Wednesday, April 6, 2016 | Volume 211 | Number 130 | 40 cents | iowastatedaily.com | An independent student newspaper serving Iowa State since 1890.
‘Start by Believing’ launches on campus
A PLACE OF
WORSHIP
By Alex.Connor @iowastatedaily.com
ISU students seek location to practice religion around campus By Vanessa.Franklin @iowastatedaily.com Nam-myoho-renge-kyo. Each day begins and ends with this chant for Yu Hui Lui. This chant means Lui gives himself up to the law of cause and effect. Lui, graduate student in mechanical engineering, began practicing Nichiren Buddhism while living in Malaysia. After transferring to Iowa State three and a half years ago, Lui said he quickly began searching for ways to stay involved with his religion. In order to continue practicing his religion with other students, Lui said he reached out to a Buddhist organization called Soka Gakkai International. “As an international student being in a foreign place, you face a lot of obstacles or things that are new to you,” Lui said. “If you have a religion to practice, no matter where you are, it can really help you feel more comfortable.” Nichiren Buddhism began in 13th Century Japan with a Buddhist reformer and is practiced to establish lives of absolute happiness and peace, according to the Soka Gakkai International website. Despite finding other students to chant and practice Buddhism with, Lui said the group still did not have a place to meet. This issue was what drove Lui to organize the group and officially register it to become a club on campus. “We had thought about [registering the
Iowa State Daily
Jie Shao, a sales manager at Lihuatech Co. Ltd, is a member of the Dizang-Qi Buddhism Club. He believes that Buddhist meditation can help with stress.
group], but we didn’t do it because I had just arrived here, and I didn’t have the courage yet,” Lui said. “Now I thought it was time to start promoting peace through our community and at ISU.” The group officially registered in October 2015 and is now known as Buddhism for Peace. Lui is the president of the club, which now meets every Thursday in MacKay Hall. I try to bring study material so we can look at Buddhist concepts or find relevant things to discuss, Lui said. For Hubert Yi-Liang Ooi, sophomore in mechanical engineering, moving away from his home in Malaysia became the perfect time to get more involved with his religion. As an only child, Ooi said his mother was the one who urged him to get involved with the Buddhism club on campus.
“Back in Malaysia, I wasn’t that into Buddhism, but when I came here, I realized I do need to get involved in certain things that I was familiar with,” Ooi said. By getting involved with several international groups on campus, Ooi said he feels much more at home. Buddhism for Peace currently has six members who go to meetings regularly. Lui said that while Ames could have more diverse religious groups, creating his own group has provided its own benefits. “Here I am more active and more involved,” Lui said. “Back at home we have a lot of seniors and other people organizing the meetings, but now I am the person that has to do that. It’s helped me to grow a lot.” Giving guidance For Silas Pippitt, diversity and reten-
WORSHIP p4
Human Science open forums conclude Talk emphasizes global learning By Jake.Dalbey @iowastatedaily.com The final dean of the College of Human Sciences open forums took place Tuesday at Bessey Hall, introducing Stephan Wilson to the list of three possible candidates. Wilson, dean of the College of Human Sciences at Oklahoma State since 2008, was asked to speak about challenges and opportunities for the human sciences department as well as how these issues could be addressed now and in the near future.
Taking a different approach to his presentation than the previous candidates, Wilson framed several statements toward the audience and proceeded to provide insight to the questions. Wilson introduced the theme of a global learning effort, which was mentioned several times during the forum. Given the general goal of helping that is involved with human sciences, Wilson sees a more community-driven curriculum as the future for the program. “I would argue that a majority of the learning in this program should be done outside the classroom,” Wilson said. “This could be done through internships, mentoring and volunteering.”
OPEN FORUM p8
Emily Blobaum/Iowa State Daily
Stephan Wilson, dean of the College of Human Sciences at Oklahoma State University, spoke at an open forum Tuesday in Bessey Hall.
Nearly two years ago, Anthony Greiter, community outreach officer with the ISU Police Department, brought the international campaign “Start by Believing” to campus. “Start by Believing,” a public awareness campaign designed by End Violence Against Women International (EVAWI), works to change the thinking surrounding sexual assault and rape. “The concept behind “Start by Believing” is pretty simple,” Greiter said. “What it says is that when somebody tells us that they were sexually assaulted or raped, instead of doubting initially, which is what society has somehow been trained to do, we merely believe them.” Greiter first heard about the campaign while at a EVAWI conference, where he went to a workshop on how to bring the campaign to one’s own community. After meeting with the speaker and brainstorming ideas, Greiter initiated the campaign at Iowa State. His first act of the campaign? Handing out bookmarks. ISU Police and Ames Police, along with other organizations across the community and campus will launch their spring campaign in front of the library Wednesday. The event will run from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., and students and community members will be able to sit in squad cars, get a free T-shirt, and ISU Dining will provide free cupcakes. A campus-wide photo on the steps of Beardshear will take place in support of the campaign. This is the first year that ISU Police was able to take the campaign and hit the ground running with it, after officially become a “Start by Believing” agency last year. Greiter said that while adopting the campaign is a public way to show its commitment to the philosophy, ISU Police has trained its officers to think that way long before it came to Iowa State. “As a law enforcement agency, if we don’t start by believing, we will rarely get enough information to conduct an indepth — quite frankly — a good investigation,” Greiter said, adding that victims of sexual assault have been through a very traumatic experience and that they are often not comfortable reporting to law enforcement. “And if the first thing they hear from law enforcement or if the first impression that they get from law enforcement is a doubtful one, how willing are they going to be to tell us what happened? They’re not,” Greiter said. The “Start by Believing” campaign addresses the importance of believing through its website, stating that there are many steps involved in the chain of sup-
BELIEVING p8
Rob Hogg attacks Chuck Grassley during visit to ISU Hogg calls Senator ‘chief obstructionist’ By Shannon.McCarty @iowastatedaily.com Rob Hogg expressed his dissatisfaction with incumbent Sen. Chuck Grassley’s lack of action for the Supreme Court nomination while distinguishing himself from fellow Democrats running for U.S. Senate. Hogg is in his third term of being a state senator for District 33, and visited students at the Memorial Union on Wednesday to discuss his campaign for the U.S. Senate. Grassley, chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, has refused to hold a hearing for Judge Merrick Garland, President Obama’s Supreme Court nominee to replace the late Justice Anthony Scalia.
Grassley has stated he will not hold a hearing until the November elections. “This race changed on February 13, when Justice Scalia died,” Hogg said. “Chuck Grassley made the decision to become the chief obstructionist in the U.S. Senate.” Hogg said Grassley should uphold his constitutional duties instead of siding with the interest of his party. Hogg went on to commend Garland for prosecuting Timothy McVeigh, an American terrorist who was responsible for the Oklahoma City bombing. “How can you turn that person down for a hearing,” Hogg said. “[Garland] is arguably a hero — for prosecuting the worst domestic terrorist in our history.” The state senator encouraged students to call Grassley and ask him when he will be at Iowa State as part of his 99-county visit and to hold a hearing for Garland.
ROB HOGG p8
Max Goldberg/Iowa State Daily
State Senator Rob Hogg speaks to a small group of students and community members at a meet and greet Monday evening in the Gallery of the Memorial Union.