League D
Two former Cyclones pursue their professional careers in the NBA’s Development League and abroad
TUESDAY
see SPORTS on PAGE 5
January 12, 2010, Volume 204 >> Number 77 >> 40 cents >> iowastatedaily.com >> An independent newspaper serving Iowa State since 1890
Technology
Achievement
Story County introduces iris database By Rashah McChesney Daily Staff Writer The Story County Jail will soon be scanning the irises of all current and new inmates as part of a biometric identification program that nearly 200 other agencies nationwide utilize. The iris scans, which recognize 256 points of reference according to both the Story County Sheriff’s Office and BI2 Technologies, the company that manufactures the hardware and software adopted by the Sheriff’s department. Iris scanning is nothing new to the Story County Sheriff’s office as it has been using the same type of technology to develop databases of iris scans as part of their ChildSafe project and its Senior Safety Net project, said Story County Capt. Barry Thomas. “We’ve had the iris-scan capabilities since August of 2008,” Thomas said. “This new unit that we got is the latest and greatest; it was given to us through a federallyfunded grant.” The National Sheriff’s Association received a grant through the Department of Justice and allocated the money though the C.O.P.S. program to sheriff’s offices throughout the nation to equip them with iris scanning biometric technology. As with any databasing technology, the more people that access and utilize the scanning software and contribute to the database, the bigger and better the database will be. Pat Lawton, senior development officer at BI2 said BI2 has been in business for about five years and by the end of March will have sheriff’s offices using the database in 40 states. “There are about 3,000 sheriff’s departments in the United States, and we are in many of them,” Lawton said. She said that while BI2, a private company, maintained the various databases which link a person’s retina scan to profile information determined by the parameters of the database they are placed in, private individuals could not gain access to the information. “Your average person would have no
see BIOMETRICS on PAGE 3
Shirley Smith holds the ISU yearbook from 1948 when she was a freshman. The 79-year-old returned 60 years later to Iowa State to earn her degree in liberal arts on Dec. 19, 2009. Courtesy photo: Bob Elbert/University Relations
Late graduate shares triumph After nearly half a century, 79-year-old returned to Iowa State to earn degree By John Lonsdale Daily Staff Writer It’s 9 a.m. on a frigid Monday morning in Ames, the first day of the second semester. Thousands of ISU students delicately walk on the icy pavement of the sidewalks, trying to set a hurried pace to get to their new classes on time. While there is excitement of a somewhat new adventure for some, others are relaxed and done worrying about classes for now — people like Shirley Smith. It’s 7 a.m. in Beaverton, Ore., same time, different zone. Smith is sitting with her husband at breakfast. They both wake up at 6 every morning no matter the circumstance. After spooning out
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half a grapefruit, a bowl of oatmeal and sipping on a half cup of coffee, she answers the phone. “Do you know what time it is here?” says Smith, intimidating at first but then laughs it off. “Maybe call back in 20 minutes after I finish my breakfast.” A routine set in place, Smith seems like a woman of a strong work ethic and responsible qualities. Her voice is warm with the tone of a long life lived. She has already had stories written about her and had people ask her questions about being 79 years old and graduating from Iowa State after not completing her college career in 1949. In fact, people ask her about it quite a bit. Most people are supportive, especially her husband and seven daughters, while others are simply just curious about why she decided to go back after such a long time away from school. Her response is simple but inspiring. “The census asks how many years of schooling you’ve completed. I could only put down 14 years, and I wanted to be able to put 16 for the first time in
my life,” Smith said. “It was just something I always thought I’d like to do. And I think a really important part of this is having my husband’s support through it all. A lot of women wouldn’t have had what I had and would’ve been asked why they were wasting their time and money doing that.” Smith’s favorite classes were courses on the Holocaust, the Civil War and human sexuality. She hated pre-calculus. Everything about it was just not a good experience, and it was just awful, Smith said. Her highlight of the classes wasn’t the material she was learning, but the young people by whom she was surrounded. Smith made good friends with numerous students, particularly three male students. “I got to know those fellows pretty well,” Smith said. “It was sort of strange because I made more friends with the guys than the girls. I attribute that to being possibly somewhat of a grandmother
see SMITH on PAGE 3
Weather
El Nino expected to bring warmer temperatures shortly By Sarah Gonzalez Daily Staff Writer
Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama blesses a police officer at the Rigon Thupten Mindrolling monastery at Jeerang, about 186 miles from Bhubaneswar, India, on Monday. The Dalai Lama is scheduled to visit the University of Northern Iowa on May 18. Photo: Anupam Nath/The Associated Press
Government, spiritual leader Dalai Lama to speak at UNI By Rashah McChesney Daily Staff Writer The University of Northern Iowa announced the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet is scheduled to visit its campus on May 18 to speak about his views on education. There will be a panel discussion at the McLeod Center from 9:30–11 a.m. the same day and then his keynote speech will be from 2–3:30. The tickets, which went on sale Friday, were between $15 and $50. “The available tickets we had that went on sale Friday were pretty much gone as of late Friday morning,” said Jan Hanish, assistant vice president of outreach and special programs at
Northern Iowa. “We’ve been taking names of people who would still like tickets and putting them on a waiting list.” Nick Spyrison, sophomore in physics and member of the Karma Kagyu student group on campus, said he’d love to see the Dalai Lama but hadn’t yet gotten tickets. “It slipped my mind the day of and I didn’t get on until that night, and for the main program they were already making the waiting list,” Spyrison said. Hanish said Northern Iowa was working to expand the seating in the McLeod Center to accommodate more people.
see DALAI LAMA on PAGE 3
This season’s cold winter weather is expected to warm up during the next two weeks. Temperatures will reach 30–40 degrees Fahrenheit due to El Nino. “The upcoming weeks will be a lot more normal for an El Nino winter,” said William Gallus, professor in geological and atmospheric sciences. El Nino historically occurs every seven years; but the cycle has lately presented itself more often, or about every three years, said Elwynn Taylor, professor in agronomy. The climate pattern, which originates in the Pacific, usually brings warmer temperatures to the Midwest if it occurs during the winter. The rest of this winter is expected to be typical for an El Nino season. The temperatures in the last month have been 15–20 degrees below average; however, the next few weeks will bring in warmer temperatures roughly six degrees above normal, Taylor said. Although El Nino historically lasts about 14 months, its lifetime has dwindled to about three months in recent years. This year’s cycle will be gone by June, Taylor said. The past three winters have brought harsh temperatures, and the start of this season was
Students walk through snowfall on Dec. 8, 2009, near the Landscape Architecture building. Temperatures are expected to rise in the coming weeks. File photo: Karuna Ang/Iowa State Daily
no exception. “The awful storm that lasted a month got here before El Nino started,” Taylor said. The storm that brought heavy precipitation and snowed in ISU students had arrived before the climate reached El Nino level on Dec. 16, 2009. Before mid-December, the season had followed the recent
years’ trend of extremely cold winters. “We are not really surprised to see three increasingly harsh winters,” Taylor said. The North Atlantic oscillation has brought a cycle of unusually cold winters to the Midwest. The northern movements of the Gulf Stream have
see WINTER on PAGE 3