An independent student newspaper serving Iowa State since 1890
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05.02.2019 Vol. 219 No. 144
THURSDAY
3 generations of Cyclones
MEGAN PETZOLD/ IOWA STATE DAILY Iowa State president Wendy Wintersteen speaks to the Board of Regents Feb. 22, 2018.
First reading of tuition hike approved BY DEVYN.LEESON @iowastatedaily.com
COURTESY OF MELINDA CHEN
From China to the Midwest, family finds home at ISU BY WHITNEY.MASON @iowastatedaily.com In 1950, Homer Minjen Chen had a decision to make. Going back to his native country of China was not an option, however attending college in the United States was. All Chen did next was randomly select the middle portion of the United States as the Midwest was the location of where he would attend college.
COURTESY OF MELINDA CHEN
Homer Chen was born in 1928 in Beijing, the capital of China. The oldest of five children, he and his siblings grew up in Guilin, the southern city known for the distinct landscape of limestone hills. His father served as a diplomat in Panama for the Chinese National Government under Chiang Kai Shek. Ac c o rd i n g t o Tao Wa n g, assistant professor in history in Iowa State, Kai Shek came to leadership in 1920 with the intention of combining traditional Chinese and Western values. Wang said Kai Shek was referred as the father of modern China and the country itself looked to Japan as a model for successful modernization. Kai Shek’s views faced opposition from the growing Communist Party, which lead to
war in 1927. Along with those that opposed communism, Japan, under militarism control, invaded China in 1937, setting up occupation in the northeast part of the country. Chen and his family, living in the southern part of the country, were unaffected until 1944, when the Japanese occupation spread to the southern coastal cities. As the Japanese came closer to Guilin, Homer Chen and his brother knew they had to leave. Chen’s daughter, Melinda Chen, recalled he told her they could hear the Japanese coming from the top of the hills. Homer Chen and his brother departed the country and escaped to Panama to reunite with their father. Once in Panama, Homer Chen
COURTESY OF KATRINA CHOONG,
stayed in the Panama Canal and learned Spanish as he finished his secondary education. After completing his education in Panama, Homer wanted to return to China. When he learned that his mother and other brother were thrown into concentration camps in China due to their status, he knew it wasn’t an option. Homer Chen decided to look into the United States for his college degree. “He thought the middle of the country was good for him,” Melinda Chen said. Katrina Choong, senior in electrical engineering and Homer Chen’s granddaughter, said her grandfather thought he would not have any distractions in the
GENERATIONS pg4
Tuition hikes for Iowa State and the University of Iowa passed through first reading unanimously at the Board of Regents special meeting Wednesday. The approved tuition increases would raise Iowa State resident undergraduate tuition by $302 or 3.9 percent. For non-resident undergraduates this number is $1,086, or a 4.9 percent increase. Iowa State resident and nonresident graduate students will see an increase in tuition of 4.9 percent if passed again in the board’s June meeting. This increase constitutes a $456 tuition increase for resident graduate students and $1,156 for non-resident graduate students. “No one is thrilled to be having this discussion once again on the tuition increase proposals,” said Austin Graber, Iowa State student body president at the telophonic meeting. “These discussions and these meetings are happening too often.” Graber said he reviewed the statement provided by former student body president Julian Neely to the regents on tuition one year ago, and that the narrative between those years had not changed. Graber pointed to this trend of increasing tuition as problematic. The board originally proposed a $7 million increase to Iowa State, contingent on the Republican-led state Legislature fully funding the Governor and Board of Regents request of
TUITION pg8