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Study finds internet doesn’t cut college reading time

March 31, 2009 By

An new Iowa State University study finds students at an unnamed midwestern university did not stop reading despite the use of new technologies such as the internet. Professor Kouider Mokhtari, says they studied some 500 students who routinely used the internet, along with instant messaging, and other electronic devices.

Mokhtari says they were interested in the reading done by the students for pleasure and for classes. He says they were particularly interested in whether the time spent on the internet interfered with reading for pleasure and school. Mokhtari says they were surprised to learn that college students were spending more time reading than students of 10 years ago.

He says researchers thought the prevalence of the internet and the amount of time spent on-line would take time away from other types of reading — but he says they found that students are still reading for pleasure — even with the internet. Mokhtari is a professor of curriculum and instruction and says it’s important that students continue reading off-line.

Mokhtari says reading is good for acquiring knowledge and becoming literate and they believe that reading because you want to is even more important than reading because someone wants you to read. Mokhtari says they now want to take the study to another step and see if students who "multitask" learn as well.

He says students tend to be on the phone and listening to music while also reading for pleasure or school, and the researchers want to find out if doing two or three things at the same time impacts their ability to concentrate on what they are doing. Mokhtari says finding out the effectiveness of multitasking will answer more questions.

Mokhtari says it will tell how much students are able to focus when multitasking, and how much they are able to comprehend. Goudidar says they plan to do another study to address the questions about multitasking. Students in the study did report more enjoyment from using the internet than reading or watching television.

Filed Under: Education Tagged With:

Cyclones can’t stop Stanford, end season

March 31, 2009 By

The run to the Final Four for the Iowa State women came up a game short. Jane Appel poured in 46 points and added 16 rebounds as second ranked Stanford rolled to a 74-53 win over the Cyclones in a regional final in Berkley, California.

Iowa State coach Bill Fennelly says he wasn’t worried about how many points Appel scored, as he says the plan was to score 10 or 11 threes and take away Stanford’s 3′s. He says they tried to double and triple team Appel in Hawaii and got "annihilate."

The Cyclones had lost to Stanford 83-45 at a tournament in Hawaii back in November. The Cyclones close out the season with a record of 27-9 and says a tournament run was a great way for the seniors to end their careers. Fennelly says he always asks the seniors to leave a piece of themselves in the building and he says they did that. He says they don’t have any all-conference or all-world players, but have all-world people.

Iowa State did cut a 21 point deficit to 13 midway through the second half. ISU senior Heather Ezell says they needed to get a couple of stops and then some scores after that point, but couldn’t do that and lost the momentum they had.

Amanda Nislite led the Cyclones with 17 points. 

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: ,

Debate over Democrats’ tax plan heats up

March 31, 2009 By

A hearing at the statehouse tonight gives the public a chance to tell legislators what they think of a bill that would dramatically change Iowa’s income tax system. A half-dozen lobbyists got to publicly air their thoughts Monday.

Democrats say their aim is to provide a tax cut to "working families." The House Ways and Means Committee opened review of the bill on Monday by giving lobbyists in the room a chance to speak.

Andy Warren of the National Federation of Independent Business argued the plan will harm many Iowa small business owners because taxes will go up on households with an annual income above $125,000.

"These are some of the most challenging economic times our state has faced. My membership alone will tell you how the ’80s were a breeze compared to what we’re going through right now," Warren said. "The very last thing small business owners need in this state is a tax increase."

Iowans for Tax Relief president Ed Failor, Junior, suggested the plan was an attack on Iowa business owners. "The very people in Iowa that create most of the businesses…who create the jobs, who sign the fronts of paychecks instead of the backs of paychecks…we’re going to take more money out of their paychecks each and every day," Failor said.

But Jan Laue of the Iowa Federation of Labor argued the bill provides a tax cut to the "vast majority" of working Iowans. "For too long, we have put too much emphasis on those at the top end and they’ve been getting all the breaks," Laue said.

Victor Elias of the Iowa Child and Family Policy Center was another fan of the plan. "We applaud the fact that the majority of Iowans would get some reduction in their tax rates (because of) this. I think if you recall the last time we had a major income tax change in the law of this sort of magnitude was in the mid-90s," Elias said. "The vast majority of that benefit went to the top 20 percent of income earners."

Dave Roederer, executive director of the Iowa Chamber Alliance which represents the 16 largest chambers of commerce in the state, told Democrats the state’s income tax system is flawed, but he argued their plan isn’t the answer because about 80,000 Iowans would see their taxes go up. "We encourage you to look a little deeper," Roederer said.

The bill also boosts child care tax credits as well as tax breaks for elderly and blind Iowans. The entire tax plan could be debated in the Iowa House later this week.

