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August 24, 2010 | Volume 206 | Number 2 | 40 cents | iowastatedaily.com | An independent newspaper serving Iowa State since 1890.
TUESDAY
Flood 2010
Tuition
Student debt decreases, but remains high By Paige.Godden iowastatedaily.com
ServiceMaster crews help remove water from the indoor track Aug. 13 at Lied Recreation Athletic Center. Many in-season teams are directly impacted by the water damage at Lied and will be forced to find other facilities to practice. Photo: Rebekka Brown/Iowa State Daily
Lied closes to dry out By Torey.Robinson iowastatedaily.com Lied Recreation Athletic Center is closed until further notice. In order to properly dry the walls after 2 feet of water flooded the building Aug. 11, Lied will not offer services to students and patrons, said director Mike Giles. “We tried to maintain a level of service while cleaning up, but at the end of the day we were not allowing the proper environment to adequately dehumidify the walls,” Giles said. “Each time we let someone in,
we let in fresh air and moisture. As a result, 80 percent of the moisture from the flooding was still present in the walls.” Giles said the decision to seal the building off completely came Friday after ServiceMaster recommended it for proper drying. The building was completely sealed Sunday, and Giles said there is no timetable for when it will reopen. “We were told it could be four to seven days, but at this point it’s a waiting game,” he said. “We will open and get things going again when it dries.”
All Ames Racquet and Fitness Center locations will continue to allow those with Lied memberships to use their facilities free of charge. ISU students need to speak to a representative from membership upon arrival and present an ISU ID for access. Cardio equipment also was moved from Lied to Beyer Hall for use. Giles said due to limited space, however, the majority of machines transported were stationary bikes. Beyer is open 6 a.m. to midnight Monday through Thursday, 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. Fridays, 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturdays and 9 a.m. to midnight Sundays.
Solar technology
Trash compactors take over
By Ethan.Subra iowastatedaily.com Standing as a colorful monolith in front of Curtiss Hall, the lone testing unit for the BigBelly solar trash compactor sits on campus. It will soon be joined by 11 newer, more advanced models spread throughout campus and ISU landmarks. The solar trash compactor is essentially a trash can that can hold five times as much trash as the standard 25-gallon trash can by compacting the trash using solar energy. This will benefit Iowa State financially, environmentally and in the human resources department. “This is an instance where we can still do very important things without spending a lot of money,” said Merry Rankin, director of sustainability. “You can do great things without spending millions of dollars on a big project.” While the initial purchase of a solar trash compactor costs about $4,200, the turnaround to financial gain
is within one to two years, Rankin said. Because the compactor can hold five times as much garbage, waste personnel don’t have to take time and resources to take out the garbage every day. In fact, the compactors reduce the cost of garbage pickup by 90 percent. Instead, the new trash compactors, once full, will send a wireless signal to waste facilities telling them to empty it. Because trips to pick up garbage will decrease from once a day to once a week, emissions from garbage trucks are also decreased by 80 percent. By the end of next week, locations such as Central Campus, Parks Library, College of Veterinary Medicine and the transit facility in the Hilton Coliseum parking lot will have the solar trash compactors because they are in “high trash areas.” These are areas where trash cans have to be checked multiple times a day. Not every trash can is able to be replaced because of the time it would take to turn a profit.
Solar trash compactors are part of Iowa State University’s Live Green sustainability initiative. Seventeen were recently installed around campus. Photo: Ryan Damman/Iowa State Daily.
Iowa State still has the highest average student debt out of Iowa’s three public universities, despite the average dropping nearly $1,000 from last year. Iowa State’s average debt is now at $29,767, compared to the University of Iowa’s $22,884 average. The University of Northern Iowa is just above the $24,000 mark. Roberta Johnson, director of the Office of Student Financial Aid, said there are a variety of factors that affect the numbers. For instance, Iowa State has two programs that are five-year programs, architecture and landscape architecture, whereas Iowa doesn’t have any five-year programs, Johnson said. Johnson said the schools use a similar system for calculating the average student debt, but in the past there was a gray area on whether to count the first four years of a student’s debt, or to count the total amount of a student’s debt if he or she were in school for more than four years. Another area that might be different is how the universities deal with student debt. Iowa State was packaging private loans as a part of what students borrow instead of using the Financial Plus loans that are available to them. Johnson also said Iowa State’s debt has declined since fiscal year 2005-06, while Iowa and Northern Iowa’s debts have been mostly increasing. Johnson gave credit to a variety of initiatives across campus that have helped students decrease their debt. The Government of the Student Body started a “know your number” campaign a few years ago which put the average student debt on display in the CyRide buses. GSB has also created a peer-to-peer financial mentoring group that is currently trying to increase enrollment in classes such as Human Development and Family Sciences 183 and 283. Johnson said the dining centers are able to save money on food waste by forcing students to carry less food at one time since they went trayless. The Student & Scholars Health Insurance Program was also able to keep down costs as it was able to keep the premium the same as last year. Johnson said she would love to see the average student debt be less than $29,000 next year, but it may be a difficult task. Two three-year grant programs are ending June 30, 2011. The Federal Pell grant program has a grant that went out to certain high school scholars, and a National SMART grant for students entering into science and technology fields will both be ending.
Rates
Health, dental insurance rates to remain same By Abigail.Barefoot iowastatedaily.com Health and dental insurance rates will remain the same for plans offered by Iowa State during the upcoming school year. ISU Student & Scholar Health Insurance Plan, which uses the Aetna Student health insurance company, kept the same rates from last year. For a full year of coverage, the cost will stay at $1,442 for a student, and will continue insurance plans for spouses and families. “This trend is good news for students in that they will not have to pay more out of their pocket if they use insurance provided by Iowa State,” said Mike Otis, associate director of benefits at Iowa State. The lack of increase was surprising to the university because the health insurance rates on a national level have been going up anywhere from 6 to 12 percent in the last year, Otis said. The increase in claims on a national level is likely coming from a rush of people getting medical treatments in anticipation of layoffs, according to Seattlepi. The number of claims in the year determines if the premiums will go up or down the following year. This continuous rate at Iowa State is due to the claims costs from last year were less than what officials were expecting. This is the first time in years the rates have stayed the same for students. Otis hopes the holding rates will attract more students to health insurance, if they don’t have any already. Rates not increasing means students may continue services through the university without paying more. Otis said it was important for students to talk to their parents or spouse about the available options to make sure they are covered in case anything does happen. “Insurance is an investment to protect their education,” Otis said. “If students become ill or need medical attention, they may not be able to go on with their education because of bills. Insurance is their safety net.”