Thursday, Oct. 2, 2014 | Volume 210 | Number 28 | 40 cents | iowastatedaily.com | An independent student newspaper serving Iowa State since 1890.
Charlie Coffey/Iowa State Daily
Kelsey Finn gets voted into an open Government of the Student Body position Wednesday in the Campanile Room of the Memorial Union.
Richard Martinez/Iowa State Daily
David Jiles, distinguished professor and chairman of electrical and computer engineering, has been elected to the Royal Academy of Engineering for his work with feromagnetic hysteresis. Hysteresis is the study of a system’s outputs based on current and past inputs.
‘A work in progress’ Professor elected to Royal Academy based on research By Emily.Samuelson @iowastatedaily.com David Jiles’ career has been a work in progress since he first discovered his love for physics as a 14-year-old in London. That love led to him being elected to the Royal Academy of Engineering this year. “[It’s] still a work in progress,” said Jiles, distinguished professor and chairman in electrical and computer engineering, in regard to his prestigious research. Jiles earned his Ph.D. from The University of Hull in Yorkshire, UK, in 1979. After working in New Zealand and Canada, Jiles brought his family to Ames in 1984 when offered a position at Iowa State. “[The position] basically de-
scribed everything I was doing at the time,” said Jiles. “I thought to myself, ‘Wow, that’s me!’” He transitioned to Iowa State, and published his first major research paper in 1986. His research attracted a lot of attention, but was not widely accepted. Jiles said he believes that this first piece of research was the most influential work he has done because it led him to his current research, which has received prestigious recognition. Jiles has a passion for his work. Since being encouraged by a friend to begin the Royal Academy of Engineering’s election process two years ago, he has worked diligently to verify his work. By the end of 2013, the meticulous verification process was completed. After months of silence on the subject, he received an envelope from the Royal Academy. As he sat with the envelope in his hands he recalled feeling unsure whether or not to open it.
“[If] I opened it, it had to go one way in the other,” said Jiles, “So in a way, I didn’t want to open it.” After mustering up the courage to open the letter, Jiles could proudly announce that he was elected to The Royal Academy of Engineering for his work with Ferromagnetic Hysteresis. Hysteresis is the study of a system’s outputs based on current and past inputs. Jiles’ study of Ferromagnetic Hysteresis explores parameters defining hysteresis in the theory of hysteresis. Parameters can be obtained from a collection of experimental magnetization measurements. To accept this award, Jiles and his wife will travel to the United Kingdom in November for his induction and an awards dinner. Jiles said the award is a testament his work, and inspires him to further his research and continue to work with others. Jiles, the Palmer Endowed De-
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Students react to deaths of two ISU students By Makayla.Tendall and Danielle.Ferguson @iowastatedaily.com It opens people’s eyes. Trae Harris, junior in journalism, reacted to the deaths of two Iowa State students like many others: with disbelief and distress. Two ISU students have been pronounced dead within a week, causing many students to grieve, whether they knew the deceased or not. Tong Shao, junior in chemical engineering, was pronounced dead after her body was found in the trunk of a car in Iowa City following a two week investigation after she was reported missing by friends. Another ISU student was pronounced dead when ISU Police were called to a University Village apartment around 6 p.m. Tuesday, after a roommate found the student unresponsive in the locked apartment. Jerry Stewart, director of the Department of Public Safety, said that while the student was deceased before police and medical personnel arrived, foul play is not suspected. Stewart said the DPS will not release the student’s name until the family is notified. While many students had not even heard of the second student death, they said Shao’s death is enough to send the ISU community reeling. “I just heard about the [University Village resident’s] death from [the Daily],” Har-
ris said. “I thought the death of Tong Shao was really crazy. That’s national news. It just shows that no matter where you are, even in Iowa, it’s not as safe [as you think].” He said news such as this should make students more aware of their surroundings. “It opens people’s eyes,” Harris said. “It makes people more aware of what’s really going on around campus and how short life can be.” The Chinese Students and Scholars Association has planned a memorial for Shao at 7 p.m. Friday on Central Campus. “Anybody who knew her, those people are not going to be able to think straight right now,” Miranda Redalen, freshman in open option, said about other international students who may be devastated by Shao’s death. “It’s going to affect their classwork and homework and exams that are going on right now.” Not only are students viewing Shao’s death as a tragedy, but they are also dealing with the unexpected death of another ISU student, a situation where the student’s roommate found the deceased. At Wednesday’s Government of Student Body meeting, senators had a moment of silence for both Shao and the recently deceased University Village student. “I just really want to encourage you to take care of your fellow students and take time to ask them how they’re doing,” GSB President Hillary Kletscher
