Friday, Jan. 15, 2016 | Volume 211 | Number 78 | 40 cents | iowastatedaily.com | An independent student newspaper serving Iowa State since 1890.
International students unsure of destination of higher tuition By Jake.Dalbey @iowastatedaily.com
Courtesy of Mark Mathison
The barracks at the Iowa State University Carl F. Vondra Field Station where ISU students stay were once used to house interned Japanese Americans during World War II. The station is located west of the Bighorn Mountains in Wyoming and is home to diverse rocks and geological foundations.
Old internment camps house students Wyoming station offers geology course By Thomas.Nelson @iowastatedaily.com
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piece of history has not only served as a reminder to the past as a place of learning for some ISU students. The Iowa State University Carl F. Vondra Geology Field Station is west of the Bighorn Mountains in Wyoming and houses a diverse selection of rocks and geological formations. Here, geology students take part in an intensive six-week course to gain hands-on experience. However, there is more to the story behind the station among the field of outcropping rocks. The barracks where ISU students stay while studying in Wyoming once were used to house interned Japanese Americans during World War II, by order of thenPresident Franklin D. Roosevelt in February 1942. Today, the Japanese internment is widely considered a stain on American history. After this order, about 120,000 people of Japanese ancestry living on the West Coast were evacuated and incarcerated in camps around the United States, according to PBS.org. Most of these people “were U.S. citizens or legal permanent resident aliens,” PBS.org stated. There were 10 internment camps scattered throughout the western United States, including Heart Mountain, the current location of the field station. The internment camp, according to PBS.org, was opened in August 1942 and closed in November 1945. At its
peak, the camp housed more than 10,000 individuals. The executive order signed by Roosevelt was deemed a “military necessity to protect against domestic espionage and sabotage,” the site stated. The building used to house the Japanese fell into the possession of various county, state and town officials after the war. “We leased them from the city of Greybull, [Wyo.] for $1 a year,” said Carl Vondra, emeritus professor of geology and distinguished professor in liberal arts and sciences, and the namesake of the geology field station. The houses were simply barracks built and shipped from the West Coast to Wyoming. There were some 10,000 Japanese Americans that were housed in the internment camp, Vondra said. The government ended up giving a lot of the facilities away, Vondra said. “Many of them were given to returning veterans and they used them as outhouses on their farms,” he said. Mark Mathison, teaching lab coordinator for the department of geology, said there were about 750 buildings, which were sold off for $1 a piece. The city of Greybull ended up buying three of them prior to the field camp. The flood plains of Shell Creek near Shell, Wyo., were offered to the university at a below value price in 1957, said Aaron Wood, director of the Carl F. Vondra Field Station and lecturer in geology. This became the home of the geology field camp. The buildings, all located near Heart Mountain, were in bad physical condition, Vondra said. They had bad insulation and were more
CAMPS p8
Courtesy of Mark Mathison
Students have a group photo taken at the geology field station, where students take part in a six-week course to gain hands-on experience.
Courtesy of Mark Mathison
A total of 10 internment camps were located in the western United States, including Heart Mountain, where the geology station is currently located.
Courtesy of Mark Mathison
Carl Vondra, emeritus professor of geology and distinguished professor in liberal arts and sciences, was the namesake of the geological field station in Wyoming.
Ames to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr. Three-day weekend events to honor King
TUITION p4
Leath announces Veishea alternatives Events include cherry pies sale
By Ashley.Green @iowastatedaily.com
The city of Ames will spend the coming three-day weekend honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s achievements and life in various events and celebrations across the community. Monday, Jan. 18, will mark the third Monday of the month, as well as the annual celebration of King’s birthday. The holiday, recognized by all 50 states starting in 2000 but petitioned for shortly after King’s death in 1968, celebrates more than just King and his achievements. The holiday is also known as the MLK Day of Service. Many workplaces as well as schools and places of higher education are closed in observance of the holiday, and citizens are encouraged to spend their day off volunteering in their communities. Several free-to-the-public events will be offered throughout
As a new semester begins, questions over the recent international student tuition increase continue to swirl among students. During the Dec. 2 meeting of the Iowa Board of Regents, tuition rates as well as fees were proposed and finalized. Amid the topics approved was an increase to international students’ annual tuitions. Incoming and returning students in 2016–17 will pay an extra $500 per year until the 2018-19 academic year, creating a total increase of $1,500 over three years. For David Holger, associate provost for Academic Programs and dean of the ISU Graduate College, the increase represents a small change that is seen on an almost yearly basis. “Fundamentally nothing has changed when the board approved the tuition rate,” Holger said. “The proposal cost was based on the fact that there are additional costs in parts of the university that are associated with educating international students.” He noted the dramatic increase of international students at Iowa State, citing an 18 percent increase since 2011. Holger added that 11 percent of the total student population are currently international students. “We recognize that there are additional services or capacity that we should be serving, so part of the rationale is there have been ongoing costs that we’ve just been eating from other sources in the past,” Holger said.” We also see that in order for international students to be successful there are issues that are different from domestic students, so we need to provide ways for them to have a quality experience.” When deciding on the rate of increase for international tuition universities, the University of Iowa and the University of Northern Iowa were compared with Iowa State in order to find the most optimal balance among the three. At the current $29,960 estimate, the added $1,500 will essentially create a third tuition branch that will only be paid by those who are not domestic students. With the University of Northern Iowa’s out-of-state tuition totaling an estimated $28,781 and the University of Iowa at $37,618, the increase will put Iowa State at around a middle-ground tuition rate. An increase of any amount, however, is never good news for international students whose home currency often fluctuates.
By Michaela.Ramm @iowastatedaily.com
Charlie Coffey/Iowa State Daily
James Bailey, keynote speaker at the Martin Luther King Jr. 2015 Legacy Convocation, gives a speech Jan. 22, 2015 about Iowa’s contribution to the civil rights movement.
the weekend. These will begin at 2:30 p.m. Saturday with a showing of the film “Selma” at the Ames Public Library. A discussion among the attendees as part of the Reel Connections Film and Discussion will take place after the film. Friendship Baptist Church will celebrate King at 3 p.m. Sunday with guest speaker Sherman Brown and music rendered by the New Revelation Corinthian Baptist Church.
“The Cost of the Dream,” Ames’ 30th annual MLK Day community celebration will take place from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Monday at the Ames Middle School. The Ames High School jazz band will perform during a social time from 5:30 to 6:15 p.m., and birthday cake will be served. Songs and speeches by community groups and Odell Mcghee, associate judge of District 5C of Iowa, will be given after the performance.
Potential spring event alternatives for Veishea have been announced in the university president’s spring address sent to the entire ISU student body. The Spring Event Planning Committee submitted a proposal after the end of Veishea for new events and activities for the university, according to the email sent by Leath. Leath stated in the email, “pursuant to the committee’s charge to identify new ways to showcase the university,” the president has approved events for this spring. These events include: • Celebration in Februrary featuring the sale of cherry pies integrated with other Valentine’s Day activities
Iowa State Daily
ISU President Steven Leath announced in his spring address sent to the entire ISU student body that an event in February will feature the sale of cherry pies.
• Celebration of arts in April in conjunction with Cyclone Market There will also be events implemented the next academic year: • Student-led community service project • Parade and college showcase • Event to welcome students back to campus for the start of the spring semester. In an in-
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