Ethos Spring 2016 by Ethos magazine

so good, we read ourselves

SPRING 2016

JUST WINGING IT EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED IN ISU’S IMPROV CLUB

BOTTLING IT UP A LOOK AT ALCOHOLISM IN COLLEGE

BLACK-EYE AFFAIR STUDENTS FIND PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH

CONTENTS TABLE OF 2

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5 | Editor’s Letter The case for metaphorical aromatherapy

6 | Quickies Our Netflix picks and what the hell to do in Iowa

8 | Dorm Disasters Don’t tell your Hall Director about these mishaps

10 | Minding Your Health Students find a shoulder to lean on with Counseling Services

12 | Life is Heaven in Hell What it’s really like to live in the Towers

14 | Speech Without Boundaries Find out what the “free-speech zone” is really about

16 | Taking out the Trash Learn what Iowa State is doing with your garbage

18 | Fostering Kindness ISU students using their free time to help kids in need

20 | Unscripted, Unrehearsed, Unbothered Be prepared to be unprepared with this wacky club

22 | Making Waves on the Air Meeting the diverse faces and eclectic tastes behind one community radio station

28 | Same Bottle, Different Stories Students share their perceptions of alcoholism

32 | The Road to Recovery How one woman overcame drug use and addiction at a young age

36 | Rolling with the Punches Finding friends through hand-to-hand combat

42 | A Legacy in Lectures The method behind the madness of the Iowa State Lectures Program

48 | Finding the Track to Acceptance A national champion athlete shares her journey to loving herself

52 | WDYTYA: Jean-Pierre Taoutel One French instructor shares his experiences with war, cultural differences and teaching students

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â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;16 STAFF LIST EXECUTIVE BOARD Editor-In-Chief: Traer Schon Senior Editor: Andreas Haffar Features Editor: Varad Diwate Features Editor: Zachary Neuendorf Visuals Directors: Meredith Kestel Creative Directors: Alixandria Collins & Mikayla Larsen Social Media/PR Director: Britta Roppe

PUBLIC RELATIONS Jenna DeMarco | Amber Misek | Nicole Prestemon | Megan Danielson

FOR MORE CONTENT, VISIT ETHOSMAGAZINE.ORG INTERESTED IN JOINING OUR TEAM? EMAIL ETHOSISU@GMAIL.COM Like us: Ethosmagazineisu 4

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LETTER

FROM THE EDITOR

We hear it from our parents when we are in a rush to grow up. We hear it from older siblings after they’ve graduated college. We hear it from concerned strangers when we scarf down a cheeseburger in three bites. The frequent reminders to “stop and smell the roses,” (or some variation of that phrase) can be annoying, but it’s advice that rings true — especially here at Iowa State. Sometimes these “roses” are right in front of our noses, but we’re too entrenched in our daily routines to fully absorb them. Right here on campus, there are cool things going on every day. Cool things are going on on our way to class, in the basement of State Gym and even in the godforsaken Towers. We may see that they’re happening, but decide to do homework (or nothing) instead, or say we’ll go “next time.” Sometimes it’s more comfortable to stick with what we’re used to and stay home eating animal crackers from the comfort of our beds — but there really are better things to do (I’m serious).

I’m here to tell you to get out there and do the things! We’re only here for four years (or five, or six, or seven), so we may as well jam as much as we can into them and take advantage of all the great opportunities we have here while we can. When it comes to smelling roses, Iowa State is a florist’s shop on February 13. It may be making the most out of a less-thanideal (perhaps even life-threatening) living situation, or diving into the weird world of improvisational comedy. You could take a whiff of Iowa State’s prestigious lectures program — which brings roughly 120 notable speakers to campus each year — or KHOI radio, a local station made up of an amalgam of ages and personalities who all share the same passion. If you have mental health issues or addictions you need to deal with before fully enjoying your time here on campus, Iowa State’s got you covered there, too.

of Ethos. If you’ve been hankering for one, consolidated place where you can read about a French instructor who lived through a war along with horror stories from living in the dorms, you’ve come to the right place. However you ended up at Iowa State, now’s the time to make the most out of your adventure. Don’t wait for “next time” or waste time complaining — enjoy whatever you have going on in your life and don’t hesitate to go find new things. Feel free to use this magazine as a jumping-off point to grabbing life by the horns (not literally…we put too much work into this to have you step on it). After all, our campus — overflowing with trees, flowers and sculptures — has consistently been named one of the most beautiful in the United States; that’s a lot of roses to smell.

Basically, there’s a lot going on here, and I think you’ll see that reflected in this issue

QUICKIES BY ETHOS STAFF, JACQUELYN BELL, ANDREAS HAFFAR

DESIGN KALEY LEMPKE

DON’T BE THE PERSON WHO... • • • • •

Leaves seconds on the microwave timer Has relationship conversations on the bus Wears uggs now (for a more appropriate time, please see our winter issue) Studies while they’re working out Doesn’t clean food off the counters

• • • • • •

Rides a hoverboard in high-traffic areas GPA-shames other people Does more than the assigned class work Has deep talks during class Wears socks with sandals Is a professor that tries too hard to get along with students

WHAT TO WATCH ON NETFLIX

We can all agree: Netflix is one of the greatest creations of our time. It has opened the door to a whole new world, where pajamas are acceptable all day and hours of procrastination are inevitable. But seriously, there is nothing like snuggling up on the couch for a 10-hour binge sesh of your latest obsession. If, like us, you’re basically in a relationship with Netflix, then you know the struggle of deciding what to watch next. Here are some binge-worthy suggestions.

When You’re “Netflix and Chillin”: The Office (American or British Version) This witty comedy will make you laugh until you almost pee yourself. It takes place at the typical workplace and includes an adorable love story that isn’t too gushy. You are guaranteed to share some laughs and feels with your chillin partner. With all nine seasons available on Netflix, there are hours and hours of chillin material. When You Want a Weekend Marathon: Weeds Hands down one of our all-time favorites. A hilarious comedy drama about a newlywidowed suburban housewife that turns to selling marijuana to maintain her family’s lifestyle. All eight seasons of this sharp, sexy, fast-paced series are on Netflix. It’s definitely worthy of a weekend marathon. When You Have a Girls’ Night: Twinsters This super-cute documentary is perfect for a wine night with the girls. It follows a collegeaged girl that finds a video on YouTube of a girl that appears to be her identical twin. They begin a journey of discovery about their birth. It will make you wish you had a twin of your own!

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When You’re With the Bros: Californication If you like shows about sex, drugs and bad decisions, you will love Californication. This action-packed comedy drama is about a once famous writer, played by David Duchovny, struggling with drugs, alcohol and women while trying to raise his daughter and win back the love of his life. It is a perfect show for having some beers with the bros.

When You’re With With Your Parents: Parks and Recreation This comedy is perfect for watching with your family. It follows an optimistic Parks & Rec employee and her attempts to find solutions to hilarious situations. It has creative characters and the material is (mostly) appropriate while still being seriously funny. Most importantly, there are no awkward sex scenes to suffer through. All seven seasons are on Netflix.

When You’re Sad: New Girl This light-hearted comedy will definitely get you out of the dumps. The adorable Zooey Deschanel plays a cheerful girl living with three boys she met on Craigslist. It’s sweet, funny and will cheer you up in no time.

When You’re Feeling Serious: House of Cards This show is a Netflix original, and let us tell you, they know what they are doing. This political drama involves a ruthless politician that will stop at nothing to conquer Washington. Even if you’re not especially into politics, this captivating drama is worth the watch just for the scandal. What better way to prepare for the election?

When You’re Drunk: Archer This animated comedy is hard not to love. Archer is the drunk and douchey version of James Bond. It’s full of secret agent missions that always go wrong and witty adult humor—the perfect combination for a night of drinking. Bonus: you can find fun drinking game rules online that go with the show!

WHAT THE HELL TO DO IN IOWA You find yourself smack dab in the middle of the United States, feeling deprived of fun and exciting things to do or see. You may ask yourself, “What the hell is there to do and see in Iowa?” We’re here to answer that age-old question by presenting a handful of ideas to save you from your enervating boredom. Prepare for summer in Iowa. National Balloon Classic WHERE: Indianola (One hour south of Ames) This annual event allows you to soar to the sky via hot-air balloon and join hundreds of balloons from around the world in a nineday aerial takeover that only acrophobic individuals could pass up. Even if you feel safer with your feet on the ground, the multicolored spectacle is truly captivating. This event usually takes place in late July and lasts until early August. It includes a wide array of entertainment such as live music, food offerings, evening fireworks and their “Night Glow Extravaganza.” Hot-air balloon pilots even compete for cash prizes later on. It costs $5 per person a day and prices vary on hot-air balloon rides.

ZooBrew WHERE: Blank Park Zoo, Des Moines (about one hour south of Ames) Every Wednesday during the summer, the animals of Blank Park Zoo work an overtime shift to strut their stuff and show off their natural beauty for an evening of extended festivities. Zoobrew is a 21 and older (sorry underage zoo zealots) casual event with live music from local bands, weekly themes such as last summer’s Spirit of Des Moines, cold, thirst-quenching alcoholic beverage stands scattered throughout and of course the stars of the show, the fascinating inhabitants of the park. But it’s not limited to just nocturnal animals. From Australia to Africa, the zoo is home to 1,184 diverse creatures, most of which are on display during the occasion including the snow leopards and the red panda. Ticket prices are around $13. Doors open at 5:30, the animals usually call it a day around 8, doors close at 8:30 and the event ends at 9.

Festivals, Festivals, oh the Festivals WHERE: All over this great state Summer is upon us, and believe it or not, there’s plenty to do in Iowa. Like the plethora of live music festivals sure to attract your interest. We’ve made a list of some noteworthy ones. These aren’t exclusive to music lovers either, as these festivals have an assortment of activities to partake in. • • • • • • • •

Tree Town Music Festival: (Country) May 26-29 in Forest City Iowa City Jazz Festival: (Jazz) June 1-3 in Iowa City Prairie Land Music Fest: (Folk/Celtic) June 24 in Iowa City Saturday in the Park: (Varies Annually) July 2 in Sioux City 80/35: (Indie Rock) July 8-9 in Des Moines 515 Alive: (EDM and Hip Hop) July 22-23 in Des Moines Hinterland Music Festival: (Various) August 5-6 in St. Charles River Roots Live: (Traditional Rock) August 26-27 in Davenport

To see photos from some of these festivals throughout the summer, follow us on Instagram: @ethos_magazine

THINGS YOU CAN DO AT THE LIBRARY (BESIDE STUDYING) • • • • • •

Rent movies and music in the Media Center Absorb the cool artwork (Christian Peterson, man!) Find the most interesting graffiti Use the fourth floor’s food restrictions to enforce your diet Order books from other libraries Have a scavenger hunt or play hideand-seek

• • •

Get to know a librarian! Find old issues of Ethos magazine Look at (and try not to damage) the old artifacts in the Special Collections Department Find old newspaper articles — go full-on Spotlight Broaden your horizons, check out international newspapers Count all the books... we’ll wait

DORMDISASTERS What happens in the res-halls...ends up in Ethos *Names have been changed BY SYDNEY MCLAUGHLIN DESIGN MIKAYLA LARSEN From community bathrooms to late-night conversations with roommates, dorm living can be fun and full of unforgettable experiences. But sometimes, there are memories that would be easier to justâ&#x20AC;Śwell, erase. Completely. Whether youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re a Community Advisor (CA) or just a resident trying to get by in the dorms, there is always a horror story to be told.

