A small group met Friday afternoon to discuss how Penn State's Undergraduate Student Government (USG) can more effectively lobby state legislators for increased state appropriations for the university.

"Last year USG did nothing, and that didn't work," said South Halls Sen. Vicky Cangelosi, the Senate's governmental affairs director.

Cangelosi planned the public meeting as a way to get input into how she and other USG members can best try to work toward getting more state money to offset tuition increases.

Jon Eich, a candidate for the Pennsylvania Legislature, attended the meeting to discuss lobbying issues.

"[Penn State gets] less money than any of the other state-related universities in Pennsylvania, at least per student," he said.

Eich said the state budget has a surplus this year and suggested student lobbyists try to convince legislators to use some of those funds for Penn State appropriations.

"Give them something easy to do," he said. "Lobby for funds that aren't earmarked for another program."

Derek Dureka, former Council of Commonwealth Student Governments governmental affairs director, said he learned from lobbying efforts last year that some legislators think Penn State "wastes money."

"You have to hold the university accountable," he said.

Dureka said he believes some of Penn State's spending, such as investing in Commonwealth Campuses, is worthwhile, but other expenditures are hard to defend.

Any USG members lobbying for money should be very familiar with the university's budget so they can answer questions from lawmakers, he said.

"If you don't know what you're talking about, you'll lose a lot of respect," he said.

Cangelosi said she wanted to meet with administrators in the next few weeks to try to see what Penn State can do to cut costs.

Derek Semsick, who handled governmental affairs last year at Penn State Berks, said much of the university's budget increases are related to salaries and benefits for necessary faculty.

"You need to spend the money to get the reputation you need to attract students," he said.

Semsick said any discussions should start first with university administrators to discuss spending and budget issues before approaching Harrisburg politicians.

"Then when you go to the legislators, you have the information you need," he said.

He said Cangelosi should try to get a promise from the university that it will try to conserve money so she can use that promise to bargain with legislators.

Semsick also said USG should try to work with student governments from the other three state-related universities in Pennsylvania -- Temple University, the University of Pittsburgh and Lincoln University.

"It'll definitely help if you get them on board," he said.

Eich said efforts to work with Commonwealth Campuses and other state-related universities would be beneficial because it would involve students from many different areas who can reach out to legislators from more districts across the state.

But he said the strongest student voice would come from increased student voting.

"Penn State students are sometimes discounted because they don't vote in local elections," he said. "Everybody signs up to vote, and on Election Day, turnout is dismal."