A dinner featuring Italian foods and wines is part of a fund-raiser to benefit ISU students who study abroad in Rome. Stacy Cullison, development officer for the College of Design, said funds from the benefit dinner will go toward capital improvements for the studio in Rome, located just behind the Pantheon and student scholarships. The College of Design will hold a benefit on Sept. 8 to raise funds for the student study abroad program in Rome. “The Rome fundraiser will work to keep the cost at a low level for students to participate and help to make the experience a good one,” Cullison said. The fund-raiser will include a menu featuring Italian foods and wines, a raffle for a trip for two to Rome and an auction. Items for the benefit auction will be provided by the College of Design faculty, alumni and Iowa businesses. Some of the items to be auctioned off will be original artwork, vacation packages, furniture and jewelry. Two more unique prizes headed for the bidding block are a painting by singer Tony Bennett and an evening’s entertainment by ISU alumnus Bryan Berg. Berg is an ISU architecture graduate and is listed the Guinness Book of World Records for building the tallest house of cards. He will be providing entertainment at a private party for his highest bidder. Mike Ludwig, senior in art and design, attended the Rome program this past summer and said the fund-raiser is a good idea. “The Rome trip was one of the most beneficial experiences of my life,” he said. Ludwig also said that while he had a good time on the trip, he thought the program was underfunded. “When we got there, we ended up paying for things that were supposed to be covered in the overall program cost,” he said. Cullison said besides wanting to make the program more affordable by raising money for student scholarships, benefit organizers also wanted to raise money for the study abroad program. The Rome program was recently approved to be offered as a permanent course by the Board of Regents.