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Take it Queasy “A couple of my friends and I were getting ready together and pregaming in the dorms my freshman year. One of my friends had recently had a rough weekend from drinking too much Malibu, but wanted to finish her bottle. We started taking shots and dancing, and all of a sudden my friend covered her mouth and said she was going to throw up. I grabbed my keys to our community bathroom, which was conveniently right across the hall from my room. She went in and came out the next second, saying everything was fine so we started drinking again. I told her to take one more shot, which I soon learned was a bad idea. Immediately after she downed the vodka, she opened the door of my room and yakked right in front of the bathroom door! I had to quickly clean it up, before anyone saw what happened. The hallway smelled like puke for the next week, and I still give my friend crap about it to this day. She doesn’t drink Malibu anymore.” -Amanda*, Sophomore

Baring it All “My roommate had his girlfriend over one weekend, so I didn’t want to change in the room because I felt that would make all of us a little uncomfortable; so I headed for the bathroom to change my clothes. When I walked in, I didn’t hear anyone so I figured I was good. As soon as I was disrobed, there just so happened to be a female visitor in the bathroom. She saw everything.” -Jordan, Sophomore

Possessed Roommate “My roommate freshman year was kind of strange and believed in paranormal stuff. She was convinced there was a ghost in our room, and one night she totally convinced me that she was possessed by some kind of paranormal entity. We were both laying in our lofted beds getting ready to go to sleep

when all of a sudden she sat up and started screaming things like, “Stop touching me!” I sat up worried, and I started getting out of my bed, when she began yelling, “Don’t come any closer!” I was super scared so I ran and got a friend that lived on my floor. When we got back to the room, my roommate was just looking around the room with her eyes wide open. Then, she started staring at me with these evil eyes and I started crying because I was so freaked out. I asked her about it later and she said she doesn’t remember anything about it.” -Jessica*, Sophomore

Caution: CA on Tinder “During my freshman year, I lived in the dorms and there was a super hot CA that lived four floors below me. All of my friends and I were crushing on him; so when I saw him on Tinder, there was no doubt in my mind that I needed to swipe right. We would message a few times now and then and he would ask me to come to the bars, but he acted like he had no idea who I was in person. It was especially weird when I would have to pick up a package and he was working in the mail room. I’ll be more cautious the next time I swipe right.” -Danielle*, Sophomore

Bloody and Belligerent Get Smashed

“I had a resident come into my room who was definitely intoxicated the weekend of the Iowa vs. Iowa State game. He asked me to help him get his earring in and at first I told him no, but he started freaking out and saying he couldn’t return to a party unless his earring was in so I decided to help him. I was trying to push the earring in for about 15 minutes, but it wouldn’t go in; so I asked him when he got it pierced. He said he had just gotten it pierced an hour ago. The hole was almost totally closed and the person who did it had pierced it crooked so it was nearly impossible to get back it back in his ear. I told him I couldn’t do it, but he persisted so I gave in and counted to three and pushed the earring in as hard as I could. I heard a loud pop and it was in, but the ear immediately began gushing blood. It was all over him and my carpet before I could reach some paper towels. I had no idea that much blood could come out of one ear. I spent the next 20 minutes yelling at him to apply pressure while I continued handing him paper towels. As soon as it stopped bleeding, he went off to his precious party and there was blood all over my room. I’m pretty sure his ear was infected like crazy too. The next week I worried that I would get fired for piercing a drunk guy’s ear in my room.”

“A bunch of my friends and I were all getting really drunk in the dorms my freshman year before we decided to go out to a party. Right when we were about to get on the elevator, my roommate and another friend of my mine grabbed two chairs from the den on my floor. They took them on the elevator and wanted to smash them outside on the ground floor of Willow. Everyone in the group was really drunk and just watching it happen, when all of a sudden a CA came down and yelled at them to stop. We all just started walking away, not knowing that she had already called the cops on us. When we started to cross Beach, we saw the cop pulling up; so we all decided to take off running. All of a sudden, there were three cops chasing us and I ran into Linden to hide out in one of my friend’s rooms, but it was locked. One of my friends had followed me in and had gotten tackled by the cop, but I ran into a random person’s dorm room and told them what was going on. It was too late. Little did I know, the cop saw which room I went into so he started questioning me and I was breathalyzed and taken to jail. Luckily, it was all on camera and I got two of the charges dropped.”

-Molly, Community Advisor

-Chris*, Junior

Minding YOUR HEALTH

Iowa State’s counseling services help students find the light *Name has been changed BY ALEX IVANISEVIC DESIGN MIKAYLA LARSEN PHOTO MCCLANE GILL

“The spa music in the waiting room was a little intense,” says freshman Sean McGee* as he recalls the first time he went to the counseling services. “I was shaky my first time going in. There was no ‘Oh yeah!’ excitement.” McGee first went to the counseling services at the beginning of the fall semester this school year. He says he decided to go when he realized he was depressed. “I was sleeping a lot — not because I was tired, I was emotionally exhausted. I slept 13 hours a night and school became a second priority,” he explains. Upon arriving at the center, just like any student who goes to the center in hopes of getting help, McGee had to fill out four pages of questions on several different topics, ranging from eating habits to anger levels and depression. A one-on-one “diagnostic meeting” followed, which McGee says was

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recorded just as any meeting a student has with a counselor at the center is. “I was nervous [the counselor] was going to tell me I didn’t need to be there, I had a fear of being lectured, but she was very welcoming. She calmly approached everything with, ‘How does that make you feel?’” McGee says the first session was eyeopening for him. “I walked in thinking I had no serious problems, but I was looking for a diagnosis. At first they were hesitant to do that and give a label, but I was looking for one.” The diagnostic session brought to light the problems McGee had been facing. Although the counselor never outright gave him a diagnostic title, which was a bit irritating to McGee, he personally came to the conclusion that he had depression and an eating disorder after starting the session. After the one-on-one diagnostic session, the counselor created an eight-week plan, scheduling to meet for a session every Monday. That is the usual time span someone continues one-on-one counseling sessions at the center. During the sessions, he was taught different coping mechanisms and exercises to learn how to deal with his issues in a healthier way. McGee says that once the eight weeks were up, it was recommended he see someone else, but he decided not to follow up because he didn’t want to relive the experience of bringing up unpleasant things with someone new. Looking back on his experience with the mental health services, he says there were a lot of heavy emotions, but it was a safe environment. During the time he went through counseling there was a lot of selfrealization and self-awareness.

“I decided to go, and I wish I would have gone earlier.” “She saw right through my bullshit,” he says, referring to his counselor. “They [the people working at the help center] knew who they were dealing with,” McGee says recalling seeing an LGBTQ publication in the waiting room. McGee believes that the center may not be the best option for people who are very suicidal because of the time it may take to receive help. If you are in crucial need for immediate attention, a faster form of help such as 911 may be necessary. However, in his opinion, “The center is good for racial and social minorities and LGBTQ issues, as well as eating disorders and depression.”

Sophomore Katie Jones* has the same to say of her experience so far with the counseling center, which is still in-progress. Jones says that in the past she’s had feelings of self-doubt with her ability to maintain a heavy workload and that had an impact on her emotions, but with the beginning of this year came a new set of problems. “This year, my friend and I went through a really rough time…we weren’t helping each other move forward. I just couldn’t get out of the slump I was in,” says Jones about what motivated her to seek help. “I decided to go, and I wish I would have gone earlier.” Jones explained that once she began her counseling sessions at the beginning of this semester, she scheduled a six-week plan. She had no shortage of good things to say about the counselor she was placed with. “She was awesome right off the bat, and I think that’s pretty rare to go in and connect with a counselor, but she just spoke about things in a way that was really healing immediately,” she recalls. “The first session was really good. I just kind of said, ‘So here’s all the word vomit about my life, and here are the places I see problems.’” Taking the first step and setting up a session is one of the most difficult parts of the process. Not only because it takes a lot of courage to enter the center for help, but also because one criticism Jones had about the counseling center was the inconvenient hours they invited walk-in appointments. She said that classes often intervene with those hours. According to Jones, the six weeks she spent in the one-on-one counseling were good and the topics they discussed about feelings of shame and guilt were helpful. After that period of time she felt stronger because of the “coping tools” she had developed to deal with her moments of emotional instability. Once those individual counseling sessions came to an end, her counselor recommended she join group therapy at the center. She is now participating in that, and really enjoys it. However, it is a bit difficult on her part to be sure to respectfully share the space with others — that is the main difference between group therapy and one-on-one. Outside of therapy, Jones practices her mindfulness with the tools and techniques she has learned. She predicts that the sessions will help her to be successful in her endeavor to gain a healthy mental state. Like McGee, she advises that, “If you think you need to go, go!”

Iowa State Student Counseling Service Located: Student Services Building Hours: Mon.-Fri. 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Walk-in appointments for new services: Mon. Tue. Thur. 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. No appointment scheduled in advance Phone: (515)-294-5056 Counseling Services Offered to Students: Biofeedback, quick-start workshops, process groups, individual and couples modes to address personal stress, relationship problems, mood or motivation problems, substance use or eating disorder concerns, and more.

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LIFE IS HEAVEN... ...IN HELL

THE REALITY OF LIVING IN THE TOWERS

BY WILL DODDS

DESIGN RYAN EIFFERT

PHOTO KIMBERLY WOO

No man is an island, Entire of itself, Every man is a piece of the continent, A part of the main. --John Donne When people think of Wallace and Wilson Halls, collectively known as “The Towers,” they often think of a hellhole — there’s asbestos, they were temporary housing, Storms sucks, nearly everything sucks. They would be nearly correct. Nearly. The Towers were not meant for temporary housing. They were originally built to meet the demand for university housing from the swell of more students (sound familiar?). The other stuff is correct, but the most important word in those claims is “nearly.” There is asbestos, about 5 percent of it in the ceiling. The ceilings do get wet and leak into the rooms. But really, none of the residents seemed to mind. “I didn’t care much,” said one. “I didn’t freak over little stuff like that,” said another. Others just shrugged their shoulders. Hit your head against the ceiling that contains cancerinducing material? Give a nervous chuckle. What doesn’t kill you… But that’s OK, because they have Wallace-Wilson Wars. A mixture of Olympics and feudal warfare, Wallace-Wilson Wars is kind of a big deal. Taking place around the Tower grounds, this fall semester competition isn’t about being rewarded with pizza parties or anything physical — it’s getting those damn bragging rights. Carly Reiser was repping McCowen (Wallace, 9th Floor) in tug-of-war. The ground was soggy and people were slipping, so she pulled out her secret weapon: soccer cleats. With those they nearly won. Nearly. She wouldn’t be ostracized that day. Other times the grounds suck. The space between the Towers creates this wind tunnel. Reiser was walking back to her dorm one day and

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the gust of wind wouldn’t let her move forward. It was like she was in a Looney Toons short. Sometimes, on a windy day, if you’re on the upper floors, you can feel a swaying. Just don’t think about it. Instead, think of helping others, in a House of Cards kind of way. The Towers did a United Way charity drive and made it into a competition between floors to get the most money. Emily Belloma participated, and rather than find outside sources of money, she infiltrated the other floors and asked for spare change. They didn’t think anything of it, but it came back to bite them as Belloma’s floor won. There was no prize, but they had won in both the kindness (and competitiveness) of their hearts. According to some residents, the elevators are haunted. They rattle and the doors open randomly on floors, “It’s like they were popping open to say, ‘Hello!’” said Gesila Marsek. Other times the doors don’t close so you have to do it with your bare hands. Reiser rode up to her floor and then the doors wouldn’t budge. She almost pressed the firefighter alarm button. But get off the elevator and you might walk into a floor movie night. Because the dens are filled with students, most floors use the “elevator space” as their meeting spot. Floors rent out a projector to watch movies, watch the Cyclones or build a blanket tent when the heat doesn’t work. You really get to know people at towers, “If you live in towers you know everyone,” says Reiser. Piping can be a problem. Last winter a pipe broke in Wilson and the alarms went off. Everybody evacuated and Carly Reiser saw,

“a waterfall in the stairway.” When they got back, all their stuff was wet from melted ice getting through the windows. But like all things broken, the windows and pipes got fixed. Nobody could say nice things about the C-Store and Storms. Storms is only open Sunday through Thursday and, on those days, only from 4:30-8:30 pm. They have a very small selection so you’re basically eating the same thing every few days. Otherwise you have to go to the C-Store, which is a choice between a pizza slice, sub sandwich or cereal. Every. Single. Day. That gets old. But that doesn’t mean it sucks. It means great conversation with your housemates while walking to and back from UDCC. These walks force people to talk to each other. They are essential to developing the camaraderie among people on the floor, according to residents. “It’s such a positive community that can form out there,” said Macek. So thank you for sucking, Storms. The place feels completely isolated. There is a bus line that goes from Towers to campus, but you better be there on time or you either have to wait 20 minutes or walk the 15–20 minutes to campus — but once again, the people that talked shrug it off. Belloma say this isn’t a symptom of Stockholm Syndrome — it’s perseverance.

