Aug. 8, 2008 Letters to the Editor

To the Editor:

The August 8th issue of the ISU News Flash shows a photo of a car being fueled with gasohol and it says that the car is a Model T Ford, which is not correct. The photo actually shows a Model A Ford at the gas pump.

T.D. Wheelock

June 13, 2008 Letters to the Editor

To the Editor:

It was great to read about Lisa Koll's win at the Drake event -- the article woudl have been even nicer if it had identified the event she won!

Gerald Montgomery '55

Editor's Note: We received several letters alerting us of this oversight. Please accept our sincere apologies; in our excitement we indeed neglected to mention that ISU's Lisa Koll won the 2008 NCAA outdoor championship in the 10,000-meter run.

May 30, 2008 Letters to the Editor

To the Editor:

In the article, "Every yard for ISU," you state: "You might already have one declaring your allegiance to Clinton, McCain, or Obama..." You forgot to mention Ron Paul. Despite what dying mainstream media would have you believe, Dr. Paul is still in the race for Republican nominee for president. He and his supporters will be at the Republican National Convenion in September and intend to be heard.

Mike Angelos '76 

May 16, 2008 Letters to the Editor

To the Editor:

At a time when the State of Iowa has chosen to cut home school assistance program funding in half, from .6 to .3, it is refreshing to see another example of a successful home school student (Mattias Gassman). Many of the 203 children in the Mid-Prairie Kalona Home School Assistance Program are talented and gifted students and two are very similar to the student described in your article! I forwarded this article to them. I hope they get the chance to attend ISU as a school that apparently knows how to work well with young gifted people.

Margaret Guetzko
Mid-Prairie Kalona HSAP teacher

April 18, 2008 Letters to the Editor

To the Editor:

I recently learned that Professor Guillermo Gonzalez was denied academic tenure at ISU because of his writings on Intelligent Design. I am very disturbed that ISU would take such a stand against academic freedom. ISU leaders apparently believe there is a "wall" between science and religion, when in fact no such wall exists. The scientific method is not threatened by the study of Intelligent Design. My respect for ISU has taken a big hit. It is unlikely that I will donate to the ISU Foundation in the future.

Todd Ankeny '86

Editor's note: Dr. Guillermo Gonzalez failed at every stage of his tenure application, including the final decision by the Board of Regents, State of Iowa, in February, to deny his appeal. While Dr. Gonzalez has claimed he was denied tenure because he supports the concept of intelligent design, Iowa State President Gregory Geoffroy said in June 2007: "I independently concluded that he simply did not show the trajectory of excellence that we expect in a candidate seeking tenure in physics and astronomy -- one of our strongest academic programs."

To the Editor:

I have an opinion on the dates for VEISHEA. I graduated in 1978. I have not been back to a VEISHEA celebration since the dates were moved into April. They used to be May or very late April. I understand they were moved to be earlier in order to keep the troublemakers from the University of Iowa who started fires away from our celebration. But I think it is time to consider bringing the dates back to May. Weather is too unpredictable in April, and I believe the current security measures (e.g., wristbands for concerts, etc.) should help to deter troublemakers from disrupting the celebrations. Let's go back to the old ways.

Stephen Beilby '78

March 21, 2008 Letter to the Editor

To the Editor:

The athletics achievements of ISU are great, but I really hope that after the ISU computer programmers compete in the World Finals of the IBM-sponsored ACM International Collegiate Progamming Contest in April that I get to read about their achievements at the head of the list. We need to take every opportunity to help keep the primary purpose of our higher education institutions in focus. I would welcome the up-front cheering of any and all academic achievements as they occur.

Merlin J. Ricklefs '60 '63

February 22, 2008 Letter to the Editor

To the Editor:

As ISU alums we are embarrassed and disappointed by the treatment of Professor Gonzales due to ISU's fear of a vocal atheistic religion professor and an apparent suppression of academic freedom and thought. For the first time in our lives we see cracks in our revered academic center.

John M. Terry DVM '68

Editor's note: Dr. Guillermo Gonzalez failed at every stage of his tenure application, including the final decision by the Board of Regents, State of Iowa, in February, to deny his appeal. While Dr. Gonzalez has claimed he was denied tenure because he supports the concept of intelligent design, Iowa State President Gregory Geoffroy said in June 2007: "I independently concluded that he simply did not show the trajectory of excellence that we expect in a candidate seeking tenure in physics and astronomy -- one of our strongest academic programs."

