IUSA rallies for textbooks without taxes

Picket signs and chants greeted motorists traveling past the Indiana Capitol Tuesday in Indianapolis. As the 5 p.m. rush hour approached, about 40 students representing eight Indiana universities gathered to garner support for tax-free textbooks.\nState representatives Sheila Klinker and Mark Kruzan recently introduced bills to the Indiana General Assembly exempting students from the 5 percent textbook sales tax, according to the IU Student Association Legislative Relations Office. Coupled with IUSA's fall petition drive, which generated more than 13,000 signatures supporting the exemption, the proposed legislation has buffered support from numerous student government groups statewide.\nThe House Ways and Means Committee is now debating the bill, said IUSA senator Lara Kalwinski, a sophomore. It should make its final decision concerning the bill's fate by the end of February. \nKlinker was present Wednesday to address the crowd, which gathered after the protest in the capitol rotunda. In her remarks, she indicated her unwavering support for the inter-campus efforts.\n"Never before have I received more support in co-sponsoring a bill than in this one at this time," Klinker said.\nIUSA congressman Justin Barnes, a sophomore, said government and campus groups must maintain close working relationships for this proposal to become reality. At Tuesday's rally eight representatives were present, including one state senator. IU, Purdue, Ball State, Butler and Valparaiso Universities, as well as the University of Evansville and Manchester College, were represented.\nAfter Klinker's remarks, students from each institution outlined proposals for further action and discussed their schools' efforts thus far.\nRoan Down, Manchester College student body president, said groups of students and faculty on his campus are continuing efforts to raise visibility, including a letter-writing campaign and community-wide phone calls. \nJunior Ben Piper, IUSA legislative relations director, said IUSA will continue similar efforts on the Bloomington campus as well.\n"Fundamentally, this is a matter of fixing something that's wrong," Piper said. "We expect to see our legislators working harder to approve this in the coming weeks. We want them to know that we're here, and we aren't going to stop fighting for this until textbooks are tax-free"