STOCKHOLM SYNDROME AND TOWERS: Isolation not only leads to Stockholm Syndrome, but it also gets people to look around them to find something to do — and there is a lot. They have functioning basketball courts, and the cross country field across the street is great greenery for ultimate frisbee. There is also a frolf (disc golf for the uninitiated) course and an ice-rink to not only watch Iowa State play hockey and the Hockey Band play music, but also for skating. You don’t have to walk very far; take an elevator down to the commons and there’s a fitness center, a movie room, and study areas for those that hate their partying neighbors (the walls are so thin!).

“It’s like any situation; if you want to make it, it’ll be great, and if you sit there and complain, it’s going to suck.”

Speech

Without Boundaries

BY ANDREAS HAFFAR

DESIGN AND PHOTO LAKEN BEISTER

Iowa State University’s “free speech zone” is located on the front lawn of Parks Library, even though its boundaries may seem somewhat ambiguous. As per the U.S. Supreme Court, “traditional public forums”, including public parks and sidewalks, enjoy the strongest First Amendment protection. So, at Iowa State, why does it seem to be confined to the “free speech zone” by Parks Library?

What is the “free speech zone?” This allocated area is used by various groups, clubs and organizations on and off campus as it is one of the university’s most frequented and crowded hotspots during class days. “In reality, there really aren’t any ‘zones’ on campus,” says LAS Senator and 2016 Student Government President Cole Staudt (pictured above). “I think students get confused in thinking that they can only do certain things in the ‘free speech zone,’ when that’s simply not true.” says, Staudt, a junior double majoring in political science and public relations. This spring he became an LAS senator and was recently voted to be Iowa State’s next Student Government president in 2016. He, like many others, is adamant and forthright when it comes to advocating for free speech. The “free speech zone” is actually named the Edward S. Allen Area of Free Debate, named after Edward S. Allen, a former mathematics professor at Iowa State who, alongside his wife Minne, a former ISU sociology professor, devoted his life to social justice, encouraging student activism and pushing for the acceptance and equal rights of people all over the world. The Allens were a powerful, proactive duo and together the spearhead of civil liberties in Iowa, starting in the early 1920s. In 1935, Allen cofounded and served as president of the Iowa Civil Liberties Union (ICLU) which tackled issues involving race, religion, gender and education, and fought for the rights of the mentally ill and the protection of personal information in data banks.

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It would be challenging to find a couple whose legacy better exemplifies the right to free speech. Over time, this area has been understood to be a “free speech zone” while technically, it isn’t limited to that space in particular.

The free speech conflict “As a public institution, having free speech on campus is definitely important...you go to college and are exposed to new viewpoints and new ideas,” says Staudt. “But if someone wants to camp out in front of Curtiss or Kildee Halls for instance, nothing is stopping them from doing that.” Staudt says that all of campus allows free speech but the university encourages students and speakers to utilize the space near the library because of its high traffic; it’s also an area that is the least impeding to other university activities. While he says there are regulations on Parks Library’s public forum, they usually only involve notifying Events Management to indicate the amount of people expected to make the necessary accommodations and to insure that the gathering doesn’t interfere with other preplanned university events. However, Staudt says the labelling of the “free speech zone” is misleading and has been so for too long. Last fall, a an SG senator proposed a bill to expand the “free speech zone” throughout campus. When the proposal was denied , Staudt stepped in to clarify free speech policy on campus. He then amended the first draft into

a more comprehensive and welldefined version “I changed the original bill because the wording of ‘free speech zone’ feels like we’re limiting it to one particular space, but realistically, there isn’t that sort of restriction there,” he says. “One of the things we need to work on is finding a new term to call that space, a more appropriate term.” On December 2, 2015, the Senate passed Staudt’s proposed bill with a vote of 332. At a recent meeting, one term that was suggested by a Student Government member was the Agora, a term used in Ancient Greece that means “a central, public space used for gathering and assembly.” Staudt says that Iowa State isn’t the only campus in the country battling with this issue, and that Student Government is collaborating and sharing ideas with other universities to help mold a more precise free speech policy. While some may argue that this bill could potentially squander a culture of informed debate and interaction, Staudt says the bill is designed to eliminate confusion about the area. Still, he admits that he’s found difficulties in finding equilibrium between privacy and public use. “We don’t want to shelter people from hearing new ideas, but at the same time, we need to find the balance where we as students are here for an education and are paying to go to school here, and that this is a public institution and people can come speak here, no matter what their viewpoints are,” he says.

Whose speech is it anyway? Often times, students associate the public forum with overzealous and somewhat adversarial religious enthusiasts, who generate a lot of buzz by arguably pushing the boundaries when it comes to that balance. Especially with their megaphones. It’s important to note that there’s not one single, religious “campus preacher.”. Also, the government cannot restrict individuals from expressing their opinions — even if they are deemed to be controversial. Some may recall an incident in front of Parks Library last September

when religious street preacher Matt Bourgault antagonized several students with provocative comments addressing issues like sexual behavior and drug use, which in turn created a hostile environment for some students. The ISU Police Department was called to inspect the situation. According to the Iowa State Daily, the only way police could remove the preacher is if he was specifically targeting someone, as that is a form of harassment. However, there are other preachers too. Ones that wouldn’t fit the category of “impertinent.” Merlin, a part-time semi-truck driver, is a devout Christian and a 72year resident of Ames. He’s not in your face or belligerent, and with his non-aggressive approach, it’s no coincidence that he rarely receives any backlash from students. On days when the sun is out and the temperature is favorable, Jones spends his time coming to the public forum, and has for nearly two years. With his yellow “Bible Talk” sign up on a ledge in front of the Hub, he stands patiently on the sidewalk that leads to the library, eagerly awaiting the thousands of college students that pass by everyday. “I like talking, I like to talk to anyone who will listen because I care about people,” Merlin says. The reason he comes to Iowa State is because he believes that college-age students can still be reached and hear the message of Jesus Christ. However, he does this without hounding people. He even says he often has lively and respectful discussions with members of ISU’s Atheist and Agnostic Society and even though he tries diligently to get them to believe what he believes, he appreciates them as human beings and considers some of them to be his close friends. Merlin, like many other groups and organizations, epitomizes what the public forum stands for and why it was implemented in the first place. “I simply want to tell the world about what I believe and I believe in Jesus Christ...and this is the part of the world that I live in,” he says. And in the United States, and at Iowa State University, it’s his right to do just that.

“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.” —The First Amendment of the United States Constitution.

TAKING OUT THE

TRASH BY JACQUELYN BELL

DESIGN MACKENZIE GEARY

PHOTO KYLE KEPHART

Lake Laverne’s not the only thing going green at ISU

Have you ever wondered what happens to that Pizza Pit box that you thoughtlessly tossed into the dumpster after a night of drinks and pizza? What about the huge stack of old papers you threw away at the end of the semester because you were too lazy to look for a recycling bin? The increasing deterioration of our planet’s natural resources has made being environmentally friendly and living green especially important to many in our generation. Many people want to leave our planet healthier than we found it, but sometimes it’s easy to overlook the little things we could be doing,including recycling. Luckily for us, Iowa State makes it easy to properly dispose of recyclable materials.

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This fall, the school implemented singlestream recycling, so all recyclables can be put in a single bin, eliminating the need to sort different materials. This new system will widen the variety of material we can put in the recycling bins — only cardboard, paper and newspaper have been consistently recycled since programs were implemented on campus in 1992. “This is exciting for me...it opens up so many opportunities for more things to be recycled,” says Merry Rankin, Iowa State’s Sustainability Director.

but the other branches are equally important in the path to sustainability. The economic aspect is about being efficient with financial resources and investing in technologies that allow us to be more efficient, and society refers to volunteering and connecting with the community. The university uses the waste disposal hierarchy, set by the Environmental Protection Agency, to be as sustainable as possible with every material used. The university aims to responsibly recycle or reuse all of its electronics, glass, paper, light bulbs, chemicals from labs and even materials used in construction and renovations. “We approach recycling a little differently here at Iowa State. We try to be very cognizant of what the most beneficial use is for every item,” said Rankin. The primary step is to reduce waste. The university strives to accomplish this by producing only what is necessary and encourages students to reduce their use of non-sustainable products. For example, water bottle refill stations can be found all over campus as well as in all residence halls, and students are given discounts at the cafes if they bring their own reusable mug. Several years ago, trays were eliminated from the dining halls, resulting in a 40 percent decrease in food waste. The food that is thrown out is composted and mixed with leaves, grass clippings and waste from the veterinary school. The compost is used back on campus and given to the student Ag 450 farm where they grow produce — the food that is used on campus. “It’s a pretty cool, closedloop system,” says Rankin. The next step is to determine if manufactured products can be reused. ISU reuses furniture, materials and electronics by distributing them to other departments instead of throwing them away. The items that are not redistributed are sold to the public at the ISU Surplus Sale every Wednesday. Items sold there range from carpets to picture frames. It’s also common for some items, like furniture, to be donated to those in need with the help of donation outlets. Rankin says the Department of Residence once worked with nonprofits to donate 50 dressers to families in need.

Rankin described being sustainable as an intersection of three different components: environment, economics and society.

“It was a situation where they had lost their homes and were starting again. For them, that banged-up dresser that no one wanted was a place that they could start gathering their life again,” she says.

Rankin says the environmental piece is what most people think of, like recycling,

Even if the item can’t be used again, materials can usually be recycled.

Good news for college students: this includes your Starbucks cup. Recycling bins are widely accessible on campus and in all residence halls. The recyclables from the bins on campus are taken to a waste management facility in Des Moines or Minneapolis, where the items are separated and redistributed to plants where the materials can be made into something new. “We are very diligent in ensuring that all of our materials go to a recycler that handles them responsibly,” says Rankin. Caroline Arkesteyn, junior in environmental science and communications, thinks that students should take full advantage of the school’s recycling opportunities. “I absolutely think it’s important that students make the effort to recycle, especially those in the dorms. The recycling program in the residence halls makes it so simple, so it’s easy for students to take small actions to make a difference,” she says.

plant (Ames Resource Recovery Center), where they are mixed with coal to create electricity for the City of Ames and the Vet Med school. After waste has been converted to energy, recycled, reused or composted, the remaining garbage — between 25 and 30 percent each year — is taken to the landfill. Rankin says Iowa State will continue to strive to be one of the nation’s leaders in sustainable efforts. “I certainly think that we have room to continue to improve and to be more efficient, and add more green things around campus, but I also am very proud of the commitment and accomplishments that we have made,” she says. According to Rankin, the key to improving ISU’s sustainability is education and awareness. “There are a number of things that you can learn and be involved in sustainabilitywise while you’re here, that most definitely will lead to a more sustainable future,” she says.

According to Iowa State’s recycling program website, the university currently recycles over eight tons of white paper per month, saving around 1,632 trees and 288 cubic yards of landfill space a year.

Arkesteyn agrees, “Recycling of any kind is important and makes such a difference, more than most people assume. So the more students know about recycling, hopefully the more they will be motivated to recycle.”

But at ISU, recycling doesn’t stop here. For example, the marching band got new uniforms but couldn’t sell the old ones due to trademarking issues, so the uniforms were made into bags and laptop sleeves, which were sold as band fundraiser items.

