Friday, October 28, 2016 | Volume 212 | Number 49 | 40 cents | iowastatedaily.com | An independent student newspaper serving Iowa State since 1890.
Marmalade
the Therapy Dog
Shih-poo brightens students’ day during therapy sessions By David.Perrin @iowastatedaily.com
O
ne hour per session, two sessions a week — Marmalade joins the students on campus to lower stress and learn to enjoy education as much as possible. So, who is Marmalade? Marmalade’s a 4-year-old Shih Tzu poodle mix —otherwise known as a Shih-poo — from the small city of Villalba, Puerto Rico, and she is of the upmost education. Marmalade has acquired the high honor of earning the Canine Good Citizen and Community Canine obedience titles with the American Kennel Club. “She [Marmalade] took the Canine Good Citizen Test,” said Stephanie Peters, Marmalade’s trainer and owner. “The test measures things like: ‘Do you like to be petted?’, and ‘Do you like to be surrounded by a group of people and petted all at once?,’ and things like that,” said Stephanie Peters, Marmalade’s trainer and owner. When students leave sessions with Marmalade, they aren’t able to forget the time with any ease. “It was the happiest hour of my life,” said a student visiting with Marmalade during one of the Friday sessions. Iowa State’s therapy dog sessions are so young — Marmalade has been visiting campus for merely three weeks, and the Student Counseling Services’ plans
are for her to visit at least for the remainder of the semester. The initial idea for the sessions was so students could stop in unannounced and spend half an hour or so with Marmalade the Therapy Dog. The sessions are relaxing, fun and ohso memorable. The “emotional support dropin” sessions are just that; Student Counseling Services wants students to be able to come in without an appointment and spend time with a support animal that they would otherwise have no access to whatsoever. And, to be completely honest, everybody starts to miss their pets from back home, whether they like to admit it or not. Marmalade’s most recent home — before Ames — was in Boston, but after her owners decided to make a move, the Ames community became her new domain. “She and her husband [Stephanie and Nick Peters] are registered therapy pet handlers,” said Courtney Clippert-Treadwell, SCS outreach coordinator. “They have recently moved to Ames, and she was really wanting get connected with the Ames community and the campus community and see if maybe Megan Mojeiko/Iowa State Daily
MARMALADE p3
Marmalade is a 4-yearold Shih-poo therapy dog that spends time with students on Iowa State’s campus twice a week.
TIME author sheds light on troll culture By Jake.Dalbey @iowastatedaily.com
In today’s growing digital society, the idea of a troll no longer originates as a deformed beast obsessing over riddles under a welltraveled bridge. Instead they inhabit social media platforms, news site message boards and even the current season of “South Park.” Not as basement dwellers but functioning members of society who form a Jekyll and Hyde relationship with the internet. Joel Stein, author of the TIME magazine cover story “Why We’re Losing the Internet to a Culture of Hate, addressed the psychology of trolling and commented on his own personal experiences with online hatred as part of the “Age of Trolls” lecture Thursday night. Stein quickly differentiated be-
tween the many types of trolls by highlighting those who don’t simply just prank others for a laugh but rather harass others either through public information doxing, or even violent threats. To express this point, Stein shared some of the many tweets aimed toward his personal account, many of which opposed the content found within his TIME article. These included anti-semitic remarks toward his Jewish heritage, as well as memes depicting Holocaust references. The public shaming of Ghostbusters actress Leslie Jones, more specifically racist remarks toward her casting decision, was also used to show the magnitude at which trolling can achieve. Stein said 5.6 percent of the entire internet user base identifies as a troll, prompting debate over why exactly people can turn nasty when
placed behind a keyboard. Through his research, Stein was able to isolate behavioral traits that define most trolls, including narcissism, psychopathy and selfish tendencies. After interviewing infamous online troll and British journalist Milo Yiannopoulos, Stein discovered what he described as “the game of trolling.” It is a mental game of numbers in which trolls can directly see how many people they reach. “A troll sees every interaction online as a game,” Stein said. ”This is pretty easy for them to do since on social media everything has a like or a comment ability, so you can see numerically how you are doing in this game.” From a troll’s perspective, what they see as normal things to enjoy, such as violent video games, are oppressed by left-wing social justice warriors. Therefore, they feel
obliged to act out and call anyone who opposes them, blaming their attackers for acting hurt after being harassed. Stein compares this logic shared by Yiannopoulos and other self-proclaimed trolls to a game of basketball. “Like basketball, the troll is always trash talking, trying to get someone to foul him, but the social justice warrior is yelling at the ref and then flopping,” Stein said. Despite the issues raised by those who deliberately troll and identify as such, Stein sees those who lead a normal lifestyle such as a doctor being more harmful to the overall effect of online harassment. This is due to what psychologists call the online disinhibition effect, a series of mental cues that eliminate many of the feelings that would keep citizens from trolling others to their faces in public. Although Stein agrees that the
use of anonymity online can lead to good purposes such as allowing women in domestic abuse relationships the opportunity to tell their story, ultimately it is one of the elements that contributes to this effect. Along with this is the absence of an internet authority figure, not having a conversation in real time or being able to have empathy for a Twitter profile picture. Attempting to get rid of all 5.6 percent of internet trolls is a feat that Stein does see as unlikely, however, he did provide several options to deal with abuse. “Don’t feed a troll; it’s not a dude under a bridge that is scaring people,” Stein said. ”As a term it originally came from ‘trolling,’ which involved throwing a net into the ocean behind a boat and seeing what you caught. If you don’t react then they will move on.”
ISU Police investigate white heritage posters By Alex.Connor @iowastatedaily.com Iowa State police are investigating posters found on campus early Thursday with messages of white heritage and are asking for help to find more information. About 20 posters were found, according to an email from Iowa State administrators. The signs included messages such as “white students you are not alone be proud of your heritage,” and “In 1950 America was 90 percent white, it is now only 60 percent white. Will you become a minority in your own country?” Deputy Chief Carrie Jacobs, who leads investigations with ISU PD, said they believe the posters were hung up between midnight and 6 a.m. early Thursday. Jacobs asked if anyone sees post-
ers or has any information to call police. The signs were reported to police by the custodial staff at about 4 a.m. Thursday and are currently being removed if more are found. Iowa State administrators sent an email to the Iowa State community Thursday morning, saying the posters were removed and violated university policy. “These posters also depict historical references or messages that could evoke feelings of bias or racism. It is our understanding that several universities around the country have recently discovered similar posters on their campuses... As members of the Cyclone Family, we must remain committed to working together toward a more inclusive, respectful and accepting campus.” Similar posters were found on
the University of Iowa campus last week, which administrators denounced as “deeply offensive,” The Cedar Rapids Gazette reported. The Iowa State Police Department can be reached at (515) 2944428. Student Government President Cole Staudt said he has told his cabinet members that if they see a poster, they should take it down. “I’m glad to see [the administration is] on top of it this time,” Staudt said, adding that he felt the administration was slow to respond after the poster ripping at the 2015 Cy-Hawk game. “Bigger picture, something we can’t accomplish overnight is how do we expose our students to different points of view.” Staudt said the posters were “disturbing” and “inappropriate” and meant to spark tension, adding that
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Police are investigating posters hung up around campus like the one above, which was found early Thursday at Hamilton Hall.
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