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November 10, 2010 | Volume 206 | Number 56 | 40 cents | iowastatedaily.com | An independent newspaper serving Iowa State since 1890.
WEDNESDAY
ISU professor
LGBT
Quirmbach speaks to PFLAG By Adam. Hayes iowastatedaily.com Sen. Herman Quirmbach spoke to the Ames chapter of Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays about the recent election results and what they mean to the LGBT community Tuesday night. Quirmbach was recently re-elected to his third term as an Iowa senator. He represents District 23, which includes Ames, and is also an associate professor in the department of economics at Iowa State. There were roughly 15 people in attendance of the meeting. At the beginning of the meeting, everyone introduced him or herself and gave their reason for attending the meeting. After this and a few announce-
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Ames Hector Avalos, professor of philosophy and religious studies, explains his reasoning and logic for being an atheist. Photo: Bryan Langfeldt/Iowa State Daily
An unlikely atheist By Taysha.Murtaugh iowastatedaily.com Hector Avalos doesn’t drink. He doesn’t smoke or gamble, either. Avalos, professor of philosophy and religious studies, has been studying the Bible since he was a child. In fact, he was a child evangelist preacher. He’s also atheist or agnostic, depending on how one defines the word “God.” “Most people would say I look a lot like a conservative Christian,” Avalos said. “[I’m] not what they would expect an atheist to [look like].” With a master’s degree in theological studies and a doctorate in biblical studies from Harvard University, Avalos describes himself as a positive person who loves to learn and teach. He believes the
purpose of all knowledge is to help people and said his favorite thing to do is spend time with his wife. Avalos is the founder and faculty adviser of the Atheist and Agnostic Society on campus. He has written eight books on three topics: violence in religion, religion among Latinos and medical patients in the ancient world. While growing up, Avalos’ zealous belief in God ignited an intense study of the Bible. “I started by trying to defeat the arguments of the other side,” Avalos said, “and in the process I realized that my own arguments were not very good.” Born in Nogales, Sonora, Mexico, in 1958, Avalos attended the Church of God, a Pentecostal church. He said as a child he had powerful “spiritual experiences,” which he now says were caused by socio-psychological
factors. Avalos moved to Glendale, Ariz., to live with his grandmother when he was 7 years old. He became a child preacher, speaking about God before congregations of hundreds of people. “We talked about sin and salvation,” Avalos said. “That you needed to be saved because Jesus died for your sins, and it will help you transform your life. We were against abortion. We were against pre-marital sex. We were against homosexuality. We were against rock ‘n’ roll.” Avalos said he was determined to become a Christian missionary. In a testimonial which appeared in Freethought Today, a newspaper published by the Freedom from Religion Foundation, Avalos wrote, “By my early teens, I was a zealous believer, willing to go anywhere, to suffer any sacrifice to preach the word of salvation to the ‘pagan’
Technology
masses.” When a Jehovah’s Witness told him the Bible was mistranslated from its original Greek and Hebrew text, however, Avalos turned to studying in order to defend his beliefs. “I realized that to be a missionary for Christianity, you had to become a biblical scholar. You had to know the arguments of the other sides as well.” Avalos taught himself Greek and Hebrew and studied Aramaic, Akkadian, philosophy, theology and Near-Eastern history. “Most adults, up until recently, usually end up in the religion they were raised in,” Avalos said. “It’s not because they came to that religion through a long period of study or research, but they were just raised that way. To me that was not satisfactory.
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Council votes no on removal By Kayla.Schantz iowastatedaily.com Jane Graham, the artist who created the mural at Tom Evans Plaza in Ames, requested that the city remove four trees that she said reduce the visibility of the artwork. The city hired a landscape architect to review the issue. Donald Marner, senior landscape architect at Snyder and Associate, Inc., said in a letter to the council that his professional recommendation would be to leave the trees. He said the Japanese Tree Lilacs in the plaza do not have leaves for six months out of the year, so it is not a major blockage problem.
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Greek community
Group works to create apps for ISU community Specialists develop mobile applications for students, faculty By Kaitlin.York iowastatedaily.com The Community of Educational Technology Support held an interest group meeting Tuesday for mobile
technology and mobile development. Faculty, staff and graduate students of Iowa State who are developing or plan to develop mobile applications were invited to this event. ComETS is an ISU community that promotes dialog and events focused on technology in learning and teaching environments, according to the group’s website. The community allows the sharing of ideas and resources and commonly features debates regarding the future of technology. The first topic discussed at the meeting was the new development of a mobile version of the ISU homepage. Designers have been working on this mobile site since December 2009. The site allows users to view pages that could be useful on the go. Each feature is provided Photo: Logan Gaedke/Iowa State Daily
ComETS needs assessment results 99.15 percent of students at Iowa State own a cell phone device 63 percent of the student body claimed to own an iPhone 12 percent own a phone that uses Android 9 percent own a BlackBerry 5 percent own a Windows phone 89 percent of students allowed mobile access
Got an idea? Submit your idea for a mobile app that would benefit Iowa State at www.comets.iastate.edu in a large, bold text, making it easier for touch-screen users to select links and text boxes. Lesya Hassall, instructional development specialist of the Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching, gave a presentation on a current project being developed for ISU dietetics interns. Each intern will be loaned an iPod Touch, which they use to download the specific application that allows them to access to the Blackboard management system. This gives them the ability to check messages, their schedules and oth-
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Diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at a young age, freshman Kelley Glanz had to give herself insulin shots before every meal for four years before switching to a pump that injects insulin throughout the day. Courtesy photo: Kelley Glanz
Benefit raises money for juvenile diabetes By Lindsay.Calvert iowastatedaily.com At the age of 8, Kelley Glanz began giving herself insulin shots after being diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. Type 1 diabetes, also known as juvenile diabetes, is most often diagnosed in children and young adults. The body does not produce insulin, a hormone needed to convert sugar from food into energy needed for daily life. Glanz, freshman in public service and administration in agriculture, was taken to a doctor after her parents noticed she was constantly tired and thirsty. Glanz had only been to the doctor’s office once during elementary school prior to her diagnosis.
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“The thing I remember most clearly about my experience when I was diagnosed was the doctors poking my finger. I was so sick of needles,” Glanz said. “I didn’t really think of diabetes as anything different at first. It just took me a long time to accept the fact that it was a
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