lot of people were swept away by the president’s visit and didn’t understand our complaints, but hopefully they will remember our points and consider them later on,” he said.