Traveling via tunnel from the Illinois State Capitol to the Stratton Building in Springfield and maneuvering through a maze of offices, the Student Action Team lobbied on behalf of Eastern Wednesday.

Equipped with business cards, fact sheets of Eastern’s accomplishments and about 2,200 letters separated into individual folders for each state representative and senator, about a dozen students campaigned for state funds for the new science building.

Jarrod Scherle, a graduate student and the student executive vice president, said the new science building would cost about $80 million, and Eastern would front $30 million from the Campus Improvement Fee.

They argued that Eastern makes due with the lowest general revenue funding per full time equivalent student even though the university has the second highest graduation rate and the highest freshman-to-sophomore retention rate in the state.

“We are currently eighth on the Illinois Board of Higher Education’s capital improvements list, and our goal is to get bumped up so we have a better chance at getting those funds,” Scherle said.

The Student Action Team members delivered information to more than 100 legislators’ offices and personally met with about 20 of them including State Rep. Chapin Rose and State Sen. Dale Righter.

“I think it will go a long way to show how well Eastern manages funds such as saving students from a $2,500 tuition increase by using other methods to pay for the Renewable Energy Center,” Rose said.

Jim Johnston, a senior political science and history major, said the state senators he spoke to said they were impressed by the information the students presented to them, but they may be fighting for a losing cause because of the current stressful economic environment.

The students also spoke with State Sen. Ron Sandack of the 21st district.

“Count me in, but I am not the one writing the checks,” Sandack said. “We have almost $90 billion in unfunded pension liability, and we have to find $2.7 billion to cut Medicaid.”

Eastern students were not the only ones lobbying the Illinois General Assembly on Wednesday.

The AIDS Foundation of Chicago had its annual lobby day, and more than 70 people rallied on the first floor of the state capitol building with various speakers and supporters carrying signs such as “Medicaid Saves Lives. It Saved Mine” and “No Cuts Saves Lives.”

Jim Merrell, an employee of the AIDS Foundation of Chicago, said their two main words for lobbying were to oppose the proposed $2.7 billion-cut to Medicaid and $4 million-cut to HIV support funding.

“They want to cut the HIV funding by half, and we are here to show that we are a community with a voice that needs to be listened to,” Merrell said.

The University of Illinois had its lobby day with a presence from all three universities, and Southern Illinois University Carbondale students also came to Springfield.

Jaspreet Rehal, a junior nuclear engineering major from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, said their goal was to advocate for MAP Grant funds and state general revenue appropriations.

Rachel Rodgers can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected].