Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2015 | Volume 211 | Number 46 | 40 cents | iowastatedaily.com | An independent student newspaper serving Iowa State since 1890.
A JUGGLING ACT
Council approves housing meeting By Christie.Smith @iowastatedaily.com
Students balance taking care of children, keeping up with classes By Christie.Smith @iowastatedaily.com
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efore 8 a.m. lectures started, Kristen Wall dressed and fed three children, sent two of them to school, took one to daycare and caught a bus to campus. Wall, 32-year-old junior in biology, is one of 36,001 ISU students this year. She’s also one of the 26 percent of college students in the United States who are jug-
gling being a parent and going to school. “It’s not really common to have a parent that’s a student — an undergrad especially — at a university,” Wall said. “I always had it in my head that if you have kids, you can’t go to a university, you’re stuck at a community college.” According to a study by the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, student parents represent 15 percent of all undergraduate students.
Wall, who graduated from Ames High School, moved to Tennessee after high school for a change of scenery. Without anyone in her family pressuring her to get an education, Wall didn’t think of college as a priority. Wall got married, had two sons and spent seven years as a homemaker before her world was uprooted; her husband left, and she was suddenly a single mother with no earning potential.
PARENTS p4
Charlie Coffey/Iowa State Daily
Adam Linderblood, graduate student in supply chain and information systems, left, and Kelsie Linderblood, senior in biology, sit with their children in a classroom. The Linderbloods have been juggling the troubles that come with raising three children while also committing to the long hours that are required to succeed in college.
Club rubs elbows with Warren Buffett By Travis.Charlson @iowastatedaily.com A few ISU students had the opportunity of a lifetime earlier this month — picking the brain of business magnate Warren Buffett. A total of 20 students from the Economics Club met in Omaha, Neb., with seven other universities from across the nation at Berkshire Hathaway headquarters, the company that Buffett serves as CEO, president and chairman of the board. The trip included a two-hour Q&A session with Buffet, a tour of Nebraska Furniture Mart and lunch with the famous investor. “It was a big deal that Iowa State got to go,” said Locky Catron, senior in agricultural business. “There were a lot of MBAs there, so for a group of undergrads
from Iowa State to go was a really big deal.” The trip was two years in the making, said Hieu Nguyen, senior in finance and president of the Economics Club. Two years ago, an adviser gave Nguyen a pass to attend Berkshire Hathaway’s annual shareholders meeting. “What is a Berkshire, and who is this Warren Buffett?” Nguyen said, recounting what he previously knew of the billionaire investor. “After that first year, I knew that this was something I wanted the club to attend every year.” After doing his research and attending the shareholder’s meeting, Nguyen was determined. He, along with the vice president of the club, started writing letters to Buffett and his secretary, asking if they could attend one of Buffett’s Q&As for students. This landed
them on a waiting list along with 200 other schools. When the call from Buffett’s secretary came months later, Nguyen and the Economics Club jumped at the opportunity. Warren Buffett is one of the most successful investors of the 20th century and, according to Forbes, the second richest man in America. Despite vast amounts of wealth and his business savvy, he is noted as being personable and philanthropic. “He’s a very friendly and humble person,” Catron said. “At lunch I sat right across from him. We talked, and we had root beer floats.” Catron pointed out that the only major difference between a lifestyle like hers and the billionaire’s is the way in which they traveled — Buffett uses a private jet to get around.
