Thursday, Sept. 11, 2014 | Volume 209 | Number 13 | 40 cents | iowastatedaily.com | An independent student newspaper serving Iowa State since 1890.
GSB talks student groups’ requests, funding By Makayla.Tendall @iowastatedaily.com
Yanhua Huang/Iowa State Daily
Students file into the Hoover Hall auditorium on the first day of classes. President Steven Leath announced Wednesday that Iowa State had its largest-ever enrollment of 34,732 students, up 4.5 percent from last year. With the constantly increasing student population, heavily trafficked areas can get chaotic during busy periods throughout the day.
SPACE JAM Increased enrollment means larger crowds on campus
By Matthew.Rezab @iowastatedaily.com As predicted by school officials, Iowa State now has more students than ever before. President Steven Leath announced Iowa State’s official enrollment of 34,732 students to the Board of Regents on Wednesday. The 4.5 percent increase from 2013 is not only due to a large freshman class but also higher retention rates, which is nearly 87 percent, according to Leath. Leath also expressed pride in Iowa State’s large international population. More than 8,000 international students attend Iowa State and currently represent 23 percent of the ISU population. While higher enrollment has helped increase Iowa State’s 2015 fiscal year budget to $584.6 million, many departments have been forced to expand their services to serve more students. The Department of Residence has seen an 11.8 percent increase in contracted housing on and off campus. The depart-
Fall 2014 enrollment by college *Numbers include undergraduate and graduate students. Information provided by the Iowa State News Service.
140 297
Vet Med, Graduate Post-Docs
Agriculture & Life Sciences
5,205
Business Design
4,082 1,998
Engineering
8,789
Human Sciences
5,093
Liberal Arts & Sciences
8,126
Vet Med, Professional
592 410
Undeclared
Total enrollment: 34,732 ment now houses 12,237 students, 967 more than the 2013-14 school year. “We’ve definitely increased [services] to accommodate growth,” said Brittney Rutherford, marketing coordinator for the Department of Residence. “Luckily, we’ve been able to respond and serve our students’ needs by leasing space, using dens and adding buildings.” Rutherford said the Depart-
ment of Residence has been preparing for more students for the past few years. Legacy Towers in Campustown, along with the Maricopa apartment buildings and 250 additional spaces leased in West Ames, have added 1,060 beds since spring 2013. “Frederiksen Court was an 18-month expansion that added over 700 beds for us as well,”
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The allotment of student organization equipment, accommodation for disabled students and funding student organizations were discussed at Wednesday’s Government of the Student Body meeting. The Senate discussed redefining how capital items are used by student organizations. The previous definition for how capital items — items that GSB funds upon student organizations’ request — were used meant that the items would only have to be used by the organization that requested funding. The new order passed by the Senate redefined the way GSB funds capital items. Items can now be used by all students and organizations instead of the ones that requested them. In an effort to make GSB Senate meetings accessible for all students, Presha Kardile, director of student diversity, proposed posting an accommodation statement on the GSB website. The statement would ensure students with disabilities knew that that necessary accommodations would be made to get them to the meetings if they wanted to attend. The statement that will now be posted on the GSB website lists the contact information for executive members students may contact to ask about accommodations. An additional $3,524 in funding for Student Counseling Services was also discussed. Because of a benefits increase for a psychologist, the service requested an additional $2,524 for individual salaries. Another $1,000 was requested for professional development. ISU Students for Life Club requested $3,566.64 to fund a trip to the National March for Life Conference in Washington D.C. The SAE Supermileage Team is building a superefficient vehicle for a student design competition. It requested $795.26 for transportation to the competition in Michigan. The student organization Smile Ninja, which encourages students to complete random acts of kindness, requested $301 for advertising for the club during the fiscal year. Representatives from Student Counseling Services, ISU Students for Life, the SAE Supermileage Team and Smile Ninja will be present at the next meeting for the second readings of the bills.
Officials break ground on ISU economic facility By Alex.Hanson @iowastatedaily.com
Richard Martinez/Iowa State Daily
On Wednesday, ISU President Steven Leath joined members of the Board of Regents, state representatives — including Gov. Branstad and Lt. Gov. Reynolds — for the commemoration of funding for a new facility in ISU Research Park.
Officials from Iowa State and the state of Iowa, including Gov. Terry Branstad and Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds, broke ground for a new economic development facility at the ISU Research Park on Wednesday. The $12 million project, located just south of the current research park, will allow Iowa businesses and industries to work with Iowa State on research and allow the businesses to receive technology and business expertise. A short groundbreaking event took place with officials at the construction site. Following the groundbreaking was a ceremony at the current research park, which included some speeches. “The Economic Development Core facility will help us advance not only Iowa State’s economic enterprise, but it will have major impacts on our state, national and global economies.” Leath said. During his speech, Leath also highlighted the current ISU
Research Park, which is home to nearly 60 companies. He then spoke about expanding a partnership with Vermeer, a company that makes industrial and agricultural equipment. “In 2012, Vermeer became the first Iowa-based manufacturing corporation to open an office at this research park,” Leath said. “The company’s objective was to have better access to our most indemand economic development asset: our students. Since then, Vermeer has partnered on seven capstone projects, leveraging the skills of our students and our research strength.” Vermeer will be building a new facility at the research park. Reynolds spoke for the second time this week in Ames. Her brief remarks quickly highlighted the new facility to be built. “With this new building and Iowa State’s presence in all 99 counties, individual Iowans have access to a one-stop shop to ISU’s expertise and assistance,” Reynolds said. “Whether it’s seeking insights on financing, business leadership, marketing strategy or
GROUNDBREAKING p8