Basketball weekend The ISU men take on No. 3 Kansas at home while the women travel to Austin for a shootout with No. 24 Texas. see SPORTS on PAGE 6
January 22, 2010, Volume 204 >> Number 84 >> 40 cents >> iowastatedaily.com >> An independent newspaper serving Iowa State since 1890
FRIDAY
Winter Sports
Supreme Court
Decision changes election funding
Dance Marathon
Looking for coverage of Dance Marathon? Check out www.iowastatedaily.com throughout the weekend or log on to Twitter and follow Daily Staff Writer Jessie Opoien, @jessieopie, for videos and live-tweeting of the 2010 event.
By Jim Kuhnhenn and Mark Sherman Associated Press Writers WASHINGTON — A bitterly divided Supreme Court vastly increased the power of big business and unions to influence government decisions Thursday by freeing them to spend their millions directly to sway elections for president and Congress. The ruling reversed a century-long trend to limit the political muscle of corporations, organized labor and their massive war chests. It also recast the political landscape just as crucial midterm election campaigns are getting under way. In its sweeping 5-4 ruling, the court set the stage for a wave of likely repercussions — from new pressures on lawmakers to heed special interest demands to increasingly boisterous campaigns featuring highly charged ads that drown out candidate voices. The election-season blizzard of ads on Americans TV screens is bound to increase. While the full consequences of the decision were hard to measure, politicians made clear whom they believed benefited. Democrats, led by President Barack
Civil Rights
MLK speech still inspires 50 years later By Abigail Barefoot Daily Correspondent Three years before his “I Have a Dream” speech, Martin Luther King Jr. was a speaker at Iowa State University. In conjunction with the 50th anniversary of this event and with the Martin Luther King Jr. celebration at Iowa State, students and faculty gathered to remember the man and his legacy in the Great Hall of the Memorial Union on Thursday. The event included music, food and a lecture by Lenola Allen-Sommerville, former ISU faculty member and 16-year chairwoman of the Martin Luther King Jr. celebration. King’s message, although 50 years old, still resonates. “His speech still pertains to today,” Sommerville said. “It’s not obsolete.” King delivered a speech for Religion in Life Week at Iowa State on Jan. 22, 1960. Afterwards, he was a dinner guest at the Delta Delta Delta sorority house. More than 1,500 students attended the event in the Great Hall of the Memorial Union, with an overflow of people listening to the speech over a public announcement system throughout the Memorial Union. About 99 percent of the people in attendance of the event were Caucasian. “I have never heard a more inspiring leader,” said Farwell T. Brown, who attended the event, in “Ames Words and Pictures, Volume 2.” “He demonstrated an ability to clarify emo-
see KING on PAGE 3
Restoration
Group presents plans to modify aging theater By Paige Godden Daily Staff Writer The members of Varsity Task Force presented their plans for the future of the Varsity Theater at Wednesday night’s meeting. The task force has been working on plans for potenDanielson tially reopening the theater as the Cyclone Cinema. The projected first year sum for renovating, running and leasing the old theater is $177,100. Members of the GSB, Anthony Maly, Tom Danielson and Brian Ryherd gave the presentation which broke down the fiscal responsibilities for the next five years if the GSB were to lease the Varsity Theater. The start-up costs includes sound systems, projectors, screens, seating, concession equipment and $15,000 for other expenses, which is
see GSB on PAGE 5
Cameron Vens, junior in finance, from the ISU Ski and Snowboarding Club, tests a run on the Grinch Winch for the ISU Rail Jam on Thursday on Central Campus. The ISU Rail Jam will be held Saturday. Photo: Karuna Ang/Iowa State Daily
Competition turns regional Snowboarding, skiing events to storm Ames
Politics
Caucuses to decide state issues By Alexander Hutchins Daily Staff Writer
By Justine Scattarelli Daily Staff Writer A block of Campustown will be transformed into a winter sports course this weekend. Iowa State’s Ski and Snowboard Club is hosting the fifth ISU Rail Jam competition from 3 to 8 p.m. on Saturday in the middle of Campustown. Chamberlain Street between Welch and Stanton avenues will be completely blocked off for the event. Organizers fill the entire street with snow to construct ramps and obstacles for participants to perform on. Special snow — free of salt and sand — is hauled in from the Ames airport. “Thirty guys and girls build it up to make something you would see on a Breckenridge [ski resort] hillside,” said Clayton Severson, senior in biochemistry and Rail Jam event coordinator for the Ski and Snowboard Club. Because there is no steep incline to provide momentum for the riders, competitors gain speed from a gas-powered engine called a winch. Riders hold onto a ski rope attached to a spool, which propels them up the jump and onto the rails. This is the fifth year ISU Rail Jam has taken place in Campustown. The club wasn’t able to host the event last year, due to time constraints and funding issues. Severson said the problems
see COURT on PAGE 5
Clayton Severson and Brian Call set up the Grinch Winch on Thursday on Central Campus for a test before Saturday’s ISU Rail Jam. Photo: Kelsey Kremer/Iowa State Daily
presented in 2009 taught him what was necessary to make the event successful this year. The club made some changes in this year’s event, including higher quality snow, a different setup of the rails, and an 18-andolder after-party hosted by Club Element. Funding for the event is mainly provided by GSB, Campustown, and Wilson Scion of Ames. Severson said the club contacted resorts, colleges and ski clubs to inform them about the event. “In years past we’ve had people from Nebraska, Chicago and Minnesota,” Severson said. “Somehow they just hear about these things.” David Pricco, vice president of the ski and snowboard club at the University of Iowa, competed in the event two years ago and plans to participate again this year. “It’s a unique event that you don’t see much around this
area,” Pricco said. “A lot of other competitions aren’t in the middle of downtown, so it’s a little more exciting. There’s a better backdrop.” Pricco said he hopes the competition will challenge negative stereotypes of snowboarders. “It’s good to kind of get people aware and show them that we’re not just hoodlums and we have talent,” Pricco said. Winners of the competition will be awarded a year’s supply of Red Bull, season passes to Seven Oaks ski area, or ski and snowboard apparel. Severson said they are still unsure who will judge the event. “That’s the least of my concern,” Severson said. “It’s mainly to have a good time.” Severson said the club members hope the event will make the sport look fun and further promote skiing and snowboarding.
see JAM on PAGE 3
The caucuses to be held across the state by both parties Saturday will play an unglamorous but important role in state politics. Steffen Schmidt, proSchmidt fessor of political science, said caucus meetings not involving a presidential election are mostly business meetings of very active party members. Gubernatorial candidates will be important for both parties, Schmidt Hutter said. He said Democrats will focus on Gov. Chet Culver’s re-election and Republicans will choose which candidate will run against him. James Hutter, associate professor of political science, said that when caucuses are convened every two years, they always gather party activists for important tasks the parties must accomplish to keep running. Presidential elections just add another element, albeit an exciting one, every other caucus. Hutter named four principal functions all caucuses perform: They get petitions signed, send members to other conventions, form party platforms and gather funding for the parties. The first major function of the caucus is to bring party members together so potential candidates can gather enough signatures to be included on the ballot. Voters who attend the caucus choose volunteers, who attend further district, county and state conventions dealing with party business. Some voters attending caucuses will be chosen to form committees.
see CAUCUS on PAGE 3