11.5.15 by Iowa State Daily

Senators discuss Iowa’s needs to battle human trafficking By Danielle.Ferguson @iowastatedaily.com

Iowa State Daily

Ron Paul supporters cheer at party after the Texas representative’s third-place finish at the Iowa Republican Caucus on Jan. 3, 2012.

LEGACY OF LEADERSHIP Caucuses fulfill same function, different process By Shannon.McCarty @iowastatedaily.com

owans are leaders in many areas, most notably for their prowess in picking out world leaders during the Iowa Caucus. The caucus became the national spectacle it is today in 1976, when littleknown Jimmy Carter surprised everyone by winning it. “The thing that really put the Iowa Caucuses on the map was almost accidental,” said Mack Shelley, professor of political science. Carter actually finished second behind uncommitted votes, but it was enough to put his name in the forefront of the 1976 presidential campaign. Carter went on to win the White House that November. “That made everybody in the media and within both parties start to pay more attention to the Iowa Caucuses,” Shelley said. The Iowa Caucus used to be a smaller and almost insignificant event without many serious conversations, Shelley said. In the late ‘60s and early ‘70s, a grass-

roots movement took place to change and democratize the process of both electing people to go on to the national convention, as well as discussing resolutions. The cause of this was the 1968 Democratic Party National Convention in Chicago, when opposition of the Vietnam War was at its height. Outside the convention, people were demonstrating for anti-war resolutions to be passed by delegates. The demonstrators were beaten and arrested by Chicago police, causing a large amount of negative media coverage for the Democratic Party. With the stain of the police riots, the Democrats lost the White House to Richard Nixon in 1968. Those against the war wanted to make sure something similar never happened again, which gave birth to the first modern Democratic caucus in 1972. Iowa set itself apart from every other state in 1972 by being the first state to caucus at the start of the year. By 1976, both parties in Iowa were hosting larger caucuses, with more people participating and more issues being discussed. Because each party is responsible for organizing and running its own caucus, each party has a different process. Democratic voters have a much more public process. Attendees of the Iowa Democratic

Caucus align themselves with their preferred candidate and form preference groups. During the forming of presidential preference groups, attendees can choose to declare themselves as uncommitted. After the first round of groups have been formed, the supporters in the groups with the least support realign with a more supported candidate. “The realignment process allows attendees to join another group, or acquire more people into a group in order to become more ‘viable,’” said Josh Levitt, the Iowa Democratic Party’s press secretary. Once all of the preference groups are considered to be viable, county delegates are elected by each group’s members. The winner of the caucus is the candidate who receives the most delegates elected to the county. After the completion of the presidential preference, Democratic caucusgoers elect Democratic Party precinct leaders. These precinct leaders are responsible for leading party-building efforts. “The Iowa caucuses on the Democratic side are important not just for presidential preference, but for party building, identifying local leaders and ensuring that people have the opportunity to have their voice heard,” Levitt said. Shelley said this is one reason the

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Same vaccines for international students, steeper timeline By Jake.Dalbey @iowastatedaily.com For international students, the flu shot isn’t the only vaccine they received this year. As flu season comes into full swing this fall, vaccines and health checkups are common occurrences among students as noses begin to drip and coughs become louder than ever. The flu vaccine isn’t where it stops for international students,

at least not the first time they enter the country. Although the vaccine process for foreign students may seem extensive, in reality this couldn’t be further from the truth; it just happens on a slanted timeline compared with U.S. natives. “All students, regardless of country of origin, [should] receive the flu vaccine,” said Kelly Frizzell, registered nurse of the Thielen Student Health Center. “There is virtually no difference

between shots required for international students versus native students.” Upon arrival at Iowa State, international students must undergo a traditional doctor’s visit similar to a normal physical for young adults, as well as receive the required vaccinations. These shots include immunizations for the flu, measles and meningitis.

VACCINES p3

Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons

Flu vaccines are highly encouraged for all students at Iowa State, no matter what country they are from.

