Down the line
Students voice opinions
Past experience pushes tennis player toward success.
The Varsity Theater debate brought ideas from both sides to the forefront — and to our pages.
see SPORTS on PAGE 10
see OPINION on PAGE 9
February 10, 2010, Volume 204 >> Number 97 >> 40 cents >> iowastatedaily.com >> An independent newspaper serving Iowa State since 1890
WEDNESDAY
Questions remain Editor’s note: This is the second in a two-part series on GSB’s proposal to rent and renovate what was formerly Varsity Theater. This part focuses on the outstanding issues that left the senate delaying the vote for another week — to Wednesday night’s meeting.
GSB members applaud ‘creative’ idea, theater plan’s fate remains undecided By Paige Godden Daily Staff Writer The proposal to buy the old Varsity Theater and reopen it as the studentrun Cyclone Cinema came to be when Government of the Student Body Finance Director Tom Danielson went to GSB President Jon Turk with an idea. Turning the Varsity Theater into a student-run cinema was something new for GSB. Property acquisition isn’t something the GSB Senators look at often, Turk said. Danielson researched the feasibility of buying the theater, and eventually wanted to reach out to students and administrators, which is where the Varsity Theater Research Task Force came in. When Dione Somerville, dean of students, first heard of the project, she said she remembers thinking it was a very creative idea. “It’s unique, it’s creative, innovative. I commend our students for thinking up this project,” she said. “The students have done an admirable job addressing the issues students and senators have raised,” Somerville said. The task force was officially formed by Turk in November, and fulfilled its major task in its proposal presentation to the Senate at three GSB meetings, the first of which was Jan. 13. The proposal was originally slated to be voted on at the Feb. 3 meeting, but the vote was postponed. Turk said there were and continue to be some outstanding questions that still need to be answered, and he is hoping to see an all-inclusive business plan before the vote.
Students work to address last-minute speculations before GSB Senate vote
Turk included a marketing plan as one aspect of the proposal that is still missing. In the past week, there has been some debate about having a board of directors for the theater. Turk said it’s still unclear who is will be responsible for the management of the theater, and what role the Senate will play. Turk said he has a balancing act to do. “I’ve been able to attend all the informational sessions and hear student feedback, which has been both positive and negative, but this really isn’t my decision at this point,” Turk said. If the bill passes through the Senate with a two-thirds vote at Wednesday’s meeting, Turk will have three options: to sign the bill, not sign the bill or veto the bill. “If I sign the bill, it says I give my consent,” Turk said. “I have six days to do that. If I chose not to sign, it means I have reservations or objections somewhere.” Turk added that a veto of the bill would mean he could not consent to the allocation of the money. If Turk chose to veto the bill, the Senate would have two weeks to override the veto. The override would take two-thirds of the entire Senate. All of the senators not seated when the override vote occurs would count as a “no” vote. Turk said he has not yet reached a decision as to what he would like to see happen to the bill. “I have to balance if this is a good expenditure,” Turk said. “I have to look at the economic times and political ramifications.” Turk addressed the issue that the City of Ames might not support the project in the way the task force had initially hoped.
Danielson
Where would the renovation and seed money come from? Renovation costs, the first year’s operating budget and the second year’s operating loss would be funded by the GSB Capital Projects and Investment accounts. ■■ The Capital Projects account accrues money that is unspent or misspent by student organizations. “Every year, GSB audits all of the organizations it funds on a line-item basis,” said Tom Danielson, GSB finance director. “At the end of the year, we reclaim all that money that is unspent.” Gail Ferlazzo, associate director of the Memorial Union, said that, in the past, about $100,000 has been swept into the account every year. A bill passed last semester, however, will direct half of the unspent money in future semesters — up to $50,000 — into a separate account to help fund events held by academic and pre-professional groups. Danielson said the capital projects account currently contains approximately $200,000. ■■ The Investment account was created when GSB sold its automobiles to the university, after deciding student organizations could use vehicles through Transportation Services. “When we sold those, we knew we were going to have a large amount of money,” Danielson said. The Investment account was opened in order to take advantage of a better interest rate and offer GSB a return on unspent dollars. In addition, the capital projects account is capped at $250,000, and once it reaches that mark, excess funds are transferred to the investment account. Danielson said the investment account currently contains approximately $300,000. How has the money been spent in past years? Capital Projects money is used primarily for physical investments that will last three years or more, according to Anthony Maly, senator for LAS and Varsity Task Force member. Maly said that, with a two-thirds vote, Capital Projects money can be spent elsewhere, and can supplement student organizations’ regular allocations.
