Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2013 | Volume 209 | Number 11 | 40 cents | iowastatedaily.com | An independent student newspaper serving Iowa State since 1890. | A 2010-11 ACP Pacemaker Award winner
Cash crops might not generate cash
Stromberg and her fellow vigil participants were looking to drum up awareness from members of the Ames and ISU communities. Stromberg said she hopes Ames citizens will contact their U.S. senator or representative to say “no” to force in Syria and to voice their opinions on international conflict. “We want people to say no; 76 percent of the American people are against this force, and we want to raise that number,” Stromberg said. “I don’t see why [President Barack Obama] would want this war when so many don’t.”
VIGIL p8 >>
TUITION p7 >>
Jonathan Krueger/Iowa State Daily
ISU economists are warning farmers to be aware of a possible downturn in the prices of land and commodities, as well as an increase in interest rates. During the past five to six years, costs and values of commodities and land have been rising. Commodity and land values have followed a very high to very low pattern in the last 100 years. There have been three strong indications of this pattern. The first indication began in the late 1910s, leading to the Great Depression. The second was in the 1970-80s, better known as the farm crisis. The third indication is now, beginning in 2012. “Historically, agriculture has been a cyclical industry,” said John Lawrence, associate dean for the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. “The idea of what goes up comes down. We’re just encouraging farmers to keep that in mind.” However, the expected downturn is not anticipated to be immediate, unlike the farm crisis. Lawrence said the more powerful financial blow could occur in two to four years. Iowa’s weather conditions are partly to
blame for lower crop yields and, therefore, less farm income. “Lower yields were sold at this year’s lower price, which cuts into income,” Lawrence said. “This year, because of a record wet spring and dry conditions, it’s looking to be another short crop year. In some areas of the state, [farmers] didn’t get fields planted, so they’re falling back on crop insurance.” This will be the fourth year in a row of national average corn harvests being below the expected yields. What economists call the wealth effect is to blame, too. The wealth effect occurs during a high-income time for farmers, where they “felt like they were getting a raise all along, when really, it was just a bonus that wasn’t going to last forever,” said Michael Duffy, professor of economics and agriculture. The wealth effect is a phenomenon through which farmers’ livelihoods could be heavily impacted. “People get accustomed to a certain lifestyle,” Lawrence said. “Even though their income declines, their spending does not, either because their down payments bought land or they’re just accustomed to those sorts of things.” Economists are also encouraging farmers to be wise with their spending and borrowing from the banks.
Freddy Court parking lot, storm water system in works
Farmers should assess machinery purchases, plan ahead and get a good sense of where this year’s crop is. They should also be wary of taking on more debt. Interest rates are currently on the rise. Last spring, rates were about 1.4 percent. They have more than doubled in the last six months. “The Federal Reserve has maintained artificially low interest rates in order to stimulate the economy,” said Dermot Hayes, professor of economics and agriculture. “We, as investors and consumers, will invest and spend more when interest rates are lower. The Federal Reserve has done this on purpose. ... They do it by buying government debt and maintaining and spending its own money. [The Federal Reserve] has announced it’s going to slow down that activity, which means the interest rates on government debt will go up; in turn, that means the interest rates on most other debt in the U.S. economy will go up, too.” Though there is still a boom in agriculture, a possible downturn could have real effects at Iowa State. Hayes said Iowa’s farm income will be lower than expected, affecting students’ ability to afford the costs associated with attend-
FARMERS p7 >>
Vigil ‘imagines’ peace for Syria Iowa residents pursue peace Charles.Obrien @iowastatedaily.com
Brian Achenbach/Iowa State Daily
Storm water system plans are underway as concrete is laid for Frederiksen Court parking lots.
By Brian.Day @iowastatedaily.com Work has begun recently to convert the pasture on the east side of Haber Road into a 500-space parking lot for the 720 new Frederiksen Court residents. The rapid increase of students at Iowa State has warranted the need for more parking at ISU facilities. During the last major flood in 2010,
the majority of the pasture where the parking lot is being built was under water. However, with a new storm water management system, Huss does not see future flooding to be a problem. “That’s why we’re excavating the dirt for the storm water control,” said Mark Huss, assistant director for Facilities Planning and Management. “We’re using
PARKING p8 >>
Signs voicing opposition of force in Syria covered the front stairs of St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church on Monday night. Many of the 24 attendees at the vigil for peace in the Syrian conflict held signs that contained messages like “No Strike on Syria” and “Who Would Jesus Bomb.” “This is a vigil, not a protest,” said vigil organizer Audrey Stromberg. “Our signs are very peaceful. We are not condemning anyone.”
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By Danielle.Ferguson @iowastatedaily.com A second consecutive year of tuition freeze for in-state undergraduates is among the highlighted topics for the September Board of Regents meeting in Cedar Falls. As part of the operating appropriations request, $652.7 million is desired to help provide affordable higher education in Iowa. If approved, this would mean that in-state undergraduate tuition will remain the same for three years, the first time since 1975. “When this moves forward, the ball will be in the Legislature’s court,” said Spencer Hughes, president of the Government of the Student Body. “We need to make the case to the Legislature and support Iowa students … what appears to be a small step is really a positive step to put Iowa as a leader in higher education.” The general four percent increase was developed in the board office, said Sheila Koppin, the regents’ communications director. Koppin also said this amount is above the Higher Education Price Index’s range to help the universities to absorb the tuition freeze. HEPI is an inflation index designed to track the biggest costs in higher education institutions. It is a helpful planning instrument for colleges and universities to understand their future budget. The appropriations request is agenda item seven for Wednesday after the reports of the institutional heads from Iowa, Iowa State and Northern iowa. The meeting is scheduled to begin at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday with the Property and Facilities Committee and the Education and Student Affairs Committee. The Property and Facilities Committee is looking for approval for the five year capital plan from fiscal year 2015 to fiscal year 2019 for the amount of $689.4 million from state funds and $96 million from private or other funds. This includes a capital request of $89 million for fiscal year 2015. From this amount, approximately $75 million is to be allocated to help change environmental safety and fire safety absences. Iowa State has a request for $5,000 for the Biosciences building as part of the fiscal year 2015 capital request. The Education and Student Affairs Committee’s agenda contains the biennial faculty activities report, which provides an overview as to the responsibilities and expectations of faculty members of the three universities. On Wednesday, the board is set to assemble in open session from 9 a.m. to noon. A sexual misconduct presentation and training is scheduled to start the session from 9 to 10:15 a.m. “We have three new board members who have not had this training,” Koppin said. “To ease the process, we are providing it for them in one meeting.
A potential downturn in land and commodity values could have a significant impact on the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. This downturn could affect enrollment and post-graduation job placement as well as the number of students able to afford Iowa State University tuition, said Dermot Hayes.
Caitlin.Deaver @iowastatedaily.com
Regents to vote on tuition freeze
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