An independent student newspaper serving Iowa State since 1890
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Celebrating leaplings Past and present of leap year BY VICTORIA.REYNA-RODRIQUEZ @iowastatedaily.com
DESIGN BY BROOKLYN WILLIAMS
The chances of being born on leap day are so rare that less than 0.1 percent of the world’s population is born on February 29. Our calendar’s need for a leap day every four years can be confusing, but leap day is extremely necessary. “These additional 24 hours are built into the calendar to ensure that it stays in line with the Earth’s movement around the Sun,” according to History.com. “While the modern calendar contains 365 days, the actual time it takes for Earth to orbit its star is slightly longer—roughly 365.2421 days.” A couple of the world’s leap babies, or leaplings, according to the elite clubs that have been created over the years, happen to be Iowa State students, one being a men’s basketball player. Tyrese Haliburton, sophomore in business management, will be turning five years old this
year thanks to his unique birthday: Feb. 29, 2000. Haliburton says that while it can be tricky, he likes having this birthday because it makes him special. “I always thought it was cool because people always thought it was interesting and was always a good ice breaker,” Haliburton said. “I still like it because it’s just different. It’s cool to me that when leap years get brought up, I’m usually the first person to pop into a lot of people’s heads.” While being different is fun, having a birthday that only happens once every four years can get challenging and confusing. What day do you celebrate on for non-leap years? Are you actually turning 20, or are you still five? “On non-leap years we would celebrate on the 28th,” Haliburton said. “We usually would celebrate by going to IHOP for dinner growing up because that is my favorite restaurant.” Most people think this is where the issues for leaplings end, but Haliburton pointed out that troubles go beyond celebration plans.
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Potential closure of Oak-Elm Decision on closure to come in March BY MORGAN.LAVIOLETTE @iowastatedaily.com Oak-Elm Residence Hall is being considered for closure in the fall semester due to lack of return rate. Peter Englin, assistant vice president of Residence Halls, said vacancies have been on the rise this year. “For fall 2019, we opened with over 800 vacancies,” Englin said. “We hope it improves but we are currently trending to have over 1,500 vacancies across the system next fall. We can save over $750,000 by not operating Oak-Elm.” The high rate of vacancy in residence halls throughout campus creates a financial issue for Iowa State’s Department of Residence, according to Brittney Rutherford, Communications Manager for Residence Halls. By consolidating those vacancies in Oak-Elm and closing it down, money can be saved by not having to staff that hall or pay utilities. “When it comes down to decline
in numbers, we would have to cut the budget financially,” Rutherford said. “One way to do that without cutting jobs and maintaining student experience would be to cut space.” Oak-Elm has a low preference rate as opposed to other halls on campus, making it an easier option for closure if needed. Since its construction in 1938, it has not received any major renovations like other residence halls on campus. “Oak-Elm was in our plans for significant renovations but we had yet to make commitments,” Englin said. “We put investing on pause as we watched enrollment and return rates to on-campus housing.” Both Rutherford and Englin believe that students living on campus are more likely to have academic success and a better college experience. “We want to provide students a great on-campus experience,” Rutherford said. “When students live with us, they tend to have higher GPAs, they actually tend to stay at Iowa State and they tend to graduate faster.” Rutherford emphasized the importance of maintaining a communicative relationship with the Oak-Elm community, regardless of the final answer. “We have been very transparent with the Oak-Elm community,” Rutherford said. “[We are] letting them know that these are
CAITLIN YAMADA/ IOWA STATE DAILY The Oak and Elm dorms may be closed next year due to low enrollment. The potential closing of Oak-Elm dorms will be voted and decided on in March.
the discussions we are having, letting them know the timeline of the decision, working with the women who are contracted to return to that building and anyone incoming that is preferencing the building.” Rutherford and the residence hall staff are committed to the student experience and ensuring that they are making a difference in student lives. “Whatever physical space [student experience] is happening in, [...] everyone on our team has that same mission,” Rutherford said. “The experience lives beyond a space. A physical space is home for sure, but home is also a feeling and that is something
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we are able to create in other areas.” Regan Davis, sophomore in animal ecology and resident of Oak-Elm, was disheartened to hear the news of the hall’s potential closing. “When I found out that Oak-Elm was possibly closing, I felt sad for both the students who have already made their memories in the building and for those who will never be able to,” Davis said. “Coming into Iowa State, I was excited to live in OakElm after being told stories from past students who loved their experience in the building. [...] Although the
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Buttigieg still in lead after Iowa recount BY JAKE.WEBSTER @iowastatedaily.com Following the resignation of the Iowa Democratic Party (IDP) chair, a partial recanvassing of results and a partial recounting of results from the Iowa caucuses, former Mayor Pete Buttigieg’s lead over Sen. Bernie Sanders in the state delegate equivalents (SDE) used to determine victory has increased. “Let’s put a bow on it and make it official - @PeteButtigieg won the Iowa caucuses,” said Buttigieg’s national press secretary Chris Meagher in a tweet. For the first time in the history of the Iowa Democratic caucuses, the party was required to report first and final preference results, effectively a popular vote. In order to streamline the reporting of those results, the party developed an app that instead broke down during the day and caucus night itself. Buttigieg leads Sanders by 563 to 562 SDEs, the closest margin of any Iowa Democratic caucus in history, according to IDP results. While Buttigieg leads in SDEs, Sanders won the most first and final preferences among caucusgoers, leading Buttigieg by 24.7 percent to 21.3 percent and 26.5 percent to 25.1 percent respectively. Roger Ouellette, a Sanders spokesperson who previously served as the campaign’s Iowa communications director, said in a tweet “we’ve known” for nearly a month Sanders won the popular vote in Iowa by “thousands thanks to higher turnout from working people and communities of color.” “That’s the [coalition] that is going to deliver this movement the nomination. #NotMeUs,” Ouellette said in the tweet. No results were reported the night of the Feb. 3 Iowa caucuses. Results instead dripped in over the following days as the IDP conducted “quality checks” to ensure the results they reported were accurate. Some of the results the party reported, however, contained errors, and analysis by the New York Times found that hundreds of precincts around the state have data inconsistencies. The knife-edge margin separating Buttigieg and Sanders in SDEs led both campaigns to request a partial recanvassing followed by a partial recounting of results from the caucuses. “To be eligible for a recount, a campaign needed to provide evidence
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