Tuesday, Dec. 8, 2015 | Volume 211 | Number 69 | 40 cents | iowastatedaily.com | An independent student newspaper serving Iowa State since 1890.
Rape culture exhibit gets backlash Forum discusses controversial posters By Jake.Dalbey @iowastatedaily.com
in this presidential contest very, very seriously and responsibly,” O’Malley said. “If they’re extreme, it’s only that they’re extremely interested in our country’s future and their kids’ ability to enjoy a healthier, safer and more prosperous life.” In the wake of the San Bernardino shootings that killed 14 and injured another 17, O’Malley’s campaign has continued to aggressively push for new gun safety legislation. O’Malley has called for a wide array of new gun reforms, including universal background checks, creating a national registry to track firearms, closing certain loopholes that allow dangerous individu-
An open forum Monday planned to address several concerns over a recent rape culture exhibit that took place last week in the College of Design. Created by Samantha Barbour, a graduate student in graphic design, the exhibit was constructed to generate discussion among students as they passed the various posters. “The project was originally meant to change a behavior for one of my behavioral change classes, and I wanted it to become real,” Barbour said. “I started off testing how the images would appear to the public, so I took advertisements of women who were in suggestive positions of being raped or molested. I stuck them all over campus all semester and then now created this exhibit.” Various posters depicting women in positions of harm were shown at the exhibit, Barbour then removed the advertisements from each image, leaving only the woman for the viewer to see. “I added sticky notes to each poster for people to respond to and what happened was that people didn’t respond, so I didn’t think they were receiving the message,” Barbour said. “So I added back the actual advertisements with them and the victims and then it exploded. “Within two hours, I was receiving many emails on the exhibit.” Audiences not clearly receiving the exhibit’s message was one of the reasons Barbour felt there was a backlash toward the content. “What happened was that people actually missed the entire message because they were looking at it as wasted resources and cruel advertising, when in reality, it was supposed to be about the victims themselves,” Barbour said. “No one said that is was horrible what happened to the victim, but rather how horrible advertisers were.” Advertising is one of the main areas Barbour views as a detriment to the modern-day rape culture and the victims it creates. Ads from American Apparel and various beauty product manufacturers were shown at the exhibit. The ads were in addition to pop culture images that included photographs taken of Rihanna after being assaulted by Chris Brown. The use of social media in an ever-growing society is a cause for alarm for College of Design administrative specialist Linda Galvin, who attended the forum Monday and is a victim of sexual violence. “These posters weren’t shocking to me because I’ve seen them before,” Galvin said. “Maybe it’s out there and more visible because back in the ‘70s, we didn’t have any social media like we have now. “It’s bringing it up again to the forefront and it’s been in our society too long.” Using the sticky notes provided near the imagery, students engaged in creating a dialogue with one another through anonymous messages left near the section of the poster that highlights the particular offense. “I received an email stating that I did not start a conversation but instead made student’s minds up for them,” Barbour said. ”But I think people talking to each other on sticky notes saying, ‘daddy issue’ and then someone else says, ‘you’re an idiot’ or even someone calling another ‘a sexist
O’MALLEY p3
RAPE CULTURE p3
Pete Tekippe Photography
Ruth Buckels and her family have a photo taken together. Ruth has a combination of 19 foster and birth children and is an advocate for youth and stopping human trafficking.
Where the traffic stops Even through her own struggles, Ruth Buckels puts others first By Danielle.Ferguson @iowastatedaily.com
R
uth Buckels doesn’t tell her children she loves them very often, because, to some of her kids, love is a dangerous term. The word love, Buckels says, could be a trigger to her foster kids whose previous guardians or biological family members told them, “I love you,” as a way to manipulate, abuse and even sell to a third party. “They have to come to their own conclusion on what love is because most of my kids have been abused by the word love,” Buckels said. “I use, ‘I think you are incredible.’” Buckels, 50, of Story City, started as a foster mom in 1988, and has since housed at least 90 teenaged foster children, in addition to raising four biological kids. Buckels was 23 at the time of her first placement. The first child placed with her was 13. Flash forward to Nov. 14, when she officially adopted two more kids into the family, and she now has a combination
of 19 adopted and biological kids, eight of whom currently live with her on her farm. Though Buckels loves all of her kids, one can’t go through 27 years of being a foster parent without a few bumps in the road. Over her years of involvement in foster care, Buckels has had at least two teens swallow a handful of pills in an attempt to end their life, multiple who have tried to run away and some on whom she’s had to call the police. All of this occurred before she met any of the six who were at some point in their life trafficked into sex work. Of those six, five were sold to a third party by their own families, most of the time to pay bills. “I don’t say, ‘I love you,’ because that could be a trigger for something one of their abusers or one of their traffickers said to them,” she said. But her kids know she loves them. She shows them by believing in them. “Most of these kids have never had someone believe in them,” Buckels said. Buckels has worked at Youth and Shelter Services in Ames since 1988 and says she has a passion for teenagers. “Every child needs a parent,” she
O’Malley seeks contrast with 2016 candidates
? ?
