Hop in your car today. Get on Interstate 35, and motor on down to Des Moines.

Sure, gas prices are high, and it might cost you to get down to our state capital.

But the journey might actually save you hundreds of dollars in the long run.

This morning at approximately 11 a.m., GSB leaders and other students are planning a rally to protest the Legislature’s proposed budget, which cuts quite a chunk of money out of Iowa State’s funding request.

About 100 students are expected for the protest, which will immediately follow a 10 a.m. press conference. The GSB leaders will outline the ways in which the budget cuts will affect the “quality, affordability and accessibility of Iowa State,” according to GSB President-elect Ben Golding.

Then, any students who make the trip for the rally will have the chance to articulate how the budget cuts will affect them during an open mic period.

The rally is just one of the many things GSB executives are doing to express student concerns over the budget cuts.

But this one in particular should catch the legislators’ attention.

Legislators say they welcome letters and phone calls from their constituents. They say they want to know what Iowans think of the way they do their jobs.

But letters and phone calls are easy to forget.

Hundreds of Iowans on the steps of the capitol building in a very public protest won’t be so easy to forget.

It’s not often that lowly college students have the ears of state legislators. But today is our chance to have their undivided attention. The only way the lawmakers in Des Moines can ignore ISU students is if nobody shows up.

So get down there.

And after the rally, once you’ve told your story about how a huge increase in tuition and the loss of crucial programs will affect you, swing by the Board of Regents executive office.

At the office, located at 100 Court Ave. Suite 203, tell the staff and leave messages for the regents that a budget cut is no reason to kill students with outlandish tuition increases.

Yes, the budget cuts would substantially affect Iowa State. The cuts will have to be compensated for in some way.

But they don’t have to come exclusively out of our tuition.

The Board of Regents has the power to ensure that students are protected in this mess of a budget year. The state legislators have the power to fix this before it even gets started.

You have the power to get in your car and get down to Des Moines.

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Iowa State Daily Editorial Board: Sara Ziegler, Greg Jerrett, Kate Kompas, Carrie Tett and David Roepke.