Rankin believes that even if your actions seem insignificant, they can quickly add up. Everybody doesn’t have to do the same thing to make a difference.

“We have some pretty unique projects related to recycling...I commend the creativity of our campus and community,” added Rankin.

Tips to be a more sustainable student • Take Cyride (they are “CyBrids”) or walk instead of driving to class • Use a reusable water bottle and coffee mug • Unplug phone chargers when they are not in use • Turn off electronics at night • Choose low energy settings on electronics • Shop with reusable bags at the grocery store • Turn off water while brushing your teeth • Pack your lunch in reusable tupperware • Recycle your lunch containers from the cafes • Recycle old papers and homework

“There are many different pathways that lead to the same vision,” she says. “I encourage everyone to find something that resonates with you and make a habit. There is no action too small.”

Sixty-five percent of the items that end up in the trash go to the Ames waste-to-energy

FOSTERING KINDNESS

How one group is working to promote adoption BY HALEY BRASE

DESIGN SYDNEY DE NOOY

PHOTO CASSIE SMITH

Each one has a different reason for being involved, but the roughly 30 members of the adoption club all share the goal of working to help the growing number of children in foster care, promoting adoption as a whole and trying to make it a functional, safe system. Nearly two years ago, alumna Allison Peters came to Diana Baltimore, lecturer for Human Development and Family Studies at Iowa State, about starting an adoption club on campus. Baltimore wondered why they had not started something like that before. Being adopted at birth herself, adopting her daughter, starting a nonprofit about adoption, advising the adoption club on campus and conducting her own research have all led her to wanting adoption to be a public matter and not “hush-hushed.” With Baltimore’s lifelong experience in the area, it made sense for Peters to approach her about starting the club. “There was a negative stigma with adoption during the time I was born,” Baltimore said. “It wasn’t talked about, and that is what sparked my interest in research [about adoption].” Since Baltimore has experience with adoption on a personal and professional level, she often helps the board of the club find speakers

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to come to the meetings who can share their stories or offer career choices to students. Emily Unkrich, the president of the adoption club, has a soft spot for foster care children. “When those puppy commercials come on and everyone’s like ‘aww,’ I’m like it’s a dog — there are children out there,” Unkrich said. “People just have things they’re sympathetic for.” Of course she feels bad for those dogs, but her heart aches for the children in foster homes who are looking for their forever home. You do not have to be adopted to be in the club. Unkrich was not adopted, but she is one of many interested in a career in the adoption field. Unkrich is interning at Youth and Shelter Services (YSS) where she checks references for people who want to adopt and does house visits to check if the environment is safe for a child. “There are some people that were adopted or in foster care and they want to change the way that foster and adoption works,” Unkrich said. “For me, I am very interested in being a foster or adoptive parent.”

“My mom was ahead of the game,” Holst said. “We read a lot of books about adoption, and she encouraged us to ask questions.” Holst was not the only one her parents adopted. A few years after she was adopted, her sister was adopted too. Clearly, adoption was not a taboo subject in their household, but Holst says she frequently compares her own path to her sister’s, who does not know her biological father. “[My adoption story] is kind of weighing this option, weighing this idea in my brain that somebody gave their life, so I can live. For my sister, somebody was not even willing to step forward to own up for what they had done,” Holst said. Although a few have the personal background of being adopted like Holst, most members of the adoption club, like Unkrich, are involved because they are interested in working in that field once they graduate. “I think the adoption club is a great way to spread awareness regarding the experience of adoption,” Holst said. “I did a lecture last week regarding adoption, and it’s surprising how many people have had little to no experience with it. The club provides a great platform to teach others about issues that those who have been adopted and those who have adopted face every day.” During their club meetings, speakers explain their career field, their adoption story or fundraising for adoption. “We recently had a man named Chuck come in, and he talked about how his daughter passed away of ovarian cancer and her dying wish was that it would be cheaper to be able to adopt because it’s crazy expensive and very impracticable for many,” Unkrich said. “He started a fundraiser called Chelsea’s Dream Foundation. What it does is give parents scholarships so they are able to afford to adopt.” This semester, the adoption club is beginning to plan their fundraising ideas to help Chelsea’s Dream Foundation. Lauren Henry, a member of the Adoption Club, connects with the children at an event this spring where the club met with children and their adoptive families.

Marissa Holst, graduate student in Human Development and Family Studies, is one of the few people in the adoption club who was actually adopted. She helped get the club started when it first came to campus but now, it is mostly run by undergraduate students. Her biological mom found out she was pregnant while she was undergoing cancer treatment, so she had to make a choice. Either receive treatment and abort the baby or forego treatment and go through with her pregnancy. She chose to have the baby, so to keep the baby healthy, she would not receive treatment. Holst was given life, but she feels a sense of guilt from her mom’s fatal decision to give birth to her. Holst’s biological parents had two teenage sons when she was born. “She knew what was going to happen, so it was her and my biological dad’s decision to put me up for adoption,” Holst said. “As a child and still now, I deal with that choice my biological mom made specifically for me. Even though I know the situation, and the choice they made was what was best for me, you still experience grief and loss.” There was not a time that Holst remembers having a serious conversation with her parents that she was adopted — she just always knew it.

Cassi Britt is a senior in child, adult and family services and is the event planner for the club. Her sister works with a family that received money from Chelsea’s Dream Foundation.

“I worked at daycare before and there were children I took care of that had bad home lives, so they went into foster care, and I wondered what happened to them,” Britt says. “It made me want to help children like them.” This summer, she is going to intern for Youth Emergency Services and Shelter (YESS), where she will be helping children in crises and providing a support system for them. At a recent club meeting, an employee from IowaKidsNet had an idea to connect her company with the adoption club. “She [IowaKidsNet employee] talked to us about having a night where parents who have adopted children can drop off their children with the adoption club while the parents can have a date night,” Britt said. “We are currently trying to work out a time to do that.” Learning from speakers or each other about how to improve the foster system once they graduate is something all members of the adoption club are passionate about — whether they have a blood connection to adoption or not.

Unscripted, Unrehearsed, Unbothered No preparation needed to join this new club BY LINDSEY DAVIS

DESIGN KALEY LEMPKE

PHOTO ISAAC BIEHL

Improv Club members Chris Palacios and Joey Cataldo get up close and personal in a game of Four Square

They were watching “Whose Line is it Anyway?” like they had many times before when inspiration struck. Iowa State students Joey Cataldo, Kevin Ruth and former student Chad Rietschel decided it was time they give improv a try themselves. At the time, there was no improv club on campus, so the three saw it as their duty to start a club despite having little experience. In spring 2014, they officially founded the Iowa State Improv Comedy Club. Cataldo, a freshman at the time, admits they had no prior knowledge of how to start or

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run a club. He states it was confidence in their abilities to pick up an art and create something for all to enjoy that was the driving force behind the club’s creation. “We wanted to create a low‐key environment that appealed to any and all individuals who have either just dabbled with improv in the past, were experts, or never even considered it before,” Cataldo, the president of the club, says. When the club first began in the spring of 2014, there were only six members. They

relied on friends and members of Grandma Mojo’s, Iowa State’s improv comedy troupe, to teach them the basics of improv. By the fall semester of 2014, the group decided to open their doors to more members. Now the club averages 20 members at each meeting, where they spend a majority of their time practicing improv techniques. “Much of the inspiration for games which are played stem from the show ‘Whose Line is it Anyway?’ as well as games played by the popular Iowa State improv troupe, Grandma Mojo’s,” Cataldo says.

Some specific games the club plays include “Party Quirks,” “Location, Occupation, Means of Death” and “Dueling Typewriters.” They say part of the fun comes from creating outrageously unique characters and personas. Toward the end of the club’s meetings, members can participate in a jam session that allows anybody to hop in and start whatever kind of scene they’d like. A vivid memory shared by many Improv Club members is the recurring grandmother characters, Ethel and Carol, created by Rietschel and senior JT O’Connor at one of the jam sessions. These two grandmotherly characters received positive feedback and began showing up weekly, resulting in the ongoing adventures of Ethel and Carol. “[Ethel and Carol] would do things like buy from street drug dealers, hypocritically scold dangerous killers for being unethical, and kidnap celebrities and freeze them in our basement. We did that last one a lot. At the last meeting, Ethel and Carol had one last adventure that resulted in a ridiculous betrayal/murder/remorseful suicide. One of the members legitimately cried during this,” O’Connor says. Though the club offers lots of laughs and fun, it also prides itself on teaching valuable skills that extend far beyond techniques specific to improv. “If you’re confident enough to act like a baby zebra interrogating a box of tissues, you can handle anything the ‘real world’ has to offer. We also teach communication skills,” says Kevin Ruth, the vice president of the club. “Improv isn’t about being funny. That’s a huge misconception. In fact, if you try to be funny, you’ll probably ruin it. Improv is all about feeding off of your partners to create something natural, but sort of wacky.”

Nora Frentress feeling President Cataldo’s watermelons

Ruth says he’s learned a lot since he started going to club meetings.

fronts when it comes to social interaction in everyday life,” Cataldo says.

“I used to think improv was fake — no way could people make funny scenes without practicing...but I was so wrong,” he says. “I won’t say it’s easy, but if you are a good listener and you can generate ideas as fast as you can talk, you’re golden. I think everyone should try it.”

The Iowa State Improv Comedy Club sees a consistent turn‐out at their meetings each week. In a year, the founding members of the club will graduate, so the future of the club is still unknown. However,they doubt that the club will fade and cease to exist.

Improv club even allows introverted people to break out of their shell and learn valuable communication skills. “Not only does the club teach fundamentals of improv, but it opens people’s minds to find their inner creativity. Even some of the shyest and most introverted students who decided to give our club a shot have learned to step out of their comfort zone and embrace being spontaneous, loud and outgoing. It really helps people on all

“It’s too popular of an idea. It’s scary to think about how it will morph once we leave. Maybe even for the better. And at the end of the day, that really excites me. Knowing I helped create something that might live on once I’m gone is a rewarding feeling. That’s the adventure I chose at Iowa State and I’m leaving it behind for someone else to find,” Ruth says. Club meetings are every Sunday from 4‐6 pm in Carver 0268.

Breaking it Down Wondering what an improv game looks like? Here are some of the club’s favorites — feel free to try them out yourself! “The Line Game” the group splits into two lines and one line initiates a scene with an opening quote, then someone from the other line responds adding onto the scene. A short three– four line dialogue is formed, and then the next two people take their turn. “Four Square” involves four people and they orient themselves into a square formation. Each person receives a one word suggestion which they will use to perform a scene with the person next to them in the square. They rotate one person at a time and do their respective scenes until they’ve rotated to do a scene three times. “Jam” a free form improv session that involves everyone in the club. Someone will go up voluntarily and begin a scene. From there, up to three other people will enter the scene. You can create any character, location and conflict/resolution that comes to mind. The two to four people in the scene need to pick up on every nuance or plot points in each scene and remain on the same page as the others in order to make a successful scene. It’s an opportunity for people to dial in on their strengths and weaknesses as improvisers.

MAKING

WAVES ON AIR The community behind community radio

STORY AND PHOTO MEREDITH KESTEL DESIGN MIKAYLA LARSEN

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On a Thursday night in December, Blake Delaney and Phoenix L’Amour sit in a dimly lit room with a colorful disco ball spinning in the corner; the sound of a record by The Cars plays. For them, this is a normal Thursday night, working as volunteers at KHOI. The pair host a show together called “Ghost In The Machine.” Every Thursday night they come in and play alternative ‘80s vinyl. Their show is just one of the many diverse and unique programs that make up the community station. KHOI is a community radio station in Ames, Iowa. With a variety of shows and an even more diverse set of volunteers, KHOI embodies the definition of community radio. The sense of community is apparent immediately when a person walks into the station headquarters. An older gentleman sits at a table and makes small talk to whoever walks through the door and a mural depicting cohesion and helping others spans the top of the wall — lines of hands helping one another. Displayed beneath are images

of people helping put the station together. While there, a person can hear the soothing voice of a man talking. In the back of the room, a person can look through a window and see the man himself as he talks on-air, a radiant 89.1 KHOI sign hangs on the wall above. KHOI started as a project in 2006. In 2009 the Federal Communications Commission gave KHOI a permit to construct, meaning they were allocated a frequency and then had permission to build a radio station. After this, they were given a deadline, like all stations are, to get on the air. A station has exactly three years, down to the second, to start using their frequency or it goes dark. In August of 2012, one week before their deadline, KHOI went on air and was given their license. “It (KHOI) has gone from a project that people didn’t even really understand what it was, and definitely didn’t feel that they wanted to support it, to a station that now has a large number of radio hosts and a

1. 5.

