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Echosmith to play in Great Hall By Parker.Reed @iowastatedaily.com Ames is the first stop on Echosmith’s 2015 headlining tour with The Colourist at 8 p.m. Tuesday. Echosmith started as a band seven years ago and has cited many musicians as influences, from The Smiths to Fleetwood Mac. Lead singer Sydney Sierota said the members of the band covered anything from Rage Against the Machine, to Rihanna, to The Cure during their early existence. They have released two official EPs, Summer Sampler and Acoustic Dreams, and one LP, Talking Dream, all under Warner Bros. records. Echosmith is an American indie pop band from Chino, Calif. and is made up of four young siblings: Graham Sierota, 15, Sydney Sierota, 17, Noah Sierota, 19 and Jamie Sierota, 21. The band’s popularity has had a recent boost after two years of touring with the Vans Warped Tour in 2013 to 2014, opening for big-name bands like Twenty One Pilots, Neon Trees and Owl City, and playing on many talk shows like “Conan,” NBC’s “Today Show” and “The Ellen Degeneres Show.” “I didn’t get a chance to see them on the Warped tour this summer, so I’m hoping I can see them here in Ames,” said Henry Parizek, freshman in English. The band has been heavily talked about on music-related media. It was named one of MTV’s “2014 artists to watch,” as well as being featured on VH1’s “Big Morning Buzz.” “This whole music scene is pretty crazy. Obviously we don’t know anything different,” Sydney said. “It’s really cool to see that so many things can happen for somebody at such an young age.” The band’s first full-length album, “Talking Dreams,” released in 2013 has provided the band with great success, primarily stemming from lead single “Cool Kids.” This airy indie-dance-pop track peaked at No. 13 on the Billboard Hot 100 and currently sits as No. 14 on iTunes alternative charts. “Cool Kids” was also certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America with more than 1,200,000 sales in the United States alone. “We’ve had years of begging people to come to shows or

We hold these truths to be self-evident,

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That all men are created equal,

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that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. Black History Month sparks conversation, events on campus By Vanessa.Franklin @iowastatedaily.com

arter G. Woodson, known as the “father of Black History Month,” created “Negro History Week” in 1926 to celebrate and recognize the accomplishments of African Americans. The celebration has grown to encompass the entire month of February. Woodson was an AfricanAmerican author, historian and founder of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History. In 1975, President Gerald Ford issued a Message on the Observance of Black History Week. The celebration was expanded from a week to a month in 1976 by the ASALH and President Ford, officially beginning Black History Month. “I think Black History Month can help focus on the obstacles that a race of people had to overcome to have an opportunity to pursue the American dream,” said Thomas Hill, senior vice president of student affairs. “It’s like you can pursue the American dream, but we’re going to tie one hand behind your back and not give you a pair of shoes. In spite of all of that, you still have a group that has been able to be successful.” On campus, many clubs and

Jessica Darland/Iowa State Daily

The National Pan-Hellenic Council gathered at the Black Cultural Center on Friday to play games and socialize. The group is made up of five fraternities and four sororities.

organizations have come together to create events for students and faculty of all races to learn more about African-American history, including events such as speakers, movies and discussions, games and themed meals by ISU Dining. “I think it’s an opportunity for students to be engaged in activities that highlight a particular culture and then it may spark an interest about people or situations that they might not have known,” said Kenyatta Shamburger, program coordinator of multicultural student affairs. Shamburger said that because of the unrest in Ferguson, some

events this year might be a little different than in years past. “I think when we look at the events of Ferguson, when we look at New York, when we look at all these events in totality, we realize that injustice spans our national borders and we still have a lot of work to do,” Shamburger said. “I wouldn’t say that this year is any more significant, but there are some growing conversations that might be happening this particular February that we might not have had last year.” Damarius Fleming, presi-

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Time to file the FAFSA By Danielle.Ferguson @iowastatedaily.com If you’re one of the 30,000 potential and current ISU students who file a Free Application for Federal Student Aid to help pay for college, don’t procrastinate getting it done. This is the advice Roberta Johnson, director of the office of financial aid, stresses to students. The FAFSA manages financial assistance programs that provide grants, loans and work-study funds to students attending a college or technical school. While students can submit

their FAFSA after March 1, they will not be eligible to receive a few Iowa State-specific grants, such as the ISU grant program, the supplemental educational opportunity and work study. “Filing by March 1 is not a guarantee you will get money from any of those sources,” Johnson said. “Why potentially cut yourself out of thousands of dollars of financial aid by being late?” Students who do not complete their taxes before March 1 may run into a roadblock when filling out an application. If students run into this issue,

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Courtesy of Federal Student Aid

The deadline to fill out the FAFSA is March 1, but students can still submit their forms after that date. The students who do submit their FAFSA after March 1 won’t be elgible to receive a few of the Iowa State-specific grants and may run into some difficulties.

New student committee created for funding campus events By Michaela.Ramm @iowastatedaily.com A student affairs program is receiving an expansion in order to meet demands from a growing student population at Iowa State University. The Sponsorship Request Program for Student Organizations is an opportunity for student organizations on campus to receive funding and resources for events.

Tom Hill, vice-president of student affairs, said this was necessary to meet the student activity needs at Iowa State. “We have an increased enrollment, so we have a greater need to provide more opportunity for student organizations,” Hill said. As a part of the expansion, a committee of student representatives will be determining which event will receive funding. The committee will consist of representatives from various ISU

student organizations, including Government of the Student Body, Graduate and Professional Student Senate, Student Union Board, residential councils and other campus groups. Representatives for the student committee will be appointed by Friday. Iowa State administration will also provide university staff members as representatives on the student committee to serve as advisers. “The funding for this pro-

gram would come from the university,” Hill said. “We don’t have a budget yet, but we’re working on it.” Hill said the committee hopes the funding will attract a broad section of the student body and allow collaboration among student organizations. In order to receive the funding, student clubs’ events must meet certain requirements — they must occur during the academic year and must be sponsored by a recognized student

organization. Events must also fall into certain tracks, which are service, fundraising, entertainment, academic showcase, student organization recruitment and athletics or recreation. Hill said because it includes a broad cross-section of the student body, multiple campuswide events could come out of this funding program. Applications for funding of events taking place during the spring semester are due Feb. 23.