told senators. It’s difficult, Rigo Perez, sophomore in English, said about coping with the death of a student. “There’s a certain atmosphere [to campus],” Perez said. Perez lived in Wilson Hall last year, where a student committed suicide in the basement. “Everyone was really scared to go down there,” he said. And he still lives in that residence hall. “I remember every time I go down there,” Perez said. All students who may need help with the grieving process are encouraged to visit Student Counseling Services. Services are free and completely confidential. Students walk in to schedule an appointment from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Thursday. Crisis appointments are available as need, said Tiffany Iskander, staff psychologist for Student Counseling Services. There are counselors who speak Chinese at Student Counseling Services for Chinese students who wish to talk through their grief, Iskander said. “When trauma or really sad and horrible things happen like the types of things that have happened, it’s really important to get support,” Iskander said. Talking about issues out loud to a psychologist can help people process through thoughts, she said. “It really helps them cope with their emotions, get some support, [learn] coping techniques and just know they’re
not alone,” Iskander said. Though some students may be hesitant or feel ashamed to seek services, Iskander said it’s important to take the step and recognize that those concerns are understandable but unnecessary. “I think that it does take a lot of courage to come to counseling,” Iskander said. “But I feel like the staff here does a really good job of normalizing that.” She said the center sees a lot of students and that the hesitance to talk to a counselor is not uncommon, “especially when something like this happens.” “I imagine that it can be hard for people, but nothing’s wrong with them and it’s actually quite brave to come in and seek help,” Iskander said. Having friends who are understanding and attending professional counseling create the ideal support system, Iskander said. “If you just know that this is affecting you and you think in any way it would be helpful to talk to someone, these people are really well trained to help through crisis situations,” Iskander said of the Staff and Student Counseling Services. Redalen said the tragedies have taught her a lesson beyond simply helping other ISU students and international students cope with grief. “A lot of people are going to realize that you don’t know when you’re going to die,” Redalen said. “Don’t live life like you’re going to live forever.”
GSB talks plan to increase financial literacy By Oscar.Alvarez @iowastatedaily.com Wednesday night’s Government of the Student Body meeting brought up discussions revolving around helping students with financial literacy, funding the Cultural Ambassadors Program and seating senators to a committee. Hillary Kletscher, president of the GSB, proposed working with the Office of Financial Aid to create the Student Loan Application Office. This office would help students by addressing whatever financial services are deemed needed by the student body, Kletscher said. “We [GSB and Office of Financial Aid] came to an agreement that we aren’t sure what extra services are necessarily needed by the student body, and taking services from the previous financial offices and just moving them over to a new office doesn’t necessarily mean we are meeting the needs of students,” Kletscher said. GSB plans to set up the new Student Loan Application Office by sending out a survey to the student body to ask them about what services they would like to see, what their needs truly are as well as host some focus groups with students. GSB did the first read of a bill to provide the Cultural Ambassadors Program with funding. If passed, this bill will fund the Cultural Ambassadors Program $2,540. The funding is broken down so that $2,320 goes to hourly student wages of $7.25 an hour for 320 hours a school year. Approximately 10 hours a week for 32 weeks, $170 will go to cultural training, group pairing orientation, whole group event, final banquet material boards, name tags, markers, certificates and activity material. The final $50 goes to promotional material which would be split $25 per semester. The second reading of the bill will take place at next week’s meeting. In other business, a senator was elected to represent the College of Human Sciences. Other senators were elected to the Diversity Committee, and the University Affairs Committee was elected a new chair. Also on the agenda was funding transportation for the Big 12 Conference. The conference, which will take place Nov. 13 through 16, will bring members from the student governments from all Big 12 schools to Iowa State. The bill is for a total of $2,064 that would be allocated from the Reserve Account. The money would go toward CyRide at a rate of $86 per hour for 24 hours a day. At next week’s meeting, GSB will meet with the Ames City Council to discuss issues that face both ISU and the Ames community. The purpose of the meeting is to create a better relationship between the two governing bodies.