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3. 1. Blake Delaney preps to go on air during his show 2. Records are set and ready to be played on air 3. 80’s Alternative is played on “The Ghost In The Machine” 4. Delaney rocks out on air guitar in the studio at KHOI 5. Phoenix L’Amour tests headset volumes during the show 6. Blake Delaney adjusts volumes and outputs for the show

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large number of volunteers and supporters of the station,” says Ursula Ruedenberg. Ruedenberg is the station manager at KHOI, and is also one of the founders. The station has 37 different scheduled weekly shows, according to in-house records. The base of each show varies. On Sunday afternoons there is “Classical Sunday: Film Scores with Tom Beell,” then there are shows such as the “Teen Zone” show which features 18-year-old host Maxwell Eness. “We would talk about things like social media, or political things happening on a nationwide basis. We would make jokes about the news, but we also made up like Onion stories,” says Eness, a senior at Ames High School. “KHOI takes it back to the idea of a small press, it brings what is happening in Ames, to Ames. It is changing the way people live in Story County.” Aside from local talk radio and classical music, some shows are strictly based on music, such as Delaney and L’Amour’s show, “Ghost In The Machine.”

“I am an ‘80s kid at heart. I do this show because you never hear this kind of stuff on the radio anywhere you go. Minneapolis has alternative stations, but that is a mix of old and new alternative. This show is to be just ‘80s alternative that you won’t hear anywhere else but KHOI,” says Delaney. Delaney, 49, is the owner of the local coffee shop Vinyl Café, where he sells records and coffee alike. He and L’Amour have been volunteers at KHOI for seven months. KHOI is not just about variety and diversity in what they do. Something very important to those at the station is the fact that public radio is a right that American citizens own. “It is an exercise in what they call participatory citizenship. Democracy and community radio always go hand in hand. It is a basic principle of democracy, free press and the ability to communicate. In many parts of the world community radio is playing a huge role in democracy and human rights movements,” says Ruedenberg. As manager of a community radio, she travels to various conferences

Smith uses a braille watch to tell time without needing sight

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internationally. Ruedenberg describes going to conferences in other areas of the world and meeting people she has nothing in common with — except their passion for community radio. The manager says that this passion draws them together and they are no longer strangers from different worlds. Delaney says, “KHOI brings those together that might not have been brought together without community radio. It embodies such a unique and eclectic group of people, which I think represents Ames as a whole quite accurately. It really is amazing.” But Delaney and Eness aren’t the only examples of diversity at KHOI. If you listen to the station on Wednesday mornings you can hear the work of Bob Anders, a retired man who spends his time making his own postcards out of magazine clippings and testing out his 8-tracks. Sit down with Bob and you could find yourself talking with him for hours.

Anders thought about his show for almost a year in advance of actually starting. Having a background in radio, he claims he wanted to put a show together that was unique.

“It brings what is happening in Ames, to Ames. It is changing the way people live in Story County.” “I was fascinated when I first started planning this show by the 8-track technology,” says Anders, “I had collected 50, maybe 100, of these tracks, then I started to go on garage sales, and that’s where I found

most of my 8-tracks. That is actually where I got the name of my show, “Bob’s 8-track Garage Sale”.” Bob Anders’ show is coming up on the oneyear anniversary of officially being on air. When you talk with him about radio and the community around KHOI, he lights up. “My favorite part about it is just the whole idea that it’s a community-based radio station. It’s owned and operated right here in this community. We don’t have a higher, corporate structure telling us what to do, how to do it, what to play. We can decide to do what we want, and that way you see great diversity in the programming at KHOI. As far as diversity goes, I’m about as far off-center as you get!” says Anders. “Some people feel that radio is kind of an archaic technology. The thing about KHOI is the technology is current, so you can listen to it on your phone, on your iPad and on your computer. I think that makes it relevant, so KHOI radio is not an archaic technology.”

SAME BOTTLE, DIFFERENT STORIES Defining alcoholism when drinking is such a big part of college culture BY JACQUELINE CORDOVA DESIGN ALIXANDRIA COLLINS PHOTO SAM GREENE

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“We’ve all seen the statistics and heard the consequences and students still don’t change their drinking habits. It’s just the way things go,” said Martin.

“In college there are no alcoholics,” says Trent Pease, a junior in agricultural studies. “I think we have some traits that might fit an alcoholic but not all of them.” So what exactly does drinking in college look like? According to the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), 4 out of every 5 college students drink. It’s football season and 6 a.m. is never too early to crack open a beer and walk your way towards the tailgates. Night game? Don’t worry, more time to drink. For most college students having a beer doesn’t always just have to be “having a beer,” because you can always shotgun it, or beer bong it. A fast way to down as much alcohol as possible, no matter the time of day. There is no denying tailgating is like an early Christmas for the community of Iowa State,

and just about anyone in the state of Iowa. It can be an extremely enjoyable and fun way to honor game day; but a high number of drunk people can lead to accidents, from people crossing the street where or when they shouldn’t, to alcohol poisoning from drinking all day. Sporting events, among others, only help increase binge drinking in students. According to the NIAAA, binge drinking is defined as consuming five or more drinks for men, and four or more for women, resulting in raising someone’s BAC (blood alcohol concentration) above a .08 in roughly two hours. Lectures and presentations have been heard by students what seems like hundreds times, and Emma Martin, a freshman in child and adult care services, says her parents, high

“We’ve all seen the statistics and heard the consequences and students still don’t change their drinking habits. It’s just the way things go.”

school advisors and cops assigned to her dorm building have all given her the same lecture. “We’ve all seen the statistics and heard the consequences and students still don’t change their drinking habits. It’s just the way things go,” said Martin. Officer Anthony Greiter, an ISU Police Officer, says that realistically looking at the college drinking culture, he realizes there isn’t much to do when stopping the underage drinking or the breaking of the laws. His focus is on education and reminding students of the financial consequences of bad decisions. “Everyone is going to school to make money at some point in their life and most college students don’t have a lot of cash

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to be throwing around when in school,” says Officer Greiter. “Isn’t a $330 ticket for underage drinking a good lesson? The financial aspect is something students really pick up on.”

A lasting impact that can result from being so drunk is that you forget to look both ways before crossing a street, you drive drunk, you cause injury to yourself or others, or you can suffer from untreated alcohol poisoning.

Officer Greiter hopes that students can be more educated when it comes to reality of what can happen when heavy drinking is involved and the consequences. Not only arrests and big legal bills, but the danger you may be putting yourself into.

Iowa State students only need to hear one word to be reminded of the negative effects of binge drinking: “Veishea.” It was taken away from the community in 2014 due to student’s drunk actions leading to dangerous behaviors. Two parties got busted at the same time, leading to a riot where students climbed the clock tower on Welch Avenue, flipped several cars and engaged in other acts of vandalism.

“As police officers, we are the ones who have to call the families and tell them their son or daughter is dead,” says Greiter. “We are the ones who have to collect all of your belongings from your dorm room or apartments and hand them back to your families, we see the longing impact from that and most college students don’t.”

All of this led to the traumatic event in which students’ intoxication got so out of a hand that a light pole was taken down and caused serious head injuries to a student standing

nearby. The student laid unconscious and bled a lot longer than he should have due to the large amount of rioters blocking out police and firefighters access. David Jennings, a junior in management information systems, learned the hard way we don’t always have all the control. He says one night, he thought he was fine to drive himself, his roommate and a friend home when he saw lights flashing behind him during the drive that could have taken no more than 10 minutes. “Getting the handcuffs put on made me feel so powerless,” says Jennings. He blew a .09 into the breathalyzer, a very low BAC considering the legal limit when driving is a .08. Unfortunately for Jennings, he was underage at the time so blowing anything over was illegal. “I learned my lesson — I’ll sleep in a ditch at this point before I drink and drive again,” says Jennings. When taking a closer look into college drinking, Michael Knight, a senior in agriculture communications, sees the philosophy of the culture being heavily influenced behind where you stand in your college career.

“It’s actually quite complex and is more than just 36,000 of us drinking our faces off every single night. In my opinion, it kind of really just depends on where you’re at in your college career,” he says. Knight says he believes that the stages of drinking depend mainly on your age or specific year in college — something Officer Greiter agreed with, noting that most arrests come from underage drinkers. For freshmen, it’s easy to feel the newfound freedom they didn’t have before. Going into college, drinking can feel like something that’s assumed and expected. Martin remembers very clearly how her parents picked up on this when she came to college, reminding her to be safe and smart when going out. Looking back at her freshmen year, Kenzie Klemme, a sophomore in kinesiology, says she agrees with the concept of freshmen having heavier drinking habits. Last year, she found that drinking was just what was being done — it was almost odd not to associate drinking with going off to college. Knight and Pease both noticed that they started slowing down in the year leading up to their 21st birthday, going out less on the weekends as house parties started to lose their shine.

Klemme remembers that she started to notice her grades slipping from how much time she was going out to drink and party, something “everyone else” was doing. When her sophomore year rolled around, she realized it was time to focus on the reason she came to college to begin with. Officer Greiter says that for those doing night shifts, their responsibilities also change depending their focus. If they’re out monitoring the streets and busting parties, the list of things to focus on and the responsibilities can be higher due to underage drinking whereas when watching the bar scene, you have more focus on things staying orderly as everyone is of age. It’s all fun and games until someone gets hurt or lands in jail. So why not keep it fun and avoid the risks and dangers in being irresponsible? Drinking isn’t a bad thing or frowned upon. Simply keeping it safe is the most important and sought after request. “I think if you’re smart about it, drinking can be a really fun, social aspect and a way to meet people you otherwise wouldn’t have met. It makes memories you can enjoy looking back on. It’s a way to be a little irresponsible while you still can!” says Klemme.

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THE ROAD TO RECOVERY One student’s journey through addictions and being a single parent STORY AND PHOTO BY BLAKE LANSER

It’s not easy deciding what we want to be when we grow up. We are surrounded with community members and close family that are always poking at prodding at what we want to spend the rest of our lives doing. As if that question isn’t hard enough to answer, take these factors into consideration: a child of your own, drug and alcohol dependencies and other personal issues that set you back. For ISU junior Lindsay Fitzgerald, moving through her college journey has had its roadblocks. Fitzgerald, born and raised in Boone, Iowa, seemed to hit a twist in her life when she was a sophomore in high school. “My freshman year of high school was just a blast. But, you know, for me it became more and more of a daily thing that I couldn’t keep up with.” Fitzgerald said. During her high school career, Fitzgerald was a heavy user of methamphetamine, marijuana and alcohol. When her college career began inching closer and closer, Fitzgerald realized that she didn’t have the necessary skills to make her life turn out like her dream life. “I always pictured myself going to college, having a family, a nice home, good job, etc” said Fitzgerald. She enrolled at Des Moines Area Community College (DMACC) and only made it through one semester. “I did one semester at DMACC and the following semester failed out for not attending because

DESIGN ALIXANDRIA COLLINS

I couldn't stay sober. I always intended to go back but applying the necessary action to make my intentions come true was where I had trouble.” Fitzgerald was not able to go back to school while she was still using drugs and drinking. “Alcohol and drugs were my solution to dealing with everything that I didn’t know how to deal with.” It wasn’t until she turned 20 that she realized she needed a change in her daily routine. “I became pregnant before I had my son [Charlie]. I ended up miscarrying. After I miscarried, I picked up where I left off with the using [marijuana and drinking].” Six months later, Fitzgerald became pregnant again and ran into a personal battle of continuing to drink or white-knuckle her habits. “I was pacing back and forth and thinking out loud that I knew I was pregnant. At that time, I was not willing to admit it to myself,” Fitzgerald said. For about a month, Fitzgerald continued to drink and smoke marijuana despite having the thought that she was pregnant. “I don’t really know exactly, but some people knew. Then came my 21st birthday and I was about a month pregnant and I didn’t tell a lot of people. I celebrated like people would have had they not been pregnant.”

