Thoughts on GSB denying Iowa State’s bike share program OPINION, page 5
Wednesday, Sept. 10, 2013 | Volume 209 | Number 12 | 40 cents | iowastatedaily.com | An independent student newspaper serving Iowa State since 1890.
NORML
Iowa State asks for dismissal of lawsuit By Maddy.Arnold @iowastatedaily.com
Courtesy of Mark Kargol
Above is the preferred concept of the GSB bike share committee. The bike share bill was voted down by the Government of the Student Body Senate on Sept. 3, but it might be revisited in the spring.
GSB raises concerns, recommends plans for future of bike share By Makayla.Tendall @iowastatedaily.com The future of the bike share program is undetermined after the Government of the Student Body Senate voted not to fund this semester’s leg of the project at Sept. 3’s GSB meeting. The GSB-initiated bike share program would provide around 300 bikes at docking stations around campus. Students could use their ISUCards to check out bikes and return them at other docking stations. The idea of a bike share program inspired an industrial design class that would be devoted to creating model bikes and docking stations as well as determining whether or not the university’s infrastructure could handle the program. In spring 2014, the Senate had funded the class. Toward the end of the semester, the Senate voted to table a bill that would fund the fall semester of the class until fall GSB meetings. At Sept. 3’s meeting, the Senate voted not to approve the bill requesting an additional $7,477.39 to the almost $5,500 already spent funding the class.
Applying the brakes “One of the biggest misconceptions was that for us to fund this research, it’s not funding a bunch of bike prototypes that are going to be on campus,” said Hillary Kletscher, GSB president. “It’s not saying we’re going to commit to a bike share program.” Mark Kargol, the teaching assistant for the industrial design class, said that the 20 students in the class last semester created three designs for bikes and docking stations. This semester’s goal centered on designing and manufacturing two bikes, each of a different design, which would be funded by GSB. Those bikes would be used as prototypes and weighed against each other as the best model to manufacture. The community and regional planning students would also devote the semester to analyzing the university’s infrastructure to determine whether or not the university could support 300 more bikes on campus. The bike share program was the brainchild of Kletscher and former GSB president Spencer Hughes in fall 2012. Hughes had gotten the idea at a Big 12 student government conference. “At the time, we definitely had
an increased student population, but it wasn’t at the size that it is now,” Kletscher said about the project. “That’s why I think we had fewer reservations about it. At that point, we felt like the infrastructure could handle it.” Kletscher, a student like many others who brought their bikes from home to campus, said the program appealed to both her and Hughes because it was a project that could benefit all students on campus, not just the organizations that requested funds that would only benefit their members. “We have over $2 million every year,” Kletscher said about student fees. “From my perspective, spending $7,000 on something that could potentially benefit our entire campus, why wouldn’t we do that?” Hughes and Kletscher began to research bike share companies and their programs and create a plan on how to implement a program at Iowa State. They presented their idea to the Graduate and Professional Student Senate where an industrial design student brought a new perspective to the project.
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Branstad, Reynolds share ideas on tuition
Council approves requests to rezone land, close streets By Michaela.Ramm @iowastatedaily.com
By Alex.Hanson @iowastatedaily.com In the midst of a busy campaign season, Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad and Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds announced proposals aimed at making college education more affordable. Two specific policies were announced Tuesday in an event at the Memorial Union, both of which will affect current and future students at Iowa State. Branstad and Reynolds also highlighted economic and educational achievements since taking office in 2011. “We doubted whether we could freeze tuition at our state universities, but we did it because we reformed the state budget and got it in order,” said Reynolds. “We were able to, for the first time in 30 years, freeze tuition for Iowa students attending our state
Iowa State University submitted a motion to dismiss a lawsuit filed against employees by two students who said their rights to free speech and due process were violated. Paul G erlich and Er in Furleigh, the president and vice president of ISU NORML — an organization that advocates for the reform of marijuana laws — filed a lawsuit against President Steven Leath and vice presidents Warren Madden and Tom Hill and Leesha Zimmerman, a program coordinator in the trademark office, earlier this summer. Furleigh and Gerlich said their First Amendment rights were violated when Iowa State did not allow them to use the mascot Cy on some T-shirt designs. According to the motion to dismiss, the two students said Iowa State created “overbroad and vague” trademark guidelines and then “arbitrarily” used them to reject some of NORML’s T-shirts. The 13-page motion to dismiss from Iowa State, that was filed on Sept. 4, requested that the lawsuit against the four university employees be dropped for a number of reasons. According to the document, both Furleigh and Gerlich failed to provide facts that showed their First Amendment right to free speech was violated. The motion to dismiss also said Furleigh and Gerlich failed to claim use of the logo on their organizations shirts as fair use in the lawsuit. According to the document, fair use allows others to use a trademark if it is used as something other than a trademark, in a descriptive nature or in good faith. According to the document, the lawsuit should be dismissed because Furleigh and Gerlich did not “allege sufficient facts to establish any constitutional right in the use of ISU’s marks, that they lacked adequate alternative avenues for communicating their message without ISU’s marks, that their proposed uses of the marks were fair uses, or that their proposed uses did not cause confusion.” Look for more coverage of this story on iowastatedaily.com.
Richard Martinez/Iowa State Daily
Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad and Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds announced their initiatives for the 2014 campaign in an event Sept. 9 in the Gallery Room of the Memorial Union. They said that their platform aims to make higher education more affordable.
universities. Not only did we do that in 2013, but we did it for two years in a row.” Branstad began by highlighting economic and educational reform achievements already enacted. “One thing we always hear from students and from their parents is the high cost of higher education,” Branstad said. “I’m proud to say we’ve gone to work on that. For the first time in 35 years, there has been no rise in tuition for our students two years in a row.” He then laid out two specific policy proposals aimed at making
college more affordable for Iowa students. One proposal was for Fixed-Priced Value Degrees. He proposed that each of the regent institutions develop a series of bachelor’s degrees that Iowa residents or students can obtain for no more than $10,000 in tuition fees. The governor wants the universities to develop degrees in four of their most popular degree tracks. He also wants them to focus additionally in the areas of science, technology, engineering and math.
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Ames City Council met Tuesday to discuss Dinkey Day, the Ames Public Library reopening and residential developments. The major discussion that took place in the City Council chambers was the rezoning of 79 acres of land north of Ada Hayden Heritage Park owned by Quarry Estates, LLC. The company proposed to the council the development of a residential subdivision, which would be called Quarry Estates. The approval required the permission of a conservation subdivision for the land use and the protection of watershed in Ada Hayden Lake. One particular concern that was brought forth was the effect this project may have on the water supply in that parcel of land. “We rely on that water supply,” said councilman Tim Gartin. “Is there anything we should be doing to protect that water supply?” Several members of the community came forth to discuss this matter with the council,
arguing in favor for this resolution. One person was Kurt Friedrich, who has a part in the development of the land. “A large area will be set aside for conservation and for the enjoyment for the residents and the community,” Friedrich said. The council approved the request, allowing for the development of Quarry Estates. Another major discussion that took place during the council meeting concerned the zoning of floodplains in the city of Ames. The City Council hopes to adopt new flood maps for College Creek and Worle Creek, and a rezoning of floodplains in Ames. The city of Ames participates in the National Flood Insurance Program, which allows property owners to purchase insurance to protect homes and businesses from damages. Due to Federal Emergency Management Agency regulations that came to be known in 2010, funding would be awarded to high-performing states, from which the city of Ames could
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