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Those attending include: Jeb Bush -Former Florida Gov. Chris Christie -New Jersey Gov. Ted Cruz -Texas Sen. Jim Gilmore -Former Virginia Gov. Lindsey Graham -South Carolina Sen.

Mike Huckabee -Former Arkansas Gov. George Pataki -Former New York Gov. Rick Perry -Former Texas Gov. Rick Santorum -Former Pennsylvania Sen. Donald Trump -Businessman Scott Walker -Wisconsin Gov.

Conference attracts presidential hopefuls to Iowa for discussion By Alex.Hanson @iowastatedaily.com

owans will get to hear directly from potential presidential candidates on their views related to agriculture this weekend. A wide field of White House hopefuls will return to Iowa to participate in the first ever Iowa Agriculture Summit, which will take place at the Iowa State Fairgrounds in Des Moines on Saturday. Organizers have announced at least 11 potential presidential candidates will attend the event, which will be hosted by Iowa entrepreneur and philanthropist Bruce Rastetter, who also serves as president of the Iowa Board of Regents. “There are several reasons for putting the event together,” said Mack Shelley, professor of political science at Iowa State. “One is to demonstrate the importance of agriculture in Iowa’s economy. The candidates who are going to be showing up and people who are supporting various candidates are really going to try to check out their ability to attract support.” The summit is the second mass gathering of potential er itt Tw on on Follow @theAlexHans candidates it. m m Su Ag this year ale th m fro s te da up

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ready. The Iowa Freedom Summit, hosted by Iowa Congressman Steve King in late January, featured many of the same speakers. But unlike the Freedom Summit, those attending will not just give a stump speech. They will instead appear with Rastetter on stage for at least 20 minutes to discuss a wide range of agriculture issues that affect Iowa. Organizers for the event say topics for discussion include renewable fuels, biosciences, genetically modified organisms, grain and livestock markets, land conservation and federal subsidies. Some familiar Iowa faces will also be attendance to speak, including Gov. Terry Branstad, Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds, U.S. Senantors Joni Ernst and Chuck Grassley, U.S. Rep. Steve King, former Rep. Tom Latham and former Lt. Gov. Patty Judge, who is the only Democrat attending the event. Iowa politicians and national politicians alike will talk about agriculture and how it is affected by policies. “When you have federal agencies like the EPA running roughshod over American agriculture — which is essential not just for food but also for energy independence and alternative, renewable energy — it’s important to make agricultural issues part of the presidential debate and this ag summit is that sort of effort,” Grassley said. Organizers said they were hoping the event would be bipartisan. They invited all of the potential 2016 contenders on the Democratic side, including Vice

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Eric Fields/Iowa State Daily

Women of achievement awarded by the YWCA By Berenice.Liborio @iowastatedaily.com

Three ISU women were given distinguished awards at the Young Women Christian Association ceremony Thursday. The Association Ames-ISU recognizes three women every year that represent their mission — to empower women and eliminate racism. The ceremony and reception took place at the Octagon Center for the Arts in downtown Ames. The women awarded were part of YWCA or ISU faculty, staff or the student body. They were awarded in three categories: Women of Achievement, Rising Star and Scholarship Recipient. “I think it can be inspirational for women of all ages to hear the stories of other women and how they’re impacting our community,” said Noelle Weber-

Strauss, the ISU representative on the board of directors for YWCA. YWCA has served Story County on the Iowa State campus since 1890. It is the oldest and largest multicultural women’s organization in the world. “The more you can get involved with your community, the Ames community, and the ISU community, the more your eyes will open to many new and different things,” said Angela Merrick, executive director of the YWCA. The Women of Achievement award was presented to Susan Rhoades, director of the Academic Success Center at Iowa State. This award is presented to a leader who, through a lifetime of volunteer and professional activities, has made outstanding contributions to empower

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By Julie.Paulson @iowastatedaily.com

Jessica Darland/Iowa State Daily

Kierstyn Feld, sophomore in pre-architecture, gave a short speech during the award ceremony about the things she has done to empower women and help students from other cultures.