see GSB on PAGE 5
Maly
V2010
see THEATER on PAGE 4
eishea
Budget reduction causes challenges By Matt Wettengel Daily Staff Writer The $50,000 budget reduction came as no surprise to the Veishea executive board. Having dealt with a similar-sized budget cut in 2009, the committee was fully aware that the planning of this year’s celebration would require creativity, modifications and some thorough preparation. “After the committees were selected, they looked at their budgets for this year and the budgets from 2009,” said Hallie Satre, senior in earth science and Veishea general co-chair. “They all had to look for ways to scale back or cut their expenses to fit this year’s budget.” “We took a look at the big picture and tried to evaluate every item to decide which were serving us well and which we could cut,” said Nicki Cor-
Veishea’s president’s allocation funding ■■ 2010 — $125,000 ■■ 2009 — $175,000 ■■ 2008 — $225,000 tum, senior in public service and administration in agriculture and Veishea general cochair. “Cutting doesn’t mean that we got rid of events, as much as adjusted the way we ran it to reduce costs.” Veishea’s funding comes primarily from the president’s allocation fund, which is a specific foundation account that is used at the discretion of the president of the university and is completely independent of the university’s operating budget. The fund comes from the Miller Endowment, which was established as a private
see Veishea on PAGE 3
Senate
Maintenance
Faculty finalizes handbook details
Workers struggle to clear sidewalk
Senate votes on open meetings, degree program
By Chelsea Davis Daily Staff Writer
By Jessica Opoien and Taysha Murtaugh Daily Staff Writers A strict adherence to parliamentary procedure provided a solid beat for Tuesday’s Faculty Senate meeting, held in the Memorial Union Sun Room. The Faculty Senate voted to revise its open meeting policy, eliminating many rules that they felt were not being followed. The new policy says the Senate promotes the principle of open meetings but doesn’t always require them. The senate also voted to discontinue the M.S. in Business program, but the focus of the meeting centered on Faculty Handbook
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Section 3.4, dealing with termination of faculty and elimination of departments. Tanaka The senate decided 56-5 to postpone the vote on proposed changes to the particular section. Owen “The administration is not trying to get rid of faculty,” Executive Vice President and Provost Elizabeth Hoffman said. “As someone who has won the Defender of the First Amendment Award, I take the importance of tenure very, very seriously ... That is not the
see VOTE on PAGE 3
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Snow and ice have dominated this winter and students and faculty have not been able to escape from unplowed sidewalks, broken bones and sickness. Landscapes by Design now owns a snow melting machine: the Snow Dragon. It is able to melt 100–300 cubic yards of snow an hour, which is a lot faster than trucking, said owner Weston Wunder. “It’s a lot greener and saves us 50 percent in costs versus trucking,” Wunder said. “We save on labor and overtime since we only need one guy in the loader and one guy to run the melter.” The Snow Dragon is used mostly on large parking lots, retail centers and some large
townhomes. Wunder said he hasn’t used it on campus, though he made an effort to do a demonstration for the university. “The biggest reason I’m interested in melting is because it’s the only green technology I’ve found that actually saves costs,” Wunder said. “A lot of times greener technology costs more at first.” This winter facilities maintenance has had a hard time keeping up with the cumulative snowfall Ames has had. “Besides the clearing issues we’ve had, then the problem is where do you put it?” Lester Lawson, manager of facilities maintenance, said. “This has been almost a daily thing; we’ve had nothing but snow basically all winter.” With snow falling con-
see STORY on PAGE