During her pregnancy, Fitzgerald struggled with her drug addictions and continued drinking habits. “I didn’t know what I was going to do and I knew I had to quit smoking pot. I thought, I just can’t,” Lindsay said. It wasn’t until December 25th, 2010, Fitzgerald’s official sobriety date, that she quit using drugs and drinking. Out of the nine months of her pregnancy, only five of them were spent sober. “Looking back I am not proud at all of behavior of drinking and using drugs while I was pregnant” said Fitzgerald. She says that sharing this part of her story is not to glorify her actions, but to show where her addiction had taken her. Fitzgerald says that she is thankful that Charlie came out perfectly healthy and has never had to see her drink and be on drugs. During those five months of sobriety, Fitzgerald found hope in the programs in her home town. “I had just turned 21 and that’s when I started to find a little bit of hope and I hung on. I didn’t plan on staying sober forever, but it just worked out that way. I felt a lot better,” Lindsay said. Her substitution for drinking and using drugs was the a 12-Step program through Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), which showed her how to deal with things without having to turn to drugs and alcohol. According to the official AA website, the program is a fellowship of men and women

Now sober for nearly six years, Lindsay Fitzgerald spends some quality time with her son.

who have had a drinking problem. The program structures itself with 12 steps and 12 traditions that keep the group alive and help to better its members. With the 12 Step program before her, she had to work on each step and do so with her sponsor. While working the 12 steps of AA, Lindsay was flying solo with her son, except for her mother’s support. Lindsay met her son’s father during her sophomore year of high school. At the time, Lindsay had just begun using [marijuana and methamphetamine]. “My friends were no longer hanging out with me on a daily basis, and he was just there. It was the attention, and I basically moved right in,” Lindsay said. During her use of drugs and alcohol, Lindsay kept a diary where she journaled her thoughts and what she was experiencing on the inside. “I was just so so dependent looking back. I did keep a journal so looking back it was just very pathetic. I think that part of those traits are things that I just haven’t solved, but they are getting better. Just needing the peer support meant a lot more then.” As far as receiving support from Charlie’s father, Lindsay says that he’s present as needed. “He’s not always reliable, but if I need him to watch Charlie for some reason he does.” Lindsay says that when Charlie

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is with his father, he receives lots of gift and attention, which Charlie loves. But the consistency of when Charlie sees his father is not always there. “Sometimes it will go once a week where he’ll be able to see him and other times it goes a month, maybe — it’s very sporadic” Lindsay says. Through her experiences in AA and its sister program, Narcotics Anonymous (NA), Lindsay has been sober for over five years and has no plans on letting that time go to waste. “I had been hitting a lot of meetings and I had a sponsor,” Fitzgerald said. Her continued utilization of meetings in her hometown of Boone aided in extending her sobriety. “I was very panicky as a first-time parent, but I just kept trying to do the next right thing and get through this. Because I had an addiction didn’t mean I didn’t care about kids, because I really did. I loved other people’s kids and I thought I knew what was right. I just took it one thing at a time and did what was right in front of me. “ “I made the biggest progress during Step Nine where I started making amends to people. That is where I became free from my addiction and really able to look at people in their eyes,” said Lindsay. Step Nine of AA is making direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so

would injure them or others. During this step, it is up to the alcoholic who struggles to work with others around them whom they have harmed in any manner. On top of the sobriety that she gained from AA and NA, Fitzgerald was able to re-enroll in school through DMACC. “I learned how to regain some stability. I started by staying sober and holding a job down. I paid what I owed DMACC from the wreckage of my addiction off, $25 at a time” says Fitzgerald. Through AA and NA, Fitzgerald had a solid foundation of how to deal with problems in her life, which now included balancing her ongoing education through Iowa State. “AA definitely helped me stay in school. It helps me live my life on a day to day basis. I didn't know how to do adult things, but through staying sober via the 12 steps and having relationships [with people] who gave me their experience, strength, and hope, I have been able to maintain going to school,” Fitzgerald said. Through her experiences growing up with her son Charlie, Lindsay has been saved with the support of her friends at AA and NA and her new found spiritual life. “I have recently expanded on my spiritual life which really keeps me grounded,” says Lindsay. On top of her newfound spiritual life, Lindsay says that the friends she has discovered through

“AA definitely helped me stay in school. It helps me live my life on a day to day basis.”

STEPS OF ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS While Fitzgerald found the spirituality based steps helpful in achieving sobriety, according to the AA website, “newcomers are not asked to accept or follow these Twelve Steps in their entirety if they feel unwilling or unable to do so.” They are based on the experiences of the earliest members of the group. 1. We admitted we were powerless over alcohol — that our lives had become unmanageable. 2. Came to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.

AA and NA now feed her social life and serve as some of her best girlfriends. Lindsay has also started going to counseling to help with some of the newer found problems in her life. When asked what advice she would give to those struggling with drug and alcohol dependencies, Lindsay said that AA and NA are a great step in the right direction. “I’m a strong pusher for AA and NA, but I try to just lead by example. You can’t just force that down someone’s throat. But if they are willing, I try to get them to a meeting and there you see that you have to stick with the people that are actually getting it,” Lindsay says. On top of AA and NA, Lindsay says that some individuals need to seek out treatment. “Sometimes people need treatment, but I see a lot that people go to treatment and they think that is all they need. That wasn’t my story. I’ve been to two in-patient treatments and I thought that was it, but that was not it. It’s a continuous thing, building a new life through AA.” AA and NA are great resources and have helped many alcoholics and drug users turn their lives around. For Lindsay, they were her door to a new life, a life through AA. “There are resources and you just have to find them out,” says Lindsay.

3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him. 4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves. 5. Admitted to God, to ourselves and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs. 6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character. 7. Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings. 8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all. 9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others. 10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it. 11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out. 12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics and to practice these principles in all our affairs.

WITH THE

PUNCHES

How beating each other up brings people together STORY AND PHOTO BY MEREDITH KESTEL

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You enter State Gym like any other ISU student . Instead of swiping your student ID card, you head down a set of stairs towards the Outdoor Rec offices. You open a door and walk down a bright, white hallway. In the distance, you can hear the loud bass of a song playing and people yelling. Next, you enter a room, fenced-in equipment on one side and a ring on the other. You do some warm ups and the next thing you know, you’re swinging punches at your best friend and get a black eye. No, this is not an underground fight club — this is ISU Boxing. Camryn Linster, sophomore in mechanical engineering calls ISU Boxing her home. She joined the team in September 2015, less than a year ago. Linster and her best friend, Brandon Krumm, heard about the club and decided to join. Together, they decided to tie up their free time by wrapping up their hands and putting on boxing gloves. Linster stands, sweaty after a practice, long

a constant laughter in his voice, seemingly never discouraged. He stands, back against the wall, hair matted with sweat, hands bound in pink wrap. “I basically had a semester when I was only taking twelve credits and I needed more to do; so I picked up boxing to fill up some of my time. In high school, I was kind of the semi-athletic person. I did this so I could prove to myself I could do more than what I always thought I could. I really pushed myself quite a bit.” Krumm says. The ISU Boxing club has around 100 student members. Throughout the semester, the number fluctuates, as people tend to drop out. Out of the entirety of the boxing club, there are about 15 dedicated members that form the Boxing Team; Linster and Krumm are two of those members. “The club and the team are two different things. The club has people that show up just

No, this is not an underground fight club — this is ISU Boxing.

hair slicked back into a ponytail, mouth guard tucked into the strap of her tank top. When she talks of the club, her eyes gleam. “In all honesty, I really like fighting movies,” she laughs. “I’m kind of an aggressive person. I jokingly tell people I’m going to fight them all the time, so I thought I might as well, like, actually know how to fight.” Brandon Krumm, sophomore in philosophy, is Linster’s counterpart, in the ring and out of the ring. Krumm speaks with the sound of

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to work out, but the team has people that want to compete. The club is a way on to the team basically. Kind of like stepping stones,” says Linster. The group meets daily in the basement of State Gym from 5:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Practices vary day to day some days are for offense practice , other days are for defense. Members start out by wrapping their hands and warming up with jumping rope, shadow boxing or some head movements.

After that, they either do a defensive or an offensive day. Defense day is more sparring drill-type stuff — practicing head movement and blocking punches. Offense day is working more on punches, mostly with heavy bags and mitts . The group usually does sparring or conditioning at the end. For conditioning, boxers do heavy bag drills and a drill with the medicine ball or sometimes sprints. And that is an evening in the life of a boxing club member. “If they actually want to succeed, they come practice, they train hard, they show that they want to be in it. [The friendships that I have made on this team,] we’re all really close. We push each other,” says Linster Friendship and trust are a huge part of this club. Strangers walk into a room together at the beginning of the semester and before they know it, they’re sparring against someone. With such an atmosphere, friendships are bound to be formed. “When you start working with people and you are actively punching them in the face, it’s kind of hard not to become close to each other. I spend at least six days a week, two hours each day, with these people,” Linster says. Not only are friendships made, but also better lives are a result of this club. Linster says since joining the club, she has changed her lifestyle dramatically. Physically and mentally, the boxing club changes a person. Weight loss and gaining muscle strength are just some visible results seen in a dedicated member of the team. Members push their bodies to levels they never knew were possible.That is what they do every day: pushing it to the limit. “I really like being able to push myself to see what I can do,” Krumm says, “It’s also a great stress relief reliever. When you just finish all your exams and stuff to just be able to come and blow a bunch of steam off, it helps.”

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But ignore the weight loss, the new muscles and the Transformation Tuesday posts. Not every change is reflected on social media. There’s more to it. “Mentally, my attitude has changed by learning to overcome all the obstacles. It’s very much a mental sport as much as a physical sport, if not more. I’ve learned to let

It’s pushing you beyond what you thought your limit was. my mind not get in the way. My attitude has changed in just how far I can push myself,” says Linster. “I feel a lot more confident in myself now than I did before I joined boxing. There’s a mentality that goes in it that helps a lot,” Krumm says. “It definitely gives you the mentality of what you need to do and you’re more focused, more object-oriented of what you need to get done and how you get it done.” As an engineering student by day and badass by night, the club is more than just an extracurricular to Linster, “It’s pushing yourself beyond what you thought your limit was. Bonds between athletes and coaches with lots of support and help. If I feel like I’m not going to succeed in something, my team reminds me how hard I have trained and help me to work on the things that I feel like are my weakness,” she says. “It’s a place I can go to let off steam and know that I’ll come out feeling better than I did before. It has helped me be more confident in everything that I do.”

