Friday, March 31, 2017 | Volume 212 | Number 215 | 40 cents | iowastatedaily.com | An independent student newspaper serving Iowa State since 1890.
BAILING OUT BENJI
College of Ag proposes rise in tuition to regents By Jake.Dalbey @iowastatedaily.com
Alec Giljohann/Iowa State Daily
From left, an unnamed protester, Jason Long, Dan Stoecklein, Suzy Schnell and Vicki Neal gather outside of Dale Dyvig’s Pet Shoppe on Saturday morning. Their protesting efforts were aimed at raising awareness against the use of puppy mills.
Advocacy group informs public about puppy mills By Alex.Connor @iowastatedaily.com
V
icki Neal stands next to Mr. Meter — a name she’s dubbed for the parking meter she leans on outside of Dale Dyvig’s Pet Shoppe just off Main Street. Neal, in her late 70s, gathers with four other women in the cold, windy weather. It’s late January and nearly a year after Dyvig approached the Ames City Council requesting a protest ordinance because of them. Neal is the self-proclaimed “rabble-rouser” of Bailing out Benji – an animal advocacy group. She jokes that she could have the police called immediately – all by dropping a gum wrapper on the sidewalk outside of Dyvig’s. She estimates an officer – should she lean against a win-
“Our puppies come from great kennels! Don’t buy the lies!” In mid-February 2016, he proposed the protest ordinance to the city council – before him a 300-signature petition. He says the ordinance will inevitably “protect all customers and business owners.” For nearly five years, the puppy mill advocacy group, Bailing out Benji, has stood outside of his business protesting his store. And every weekend the rivalry brews – to Dyvig, Bailing out Benji drives away business. To Bailing out Benji, the sidewalk outside his shop is where their meetings occur weekly – protest signs and all. They are the Mill Dog Warriors. The sidewalk is their territory. Their weapon? Education. The moment Bailing out Benji president Mindi Callison founded the group in 2011 after seeing a news story detailing the abuse of two dogs and their litter of puppies that were locked inside a rundown Des Moines hotel room. She remembers a run-in at Dyvig’s Pet Shoppe in Ames just a little while later and asking
dow or wall, or block someone on the sidewalk – would arrive in no less than five minutes. Over the course of the past several years, the Ames Police have been called over a dozen times. Mr. Meter is Neal’s saving grace. That is not to say, however, that he isn’t a trouble maker, too. The duo have been reported to police before, Neal says, because while she was leaning on him for comfort she was also “driving away customers.” It’s not too bad for mid-January, however. And it’s definitely not the worst conditions the group has experienced to date. And when you’ve protested in negative degree weather with a high windshield, your tolerance tends to build. Or at least your winter wear expands. On this day, she’s wearing her 30-below coat. The five women are holding signs asking passersby to say no to puppy mills as they stand on the sidewalk in front of Dyvig’s store. Behind them reads a sign in the top corner of Dyvig’s corner window that contrasts the dark green paint on the building.
where he received his puppies. She wanted to see them, so he sent her to Century Farm Puppies in Guthrie Center, Iowa. Callison said the farm at the time housed more than 400 adult dogs, but it only showed her 20. A feeling of shock, stupidity and confusion hit her. Who is looking out for these dogs? She thought. Well, now Bailing out Benji is. Saving lives Callison’s younger sister Brandi Webber remembers her first introduction to puppy mills while she was still a College of Design student at Iowa State several years back. Webber said she came home from class one day and Callison immediately began telling her about this horrible thing that she recently learned. And while Webber didn’t know it at that point, Bailing out Benji would alter her future down a different path, specifically relating to her career as a designer and solidifying her interest in graphic. The two began brainstorming
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Agronomy, global resource systems and horticulture students received an email Thursday regarding a proposal to the Board of Regents to approve a new differential tuition structure expected to affect the upperclassmen in the aforementioned majors. In an email received by the Iowa State Daily, the new tuition rate, if approved, “would be phased in over three years, beginning the summer of 2018. When fully implemented, juniors and seniors in those majors would pay an additional $1,600 more per academic year.” Students within the agronomy department received the email Thursday morning signed by both Wendy Wintersteen, the dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, and David Acker, associate dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. The proposal, according to the email, was submitted to the Iowa Board of Regents for approval with the hopes of the plan being discussed during the Regents’ April 19 and 20 meeting. Students within the affected majors were asked to attend an informational meeting April 7 in order to hear why the plan was developed from departmental faculty leaders. Along with the currently highlighted majors, animal sciences, biology, computer sciences, industrial design and natural resources ecology are among the most recent departments to receive differential tuition increases. Iowa State Student Government President Cole Staudt expressed concern for the differential tuition increase model during the December regents meeting. “The last thing we want is for students to not pursue the career they want because it costs more than other programs,” Staudt said. At the time, Staudt said he found it very troubling that the regents had been reached out saying the model wasn’t going to work, yet continued anyway. “I’m not sure what their reasoning is,” Staudt said. “They never gave me an explanation as to why they voted the way they did.” In December, the regents also approved a 2 percent rise in resident undergraduate tuition rates at all three regent universities. Non-resident student tuition rose 3 percent as well.
