Wednesday, April 29, 2015 | Volume 210 | Number 147 | 40 cents | iowastatedaily.com | An independent student newspaper serving Iowa State since 1890.
Social media plays big role in campaigns By Alex.Hanson @iowastatedaily.com As social media continues to play a larger role in everyday life, presidential hopefuls continue to send the obligatory tweet announcing their campaign. In less than 140 characters, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas was the first candidate to launch a campaign for president in 2015, officially announcing it on his Twitter account that boasts more than 400,000 followers to date. “I’m running for President and I hope to earn your support!” @TedCruz tweeted, attaching a video with a voice-over saying he’ll lead the fight with “courageous conservatives” who support him. “Just in terms of using social media, it’s another way to reach voters,” said Tim Hagle, professor of political science at the University of Iowa. “Depending on the particular application, it’s really a way to reach younger voters, as well.” U.S. Senators Rand Paul and Marco Rubio also used social media heavily leading up to their campaign launches, both promising big announcements on the dates they were expected to launch. Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton released a video on her new campaign site and then took to social media to tweet her plans to run and travel to Iowa. Interaction plays a big part, said Kelly Winfrey, lecturer of leadership and education for the Carrie Chapman Catt Center for Women and Politics who has researched how campaigns used Facebook in the 2012 election. Clinton’s announcement tweet on her @HillaryClinton account, which has 3.4 million followers, has been retweeted more than 105,000 times. “Twitter kind of gives the illusion that you’re talking directly to someone and it allows people to respond back in a way that’s a little more intimate and conversational,” Winfrey said. “As we’ve seen with the announcements or with Hillary tweeting that she’s driving around in her van, it kind of gives a snapshot of what is go-
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Kelby Wingert/Iowa State Daily
Lora and Ross Talbot donated a $2.5 million endowment fund to Iowa State. The Talbots are members of the ISU Alumni Association despite never attending the university.
A National First
Non-graduates donate $2.5 million to fund first-ever non-academic endowment By Claire.Norton @iowastatedaily.com
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reserving connections and strengthening a sense of community — qualities two non-ISU graduates, Lora and Russ Talbot, feel Iowa State offers to everyone, leading them to preserve an essential part of the university — the Alumni Association. Despite the Talbots’ love and appreciation for the university and spending the majority of their lives in Iowa, they did not attend Iowa State, making their
$2.5 million endowed gift to the university unique. Living in Belmond, Iowa, most of their lives, the Talbots planned and reached success through smart financial decisionmaking. “We started early in our marriage to plan and systematically save for the future,” Russ said. “We have invested wisely throughout the years.” The Talbots started their lifetime membership with the Alumni Association in 2008 after approaching the president and CEO for the ISU Alumni Association, Jeff Johnson.
“They were not aware that a person who is not a graduate of the university can join the Alumni Association,” Johnson said. “We have about 10,000 members of the association who are nongraduates.” Johnson said many of the “friends” of Iowa State are parents of graduates or those who have not had the opportunity to attend a university, but if they could have, it would have been Iowa State. From the first interactions in 1998, donating to and providing for students of Iowa State’s College of Veterinary Medicine, the
couple has connected with and prized the faculty and students’ passion and loyalty for what they do and the college they represent. “We started dropping our donations off in person, and through that we felt [veterinary students’ and employees’] passion for the animals and what they do,” Lora said. Throughout the years, as both of their interests in the university have grown, so has their generosity of donations and gifts. The Talbots have improved their scholarship funding for the Col-
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Math department wins highest honor Iowa State nationally recognized by American Mathematical Society By Mariah.Griffith @iowastatedaily.com
Jessica Darland/Iowa State Daily
Students were trained to be peer advisers for a new mathematics and statistics learning community Thursday. The math department recently won the American Mathematical Society Award for an Exemplary Program or Achievement in a Mathematics Department.
The Iowa State Department of Mathematics received one of the highest honors in the nation this year. The department was awarded the annual American Mathematical Society Award for an Exemplary Program or Achievement in a Mathematics Department. “It is a major recognition, and this is one of the best awards a math department can win nationally,” said Clifford Bergman, mathematics professor and department chair. The award was established
Businesses comment on sales with no Veishea By Audra.Kincart @iowastatedaily.com As April draws to a close, the ISU campus witnessed a year without a Veishea. Store owners in Campustown have varying opinions about how this year’s business compared to last year’s. “Basically, it obviously has been slower. We did see some reaction from kids going out
Kelby Wingert/Iowa State Daily
Businesses in Ames witnessed a decrease in sales in April because of the cancellation of Veishea. “Basically, it obviously has been slower. We did see some reaction from kids going out late,” said Elliot Krueger, general manager at Jeff’s Pizza.
late,” said Elliot Krueger, general manager at Jeff’s Pizza. “If I had to compare it I would compare it to a slower football game. We had a fairly busy Friday, fairly busy Saturday, but pretty normal for the rest of the week though.” During a normal Veishea, business can increase 30 to 40
percent a day, Krueger said. This year saw a relatively normal Monday through Thursday and about a 20 percent increase in business for Friday and Saturday. Other business owners agree with Krueger. “It was probably 70 percent less than last year,” said Ben
Singh, manager of AJ’s Ultra Lounge. “Because they cancelled [Veishea] there were less people from out of town, they had a lot of rules and people couldn’t have house parties.” However, some businesses saw an increase compared to last year.
in 2004 to be awarded to one program at a North American school each year, and initially carried a $1,200 prize with it. The year after the University of Iowa received the award in 2008, the prize was anonymously endowed and the monetary prize increased to $5,000. The award cannot be received more than once by a department. “It’s funny, we haven’t even had one minute of discussion about what we’re going to do with the prize money. We’re just so busy with getting through the semester right now,” Bergman said. Bergman and associate diversity director Leslie Hogben said they considered this award student-centered, emphasizing the importance of diversity and retention of students on earning this honor.
AWARD p11 “I definitely had more business than last year at this time,” said Clint Sletter, owner of the Asylum. “I don’t know if we had more steady business with people coming in because people didn’t have anything to do or what.” Sletter said Veishea provided the campus with a festival feel, which brought people from out of town to the Ames community. Without Veishea, there was less chaos throughout town, which he believes attracted more customers to his business. “I had a woman come from Illinois, she felt like she could make the drive and not be overwhelmed from all the chaos,” Sletter said. Sletter, however, has been losing business since Veishea had been moved off Welch Avenue. “When they moved [Veishea] off of Welch and on campus it was
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