A LEGACY IN LECTURES Inside the bustling office of Iowa State’s busiest program director

BY TRAER SCHON

DESIGN MACKENZIE GEARY

PHOTO QUYNH DANG

“Why are they so quiet?” she says, looking at the students filing into neatly organized chairs before a town hall-style lecture. She glances out the window, notices the rain, and throws her hands in the air dramatically. “Oh, because they nearly drowned on the way here. This is the sound of near death.” This woman keeping careful watch over the crowd is Iowa State Lectures Program Director Pat Miller. Each year, excited at the prospect of earning extra credit, seeing a famous personality in the flesh or just learning something new, thousands of people flock to the Memorial Union to attend the approximately 120 events hosted by the Iowa State Lectures Program. What they might not realize is that behind those interesting talks and ISU card swipes for five extra points can be days — or even years — of dedicated work. A lot happens before the speaker takes the stage. Behind all of these great lectures, communicating with potential lecturers every day in a cluttered office tucked away on the second floor of the Memorial Union, is Miller. Along with three other staff members, she helps the program run smoothly and brings a wide range of speakers to campus — from former president of Ireland Mary Robinson to everyone’s favorite mid90s television scientist, Bill Nye (of “Science Guy” fame). The Lectures Program at Iowa State operates differently from most universities, with a heavy emphasis on student involvement. Since its founder James Lowrie approached the student government with the unique idea in 1966, it’s been a

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collaboration between the students and the university — with funding support from Student Government as well as more than 200 cosponsors, hosting departments and colleges each year. Turning that funding into celebrities, authors, poets and performers is where Miller and the Lectures Program staff come in. This April, Miller marked her 35th year as the Lectures Program director. Fondly described by students as quickwitted, hard working and “kickass,” meeting Miller is a memorable experience for even the most esteemed speakers. She speaks carefully, focusing intently on the task at hand but willing to completely divert her attention in a moment’s notice if something more pressing comes her way. “When I first met Pat she scared me,” says former lectures planning committee member Elaine Godfrey. “But I learned that’s just her style — she’s very abrupt. She’ll talk to you about what she needs to and then walk away to get back to work.” Miller says her “hyperactivity” allows her to do well in her busy job, where she’s had as many as seven lectures in one day. Commemorative mugs from the Peace Corp and the Voodoo Spiritual Temple sit on a shelf above her desk, just above lighting

instructions for the Great Hall that have been written out carefully on a piece of weathered stationary. While most of her job is sitting here, tracking down and scheduling lecturers, her duties at a lecture include escorting speakers onstage, crowd control and making sure things run on time. Miller typically starts working from home around 5:30 every morning — she says that if she came in before 9:30 a.m., she’d never get anything done. “But I try not to send emails until after six... it freaks people out,” she laughs. While she finds her job to be a perfect fit, she does acknowledge the uniqueness of her position. “I woke up when I was three and said, ‘When I grow up, I want to be a lectures program director,’” she jokes. Over the years she has certainly mastered the process of attracting speakers to Iowa State, often made difficult because of inaccessibility to Ames, or simply disinterest in the area. “We’re in the middle of the ‘flyover zone,’ as many people who aren’t running for president think,” she explains. “So we try to find a really good reason that they should come, and a personal connection if possible.” While it doesn’t always work, this formula — with a bit of creativity — has frequently paid off for Miller over the years. Sitting in her office chair amidst a mountain of sticky notes, promotional posters and bookshelves overflowing with titles ranging from “The Good Girls Revolt” to “America, You Sexy Bitch,” she pours over a database of past lectures, making quips about each one, until she lands on the 2010 lecture she was looking for. That speaker is Yvon Chouinard, the founder of highend outdoor clothing company Patagonia, who she remembers as particularly difficult to land. After months of trying to contact him (at the insistence of students), Miller did a Google search of Chouinard, and found that he had received an environmental award from the Malibu Surfing Association. Sensing a possible back door to contacting him, she reached out to them, and they happily shared his contact information. Sure enough, Chouinard came to campus a few months later. She later found out from someone on his staff that he usually only gives one speech a year.

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“It was a huge deal — we got emails and calls from all over, trying to figure out how we got him,” she says. She used a similar process to land FiveThirtyEight creator and wellknown statistician Nate Silver. After a bit of browsing around, she learned that his dad was a political science professor at Michigan State. Using the family connection, she was able to send the otherwise hardtoreach Silver an invitation, and he gladly agreed to speak. Miller says that their constant tracking of speakers and flexibility (compared to other universities) on the dates of lectures helps them reel in more speakers. Student connections also play a big role: One student helped bring in Holocaust survivor Marion Blumenthal Lazan this February after meeting her on a shared flight. Miller says part of their success has been their persistence in trying to draw in speakers. “We’re constantly checking to see ‘if the door is open this time,’” she explains. And, as if on cue, a senior student pokes his head in the door of Miller’s office. “We finally got Mary Robinson?” he says excitedly. “I was a freshman when we first started trying to get her!” Miller says her favorite part of the job is finding lecturers and helping find students’ perfect speaker — no matter how challenging it is. President Robinson was someone who fell into the “challenging” category, as she was busy working with the United Nations and was often not in the country. Still, after three years of persistence, Miller managed to find an open date this spring, when she came for under half of her typical speaking fee. “They know we keep trying,” she says. “We do all this for the students.” And students who know the behindthe scenes process don’t take that for granted. “[The Lectures Program] gives students the opportunity to get to know people who are shaping the country and our world on a weekly basis…students should know that almost no matter where their interests lie, there are lectures relevant to them,” says Greer Brown, a member of the lectures planning committee. In searching for speakers, Miller says they often find surprising personal connections to Iowa State. Once, during a

World Affairs Series planning committee, Miller asked if anyone had any ideas for a wellknown speaker to finish the year, and one graduate student quietly chimed in, “Well, my sister is on SNL.”

“We make sure they are not left standing in an open corn field.” That student was Stephen Gasteyer, whose sister Ana was indeed a cast member on “Saturday Night Live” at the time. She ended up speaking at Iowa State twice. Miller has become an expert at finding the “hook” to attract big, internationally recognized names to the humble confines of the Memorial Union’s Great Hall, which usually involves finding a date they are in the area and using some Iowa State charm to lure them here. “She knows all the agents and which prominent figures have even the vaguest connections to Ames or Iowa State and uses that to bring them in for often half of their typical speaking fee,” says Brown. “She also has a crazy knowledge of which international speakers will be in the U.S. and when, and uses that to our advantage.” Even with the busy schedules of highprofile speakers, cancellations and postponements are rare — with the notable exception of Judy Smith last year, whose career is the basis for the character Olivia Pope on the ABC show Scandal. She had to reschedule twice: once because of inclement weather, and another time because her client CeeLo Green got in legal trouble and she had to fly out to Los Angeles on short notice. With more than 100 speakers every year, Miller’s time as the director has led to her rubbing shoulders with interesting, impactful people day in and day out. Her interesting encounters with speakers could fill Parks Library to the brim if all converted to book form, but one particularly bizarre experience she recalls was with comedian and author David Sedaris. Although the lectures committee members normally take speakers out to dinner at the sophisticated Aunt Maude’s in downtown Ames, Sedaris’ agent requested a late dinner at Applebee’s.

Lectures Director Pat Miller speaks with students after a lecture in the Great Hall.

Miller says the students were sitting at the table in nervous silence, and in an attempt to stir up conversation, she mentioned Sedaris’ impressive stamina at signing around 400 books both before and after his lecture. “I just threw out, ‘How do you get your arm in shape for a two week tour of book signing?’” Miller recalls. “He said, ‘Well, I start masturbating twice a day, four weeks before I leave, and then I’m in great shape.’” She says all of the students inhaled, not sure how to respond, until she quipped, “Oh my, that’s the first time we’ve ever discussed masturbation with a speaker over dinner.” Sedaris’ comment was still in her mind when she was trying to convince his sister, Amy, to come to Iowa State at the annual book expo she attends. She quickly found out he leaves his mark wherever he goes.

“I said, ‘We’d love to have you come to Iowa State, and don’t believe anything your brother said about his visit,’” Miller recalls. “Without missing a beat, [Amy] leaned down and said ‘Oh, were you involved with the monkeys?’” Her brother must have had good things to say, though — Amy Sedaris ended up giving two lectures at Iowa State in four years. Miller never fails to give the speakers a memorable visit, as Megan Frisvold, a rookie member of the lecture planning committees, knows firsthand from dinner with former United States Chief Information and Microsoft senior director Steven VanRoekel. “We were at dinner and he was showing us pictures of his kids...Pat insisted her grandkids were cuter!” she says. Though it can be tough to attract people to Iowa State, Miller says once they come, they’re usually so impressed that they don’t hesitate to come back. “We take good care of them,” she says. “We make sure they are not left standing in an open corn field.”

Miller says the most important lesson she learned almost immediately on the job was that people often forget that the successful speakers who come here are people too. She specifically remembers one very public official who had problems with his flight, and seemed to be stressed out. After checking in with him to see how he was doing and how his dinner was, she says he completely relaxed and opened up, seemingly comforted to know that someone cared. Miller says people often take notice of how involved our students are in the process — they even give the welcome and introduction at most big lectures. “Our students are wellknown for their hospitality and care of speakers. I love the social exchange and making people feel welcome here,” she says. “We’re able to showcase the students of Iowa State, and they’re always impressed.” She says one thing she’s constantly reminded of is how we take our surroundings for granted. When poet Adrienne Rich came in 2008, just a few years before she died,

“We have very polite and energetic audiences,” she says. “We have so many speakers with various perspectives and opposing views that everyone is respectful because they want their speaker to be respected.” 46

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Miller approached her as she was sitting on the stage after her reading and signing. “I said, ‘Are you ready to go now?’ and she said ‘I’m just sitting here for a moment, absorbing this beautiful room.’” In addition to the unique structure and busy schedule of Iowa State’s Lectures Program, it also differs from many universities in its willingness to host very opinionated speakers — recently, hotbutton topics have included GMOs, religion and politics in general. Last year, Miller came under fire for having the controversial journalist Katie Pavlich come speak about a “conservative perspective” to sexual assault on college campuses, but she shakes off the criticism. “What people don’t realize about speakers of opposing views is that you can come and learn what they are saying, and be better prepared to defend your position,” she says, pausing a moment before adding the cherry on top, “Without having to pay anything.” Frisvold says she’s learned to appreciate ISU’s outstanding lectures program. “Especially after becoming so involved with the program this year, I realize how invaluable Iowa State’s lecture program really is,” she says. “We get so many inspiring and amazing speakers to come talk, for free, to us as students. Why waste that opportunity?” Although there are a few eccentric community members who regularly attend lectures, Miller says for the most part it’s a very welcoming and inclusive environment with loyal attendees that have farranging interests. “We have very polite and energetic audiences,” she says. “We have so many speakers with various perspectives and opposing views that everyone is respectful because they want their speaker to be respected.” She tells students that hearing information from all sides and sorting it out for yourself is part of adult life, and the lectures program offers a “marketplace of ideas” to do just that.

“Students come here to learn to think critically, and how better to do that than listening to a range of views from people who have evidence to back it up?” This approach to oncampus lectures has gained notice from colleges across the country. Most recently, the University of Colorado wanted to reference Iowa State’s thorough guidelines for its Presidential Caucus Series as they were developing their own. “People have a tendency to shy away from political events, but we get a handle on them because it’s an incredible opportunity that we don’t want to pass it up,” Miller says. An incredible opportunity for students, certainly, but one that results in an incredible workload for the Lectures Program staff. According to Miller, this year was “particularly a zoo,” as they worked with all 21 campaigns, and had six candidates appear on campus as part of the series. She says working with campaigns can be difficult, with changing schedules and them wanting to schedule events at odd times. “We had one candidate this year ask for a 2 p.m. slot on the first day back to classes in January, to which I said, ‘Would you like people in the room to hear him speak?’” After 35 years at the helm of the program, it’s impossible to talk about lectures without mentioning Miller, who is still quick to remember minor details from seemingly every speaker. She never fails to surprise with a new story — recently, it was about her 1992 trip with the Entomology Club to appear on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.” Miller waited backstage while two club members introduced Leno to hissing cockroaches and several insectbased delicacies. Unfazed by the Hollywood glitz and glamor, she even offered a chocolatecovered cricket to legendary singer Tony Bennett in the green room before the show. He politely declined. Even after all these years, Miller doesn’t appear to be stopping any time soon. “I’m going to be buried in the Great Hall, to the right of the stage — they have to leave room for me there,” she says with a laugh. “That way I can keep up my work in the afterlife.”