February 8, 2008 Letter to the Editor

To the Editor:

Touting Michael Bugeja's op-ed in the Des Moines Register about a national ethanol strategy is both short-sighted and misinformed. Ethanol provides less energy per unit used than petrochemical, diverts direly needed food resources into wasteful energy products that use tremendous amounts of water and other resources, and is merely an economic support system (welfare) dreamed up by politicians to maintain an unsupportable lifestyle. Ethanol is NOT an "alternative" energy source, and developing a massive infrastructure to support this industry, using government subsidies and grants, is not a responsible way to address our dependence on energy.

Michael Sweat '80 '85

January 25, 2008 Letters to the Editor

To the Editor:

What a difference! I remember the student body voting for a $1 per quarter increase to assist in building the south addition to the Memorial Union during the late 1930s. That represented a 2 1/2 percent increase in instate tuition and was much discuss ed before the vote was taken. Tuition then included all sports and cultural events on campus. In addition, the student body section was on the 50-yard line for football games.

Dean Hughes '40

To the Editor:

I am an ISU grad who lives in Lawrence, Kan., and whose daughter attends KU. The basketball team should not feel ashamed in losing to Kansas Wednesday. KU has a fantastic squad this year, and all of us are hoping that they cut down the nets at the end of the NCAA tournament. Of course, KU and Missouri have an enormous rivalry, so I was most pleased to see ISU defeat MU just a few days before. Their win against Oklahoma State was also fun to watch.

Brad Buecker '77

January 11, 2008 Letter to the Editor

To the Editor:

I read your interesting ISU News Flash and was fascinated by some of the articles, among them the one reporting Professor Yong Guan's development to thwart "click fraud." I was taken somewhat aback, however, at the reference to "rampant cyber crime that's been plaguing users and online businesses for more than 30 years."

Although some may assume the Internet as existed for generations and that therefore Internet businesses have been around "for more than thirty years" (i.e., since before 1978), those of us who lived through it know that use of the Internet as a shopping medium does not go back nearly that far.

In its infancy (I eschew inserting at Al Gore joke here), it was mainly similar to what we would call local area networks, using one server and often a system (protocol) unique to itself. It was not until 1983 that the "IP" (Internet Protocol) system that forms the basis for communication across the various local networks was created as a "standard" system, and allowed development of a system for cross-communication.

But there was still no integrated network. It was not until sometime between 1989 and 1993 that the World Wide Web (from whence came the "www" that appears in so many URLs) came into being, and even the World Wide Web couldn't serve as a commercial marketplace until there was some easy way of finding out what was present on the Web. That led to the development of the Web browser.

Mosaic, in 1993, was the first popular browser, and was followed in 1994 by Netscape's Mozilla browser, arguably the first commercial browser. This allowed effective and easy searches of the World Wide Web and set the infrastructure in place to support use of the Internet as a marketplace. The visionary Amazon.com was begun, as I recall, in 1994 and the rest, as they say, is history.

The point though, is that "rampant cyber crime" has not been "plaguing online businesses for more than 30 years." Online businesses in that sense have been around for al ittle more than a decade.

Otherwise, a great article.

Donald A. Timm '70

December 28, 2007 Letters to the Editor

To the Editor:

This was an awesome compilation of the year's events. I live on the West Coast now and missed much of this news throughout the year.  It was so nice to have a review of the whole year's events in one concise email!
 
Sarah Wilson (Holstrom) '94

To the Editor:

In your "Notable Events of 2007," you forgot one event worthy of note: Iowa State denying tenure to Guillermo Gonzalez. It was a travesty and I, among many, did not like the way MY institution covered up the reason. His scholarly credentials were not the point--those denying him did it, in my humble opinion, to be "politically correct" in light of his favorable view of Intelligent Design. I am sore disappointed in ISU, and it will have a direct bearing on any future financial support I proposed to give.

Harve W. Wolfe '53

Editor's note: Dr. Guillermo Gonzalez failed at every stage of his tenure application, including the final decision by the Board of Regents, State of Iowa, in February, to deny his appeal. While Dr. Gonzalez has claimed he was denied tenure because he supports the concept of intelligent design, Iowa State President Gregory Geoffroy said in June 2007: "I independently concluded that he simply did not show the trajectory of excellence that we expect in a candidate seeking tenure in physics and astronomy -- one of our strongest academic programs."

October 5, 2007 Letters to the Editor

To the Editor:

I'd like to know what the heck they were thinking when they decided on the new logo "I State." Your story read "There wasn't clarity or consistency in our identity or team apparel," said athletics director Jamie Pollard of the department's previous visual identity...Our coaches also said that when recruiting out of state, most people do not equate our present mark with Iowa State." So they selected a logo that is even more ambiguous. In fact, they used the same lame excuse last time they created a new logo. If it says "Cyclones" on it, then what's the big deal about identity? It's better than "I State," which doesn't really identify us at all. Now people will ask if we are Idaho State, Illinois State (same colors), Indiana State, or Iowa State. I guess Pollard or Chizik must get royalties off the new logo or something.

