Monday, February 6, 2017 | Volume 212 | Number 95 | 40 cents | iowastatedaily.com | An independent student newspaper serving Iowa State since 1890.
Former employee charged with theft Pamela Backstrom accused of taking more than $68,000 from Iowa State By Danielle.Gehr @iowastatedaily.com
Courtesy: Story County Multi Agency Public Safety Group
Former ISU employee Pamela Backstrom was charged with theft of $68,000.
Authorities have charged a former Iowa State employee with theft of more than $68,000 in non-profit funds. The Story County Sheriff’s Office arrested and charged Pamela
Backstrom, 56, with first-degree theft and ongoing criminal conduct. Backstrom is accused of taking university money from the Quantitative Nondestructive Evaluation (QNDE) Programs account. She worked in the research center from August 2013 to Janu-
ary 2016. The Iowa State Police Department found that $71,000 of funds from the QNDE account not supported by the university were spent. Backstrom is being held responsible for $68,000 of that money. On Feb. 9, 2016, Iowa State
PART III
From soldier to student
THE PURPOSE Looking forward while remembering the past
“I’M JUST A REGULAR STUDENT. I JUST HAVE A LITTLE BIT OF A DIFFERENT BACKGROUND.”
police searched Backstrom’s home, retrieving ATM receipts and bank statements, the Ames Tribune reported. Backstrom is currently being held in Story County jail with a bond set at $75,000. The investigation started after Backstrom’s resignation in January of 2016.
Dead Week changes in works StuGov proposal attempts to relieve stress of students By Michael.Heckle @iowastatedaily.com
Emily Blobaum/Iowa State Daily
Justin Brown, a sophomore in criminal justice, served in the U.S. Army prior to arriving at Iowa State to play as a defenseman/forward on Cyclone Hockey’s Division III team.
Editor’s note: “From soldier to student: The purpose” is part three of a three-part series detailing the military and college experience of Division III Cyclone Hockey player Justin Brown, who is also a criminal justice studies major at Iowa State. By Emily.Blobaum and Jack.MacDonald @iowastatedaily.com It’s the red, white and blue. It’s the feeling of skating on a fresh sheet of ice. It’s losing a best friend. A comrade. Justin Brown lives for his friends, fam-
ily, his country and the ice. They are what he first thinks about each morning. They are his purpose. He remembers everything he’s gone through. The unsuccessful junior hockey season that led him to enlist in the U.S. Army. The death of his comrade on the third day of his deployment to Afghanistan. The unexpected death of his best friend, Sam Oden, three months after returning home from serving in Hawaii. And the opportunity he was given to play hockey again, this time as a sophomore in college. He tries to forget, however, the night in fall 2016 when he failed to remember all of the positive moments that have shaped him for the better — the night he was admitted into the hospital for three days with suicidal ideations. “I think some of those [emotions] bottled up inside and how he has dealt with Sam’s death, it’s a constant struggle,” Justin’s father, Tracy Brown, said. “To be emotional in the military is mindfully a weakness, and the two don’t play well together.”
TO SERVE It took 18 years for Brown to find his fire as a soldier in the U.S. Army, specifically serving as a SAW gunner in Afghanistan for a nine-month stint. He knew he eventually would
PURPOSE p4
It’s called Dead Week for a reason. Twice a year, students spend the final days of their semester buried in tests, projects and homework, with the impending stress of Finals Week hanging over their heads. But Student Government hopes to change that, or at least alleviate some of the stress students experience during the final days of Dead Week. A new amendment proposed by Student Government would prohibit instructors from giving tests, exams or quizzes during the Thursday and Friday of Dead Week. The amendment would also rename Dead Week to something along the lines of “Cyclone Work Week,” a title that Student Government hopes will “adequately describe the time period without detracting by implication from the remaining 14 weeks of the semester.” The policy gives exceptions to classes that only meet Tuesdays and Thursdays, lab components of courses, half-semester courses and tests that take place in the testing center as long as they open by Wednesday of Dead Week. Student body Vice President Cody West said he hopes the change will come as a relief to students. “We heard concerns from the students that they were having their unit exams on Thursday or Friday [of Dead Week] and then turning around and having comprehensive finals on Monday and Tuesday [of Finals Week],” West said. “When you have four classes that happens a couple times,
DEAD WEEK p8
Emily Blobaum/Iowa State Daily
‘Miss Black and Gold’ returns Alpha Phi Alpha chapter hosts first pageant in a decade By Nik.Heftman @iowastatedaily.com Grace, beauty and spirit were the themes of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity Inc.’s Miss Black and Gold Pageant on Friday night. The pageant was hosted by the organization’s Omicron Pi and Alpha Theta chapters, which are seated at Iowa State and the University of Iowa, respectively. The pageant featured three contestants, including two active members of the Iowa State community.
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Johnnie Campbell, freshman admissions counselor at Iowa State and member of Alpha Phi Alpha, said this was the first pageant the Omicron Pi chapter has had in a decade. “This is basically a philanthropy event for the organization as a whole,” Campbell said. “It started in the early ’70s as a way to pay homage and to uplift women, particularly women of color, but we open up the event to any woman who is a student at the institution.” The pageant was sub-headed “Visions of Nefertiti: Grace, Beauty
and Spirit” in reference to Neferneferuaten Nefertiti, an Egyptian queen. It took place in the Great Hall of the Memorial Union. Paintings of Queen Nefertiti’s profile and silhouette stood on easels placed on both sides of a stage. Several members of the organization came to support the event, as well as individuals from other greek organizations. After a short introduction from the emcee, the contestants stepped onto the stage wearing black pants
PAGEANT p8
Chris Jorgensen/Iowa State Daily
Alpha Phi Alpha hosted the “Miss Black and Gold Pageant” on Friday in the Memorial Union. Contestants competed in casual wear, talent and formal wear.
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