Issuu

Our Fair Lady

Courtesy of Iowa State

Ghina Alameen, began having work permit issues in September.

Professor’s work visa approved By Tara Larson @iowastatedaily.com

Josh Newell/Iowa State Daily

Mary McBirnie has served as the office manager for Iowa State’s Student Government, formerly Government of the Student Body, for 25 years, acting as coordinator and adviser for the student leaders over the years. She is a consistent, friendly mentor for many of the students.

‘Fair Lady of Democracy’ celebrates 25 years with Iowa State By Michaela Ramm @iowastatedaily.com

he Fair Lady of Democracy reigns justly over her kingdom — the West Student Office Space in the Memorial Union, that is. The Fair Lady, which is what some students call her, works behind the scenes at arguably the most influential student organization on campus. “You get to meet different people, and it’s not like a regular job where you’re stuck with the same boss for 20 years,” said Mary McBirnie, office manager for Student Government. Her bosses, on average, range in their mid-20s. “This is how I’ve lasted this long,” she said. “No matter how bad it gets, I know in a year I’ll get a new boss.” McBirnie recently marked her 25th year at Iowa State in August. She is not your typical staff member at the university; technically, she’s not a secretary, nor an advisor or director. Instead, she works with one student organization and completes roles that go above and beyond her pay grade.

The woman McBirnie can be identified in many ways, including her typical greeting of “Hello, hello, hello!” McBirnie has officially served as the office manager for Student Government for 25 years, watching generations of student leaders come and go. Unofficially, she works with the executive members and senators, and provides help for their endeavors. Their appreciation is evident in various small ways. In her office, tucked in a nook in the West Student Office Space of the Memorial Union, are several pictures of students in various athletic gear. Last year, Abhijit Patwa, former member of Student Government and senior in mechanical engineering, said there was an active effort for members of Student Government to do something outside of the meetings. So, they decided on intramurals and named teams after McBirnie. “I think it tells you something about her when we decided to name all of our teams ‘McBirnie,’” he said. Some of these teams included McBirnie’s Interns, McBirnie’s Runners and McBirnie Flag Footballers.

“I barely knew her, but it didn’t take long for her to start joking with me and asking me things about my family, or what’s it like to be an international student here,” Patwa said. She makes the job a little brighter, said Student Government President Dan Breitbarth. He said he spends more time with McBirnie than he does with anyone else in Student Government. “What I really appreciate about [McBirnie] is that I laugh with her every day,” he said. “Between [McBirnie] and I, we always have something to laugh or joke about. It makes my day that much better.” Patwa said he met McBirnie a few years ago, when he was a sophomore on the International Student Council. “I introduced myself, and she said, ‘Now you’ll have to explain your name because I want to get it right,’” Patwa said. “So she took a few attempts and she actually made the effort to learn it and she said, ‘Now what’s an easy way to learn it because I’m an old lady.’ So she calls me ‘A.B.’ now, which is what most of my friends do.” Taking on the job McBirnie was born in Boone in 1947 and graduated from Iowa

State with a degree in elementary education. However, she said after a couple times substitute teaching, she found she didn’t enjoy it at all. “It wasn’t my cup of tea,” she said. She went on to raise her two children, now 47 and 45, with her husband of 50 years, William McBirnie. It wasn’t until 1990 that she went into the job market and applied at Iowa State. However, McBirnie came upon the position of office manager by happenstance. She applied for a position at Iowa State, and every applicant took a typing test. Their scores were passed onto departments with openings. Her name was passed on, and she got the position in August 1990. “I enjoyed working with all of the students, which is what you have to,” she said. “You have to enjoy it to stick around.” The job itself “After 25 years, I’ve got this down pat,” McBirnie said. “Nothing too exciting about this job, but that just comes from me being here for a long time. It all comes with years of experience,” she said.

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Street preachers return to campus By Charlie.Coffey @iowastatedaily.com Groups of students gathered in the free-speech zone outside Parks Library Monday afternoon as Campus Ministry USA, a group of street preachers, visited Iowa State for the second time this year. The group, led by Brother Jed Smock, travels to the United States to engage in conversations with students on college campuses. The group’s purpose “is to declare the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the college and university students of America and the world,” according to its website.

