Despite the concern among members of Iowa State’s Government of the Student Body about the proposed education budget appropriations, some ISU students disagree about how much the legislation could affect them.

The proposed education budgets are a source of concern for many ISU administrators and student leaders since Iowa State could potentially lose up to $11 million from its state funding for the 2001-2002 school year. Voting for the legislation is less than a month away.

Grant Siebrecht, junior in management information systems, said he doesn’t think the cuts will have much of an effect on students.

“It just didn’t seem like that big of an increase to me when you divide it by how many students are here,” he said.

Brian Kohlwes, senior in transportation and logistics, also said he doesn’t think the budget cuts will be very damaging.

“I just can’t believe there could be that much of a tuition increase,” he said. “From what I’ve heard, it’s not really a budget cut.”

Kohlwes said he thinks GSB members are overreacting to the Legislature’s proposed budgets.

“[The universities] are getting more money than what they had last year, and I think that’s misleading the students,” he said. “There’s a lot of kids that I think are just jumping on the bandwagon.”

Kelvin VanVoorst, senior in biology, also said he thinks student leaders may have blown the budget cuts out of proportion.

“It may be an overreaction,” he said. “But I think it’s good that they’re active in it — that’s something you would expect from them.”

Purvee Patel, senior in management information systems and international business, said GSB is handling the situation well.

“I know GSB’s trying to get students involved; I don’t think a lot of people know what’s going on,” she said. “They need to make it known that students here do care.”

Adam Moss, freshman in mathematics, also said the proposed budget cuts are an issue students should pay attention to.

“It’s going to affect every single one of us here unless you’re on a full-ride scholarship, and that’s not the majority,” he said. “I don’t like it at all, especially if it raises tuition prices quite a bit.”

Ryan Moffat, sophomore in community and regional planning, also said he is opposed to the budget cuts. Moffat said he doesn’t think the cuts reflect what the state says it supports.

“If the state is so focused on education, [the budget cuts] kind of stand in the way,” he said. “It doesn’t make any sense.”

Ulonda Mills, sophomore in political science, also said she thinks the state is not supporting its position on education well.

“If the Iowa government wants to be a part of our future, then I think they should reconsider the budget cuts and focus attention on improving education rather than depleting the educational funds,” she said.