MacKay Hall sign stolen By Michael.Murrell @iowastatedaily.com The ISU Police Department is investigating the theft of the historical MacKay Hall sign at Iowa State. Authorities say the sign was stolen sometime between Aug. 25 and Oct. 23. ISU Police currently does not have any suspects, which is why it has decided to turn to the public for help. “One of the reasons we want-

ed to put this information out there on social media, as well as contacting other news sources, is because the most important thing is getting the sign back,” said Carrie Jacobs, deputy chief with ISU Police. Jacobs said the MacKay Hall sign was part of the original building built in 1911 that it is currently valued at about $2,000. That doesn’t count the historical value of the sign. Jacobs said construction in the area prevented the theft from being reported immediately be-

Charlie Coffey/Iowa State Daily

The 104-year-old McKay Hall sign has been missing since the beginning of the semester.

cause ISU Police was checking to see if the sign had been removed during construction. If students have any information about the missing sign

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they can contact ISU Police at the 24-hour dispatch number 515294-4428 or leave an anonymous tip at the Story County Crime Stoppers at 515-382-7577.

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The full extent as to how much human trafficking occurs, the victims it accumulates and the money it garners in Iowa is unknown. With the state lacking in resources and knowledge, hard facts and data is hard to come by. Speaker Kraig Paulsen, RHiawatha, and Sen. Kevin Kinney, D-Oxford, met with leaders of human trafficking advocate organizations from around the state Wednesday to discuss what Iowa needs in order to better tackle the issue of modern-day slavery. The meeting at the capitol included an update on Iowa’s human trafficking legislation, as well as reports from representatives of the Iowa Attorney General’s Office and the Department of Public Safety. Iowa Code chapter 710A defines human trafficking as “participating in a venture to recruit, harbor, transport, supply provisions or obtain a person ... for forced labor that results in involuntary servitude, peonage, debt bondage or slavery or commercial sexual activity through the use of fraud or coercion,” unless the trafficked person is under the age of 18, when the presence of force, fraud or coercion is not needed for the situation to be considered trafficking. Kinney, who served nearly 30 years as deputy for the Johnson County Sheriff’s Department before taking office, said he has “seen firsthand what this does to people.” Representatives from the Legislative Services Agency shared background on Iowa’s human trafficking laws and updated the group on current legislation. Senate File 510 makes human trafficking a felony, a new feat. The bill, signed by the governor in June, also adds to the victim compensation fund to “train participants to recognize and report incidents of human trafficking and to suppress the demand that fosters exploitation of persons and leads to human trafficking.” A few suggestions provided to improve the way the state deals with trafficking included training law enforcement, prosecutors and legislators, increasing public awareness, allocating more funding into agencies to help victims and collect data, creating a statewide collaborative program and updating legislation to better prosecute buyers of commercial sex. Training law enforcement was one of the main points of discussion. There are some obvious signals of trafficking victims, but some groups of people who could intervene don’t know them, making the chances of helping a victim zip to zero, said Roxann Ryan with the Department of Public Safety. Curt Henderson of the Iowa State Patrol admitted he was once, “one of those officers who thought trafficking wasn’t a huge issue” and law enforcement hasn’t always been the most willing to get “on board,” when it comes to training or investigating into trafficking. “I have come to believe law enforcement needs to become the lead [in combating trafficking],” Henderson said, but that no law enforcement agency in the state is “adequately staffed.” Tom Ferguson with the Attorney General’s Office shared with the group information about a statewide program attempting to challenge the state’s prosecutors to focus on best practices of pre-trial, investigation and the actual trial, including how to best support the survivor during the process. “Most prosecutors across the state aren’t as knowledgeable about human trafficking victims,” he said. “Who is at risk? What are the forms of it? Warning signs? Where are resources available?” Teresa Downing-Matibag, director of the Iowa Network Against Human Trafficking and lecturer of sociology at Iowa State, shared an update of the network’s work, which included training foster

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