Students gathered around the preachers between classes, some passing through and some sticking around to listen to the conversations. Some listened while others gave feedback, both positive and negative. Nicholas Bitz, junior in electrical engineering, stepped out of the crowd to engage with Sister Kirsten, one of Jed’s assistants, about homosexuality. “Once in a while I’ll rile them when I walk by,” Bitz said. “I feel like some of these people have to be kidding.” When asked about the negative feedback, Brother Jed responded with optimism.

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Charlie Coffey/Iowa State Daily Sister Pat of Campus Ministry USA speaks to students at the free-speech zone Monday.

After months of eagerly waiting, Ghinwa Alameen finally received some good news. Alameen, lecturer in world languages and cultures, lost her ability to work in the United States in September because of work permit issues. She applied for a renewal in February and heard nothing for about eight months, when the process is usually only two to three months. Alameen was notified Oct. 21 that her work visa had been approved and she resumed Monday, taking on all of her classes she taught at the beginning of the semester. Her students and the university worked to help her return to teaching, and Iowa senators also played a key role. “We have used all the means that we are legally allowed,” said Beate Schmittmann, dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. “We reached out to Sens. Grassley and Ernst, and I want to give them a big thank you for their efforts.” Alameen is also glad to be returning, she said. “I am very thankful for all the help and support I received from my students, university officials and colleagues and our senators, especially the office of Sen. Ernst,” Alameen said. Alameen also said Ernst’s office did more serious investigation and follow-up in her case. Schmittmann said international students and staff can have issues with immigration and said she believes that this type of problem cannot always be avoided. An immigrant herself, Schmittmann said there are complex rules with reissuing visas, such as specific windows of time that are allowed to take submissions. “[Alameen] did all the right things,” Schmittmann said. “This is really nobody’s fault, certainly not her fault.” Alameen and university staff are not the only ones feeling anxious for her return. Students are also excitedly awaiting her arrival back to campus. “I’m totally overjoyed to have her back at ISU,” said Emily Bannantine, sophomore in political science and one of Alameen’s students. “For a while there it was starting to look pretty hopeless.” “Everyone is thrilled to have professor Alameen back,” Benzoni said and that his “deepest gratitude” goes to Ailin, “who had the courage and perseverance to step up...in Alameen’s absence. She’s really the unspoken hero of this story.”

Cadets talk bystander intervention with fraternity By Alex.Connor @iowastatedaily.com The men of Alpha Tau Omega afternoon learned more about bystander intervention when it comes to sexual assault in a scenario-based open discussion on Sunday afternoon. The discussion was led by the three AROTC cadets involved with the Cadets Against Sexual Harassment/Assault program. The program was introduced last year and allows the cadets to better educate others on sexual assault awareness.

Alex Connor/Iowa State Daily

AROTC cadets have a photo taken with Alpha Tau Omega fraternity members Sunday. The cadets talked to the members about bystander intervention.

“Our biggest thing is that we want them to understand what being a bystander [is] and how to intervene,” said Aleczander Mar-

tys, sophomore in construction engineering. “So we’re trying to make them leaders in this. What we talk about is understanding

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the situation and then being able to address that situation properly.” Every AROTC cadet must go through an MVP training, which is a two-day course that informs the cadets about sexual assault and violence on campuses and walks them through examples and scenarios that they can use to inform others and be proactive in helping prevent future assaults. “It’s a different way to teach sexual assault and sexual harassment,” Martys said. Opening with a slideshow, Martys and Anna Hopkins, senior in biology, began the discussion

that highlighted the four steps it takes to be an active bystander, which include taking notice of the situation, interpreting it as a problem, feeling responsible to deal with the situation and possessing the necessary skills to act. They then displayed a pyramid of violence: racist/sexist and obscene jokes are at the bottom, sexual or verbal assaults and threats are in the middle and murder is at the top. This pyramid highlights that making sexual jokes promotes normalizing violence.

DISCUSSION p8

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