Monday, Oct. 5, 2015 | Volume 211 | Number 29 | 40 cents | iowastatedaily.com | An independent student newspaper serving Iowa State since 1890.
Chinese students feel burden By Jake.Dalbey @iowastatedaily.com After the wake of a recent exchange rate increase, the Chinese yuan has become devalued in the United States, causing a stir of questioning among international Chinese students at Iowa State. The exchange rate from the yuan to the dollar was approxi-
mately 6.2 in late July, meaning ¥6.2 is equal to one U.S. dollar. The rate has now increased to about ¥6.37, creating a difference of ¥.17. This number may seem inconsequential, but to some international students from China, this amount is cause for alarm. “In early August, everyone on my Chinese version of Facebook [was] talking about the
exchange rate,” said Hanxiao Hu, president of the Chinese Students and Scholars Association. ”I was panicking a little bit, as well as people I knew and my parents, because we didn’t know if we should transfer our money to the bank before school [in August] or wait until the exchange rate went down.”
CURRENCY p4
Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
The exchange rate from the Chinese yuan to the U.S. dollar is about ¥6.37 yuan, which is about ¥.17 more than the exchange rate was in late July.
Consent is everything Today’s society blurs clear concept
consent
1. to permit, approve, or agree; comply or yield (often followed by to or an infinitive)
By Alex.Connor @iowastatedaily.com Editor’s note: This stories is the beginning of a series on sexaul assault that will focus on issues related to Iowa State’s sexual assault climate survey released in September.
I
t’s as simple as asking someone if they would like a cup of tea. If they say no, then you don’t pursue it, you don’t coerce them into drinking the tea. If they say yes, then you give them the tea. They consented to the activity. They are not obligated to finish the tea, and they do not have to drink the tea if they change their mind. You
wouldn’t force someone to drink tea. This is the example that Blue Seat Studios posted on YouTube to define consent. It explained that consent is as simple as tea, and that if people can understand when someone does or does not want tea, then they should also be able to understand when someone does or does not want to participate in sexual activities. Blue Seat Studios ended the video with the statement, “Consent is everything.” The video, which aims to simplify and educate others on sexual assault and consent, walks the viewer through different scenarios in which consent must always be understood. CONSENT p8
LGBTQ shines light on its community Iowa State hosts Coming Out Week on campus
By Christine.Hopkins @iowastatedaily.com This week commemorates all of the people who have decided to come out or identify with the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer community. “This is really the week to be proud, and for some folks, this is where they finally come out of the closet,” Queer* Graduate Student Association chair and LGBT Student Services Center graduate volunteer Dan Carney said. Coming Out Week at Iowa State leads to National Coming Out Day, which has been celebrated Oct. 11 for nearly 30 years. Nearly 600,000 people on that date in 1987 joined the March on Washington for lesbian and gay rights. The march made themselves visible to not only those in Washington, but to the world. Brad Freihoefer, director of the LGBT Student Services Center, said the center’s staff also works to ensure that people who identify outside the LGBT spectrum are included in the Coming Out Week events. “There are certain nuances in the coming out process for trans
Iowa State Daily
Ben Duran, senior in animal science, and Angela Dunkin draw a rainbow-colored kite on the sidewalk by the Campanile as part of LGBT Pride Week on April 20, 2014. The LGBTQ community is hosting Coming Out Week this week at Iowa State.
students that we want to keep in mind,” Freihoefer said. “Our staff [is] aware when we talk with students about those things, and [we include] those in the planning process.” Several LGBTQ groups on campus will host events open to the ISU community during the week. The LGBT Faculty and Staff Association (LGBT FSA) will host brown-bag talks, or bring your own lunch, from 12 to 1 p.m. Monday and Wednesday in 1737 Lagomarcino Hall. Nicci Port, chair of LGBT FSA, said these meetings are a
great opportunity for faculty and staff to get involved with the organization. “The whole membership of the FSA is invited to come to the lunch and hear about the things that we’ve done in the last year,” Port said. “We [also] want to talk to them about open leadership positions that we have. So we’re kind of using it as, come out, and then become a leader … don’t just become a member.” Pride Summit, the collection of all of the LGBTQ student groups, LGBT FSA and the LGBT Student Services Center will host a Coming Out Week kickoff event
from 4:30 to 6:15 p.m. Tuesday in room 185 of State Gym. The first part of the event, from 4:15 p.m. to 5:00 p.m., allows students to speak with representatives from the different LGBT groups on campus and learn about their unique missions. Members of a panel will tell their coming out stories and then take questions from 5 to 6:15 p.m. Carney said students with less “politically correct” questions can take this opportunity to ask any question they want without offending the panelists. Three additional organizations on campus will host Coming Out Week events Wednesday. The LGBT Student Services Center will facilitate its regular Safe Zone 101 training from 1:30 to 4:30 p.m., which is open to faculty, staff and graduate students. The training will consist of education about LGBT issues and scenario-based examples for participants to work through. Registration is open until Tuesday through the LGBT Student Services Center’s website. Gamma Rho Lambda will host an informational session, “The Rest of the Alphabet: Genderqueer” from 6 to 7:30 p.m. in 232 Carver. This event continues its “Rest of the Alphabet” series about gender and sexual identities. The LGBTA Alliance will have its annual Coming Out Weekthemed meeting from 7:30 to 9
p.m. in 268 Carver, where participants can share their coming out stories in a safe and confidential environment. “There’s something special about being in a room with other LGBTIAQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transexual, Intersex, Asexual and Queer) folks because that’s sometimes an opportunity you don’t always have,” Carney said. “You might feel as though you’re the only person who identifies that [way] in your lecture hall of 400 people, and to find out that you’re not alone is, I think, the best feeling for students.” The Workspace at the Memorial Union will facilitate a rainbow necklace craft activity from Monday to Sunday. The ISU community can walk in during the Workspace’s open hours during the week to participate. Freihoefer said the goal of the week, highlighted by the kickoff, is to increase awareness about what coming out is and why some people might feel more comfortable coming out than others. “ W e h o p e t ha t th e w e e k brings awareness to [the coming out] journey, which is why we’re doing some of the events like the panel, to give some real-deal experiences,” Freihoefer said. More information about ISU Coming Out Week events can be found online on the LGBT Student Services Center and Pride Summit calendars.