Electric feel
Paul Shirley
Club converts motorcycle to be green and cost-efficient
tells a mercenary’s story see SPORTS on PAGE 7
see AUTOS on PAGE 6
February 2, 2010, Volume 204 >> Number 91 >> 40 cents >> iowastatedaily.com >> An independent newspaper serving Iowa State since 1890
TUESDAY
Missing Student
Search for Jon Lacina continues on all fronts City Council aids in efforts
to search Brookside and Stuart Smith parks, said Nancy Shaw, public wellness supervisor. She mentioned that at the request of police, two maintenance workers for each area were sent to comb the area for a few hours, but did not find anything to indicate Lacina had been there. “We have not noticed anything unusual,” Shaw said. The other Ames parks have
By Allison Suesse Daily Staff Writer The city of Ames has been available to aid in the search of Jon Lacina. The Department of Parks and Recreation was called upon
Geoffroy releases campus statement ISU President Gregory Geoffroy issued a statement on the search for Jonathan Lacina, the ISU student who has been missing since Jan. 22: “As the search for our missing student, Jonathan Lacina, enters a third
not yet been searched. Shaw mentioned the city has taken direction from the police, who made no mention of scouring other parks at this time. “The direction we take is always from the police,” Shaw said. Aside from the parks maintenance workers who joined
see COUNCIL on PAGE 4
day, I ask that all students, faculty and staff be attentive to the extensive activities that are taking place on campus and in surrounding areas Geoffroy of Ames. If you see something unusual or suspicious, or find articles of clothing
ISU Police shifts focus toward investigation By Jessica Opoien Daily Staff Writer After intensive search efforts this weekend failed to produce significant leads, ISU Police have shifted the focus from searches to investigation in the case of missing ISU student Jonathan Lacina.
or personal items, don’t disturb them and immediately call ISU Police at 515294-4428 or Ames Police at 515-2395133. “The search is being expanded on campus today as staff members check mechanical and maintenance areas, storage rooms and steam tunnels. “I want to thank ISU Police, Ames Police, the Story County Sheriff’s Office, Story County Emergency Manage-
ISU Department of Public Safety director Jerry Stewart said interviews are being conducted with Lacina’s family, friends and acquaintances today. This morning, Lacina’s parents met privately with President Gregory Geoffroy, said ISU News Service Director Annette Hacker.
see SEARCH on PAGE 4
ment, the Iowa State Patrol, the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, STAR 1 Search and Rescue and Mercy One Helicopter for their exhaustive and dedicated search efforts over the weekend. Iowa State University is grateful for this support in seeking answers to the disappearance of Jonathan. “While law enforcement officials have said there is no reason to suspect
The Fashion Show 2010: Model Tryouts
Lacina
foul play, this situation is a reminder to all of us to think about personal safety, which includes avoiding remote and unfamiliar areas and traveling in groups, when possible. “Finally, please keep Jonathan and his family utmost in your thoughts and prayers. We hope that the extensive search will find him safe and healthy.”
—Daily Staff
Festival
Symposium showcases creative talent By Angela Christianson Daily Staff Writer
A team of panelists critique models Shikha Parsai, left, senior in genetics, and Jessica Affsprung, junior in liberal studies, after auditioning for spots in The Fashion Show 2010 on Monday in LeBaron Hall. The fashion show is hosted by students in AESHM 271 and 471 and will take place at 2 p.m. April 3 in Stephens Auditorium. Photo: Joseph Bauer/Iowa State Daily
Weather
Economy
Iowa has significant flood risk this spring DES MOINES — Iowa is at risk for significant flooding this spring, the National Weather Service says. At some of the highest risk for flooding are cities along the Des Moines River from the Minnesota border to the Des Moines area, including Estherville, Algona, Fort Dodge and Des Moines. At risk for moderate flooding are areas along the Mississippi River from the Quad Cities south. Other parts of eastern Iowa have a minor to moderate flood risk, while most of central and Northwest Iowa will be at high risk. The weather service’s spring flood outlook comes as some eastern Iowa cities are still rebuilding from the floods of 2008, which caused an estimated $10 billion in damage statewide. The predictions are based on the state receiving normal amounts of precipitation this spring, said Brad Small of the National Weather Service’s Des Moines office. The predictions cover February
through April. Factors contributing to the flood risk include abovenormal soil moisture and river flows statewide, Small said. Another factor is the snowpack, which ranges from 1 to 4 inches across the state, with the highest amounts in the northwest. “The best-case scenario is that we melt the snow gradually and have below-normal precipitation heading into the spring,” Small said. “The worst-case scenario is we warm up quickly and get heavy rains coincident with each other.” The floods of 2008 were the result of heavy precipitation in late spring. National Weather Service meteorologist Rod Donavon said communities most at risk for flooding should monitor forecasts and prepare for high water. “Unlike 2008, now we know the moisture is in place,” Donavon said. “It’s not going to occur overnight.”