Lecture explains Bible interpretation ISU students advised to check credit reports
By Alex.Ivanisevic @iowastatedaily.com
In the last half century there has been a loss of religious literacy that has progressed in the modern era, raising the question — how does one interpret the Bible? That is the question Mary Healy, professor of sacred scripture at Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit and senior fellow at the St. Paul Center for Biblical Theology, posed Thursday evening to a crowd of about 300 in the Memorial Union. The main questions covered in the lecture revolved around whether the Bible should be interpreted in a literal or in a spiritual way, and what can be done to handle contradictions and historical inaccuracies. It is important, she believes, to ask these kinds of questions because there is a vast variety of approaches to interpreting the Bible today. “I hope in this lecture to wet peoples’ appetites for reading the Bible and help people realize that the Bible is God’s word and [is] for everybody,” Healy said. As a Christian, she believes it is important to not lose the word of God. “The question, ‘How to interpret the Bible?’ is not a merely theoretical question, it’s a question that has profound existential importance for all those who believe in God, in Jesus and the word of God,” Healy said.
By Michael.Heckle @iowastatedaily.com
Maddie Leopardo/Iowa State Daily
Mary Healy, professor of sacred scripture at Sacred Heart Major Seminary, gives a lecture titled “How to Interpret the Bible” on Thursday in the Memorial Union.
Healy explained that, even in the past, it was recognized that there was figurative language used in the text of the Bible, and that language was to be interpreted. This was, in a sense, the literal interpretation of the Biblical writings. The other sense of interpretation that was recognized was the spiritual sense. “The spiritual sense is the traditional term for the way a person or a thing or an event, at an earlier stage of God’s plan, points forward to and foreshadows the fulfillment of his plan,” Healy said. A vital aspect of literally interpreting the Bible is to properly detect the genre of literature the biblical passages are written in. Healy explained that misinterpretations occur when mistakes are made in determining which genre
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the passage was written in. As for the spiritual interpretation, Healy gave the explanation that God writes with events. “God actually uses events to signify future events,” Healy said. Anne Clifford, associate professor of philosophy and religious studies, asked during the Q&A portion of the lecture whether or not there is still a place for historical interpretation along with the literal. She holds the opinion that the historical interpretation is important because it is important for one to put themselves in the place and time that an event took place in order to understand it better. Healy said a union of the two interpretations would complement one another in developing an optimal perspective of the Bible.
For many college students, the only time their credit comes to mind is during fleeting, catchy TV ads. Yet, credit reports impact all of us, whether we know it or not. Whether they’re finishing freshman year or preparing to step into the real world as a college graduate, students need to be aware of what their credit report says and, more importantly, make sure everything in that report is accurate. Jonathan Fox, Iowa State professor of human development and family services, said research shows that 1 in 4 credit reports has some sort of mistake. These errors can range from something as minor as an incorrect name or as devastating as an additional account or debt. The only way to find them is by checking your credit report. “Checking your credit does not impact your credit score,” Fox said. “It’s actually a sign of responsibility.” In 25 years of teaching personal finance classes, Fox said he’s never had a class where every student’s report was accurate. He suggested that students use the government-funded site AnnualCreditReport.com. It’s free, quick and gives users the option to check their reports from all three credit bureaus: Equifax, Experian and TransUnion.
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“Everybody thinks you can get your credit report once a year, which is true, but there are three bureaus,” Fox said. “So you can go to the trough three different times. They have similar but not identical data.” Fox said the best way students can keep up with their credit report is to check it every four months. Cynthia Fletcher, professor of human development and family services, said it’s important for students to realize that even during their time in college, they’re building a credit history, especially if they live off campus. “Renting, taking out utilities, buying cars, those activities are fed into a credit history,” Fletcher said. “And that is something that many people don’t even think about.” During that process, it’s easy for a simple data entry mistake to hurt students’ credit. Because the information in a person’s credit history is used in so many ways, a mistake on a credit report could hurt students’ ability to receive credit, get insurance and even land a job. For those who find that the information in their credit report is accurate, but not entirely favorable, there are a few ways to help it improve. “It’s pretty straight forward,” Fletcher said. “Start taking actions and making decisions that reflect that you are a responsible consumer and that you have the ability a willingness to repay.”
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