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Two construction workers injured in electric outage By Michaela.Ramm @iowastatedaily.com Two construction workers were injured when the cement truck they were operating came in contact with an overhead electric distribution line Monday morning.

Student wins national award

A concrete driver and a contractor were injured while working on a project at 3505 Lincoln Way, according to a press release from the city of Ames. The workers were Kevin Keech, 54, of Story City, who is an employee with Iowa State Ready Mix; and Matthew Rhodes, 46,

of Nevada, who is an employee of Hetzler and Rhodes Concrete Construction. Both were contracted to work on the project. Keech and Rhodes were operating in or near the concrete truck when contact with the power line occurred, the Ames press release stated.

The two men were transported to Mary Greeley Medical Center, where they were both treated. Keech was later transported to the University of Iowa Hospital and Clinics, according to city of Ames press release. The construction site is a private, mixed-use redevelopment

project. Ames Electric Services equipment detected contact of the equipment and the electric line at about 9 a.m. The incident created a power outage, which affected more than 100 people in west Ames and lasted until 11:04 a.m.

SWIRLMINGLE SPREADS

Senior selected as National Student Employee of the Year By Isa.Cournoyer @iowastatedaily.com Iowa State gained another first to put under its belt when Rachel Wonderlich, senior in child, adult and family services, was selected as the 2016 National Student Employee of the Year (NSEOTY). Each spring, the National Student Employment Association (NSEA) recognizes a student who works while attending college on his or her outstanding achievements. Wonderlich was first nominated for the award by her supervisor and mentor Brenda Allen and Iowa 4-H staff member Marisue Hartung in February. The two wanted to acknowledge Wonderlich’s hard work, independence and creativity as a global citizenship intern. “Rachel has a friendly and engaging personality,” Allen said. “She makes it easy for others to relate and work well with her.” A donation helped form the position in Maple Global Citizenship in September 2014 with the goal of raising awareness for cultural diversity. Wonderlich was the first to be given this internship, setting the bar high for incoming applicants. She has created lesson plans for staff and has organized workshops and webinars to relay the importance of global citizenship. It was no surprise to Wonderlich’s family when she joined the Iowa 4-H program, as many of her relatives were also members. “I gained interest in 4-H before I was even eligible to join,” Wonderlich said. “It’s somewhat of a family tradition.” Wonderlich is the first student from Iowa to be recognized for the award. She was recognized in early March at a ceremony where top administrators congratulated her on her achievements throughout the school year. Wonderlich was first nominated for the ISU Student Employee of the Year. She then hit the ground running in the competition, moving on to become a state, regional and national winner. Wonderlich was shocked when she found out she was recognized as the winner of the NSEOTY award. “I was still floating on Cloud 9 for receiving the ISU SEOTY award when I found out that I had received all of the others,” Wonderlich said. “It still doesn’t seem entirely real.” Allen was also surprised when she heard about her nominee’s recognition. She appreciated Won-

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Photo Illustratio: Max Goldberg/Iowa State Daily

Swirlmingle is an interracial dating website that Shaun VanWeelden, senior in software engineering, cofounded in an attempt to spread the message that love has no color.

Student helps create website to support interracial dating By Erin.Gruba @iowastatedaily.com Love has no color. This is a message Shaun VanWeelden wholeheartedly tries to spread through the interracial dating website he co-founded called SwirlMingle. VanWeelden, senior in software engineering at Iowa State, is set to graduate in May. Since the love of his life is a different race than him, VanWeelden wanted to spread the message that race and cultural background should not get in the way of who you fall in love with. “My fiancé is a black woman, and so there is definitely some things that come up that most couples don’t have to deal with,” VanWeelden said. “I think Iowa’s better than most places, especially like in the

South sometimes you don’t date outside your own race. It’s just a big social [stigma] — you don’t do it.” Rewind six years to 2010, when VanWeelden met his fiancé, Kenechi Francis. The two were studying abroad in Spain and were in the same Spanish class. “We were just friends,” Francis said. “Back then, if you could go back, I would not think that I would be with Shaun today.” Three years later, VanWeelden decided to go to New York and stay with a friend. Coincidentally, he ended up staying with Francis instead. “My mom loved him, like, from the moment she met him she wanted him to be my husband,” Francis said. A year later, Francis’ mother invited Shaun to Trinidad, Francis’ home country. “That’s when it all happened,” Francis said. “A week in Trinidad — I felt like I knew him my whole life.” One thing VanWeelden said he likes about interracial dating is that people can learn about each other’s cultures a lot. Francis, being from New York and Trinidad origi-

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Entrepreneur students build businesses through CYstarters 10-week program participants try to solve world issues By Jessica.Enwesi @iowastatedaily.com CYstarters give a new possible hope to ISU students. CYstarter is a new 10-week program that gives students the chance to build their

businesses from the ground up. From presenting business pitches to investors to attending educational panels hosted by established entrepreneurs, CYstarter wants its participants to solve problems affecting today’s world. “We wanted to create an opportunity for students to focus in on their businesses rather than getting an internship or summer job,” said Diana Wright, marketing and programming director of the ISU Pappajohn Center for Entrepreneurship. Wright said they want students who are trying to solve a big problem, or who “really truly [want] to work on their businesses

Courtesy of CYstarters

CYstarter is a 10-week program that will begin May 23 and provide students the opportunity to build their businesses from scratch.

or have [built up] a lot of momentum.” With 15 groups participating in the program, it seems students are accepting this challenge.

The new CYstarter program will allocate between $6,000 and $12,000 to create prototypes, advertising strategies and materials that will bring together each group’s ideas. “We have one team that did get accepted into CYstarter,” Wright said. “They are trying to solve the worldwide problem of subsistence farming. They are going into different countries where the food security is not like what it is in the U.S.” Many underdeveloped countries are unable to produce a sufficient amount of food

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