Get it
online THURSDAY
Preliminary election results are set to be announced at 7 p.m. Thursday. Stay up-to-date with all of the developments on the Government of the Student Body elections throughout the day.
iowastatedaily.com
March 4, 2010, Volume 204 >> Number 113 >> 40 cents >> iowastatedaily.com >> An independent newspaper serving Iowa State since 1890
Chile
Student Government
Senate OKs fund carryover By Paige Godden Daily Staff Writer
Cristian Arriagada leans against his destroyed house in Constitucion, Chile, on Tuesday. A magnitude 8.8 earthquake that struck central Chile early Saturday killed at least 708 people and destroyed or badly damaged 500,000 homes. Photo: Roberto Candia/The Associated Press
Aftershocks cause additional damage By Sarah Gonzalez Daily Staff Writer Chile continues to feel the aftershocks of the earthquake that hit its western border early Saturday. The aftershocks have produced at least 80 small earthquakes since the initial 90-second, magnitude 8.8 shook the nation. Approximately nine of these smaller earthquakes have been greater than magnitude 6.0, which is strong enough to make the news in the United States, said Cinzia Cervato, associate professor in geological and atmospheric sciences. “These are quite a lot of earthquakes,” she said. “To have so many at six or stronger means a lot of energy was built up and is [waiting] to be released.” Chile’s western coast lies on the ring of fire, an area that encompasses most of the Pacific Ocean and is often disrupted by volcanoes and earthquakes. The strongest earthquake ever recorded at a magnitude 9.5 also hap-
A damaged vehicle is seen next to a destroyed road in Lota, Chile on Wednesday. A magnitude 8.8 earthquake struck central Chile early Saturday, causing widespread damage, prompting the government to order a curfew to quell looting. Courtesy photo: Aliosha Marquez/The Associated Press
pened in Chile on May 22, 1960. Saturday’s earthquake occurred at the boundary between a piece of the Pacific tectonic plate, the Nazca plate and the South American plate. The Nazca is sliding under the western side of the South American plate in a process called subduction. Subduction zones, which run the entire
western length of South America and into Central America, provide the most powerful earthquakes, said Carl Jacobson, professor and department chair of geological and atmospheric sciences. Subduction also caused the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake near the city of Sumatra, Indonesia. Most of
the approximately 230,000 casualties were from the tsunami caused by that earthquake. Saturday’s earthquake also generated tsunamis in Chile and throughout the Pacific. The Nazca and South American plates are two large areas that, when shifted, create a large disturbance. As the Nazca plate is being pulled down beneath the South American plate, the South American plate rides up over the Nazca. “It’s like when you put your hand in a bathtub and push, it will generate a wave,” Jacobson said. The epicenter of Saturday’s magnitude 8.8 earthquake was offshore approximately 70 miles northeast of Concepcion — the nearest large city — and 20 miles below the surface. A warning system allowed people in the coastal areas of Chile to evacuate, however, no warning system existed for the people affected by the Indian Ocean earthquake of 2004. The earthquake was significantly weaker, but also had a higher casualty rate due to the lack of warning and preparedness.
Student Organizations
Election
Etiquette dinner to teach do’s, do nots
Commission pushes back revenue deadline
By Chelsea Davis Daily Staff Writer
According to the 2010 GSB election timeline, posted on the GSB’s Web site, a preliminary announcement of the election results will be made at 7 p.m. Thursday. The deadline for reporting revenue and expenses was pushed back from 5 p.m. Wednesday to 5 p.m. Friday. Dan Porter, GSB election commissioner, said the deadline was pushed back because the commission had been unable to track down original copies of the forms used to submit the information. Porter said he was initially going to have the candidates send in Excel spreadsheets of their expenditures, but, after e-mailing the election commissioner from two years ago, he was able to get copies of the original document. Porter then asked the candidates to move their spending information over to the commission’s form and gave them an extended deadline in order to make the switch. Election contestations were due to the election commission by 11:59 p.m. Wednesday. Any decisions made would have been made past the Iowa State Daily’s publication deadline. Check iowastatedaily.com Thursday for updates.
Anyone from the Ames community or Iowa State can learn how to properly go through a four-course meal Thursday night as part of the ISU Hotel and Restaurant Institution Management Club and Colleges Against Cancer’s etiquette dinner. The Mad Hatter Tea Party will be held at 6:30 p.m. in the Joan Bice Underwood Tearoom in MacKay Hall. Patricia Tice, owner of Etiquette Iowa, will instruct the proper way to eat certain items that can be applied in future interviews or business meals. “She will show us how to eat in order to not look stupid,” said Sarah Hodgson,
junior in hotel, restaurant and institution management and president of HRIM Club. HRIM Club and Colleges Against Cancer are using this dinner as a fundraiser and all proceeds going directly to the American Cancer Society. This year’s dinner will be a “what not to do” dinner. “It’s called the Mad Hatter Tea Party’ because of our team name, ‘Alice in Wonderland Tea Party,’ and because in the movie the Mad Hatter is so crazy and obscene,” Hodgson said. Admission is $25.00. Doors are planned to open at 6 p.m. The event will begin at 6:30 p.m. For tickets or more information, contact Cyndi at crathmac@ iastate.edu.
By Paige Godden Daily Staff Writer
The GSB Senate voted to allow the Margaret Sloss Women’s Center to carry over its funding to the next fiscal year, if need be, by a vote of 25 to 1. Renovations on the Women’s Center aren’t scheduled to begin until May, and by allowing the house to hold its allocated money over until the following fiscal year it ensures that the Women’s Center will be able to purchase some furnishings for the structure once the renovations are complete. Penny Rice, Women’s Center coordinator, attended the meeting to answer any questions. She said that the biggest problem with the house currently is the air quality. Rice said that an architect came to the house in 2008 and said there were also problems with water and ice damage. The total renovations for the Women’s Center are expected to total about $120,000. Facilities Planning and Management is putting up $90,000 for the project. The money comes from an account that goes toward renovating existing build-
see SLOSS on PAGE 3
Ames City Council
Zoning met with little resistance By Allison Suesse Daily Staff Writer The Ames City Council approved a motion to establish a new zoning designation for commercial areas located near residential areas. The Convenience General Service area was established as a result of a prospective development of a Casey’s General Store located near a residential area. Because the store will be located near residents’ homes, changes to the structure of the building, including variations in the current code that will minimize noise impacts of the gas station, will be implemented. Some council members, including Riad Mahayni, expressed concerns with the new zoning designation. He said the council cannot make new zoning designations every time a new project comes up. The proposal to build a Casey’s at the intersection of Bloomington and Stange Roads was the first proposal that inspired a request for variance in code for Convenience Commercial Nodes [CVCN]. However, most council members were in support of this change. “With these changes it will still be complementary to the neighborhood, and I feel that’s reasonable,” said council member Tom Wacha. Council member Matthew Goodman was also in support of the new zoning designation for the Casey’s. “These changes are pretty small; they don’t go against the intent of the CVCN guidelines,” he said. Also on the council agenda was a report from Ames Fire Chief Clint Petersen about rental and private property maintenance code. On March 30, council will hold a roundtable discussion that will address research compiled by the inspections division of the Ames Fire Department. After three years of discussion and effort, city council will review the information compiled through resident surveys and research regarding property maintenance codes. Last year, the inspections division established an ad hoc group, the Rental
see ZONING on PAGE 3