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GSB bans the use of e-cigs on campus

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By Makayla.Tendall @iowastatedaily.com

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cover the costs of education or training, according to military. com. “Having a bachelor’s [degree] is like what it used to be back in the day to have a high school education. It just seems like everyone has one nowadays,” Janssen, senior in pre-business, said.

The Government of the Student Body will send a resolution to university administration to encourage banning the use of electronic cigarettes and nicotine delivery systems on campus as a preventative measure. Nathan Davis, senior in food science, conducted a survey as a member of the Story County Policy Prevention Board to see if Story County residents felt that ecigarettes are harmful and should be banned. Davis asked GSB to consider banning e-cigarettes on campus. While the e-cigarettes — which are tobacco free and work by using vapor that is created from a heated liquid in the e-cigarette chamber — do not have as many harmful chemicals as traditional tobacco cigarettes, Davis said they still contain harmful carcinogens and have not been approved by the Food and Drug Administration. Davis also said the amount of concentrated nicotine in the chambers of the e-cigarette often leak, which can then pose as poisonous harm to students on campus who may come in contact with the nicotine. Davis said he conducted a survey of Ames residents, Ames High School students and ISU faculty to see how they felt about e-cigarettes. The majority said they wanted to limit their exposure to e-cigarettes, Davis said. Speaker of the Senate Gabe Walsh and other senators said there is not enough scientific research about the e-cigarettes to determine whether they should be banned on campus until a later GSB Senate meeting. Walsh also said the Senate needs to reconsider the bill at the next meeting because they have not had time to hear students’ feedback on the issue. Other senators said the majority of those in Davis’ survey would not be affected by the banning of e-cigarettes on campus because many who were surveyed were not ISU students. Sen. Megan Sweere said there are students who have noticed their classmates smoking e-cigarettes in classrooms and found it distracting. Sweere said the use of e-cigarettes would have the same effects as the use of tobacco cigarettes. Either way, smokers would congregate in areas on campus, making a portion of students feel uncomfortable and prevent them from easily moving through campus. “Right now, e-cigarettes might be not used on campus, but that might just be because students think they can’t use them now anyway,” Sweere said. Sen. Richard Hartnett agreed, saying it is obvious that there is enough scientific research on e-cigarette use, but that the use impedes students’ ability to get a good education because e-cigarette use is distracting. However, some said because e-cigarettes are much less carcinogenic than tobacco cigarettes and aid tobacco smokers in quitting smoking, they should be allowed. If e-cigarettes are banned, e-cigarette smokers would revert to sneaking tobacco on campus, a practice they said is still hap-

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Lawmakers in Iowa share differing stances on Obama’s recent proposal By Alex.Hanson @iowastatedaily.com

ost ISU students can only dream of free tuition, but it could be a reality for peers who attend community colleges after President Obama proposed the first two years of community college should be free for “those willing to work for it.” However, lawmakers in Iowa are split on the idea. The proposal, which was first announced in Knoxville, Tenn. and then laid out during Obama’s State of the Union speech, would allow students who attend community colleges at least half-time and maintain a 2.5 GPA to have their tuition paid in full. The White House said the plan would require community colleges to allow programs to transfer to four-year schools and that the colleges would need to admit more students. “I’ve long said that community colleges are the principle intersection between education and workforce development,” said U.S. Rep. Dave Loebsack, who is the only Democrat left in Iowa’s Congressional Delegation. “I think if we are going to succeed in a 21st Century global economy, we’ve got to do everything we can to ensure that everyone who wants to go to college has access to high-quality education.”

The White House has said the program could help as many as nine million students and save them an average of $3,800 per year. “The community college system has worked well for a long period [of] time. It evolved to meet the needs in each community, so each college provides students with the skills local employers need, and students have jobs waiting for them when they graduate,” said U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa. However, Republicans reminded Americans that it would cost them in some ways. “The President’s proposal would have the Department of Education determining which programs would qualify, which would lead to federal government intervention in community colleges and undermine the local autonomy that’s made the colleges successful,” Grassley said. U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, echoed Grassley’s comments. “Community colleges are an important part of educating our students and providing job skills training that is needed in industries all across Iowa and the country,” Ernst said. “However, when looking at President Obama’s proposal, we must be very cautious in claiming that it would provide free community college. The reality is that someone is always paying.” Like every other federal program, it comes with a price tag. The White House projects that it would cost $60 billion over a decade to

fund the program. The plan would call on states to pay for a quarter of the cost, while the federal government would pitch in the rest. “It’s intriguing. If [Obama] can put money on the table to make it happen, I’d be inclined to see if [Iowa] could pick up our share,” said state Sen. Herman Quirmbach, D-Ames. Quirmbach has a chair at the education committee in the Iowa State Senate and is also an associate professor of economics at Iowa State. “If [the federal government] is going to pick up [three quarters], it would seem to me to be a pretty sweet deal if we only had to pick up [a quarter] of the cost,” Quirmbach said. Another proposal Obama laid out in his State of the Union speech was a plan to raise taxes on the wealthiest Americans. The estimated $320 billion in new revenues would pay for a series of tax breaks for middle-class Americans and would also fund the community college plan. “I have some issue on how we are going to pay for it. The big problem I have is that it could hurt some middle-class families because it would actually tax the 529 college savings plans,” Loebsack said, referring to a proposal from the Obama administration that would have taxed some college savings accounts. Obama later dropped his proposal on the 529 savings plans

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Student veterans share experiences with faculty, staff By Dakota.Carpenter @iowastatedaily.com For Aaron Burke, the most difficult part of returning to civilian life was simply interacting with other people. Burke, a sophomore in agricultural studies, was one of the student veterans who gathered Wednesday in the Col. Pride Lounge of the Memorial Union for a faculty, staff and student meet and greet. Students, faculty and staff were given the opportunity to converse with student veterans, and were provided coffee and snacks. Aaron Burke, Adam Powers, Benjamin Hartwell and Kyle Janssen are student veterans attending Iowa State who served in the Marine Corps. Each of them had grandparents, parents and other

members of their families who served in the military. “I’m the fourth generation [in the military],” Hartwell, freshman in interdisciplinary studies, said. “My great-grandfather, my grandfather and my uncle did it as well.” While most students use college as a time to grow up and find themselves, many service men and women are expected to “find themselves” much faster and under much more pressure as they venture through boot camp. “It took us three months and that was it. After three months, if you can’t hack it, you get dropped,” Hartwell said. “Our emerging adulthood was extremely short.” The four of them were recently discharged in 2014 and are continuing their education at Iowa State.

Dalton Gackle/Iowa State Daily

Aaron Burke, left, and Kyle Jansson share their experiences about life in the Marine Corps and the move back into civilian life during the meet and greet.

Burke and Powers agreed that they were able to acquire several skills while serving in the military, such as leadership and time management, which they have been able to adapt to civilian life and their college careers. Veterans are sometimes rewarded with a GI bill for their service to their country. The GI benefit is designed to help service members and eligible veterans

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