Three days may not seem like a long time, but for about 15 to 20 UW-Eau Claire students, a three-day hunger strike to protest rising tuition costs will test their willpower, said senior Andrew Werthmann, president of the Progressive Student Association.

Starting today, students from Eau Claire, UW-Madison and UW-La Crosse will embark on a hunger strike in attempts to raise awareness for what the strikers consider a problem of rising tuition in the state. The group is demanding a freeze on student costs in the next biennium, Werthmann said.

“It’s not really about the hunger,” he said. “It’s about drawing attention to the (tuition) situation.”

Student groups from the three schools came together after a Feb. 24 rally in Madison to protest rising tuition, said UW-Madison student and organizer sophomore Ashok Kumar.

The group decided on three days because that is the maximum amount of time they all believed they could hold out for, Werthmann said.

“Basically it’s what we thought we could handle and still go to school,” he said.

“Three days is a definite commitment because it’s not easy,” Kumar said. “But it’s also a good way of sending a message. Any more would be excessive, any less would not (be effective).”

The group will drink water and take vitamins to help prevent health problems, Werthmann said. There will also probably be a medic to provide advice in Madison, he said.

“Safety is our first and foremost concern,” he said.

The students are going on strike to protest what they consider to be an unfair tuition burden that the state has placed on students, Kumar said.

One of the group’s main targets is Gov. Jim Doyle.

“He’s starving the universities,” Kumar said. “He’s starving them of state funding, and he’s been doing this since he got into office.”

Doyle’s budget proposal asks for a tuition increase of about 5.9 percent annually over the next two years, with a possibility of an increase to 7 percent.

Werthmann said he has been preparing for the hunger strike for the past few days by gradually eating less and less.

“I’m trying to get myself used to not eating a lot,” he said. “It’s basically shrinking my stomach.”

The hunger strike comes at a difficult time for many PSA members, who will be participating because they also are planning for next week’s Iraq teach-in, Werthmann said.

Werthmann said he foresees hunger to set in around the 20- to 24-hour mark, but then expects it will go away.

“For a cause like this it’s something you have to do,” he said.

Kumar said he is pleased with the amount of attention the group is receiving. He said the governor would likely be spending millions to promote the budget, while those who oppose it have limited means.

“It’s a way for those with limited funds to bring attention to (the situation),” he said.