—The Associated Press
President Barack Obama delivers a statement on his budget that he sent to Congress, Monday, in the Grand Foyer of the White House in Washington. Photo: Pablo Martinez Monsivais/The Associated Press
Obama reveals budget
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama unveiled a multitrilliondollar spending plan Monday, pledging an intensified effort to combat high unemployment and asking Congress to quickly approve new job-creation efforts that would boost the deficit to a record-breaking $1.56 trillion. Obama’s new budget blueprint preaches the need to make tough choic-
$1000 Rebate
*
*College
Grads
2212 S. Duff • scionofames.com • 800-232-4081
es to restrain runaway deficits, but not before attacking what the administration sees as the more immediate challenge of lifting the country out of a deep recession that has cost 7.2 million jobs over the past two years. The result is a budget plan that would give the country trillion-dollar-plus deficits for three consecutive years. Obama’s new budget
projects a spending increase of 5.7 percent for the current budget year and forecasts that spending would rise another 3 percent in 2011 to $3.83 trillion. “Until America is back at work, my administration will not rest and this recovery will not be finished,” Obama declared in his budget message.
—The Associated Press
2010 Scion xB Pure Price $16,520
The sixth annual symposium on “Wildness, Wilderness and the Creative Imagination” took place last weekend at the Memorial Union and Ames Public Library. The theme for this year’s symposium was “Things Fall Apart: Finding Beauty in a Broken World.” The symposium was an environmental literary festival featuring readings, poetry performances, panel discussions, documentary films, live music and book signings. Noah Hutton presented his documentary “Crude Independence” on Sunday morning in the Sun Room. The film followed the small North Dakota town of Stanley through the oil boom during the summer of 2008. Narratives of the town police, courthouse employees, farmers, kids and oil workers expressed both concern and gratitude for the oil wells in the fields surrounding Stanley. “We think in sound bites with all the news and headlines, and for me this project was an opportunity for engagement, to embrace how much of a mixed bag this experience was [for the residents of Stanley],” said Hutton of his time filming in North Dakota. Hutton was praised by an audience member, whose hometown is Stanley, saying that the depiction was very accurate. The audience member knew all of the people interviewed for the film and thought it was an honest piece. Four-time national individual Poetry Slam champion Patricia Smith read from her fifth book of poetry, “Blood Dazzler,” later in the afternoon. Smith opened her performance with a poem she wrote about a sixth-grade class she taught in Miami. The poem expressed the pain, challenges and lessons the children faced in their drug- and AIDS-influenced communities. Before reading from “Blood Dazzler,” Smith performed “Doin’ the Louvre,” an upbeat poem about her trip to Paris with a friend. “Blood Dazzler” is a collection of poems describing the physical and emotional effects left by Hurricane Katrina. Smith read poems about pets, lost family members, the search for dead bodies and a group of 34 nursing home residents that were left behind during evacuation. Smith said a number of her poems were inspired by photos and news brought home by her husband, who was in charge of a group of reporters working in the field during the intense aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. “None of them talked about Katrina. She was their odd sister, the blood dazzler,” concluded Smith’s final reading. It was a piece personifying the hurricanes of 2005 as Katrina’s siblings.