Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2014 | Volume 210 | Number 71 | 40 cents | iowastatedaily.com | An independent student newspaper serving Iowa State since 1890.
Photo Illustration: Blake Lanser/Iowa State Daily
Brooklyn Wackerbarth studies in the library while comfort dogs Tori and Libby keep her company. Trained comfort dogs will be present in Parks Library every day during Dead Week from 1 to 5 p.m. in room 192.
Furry friends bring comfort By Emily.Eppens @iowastatedaily.com
B
etween the stress of studying for exams, writing papers and finishing final projects, some students are seeking a tail-wagging form of relief. To help students cope with the stresses of Dead Week, therapy dogs from all over the Des Moines area will be available to students 1-5 p.m. in room 192 in Parks Library. Christine King, the chairwoman of the public relations committee at Iowa State, and Monica Gillen, the co-chairwoman of the public relations committee, understand the stress students are under and hope the dogs can help calm nerves and boost moods during Dead Week. “There has been a lot of en-
thusiasm about this event,” Gillian said. “It’s gratifying to know that an event you plan has such a positive impact on students. It makes the job much more fun to put together.” The dogs, ranging from dachshunds to golden retrievers, are required to have therapy certification from Therapy Dog International or the Canine Good Citizen Program and have passed rigorous testing before they are allowed to participate in the event. This is the second semester of the comfort dogs and is an event King hopes will continue. “I could definitely see this becoming a Dead Week tradition,” King said. “The dogs have been very well-behaved and the students love it.” Last year, the most students attending the event at one time was estimated to be about 300, with more than 1,000 views on the
event online. “The response has been very rewarding,” Gillian said. Students gathered in room 192 Dec. 2, to meet and play with the dogs. Some came for their love of animals, and others, like Brooklyn Wackerbarth, a sophomore in software engineering, came to step away from her stressful Dead Week studies. “This hasn’t been the best week ever,” Wackerbarth said. “It’s been pretty stressful. They should [bring in dogs] every week.” Wackerbarth said dogs are not allowed in her apartment and she is hoping to move to a petfriendly apartment next year. Until then, she said the therapy dogs help her de-stress. Students Yan Chan, freshman in computer science, and Scott Wells, freshman in mechanical engineering, said their Dead Week has not been too stressful, but they
came for the dogs. “I wasn’t allowed to have pets growing up,” Chan said. “I want to own two of them when I’m older.” Wells said the dogs help him because he misses his dog at home. Mindy McCoy, a library assistant, said there are usually two to five dogs visiting at a time each day, each with their own shifts throughout the week. “This event drew quite a crowd last year,” McCoy said. “We are all very excited to do this again.” Sarah Trant, junior in interdisciplinary studies and the president of the Student Helping Rescue Animals club, said she is hoping to put together a similar event for students during midterm week next semester, but with rescue dogs from the Story County
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Iowa State Daily
Steve Schainker, city manager for Ames, discusses a broad overview of the ISU Research Park at the City Council meeting April 1. In the meeting scheduled for Tuesday, the Council will discuss Ames’ lap dance ordinance, which prohibits touching nude dancers.
City Council to discuss lap Police urge caution as dance rule phone scams increase Photo Illustration: Jonathan Laczniak/Iowa State Daily
The Ames Police Department strongly suggests not giving out personal information via phone. This advice comes as instances of phone scams increase. Scammers often use caller ID spoofing to make calls appear as if they are coming from trusted sources.
By Molly.Willson @iowastatedaily.com
The Ames City Council will discuss the city’s options concerning the lap dance ordinance at the City Council meeting Tuesday. The city’s lap dance ordinance was enacted in September 1996 to prohibit touching between nude or nearly nude dancers and their customers. The city determined that the issue was a potential health risk at the time the ordinance was put in place. The State of Iowa has stated that the local ordinance is overruled by state code 728.11 that says that “obscene material” is to be under the control of state law. This means that the city of Ames no longer holds the ability to enforce the ordinance to control live nude dancing. On Nov. 13, 2013, two citations were issued by the city to two individuals for exposing a “regulated [and] prohibited private body part.” The defendants
challenged the citations in district associate court. The court decided in favor of the city and upheld the lap dance ordinance. The decision was appealed to the 2nd District Court of Iowa on Nov. 14, 2014. The ordinance was deemed void by the court, who said that that the Iowa Supreme Court defined “live nude dancing” to include touching. The lap dance ordinance is unenforceable by the city of Ames unless they decide to appeal the decision within 30 days. The Council will vote on whether they want to appeal the decision or seek a change in the Iowa Code to allow local governments to have control of live nude dancing. Steve Schainker, city manager, is recommending that the city challenge the state code and persuade Iowa lawmakers to allow for city control of the issue. On the consent agenda, the Council will vote on liquor licenses for The Cafe, Thumbs, Aunt Maude’s, Tip Top Lounge and Casey’s General Store at 428 Lincoln Way.
By Erin.Malloy @iowastatedaily.com Phone scams targeting Ames residents and ISU students have increased in the past couple weeks, said Ames Police Investigations Commander Geoff Huff. Using a practice known as “caller ID spoofing,” callers can alter the number that appears on a caller ID display, making the call appear to come from anywhere the scammer wants. Scammers have claimed to be from the Ames Police Department, the Iowa State Police Department, the university, the IRS and other federal government agencies, demanding money and trying to pressure people into paying them. “Every day something new comes up,” Huff said. “They will say anything to scare you into making a bad decision under pressure.”
While the callers first seemed to be targeting international students, Huff said the scammers are now hitting everybody. Callers make threats regarding financial situations in order to pressure a person into giving the caller money. For example, threatening to cancel utilities, saying a person will be arrested for not paying taxes or not showing up for jury duty or threatening an international student with deportation. Scammers then ask people to pay to a PayPal account or load money onto a Green Dot card or prepaid credit card. Once the callers have the number on the card, Huff said it is usually impossible to get the money back. Huff said they called Green Dot right away and tried to freeze the transaction after someone reported giving money to the scammers, however, it was already too late. “Within a matter of minutes,
the money is gone, and then it’s like a cash transaction,” Huff said. Huff said it is difficult to track back a call when a number is masked. He called a couple of the reported numbers, and they were not from the United States. One caller said he was from the US Treasury Department to collect on debts. When Huff told the caller he was a legitimate law enforcement officer and asked to speak to his supervisor, the caller said he was the only one working at the US Treasury that day. “The conversation went on for 10 minutes, and he stuck to his story,” Huff said. “They won’t back down.” If there is a missed call from the Ames Police non-emergency number (515-239-5133) or the ISU Police non-emergency number (515-294-4428), Huff said if it is a legitimate call from the police, they will leave a message.
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