Steve Durspek '88

To the Editor:

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU for making "I State" the official logo of Iowa State University.

When I became a student at ISU, my grandfather (Lloyd Kenagy '29) lamented over the changes in the 50 years since his own graduation. In his day, the colors were Cardinal and Gold. When I started at ISU in the fall of '78, the colors and evolved to red and yellow. In my grandfather's day, there was no Cy. In my day, Cy with a rather cute little guy with a round head.

I love that ISU has gone back to its roots, relegated Cy to a position of lesser prominence in terms of being an identifier, and created a logo in the original colors that is so reminiscent of the university's roots.

Carolyn Kenagy Sweeney '82

To the Editor:

I was reading the ISU alumni update and read some about the "new" logo change. I think it is TERRIBLE that we are getting rid of Cy on the uniforms. I love Cy, and I cheer for ISU...not "I-State." I like our unique helmet and the fact that not many colleges have their mascots so integrated. I don't want a boring letter on our helmets (I'M NOT A HUSKER!). I am a proud and ACTIVE supporter of the online petition to "Save Cy!!!" I was one of MANY in Cyclone Nation TRICKED into voting online. CY WAS NOT AN OPTION!...(Athletics director Jamie) Pollard did not tell us he was killing off Cy. I do agree with returning to more cardinal and gold, but that does not mean we need to get rid of Cy on the helmets and uniforms.

I feel the petition should have been mentioned in your update so others who feel that they were tricked with the voting can have the opportunity to let their TRUE voice and CHOICE be heard. If you would like to offer information to Cyclone Nation about the petition, the Web site is: www.savecy.com.

I've talked to SO MANY Cyclones who also feel betrayed and saddened that our identity as ISU and Cy are coming to a close. I greatly appreciate any help the Alumni Association gives in helping spread the word about the petition.

Go, Cyclones!

Katie Lang '06

To the Editor:

In response to Steve Durspek '88, who says "'I State' doesn't really identify us at all," I would suggest that he do a bit of research where he may find on page 165 of the 1975 publication "Green Hills," An Album of Iowa State Memories that the band uniforms of 1974 displayed "I State" on the front.  Same publication, page 191 shows Jack Trice in a football uniform displaying no logo of any kind. (Gee, talk about no identity! They named the football stadium for him, yet he never had Cy plastered on his jersey or helmet!)  Page 190 holds a photo from 1895 that includes Pop Warner and an explanation of how Iowa State became known as the Cyclones in the first place. (Look it up, folks.) In 1895, ISU was dubbed the Cyclones, yet it was 1954 before Cy was "born." Mr. Durspek's claim of identity is weak. We ARE "I State." We ARE NOT "Cy State."
 
In response to Katie Lang '06, who says, "I love Cy and I cheer for ISU... not 'I State'," I would urge her to realign her thinking. Her Cy (a fierce-looking bird with a swirly butt) is not my Cy any more than my Cy (a grimacing, round-headed bird) was my grandfather's Cy (considering Cy didn't exist until 1954 and my grandfather graduated in 1929). We ARE "I State." We ARE NOT "Cy State."
 
In returning to our roots, we rediscover who we are and we rejoice in our discovery.
 
Carolyn Kenagy Sweeney '82

To the Editor:

We like to keep up with the changes on campus, and miss our yearly square dance weekends. On those weekends we used to walk then drive around to see for ourselves the growth happening there. Not being sports fans, but only slightly interested there, we do check scores on the news.

Your newsletter is just the right thing.

Mary Jo Bruns '75 &
Fred Bruns '62

September 21, 2007 Letter to the Editor

To the Editor:

I was surprised about the first item in the ISU News. Who expects to control "crazy people" better with armed campus police? It sounds like the powerful gun lobby found a new market.

Dietmar Flock '64 

September 7, 2007 Letter to the Editor

To the Editor:

Well, I see the technology issues between Monsanto and Iowa State University Research Foundation have been resolved. (It only took 90+ days to settle a lawsuit filed by ISU in federal court. That must be a record for an American court.)

Too bad these issues caused so much tension between ISU alumni and Monsanto's loyal emloyees/retirees. It is the farmer and consumers that benefit from new agricultural technology. Each year Monsanto spends about $800 million ($2 million a day) working to improve agricultural technology. As a company focused solely on agriculture, I'm delighted to see that a balanced partnership has been worked out with ISU.

Gary Barton '67 '73