Iowa State Conference on Race and Ethnicity hosts recognition event By Adam.Sodders @iowastatedaily.com Talks about “white privilege” and stereotypes of various races and ethnicities, including “imposter syndrome” and “microagressions” were presented at the first ever pre-Iowa State Conference on Race and Ethnicity. The event took place in the Memorial Union on Thursday and precedes the 16th annual Iowa State Conference on Race and Ethnicity. The first speaker at the event was Dr. Kathleen Wong (Lau), director of the National

Conference on Race and Ethnicity. Her discussion focused on intercultural communication. Wong (Lau) will also be the keynote speaker at the Iowa State conference Friday. Wong (Lau) included the entire audience in personal space and communications activities. “I think [it’s] because they have institutionalized really thoughtful practice,” Wong (Lau) said about why the Iowa State conference is an important event. She also said she believes both students and faculty learn about each other’s cultures at the conference. Other events included “The

Deaf Awareness Week educates about Deaf community, struggles

Cold Hard Truth: Confronting Race and Ethnicity in College Athletics,” a discussion on black, male athletes in Division 1 sports and “Origin Stories: A Personal and Professional Exploration of White Privilege,” which focused on the influence white people have in American culture. Other events were “Dispelling the Myths: Dealing with Impostor Syndrome, Graduate College,” where power positions and race were discussed; and “Navigating Difficult Dialogues: Accessing the Wisdom of Our Ancestors,” an event that taught

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In a world of sound, those who identify as Deaf have formed a community of their own. The ISU American Sign Language Club organized an event each day this week to promote awareness of the Deaf community and the language they use as part of Deaf Awareness Week. “Our overall goal for the week is to promote awareness,” said Krystal Adams, senior in liberal studies and president of the American Sign Language Club. “We want to inform hearing people of simple things they can do to make it easier for Deaf people.” Some suggestions Adams gave were for students to develop the ability to gesture, practice being able to write back and forth and for the university to include closed captioning on all materials. There are currently four students at Iowa State who use American Sign Language as their primary language and consider themselves part of the Deaf community. “It’s been a challenge,” said Scott Johnson, senior in engineering and a Deaf student, speaking through an interpreter. “There have been positives and negatives in equal amounts. It’s not just issues with interpreters, it’s communication with professors and fellow students.” Meghan Moratz, senior in apparel, merchandising and design, said Iowa State was a big improvement for her. “I struggled with interpreters in high school who didn’t know the language very well,” she said. “Here, they do a nice job, especially now that we have Jonathan Webb.” Deaf Awareness Week began

with free hot chocolate in the free speech zone Monday and continued Tuesday with a seminar called “The Deaf World.” The seminar focused on correcting common myths and misconceptions about Deaf people and American Sign Language, along with teaching a few basic signs and etiquette rules for communicating with Deaf people. “People don’t know what to do,” Johnson said. “They’ll say to my interpreter ‘tell him this, ask her that.’ They should talk directly to me.” The seminar also gave insight into the Deaf community and culture, and how it differs from the culture of hearing people. “It’s collective in its approach,” said Jonathan Webb, adviser of the American Sign Language Club. “There’s a concept of reciprocity, as opposed to the typical American concept of independence.” One thing the seminar noted is that Deaf culture is different from deaf people, a category that includes anyone with any hearing loss. “People who are hard of hearing don’t have the same culture as the Deaf community,” Webb said. “They consider themselves hearing people with hearing loss.” The American Sign Language Club has about 120 members and meets every first and third Thursday of each month at the library to work on their language skills. They run two major events each year, an immersion weekend in the fall and Deaf Awareness Week in the spring. Deaf Awareness Week continued with a showing of the movie “The Hammer” on Thursday night at 7 p.m. in the Cardinal Room of the Memorial Union, and will conclude Friday with a class on how to sign at 9 p.m. at the ISU After Dark.