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Thursday, Jan. 30, 2014 | Volume 209 | Number 88 | 40 cents | iowastatedaily.com | An independent student newspaper serving Iowa State since 1890.

This year, we are definitely doing a lot more to give back. I hope we continue on that path in the future.” Kristin Berte, Cardinal Squad captain

Courtesy of Courtney McCulloh and Kizzie Ryerson

The ISU Dance Team made blankets in honor of Dyamond Ott, a high school graduate who died of cancer. Kate Britten of the Gold Dance squad had danced with her for many years. The Dance Team donated the blankets to various hospitals, and it also plans to create Build-A-Bear animals for local children cancer patients, dressed in dance team shirts.

Sharing the love

ISU Dance Team makes blankets, builds bears By Clark.Eilers @iowastatedaily.com The ISU Dance Team spent the evening of Jan. 23 creating blankets and will be giving more back to the community, in honor of two fellow dancers who lost their respective battles to cancer. All 38 members of both the Cardinal and Gold squads met at Forker Hall to create over 40 tie blankets in honor of Dyamond Ott, a 2011 graduate of Ankeny High School. Ott, who took dance lessons at Nicole’s School of Dance, was diagnosed with a brain tumor at age 17. Through surgery and six weeks of radiation treatments, she was cured of the tumor and walked on her graduation day. However, she was then later diagnosed with a cancer called PTLD. She died on Dec. 11, 2011. “I danced with Dyamond for many years,” Kate Britten said, a second-year member on the Gold Squad. Britten, along with her teammates, wished to give back to cancer patients by creating these blankets and donating them through the Ott family. “I know it means a lot to Dyamond’s family,” Britten, who is also a junior in

elementary education, said. “It also hits close to home because I knew her so well.” The blankets will be sent to hospitals in Des Moines, Iowa City, Nebraska and the Ronald McDonald Houses in those areas as well. Kelsey Michelsen, a Southeast Polk High School student, died from a brain tumor on Dec. 10, 2012, 10 months after she and her family thought they had beaten it. Marie Simon, a first-year member of the Cardinal Squad, was a teammate and close friend of Michelsen. In addition to participating in Dance Marathon in Michelsen’s honor, Simon, who is also a sophomore in elementary education, wanted to do a community project. Simon’s idea, to create Build-A-Bear stuffed animals for local children cancer patients, struck a chord with her teammates and coaches. “When I presented the idea to my coaches, they were excited,” Simon said. “We were a bit emotional about it, but our team loved the idea.” The team will dress the bears in dance team shirts and insert a heart into each bear, which Simon said is a wish or prayer for the children. “Kelsey brought a bit of life into everyone she met,” Simon said. “I wanted

DANCE TEAM p2 >>

Social justice class prepares students for outside world By Elaine.Godfrey @iowastatedaily.com The experimental course Social Justice and Planning discusses racial segregation, poverty alleviation, immigration policy and women’s empowerment. The course is in its second year of encouraging ISU students to get involved with social justice issues. The course is discussion-based, emphasizing social justice concerns in a globalized society. Associate Professor Monica Haddad and Assistant Professor Jane Rongerude collaborated to create the class last year, in an effort to provide students of all majors the opportunity to learn and study these complex societal problems. “I didn’t want to do a traditional class,” Haddad said. Instead, the course incorporates outside speakers, videos from social advocates and handson projects in order to get students as active as possible in their community. Haddad wants her students to be more than just observers in a world full of social justice issues. “In our daily life, we are dealing with issues related to social justice,” Haddad said. “So to try to connect what we are learning in the classroom with the real world, I decided to have activities like the service learning project.” Every student will complete a 20-hour project with a non-gov-

Brian Achenbach/Iowa State Daily

Monica Haddad, associate professor in community and regional planning, talks to her students. Haddad teaches a class that centers on finding solutions for social justice.