?
Sidney Blumenthal. Clinton was the presumed nominee in 2008, but then-Sen. Barack Obama won the Caucus with Clinton unable to even edge out Sen. John Edwards. “I think Secretary Clinton has had a long, strange relationship with Iowa,” O’Malley said. “She didn’t do very well here in the caucuses eight years ago, and I suppose she’s trying to brush that off as if people who go to their caucuses are extremists.” A spokesperson for Clinton’s Iowa campaign pushed back on criticism in a statement sent to CNN. “From day one of this campaign, Hillary Clinton has been committed to earning the support of every Iowan in February’s caucus — any suggestion otherwise is just flat out wrong,” said spokeswoman Lily Adams. “That’s why she made her first stop of this campaign in the Hawkeye State and why she continues to meet with Iowans in town halls, coffee shops and living rooms to discuss her plan to build an America where everyone can get ahead.” Clinton has hosted 53 events
RUTH BUCKELS p4
?
??
Former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley has found himself as the odd man out in what has mostly become a two-way race for the Democratic presidential nomination — but O’Malley will not rest as he continues to campaign aggressively in Iowa, seeking to differentiate himself from his opponents. O’Malley’s campaign has capitalized on a series of newsworthy items in the past few weeks. Those items include comments made by former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on the Iowa Caucus, and amid new chatter on gun restrictions, Sen. Bernie Sanders’ history on gun legislation while in Congress. O’Malley addressed both items in an interview with the Iowa State Daily on Monday. In a new batch of emails released last week, Clinton privately called the Iowa precinct Caucuses the “creatures of the parties extremes” in an email to confidante
??
?
By Alex.Hanson @iowastatedaily.com
?
said. She has worked as a therapist, social worker, advocate, foster parent and now coordinator for Achieving Maximum Potential, or AMP, a youth foster support organization. Our conversation about her work with AMP halted as we approached the Iowa state Capital building. She was asked to attend an invitation-only meeting hosted by Iowa Speaker Kraig Paulsen and Sen. Kevin Kinney to discuss what the state can do to better research human trafficking and offer aid to the crime’s victims. ---Buckels is a well-known name in the trafficking and youth advocacy communities. Buckels hadn’t consciously thought about human trafficking, especially in Iowa, until she received a phone call from officials asking to speak with one of her foster children, Brittany Phillips, who they said was a main witness in a human trafficking case. At age 14, Phillips was taken from
#CyDecides2016
Katy Klopfenstein/Iowa State Daily
Presidential candidate Martin O’Malley participates in the Des Moines Democratic debate, which took place at Sheslow Auditorium at Drake University on Nov. 14.
in Iowa in 2015, while O’Malley has done just over 100 this year, according to records from The Des Moines Register. He also made more than two dozen appearances in the state during 2014, mostly appearing with other candidates and raising money while he flirted with a presidential campaign. However, while he has made double the amount of appearances as Clinton in the first-inthe-nation voting state, his poll numbers do not show it. An average of polls from Real Clear Politics in Iowa shows him averaging just 4.3 percent to Clinton’s 51.7 percent. Sanders averages 40.7 percent. “I’ve found that people who have an interest in going to their caucus take their responsibility
$2 KaraoKe
4518 Mortensen Rd Ames | 515.292.4555 120139_WestTowne_6x2.indd 1
Tuesday $2
Kinky Drinks
9PM-1AM
Spiced Rum
9PM-1AM
$2
Fireball Shots
9PM-1AM
$5 8
Boneless
Wings
10/8/15 8:22 AM