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FINDING THE TRACK TO

ACCEPTANCE The story of an LGBTQA athlete BY JESSICA ENWESI

DESIGN QUYNH DANG

Tina Hillman starts her day at the crack of dawn — around 7 a.m. to be exact. She gets dressed for her day ahead. She may choose to wear a sweater if it’s cold or a light, breezy T‐shirt if it’s warm. She starts her morning warm‐ups not long after finding a comfortable fit for the day. Hillman, no stranger to injuries as national shot put champion for the Iowa State track and field team, goes through tedious physical training in preparation for her upcoming meet. She attends her classes, does her homework and then heads off to practice to fulfill her responsibilities as a student‐athlete. Hillman is one of many athletes playing for universities around the world. She carries the hope that this time, on this field, her team will find victory. She hopes for great weather and good competition to prove her skills. And when she looks into the stands of cheering fans, she hopes that they can accept her true self, because she is a pansexual woman. “Pansexual basically means that I love someone for their personality,” says Hillman. “In a way, I’m gender-blind. [To me], gender is not a defining factor for whether or not I like someone. I could like someone who is female or male or gender nonconforming or gender fluid because I just love people.” But the all‐American athlete is an image that is hard for our society to shake. They are seen as natural leaders of their teams and winners of their designated sport and most definitely

PHOTO EMILY BLOBAUM

not gay. Even in 2016, retired basketball player Jason Collins and professional boxer Yusef Mack brought out hostile reactions from a lot of people by coming out of the closet. According to an interview published by Broadly.com, this kind of environment can create a fear among other lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer or asexual (LGBTQA) athletes to express their sexual orientation. For this very reason, Hillman hadn’t always seen her sexuality so clearly. Growing up in Dover, Delaware, she spent years confused and afraid of her feelings towards the same sex when she fell in love with her eighth grade best friend. Coming from a household that saw her sexual orientation as wrong, she saw her attraction as rebellious. Hillman had always known how her family and friends felt toward any sexual orientation that wasn’t the “standard” relationship between a male and a female. They even took her to anti‐gay events to help instill this view. “I remember being taken to an homophobic pep rally when I was a kid. It was definitely ingrained that it was all wrong,” recalls Hillman. But these pep rallies along with her upbringing only helped to conceal Hillman’s true feelings for her best friend. “I had been definitely taught that it was wrong,” recalls Hillman. “It had been frowned upon by my mom and she was very religious. I was falling in love with

(my best friend) and I was very confused about it because I had been raised in a very Christian, conservative household and [again] taught it was wrong.” Never fully feeling that her family would accept her, she continued to internalize her pain. “I felt a lot of conflict within myself. I felt like I was being really rebellious. I felt like I was being a disappointment to my family, to my religion. It was a really hard time for me I didn’t know what to do with my feelings and I kept telling myself that I was punishing myself for it.” Realizing that she was not only attracted to the opposite sex while in middle school, Hillman told her best friend how she felt about her and hoped this would be her first step in discovering who she was. “I confessed to her, but unfortunately that did put a damper on the friendship and we went our separate ways in high school.” But Hillman, in the spirit of a natural romantic, fell again for her new best friend in high school. “Then two years later, I found myself falling for my other best friend, who was also a woman,” Hillman chuckles. This time, Hillman did not allow herself to hide in her own shadow. As an up‐and‐coming star shot putter at her Catholic high school, St. Thomas More, Hillman began to feel comfortable enough to start dating women.

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“But at this point, I decided that it was natural because there was absolutely nothing wrong with what I was feeling. I loved her, so why is that a bad thing?” But as word spread around her conservative high school that the notable athlete was dating another girl, a mutual friend of Hillman and her girlfriend told her mother. “Her mom freaked out and told my mom. I went home one day and my mom was crying and was upset,” says Hillman. “It was just sad...No one wants to see their mom sad because they like someone.” Finding peace within herself did not stop Hillman’s family from holding their own views on her sexuality. “There were conflicts with my mom at the time, but my dad was very accepting. But that’s not to say that my mom doesn’t love me (because) she definitely does and we’ve worked through this.” says Hillman. But I know for a fact, she doesn’t completely accept it.” For a lot of people who identify as LGBTQA, it can be a hard journey to express themselves to their friends and family. And as an athlete, where your masculinity or femininity is closely linked to the sport you play, the reality can be even harsher. Just like the unspoken rule practiced in the military, it’s not uncommon for LGBTQA athletes to feel the same sense of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” “I actually had teammates who were seniors when I was a freshman (who) knew about my sexuality, but I could tell it was definitely an (off‐limit or taboo) thing,” says Hillman.

“They only talked about boys. They didn’t ask me about my love life, they didn’t ask me about who I was interested in because they knew.” Seeing her teammates attempt to disregard a part of who she was, Hillman felt it was time to speak up. “Eventually, what I did was ask about how they felt about it, [when] I started becoming more comfortable with [my sexuality]. And they said ‘Yeah, just don’t come on to me’, ‘we just don’t need to talk about it,’” she says. “It was definitely a ‘hush hush’ thing.” When it comes to asserting their sexuality, athletes tend to feel an unusual amount of pressure. “Some observations I’ve made about [gay athletes], is that the sporting world tends to be very traditionally gendered, ” says Benjamin Spick, the education and outreach coordinator For the LGBTA Alliance here at ISU. “I think this can be difficult for LGBTQA people because so often we transgress those gender binaries.” “I think this can be difficult for LGBTQA people because so often we transgress those gender binaries.” Spick has spent the better part of his undergraduate years telling his “coming out” story and helping educate the public about the implications of hushing your sexual identity. And just like Hillman, Spick also felt shame and rejection about who he was. “And I knew at that time that I couldn’t talk about that with my family or any of the people in my life.”

After finding solace in his local church, he felt ready to express who he was to the world and help others who were still feeling uncomfortable. “If I knew an athlete who was trying to come out, I think I would first start by pointing them to the LGBTQ student services,” says Spick. According to Spick finding the right people to talk to can be one of the best decisions LGBTQA can make when trying to come out.“ No matter

“In a way, I’m genderblind. Gender is not a determining factor for whether or not I like someone... I just love people.” who you are or when you’re coming out, it’s important that you have resources and it’s important that you have people that you can turn to for that support. We will work together and find you those resources to help you come out,” says Spick. As for Hillman, she just wishes she had had someone to comfort her younger self when she began to realize she was pansexual. “The first thing I would tell her is that it is going to be okay. There were many nights when I would cry about it. I would feel completely rejected, especially by some members of my own family and I would wonder if it was ever going to get any better.” “And it has. It’s gotten a lot better,” Hillman says with a smile.

WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE JEAN-PIERRE TAOUTEL BY VARAD DIWATE DESIGN SHELBY STITES PHOTO ISAAC BIEHL

*This interview has been lightly edited for clarity. Iowa State is home to Cyclones from around the world. This includes not just students, but also faculty members who enrich students with different perspectives. Jean-Pierre Taoutel, senior lecturer of French, is one such faculty member who continues to raise awareness about global issues through honors seminars. With a dose of wit and humor, he tells us about growing up in Lebanon during the country’s civil war, his passion for literature and getting used to new educational and cultural norms in the U.S. Ethos: Where did you grow up? Jean-Pierre Taoutel: I was born in Syria and grew up in Lebanon. I moved to France for my university studies at the age of 20. I still have family members in both France and Lebanon. E : What languages do you speak? JPT: French and Arabic are my native languages. As a bilingual speaker, I end up mixing them when talking to my family members. I started learning English when I was 12 years old. I also learned some Spanish in high school. E : How was your experience growing up? JPT: It was during the Lebanon War. I lived in

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Beirut, less than a mile away from the Green Line — a major fighting area. I studied in the basement in a candlelight after a night of bombing. There were no excuses for missing homework! The school system was working in a very strange way. We would start classes early at 7 a.m., which meant waking up at 5:30. We were done by 1 p.m. Why so early? Because this was the time soldiers slept after fighting during the night. This was the quiet time when life came back to usual before bombing started again in the afternoon. This was an experience many students would not relate to today. I still remember a certain experience. We went to class and found nobody had slept well enough the night before. The teacher made a deal and allowed us to not listen to him and rest. I also

remember taking an exam and my concern was not the grade I would be getting; it was about going back home. I could hear bombs going off during the exam, even if they were not quite close. I was wondering if I should go back home or seek shelter in the basement. E : What were some of your other experiences? JPT: As a kid, there are some funny parts to the war. Our school was occasionally cancelled. We were happy, but our parents used to say, “Study! Otherwise you’ll end up growing up stupid!” We were also confined to the area we lived in. E : Tell us about your journey to the U.S.

JPT: When I was doing my Ph.D. in France, there was an exchange program between Sorbonne University, where I was a student, and Hamilton College in New York state. Every year, Hamilton selects one student from Sorbonne to teach French. I wanted to go to the U.S. for a long time. So, in 1998, I put in my application and I was selected. At Hamilton, I could teach for one year. I could apply to other institutions to stay longer than that. I was accepted at the University of Florida in Gainesville and Iowa State. I decided to come here. I knew I was not going to be serious in Florida; I would be running outside in the sunshine. It has been sixteen years since then. E : What did you study at Sorbonne? JPT: I studied 20th century French literature. I spent a total of eight years at Sorbonne, including my undergraduate program. In France, as soon as you start studying at a university, you specialize in your field. You have to declare your major without taking a variety of classes. E : Did you always know what you wanted to do? JPT: I knew it was going to be something related to literature. I love literature! My education in literature could open a number of career paths related to using language. E : Were you always interested in teaching languages? JPT: I was used to teaching French to French people, which was mostly literature. I first taught French as a foreign language in the U.S. I thought it was very easy! E : How was the transition from teaching literature to teaching basics of the language? JPT: I would say this wasn’t an issue. When

you know one, you know the other; it’s not complicated. I found that the transition between French and American education systems was more interesting. In France, I was used to grading out of 20. A 15 out of 20 is basically an A. During my first class in the U.S., I used the same system and just multiplied the scores by five. I went to the class and said everybody had a good grade. But they were upset. I said to my colleague, “They got As and they are unhappy!” He explained how I had given them Cs. I don’t think I had enough training. I was just parachuted in this American classroom and had no clue about grading or anything else. I also learned you are supposed to talk to students in a politically correct way. There are things you can say and not say. In France, people are very direct. Here you really have to pay attention to what you say. E : What are some of those things you had to adjust to? JPT: For example, you have to avoid saying to a student, “You are performing badly.” You are supposed to say “You can improve.” You have to be positive. In France, the focus is on constructive criticism. Also, anything can be perceived as sexual harassment, including saying things like you have a nice shirt or a nice haircut. E : Apart from studying literature, what else do you enjoy doing? JPT: I like going to the gym. I like to read a lot. I also enjoy whatever Ames has to offer. E : What perspective do you bring for students at Iowa State? JPT: For those who study French, I hope they discover French culture and become more aware as global citizens. I like the honors seminars as they are outside my department,

allowing me to reach more students from other fields. I hope students become more aware of global issues and understand what’s happening around them. I am surprised to see how many educated people don’t even read a single newspaper. Some students don’t know what’s happening in Syria after four years. They’ll me tell with a smile how they don’t read the news. If you don’t know what’s happening around you, you are not educated. E : Can a lot more be done to improve awareness? JPT: Yes. I can still understand reasons though. This is a large country and people haven’t really seen war close to them. There is also not enough activism on campuses. Hopefully, students will get more involved. At some point, they will have to make choices. And I hope what I give students enables them to make ethical decisions. E : How has your experience been living in the US? JPT: I love living in the US! I like that Americans are very practical. Everytime I talk to my friends in France they ask me if I have gained weight or if I have been sued! Obviously they are going off on stereotypes. E : Any interesting experiences? JPT: It was during the week of Halloween a few years ago. I saw students walking on campus with their costumes on. I had this one student who came to class dressed in a really strange way. I said,”Oh! Nice Halloween clothes!” ,and she said, “No! These are my [regular] clothes!” Since then, I have learned [my lesson].

canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t make this sh*t up