“He lives in a simple house. He eats at McDonalds and Dairy Queen. He’s just a simple living, frugal person,” Catron said. Nguyen said that it wasn’t his wealth or fame that made him admire Buffett but rather his knowledge and personal qualities. “He has such an amazing mind,” Nguyen said. “He can simplify any matter into layman’s terms.” Both Catron and Nguyen said one of the biggest things they learned from the trip was focus. One of the most important attributes to be successful, Buffett said, was to have focus. And there must be a passion to have focus. “[The trip] was a motivation to work on the skills I have, to keep going and strive to do my best, and [Buffett] really stressed the
BUFFETT p8
Ames City Council approved an affordable housing conference and discussed approval ratings of the Ames Municipal Airport update at a meeting Tuesday night. City Council voted unanimously to partner with A MidIowa Organizing Strategy and Iowa State to host a conference on creating affordable housing in Story County. Iowa State and the city of Ames have agreed to provide $5,000 each in funding for the conference and to provide staff members for the event planning committee. The Ames Convention and Visitors Bureau will also provide conference-planning assistance. A Mid-Iowa Organizing Strategy said the conference will focus on affordable housing solutions for low and moderateincome earners living in Story County. City Council has said that creating affordable housing options in Ames is a priority. The conference is scheduled for March 29 at the Scheman Building on Iowa State’s campus. City Council also discussed results of the annual Ames Residential Satisfaction Survey. More than 1,300 city residents and 1,200 ISU students were randomly selected to participate in the survey. ISU students completed 40 percent of the returned surveys. Many of the responses on items such as funding for CyRide or fire protection were consistent with past surveys; a majority of respondents were in favor of continuing the same level of funding that is currently in place. A new item, however, was introduced to the survey with a somewhat unexpected result, the city said. The city added a question about support for funding the Ames Municipal Airport. Approximately 75 percent of respondents said the airport was “somewhat or very unimportant.” “This airport’s approval rating is tied with Richard Nixon’s approval rating in August 1974, the month he resigned,” said Councilman Matthew Goodman. The $2.9 million airport update plan includes a new terminal and hangar not only to attract corporate flights but also to provide updated facilities for ISU flight students. The council said it needs additional time to consider the results of the survey and will address them at a later meeting.
Scholarship program offers domestic violence survivors path to success By Alex.Connor @iowastatedaily.com A woman is assaulted or beaten every nine seconds in the United States. During their lives, 1 in 3 women and 1 in 4 men will be victims of some form of physical violence by an intimate partner; on an average day more than 20,000 phone calls are placed to the domestic violence hotlines nationwide, according to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence. There is no sugarcoating domestic violence, which is violent or aggressive behavior that typically involves the abuse of a spouse or partner. Domestic abuse victims will suffer economically, mentally and all too often physically because of the abuse they have faced from their partner. This abuse, when perpetrated against
women, will go unreported to the police 75 percent of the time. Even though October is coming to an end, and with it Domestic Violence Awareness Month, the discussions and assistance surrounding the abuse at hand do not. However, the domestic violence that these men and women face does not end. The Iowa Coalition Against Domestic Violence, celebrating its 30th anniversary this past September, will be offering more scholarships than ever before through the Alice Barton Scholarship Program, which provides assistance to domestic abuse survivors wishing to move on with their education and careers. “The Alice Barton Scholarship Program is an opportunity for survivors of domestic violence to help empower their future,” said Lindsay Pingel, director of community engagement for the coalition. The program will offer 35
survivors of domestic violence $1,000 scholarships that can be used towards tuition, books, school supplies, childcare or housing. “The one [scholarship] that we are currently taking applications for [is for] winter 2016,” Pingel said. “It’s the most we’ve ever given out, and really it’s because this is our fifth year since we’ve started this program.” Over the course of the past five years, the program has allocated $200,000 to its recipients. According to the coaliation’s website, the program “[enables] victims to gain new knowledge and skills” while “[helping] victims increase their self-confidence, find better employment and achieve economic independence. Pingel said that once the scholarship is given out, the communication doesn’t always end. “We have survivors who we work with that have applied for
this scholarship, and, just the things that they tell us on how it has given them confidence to move forward with their lives and their college education — it’s really empowering,” Pingel said. Pingel further said that seeing the cycle of abuse, watching a survivor come in at their lowest point and then evolve into their own self, knowing they are happy, healthy and safe, is a beautiful thing to watch. “All of these doors have opened up for them that in one time in their life they probably didn’t even think was possible,” Pingel said. For domestic abuse survivors, removing themselves from the cycle and from the perpetrator may be the hardest thing they may ever have to do. By doing so, opportunities like the Alice Barton Scholarship Program will act as a stepping stone toward a
TRIVIA
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VIOLENCE p8
Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
Domestic violence affects 1 in 3 women and 1 in 4 men in the United States.
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