ernmental organization dealing with social justice issues. Students will work on their projects in March and April and will be expected to present on their progress at the end of the semester. Last year, Haddad’s students participated in projects for several Des Moines and central Iowa-based organizations including Proteus, Community Housing Initiatives and Urban Dreams. In some cases, their service projects ended up leading to summer internship opportunities. Haddad, who has taught at Iowa State for 11 years, has her master’s degree in low income housing policies and earned her Ph.D. studying human development as it relates to planning. “I come from a developing country, Brazil, that has one of the largest income disparities in the whole world,” she said. “I

was an observer. I grew up seeing this discrepancy in society, so I think that is what ended up motivating me to go into planning.” Haddad points out that the class is important for any student who wants to effect change in society, regardless of his or her major. “I think that when you are young, your mind is open,” Haddad said. “Taking the class is going to build your knowledge and awareness about a lot of things so that when you leave ISU, you will be able to contribute.” Michelle Richardson, a senior in global resource systems and animal science, is currently enrolled in the class because of her interest in human trafficking and international justice issues. “I’m interested in fighting for justice,” Richardson said. “I’m excited to see the needs of

Courtesy of Courtney McCulloh and Kizzie Ryerson

(From left) Kristin Berte, Sabrina McKeever, Courtney McCulloh, Kelley Jamison, Kizzie Ryerson and Ally Tack made blankets Jan. 23 to donate to various Iowa hospitals.

the communities around here and knowing how we individually can get involved.” For students like John Scopelliti, a sophomore in the class, learning about social justice is important for professional reasons, as well. “This is probably something essential to learn if I do planning,” Scopelliti said. “We want to help the community, and that’s the voice we listen to, to make sure that everyone has the same opportunities as everyone else.” Scopelliti, hopes the class will set him apart in his community and regional planning major. “Planning-wise, everyone wants to address the same things,” he said. “I want to learn about going beyond the lines and being different.” Haddad is pleased that the course is being offered for a second time and that students of a variety of majors are taking interest. “Regardless of the type of job, you can always try to contribute to the big picture, even with little actions,” Haddad said. “Taking a class like this, you will always remember that you can open opportunities to people who are left behind.” The class, CRP 460X, is held every Monday and Wednesday afternoon this semester, and it will be offered again in the spring of 2015, taught by Rongerude.

GSB proposes new residence facilities By William.Dyke @iowastatedaily.com The co-advisor for InterResidence Hall Association, Pete Englin, spoke to the Government of the Student Body Wednesday to discuss plans involving residence halls and dining facilities. “Pete’s here, and I imagine he might talk about a new residence hall … it was pretty exciting news, especially when it’s in conjunction with a new dining facility in Friley Hall,” said GSB President Spencer Hughes while introducing Englin. Englin said that the demands for student housing has exceeded capacity. Iowa State expects to have at least 6,000 freshmen Fall 2014. “The challenge will be to get it done and get it done quickly,” Englin said. Englin said living oncampus has benefits compared to living off-campus. “In the residence halls alone, we have over 1,600 students, nearly a quarter of the total population, in leadership roles,” Englin said. He said some of the outcomes of living on campus include a higher GPA, learning communities, social integration, higher goal commitments and more academic engagement compared to students off-campus. With the increasing student population, the Department of Residence does not want to turn away students that want to live on-campus. Last year, students were housed in the residence hall dens due to a lack of space. Sen. Alex Knee asked about the students living in the residence hall dens. “They love it, they like it,

but we also want them to experience success the same as other students,” Englin said. He also said that not everyone in the residence halls was thrilled. Englin showed statistics indicating students living in dens not doing as well academically in 2009, when compared to off-campus students, and only this past fall reaching a similar level of academic success. The IRHA has been working to improve ISU residence hall life, which includes the Internet connections. “The newest technology is 900 megabites … the problem is, the signal doesn’t go out as far in our buildings,” Englin said. “There’s currently 796 APs [access points] in our residence halls and Frederickson [Court] that we currently support. We are adding a thousand to intersperse among those.” In addition to adding more access points for better Internet connection, a big concern of students on campus, Englin gave details as to the costs for renovating the residence halls. Bathrooms would cost $2.5 million, windows $12 million, heating and cooling $20 million and furniture for Friley would be $2.2 million. Englin also discussed plans for a new residence hall near Buchanan, which would contain 700 new beds, though details were still being finalized. Englin also mentioned contracting with off-campus locations to accommodate rising enrollment. “We have a unique opportunity to do things that make this place more possible so more students will persist and be more successful,” Englin said.


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