Click on the audio link below to hear lobbyists’ comments on the bill during a House subcommittee meeting early Monday afternoon.

AUDIO: House subcommittee hearing 20:00 MP3

Filed Under: Business, Politics & Government Tagged With: , , , ,

Bipartisan group of eastern Iowans complain about courthouse cuts

March 30, 2009 By

A bipartisan group of eastern Iowa legislators, lawyers and law enforcement officials staged a statehouse news conference today to complain about cuts in the travel budgets of district court judges.

Esther Dean, a lawyer from Muscatine, is a Muscatine County Supervisor. Dean says she and some of her clients will be forced to drive to a courthouse in Davenport as there’s no district judge living in Muscatine. "I am concerned as an attorney about clients, but I am also concerned about keeping the county courthouse open," Dean says.

Daisy Wingert owns a floral and gift shop in downtown Tipton and she worries about the downturn in traffic in and out of the Cedar County Courthouse in Tipton. "I am very concerned about us losing our courthouse facilities," Wingert says. "There is only so much business that can be demonstrated internally from a community. We do need outside people and I feel that the courthouse is like a magnet, bringing people into town."

Jackson County Attorney Chris Raker of Maquoketa says most district court judges live in urban areas — and the travel restriction mainly hurts rural Iowans.  "Iowa is a rural state and no matter how you dress up that pig, it’s still a pig," Raker says.

The travel restrictions on judges apply to civil trials, things like divorces and property disputes. But Representative Nathan Reichert, a Democrat from Muscatine, argues the travel restriction will have an impact on criminal trials, too, as all cases get delayed.

"All of the other pieces of justice continue to grind to a halt in some of these local courthouses when you take a docket or you take basically 20 to 24 days of service a month (and) turn it into 12 either judges not traveling or the combination of that with the furlough days that have been announced, the overall docket gets affected in the local courthouse," Reichert says.

Court officials say there are travel restrictions throughout state government and it would look unusual if the courts didn’t limit employee travel, too. Critics accuse court officials of conspiring to force legislators to provide the courts with more money since rural Iowans are disproportionately impacted by the limits on the travel of judges.

A bipartisan group of eastern Iowa legilsators plans to offer alternatives during debate of bills that apply to the judicial branch budget.

 

Filed Under: Crime & Courts, Politics & Government Tagged With: , , ,

Iowa State football team has sense of urgency with new coaching staff

March 30, 2009 By

Paul Rhoads Iowa State football coach Paul Rhoads says their is a sense of urgency surrounding spring drills for the Cyclones.

After taking the helm following Gene Chizik’s departure to Auburn, the coaching staff is installing a new system and a different philosophy as the Cyclones look to improve upon last year’s 2-10 record.

Rhoads says they have a lot to learn and they continue to learn about the players and team, and the players are learning from the coaches.

He says they have to learn schemes and philosophies, but he says the players have taken that to heart.

Rhoads says the players have been receptive to changes. For many of the more experienced players this is their third different coaching staff. He says they have to convince them another new way is the way to do things, and he says there’s a natural tendency to fight. Rhoads says he asked the players to not put up a shield to the new ideas, and overall he says the players have not done that.

Rhoads says it’s hard to be told that you are wrong and the way you are doing something is not right. He says the biggest surprise thus far is the way the players have accepted the changes. Iowa State’s spring game is April 18th. 

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: ,

Rise in federal cigarette tax prompts more calls to quitline

March 30, 2009 By

A new 62-cent per pack federal tax on cigarettes taxes effect Wednesday but most Iowa smokers are already feeling the pinch. Many cigarette companies raised their rates two weeks ago to absorb the tax hike.

It’s prompting more Iowans to call the state health department’s hotline for help to quit smoking. Jeremy Whitaker, coordinator of Quitline Iowa, says, "We’ve seen about a 20% increase the week the prices went up and we hope there’ll be a sustained increase as people realize the cost of smoking is just too high."

The new federal tax increase applies not only to cigarettes, but to all tobacco products, like smokeless and pipe tobacco. It will mean most one-pack-per-day smokers will pay nearly $2,000 a year to smoke.

"Most of the companies already raised their prices so the tax takes effect but companies raised their prices in advance," Whitaker says. "They’ve also been doing a lot of promotions so people don’t notice the price impact quite as much, but when the dust settles from it, most packs will be well over $5. In fact, I saw a pack of Marlboros for over $6 a pack."

Whitaker says the number of smokers in Iowa continues to fall, year after year. In the past two years, he says the number of adult Iowa smokers fell by 22% and is now hovering at just 14%. He says, "There’s actually about 80,000 fewer smokers in Iowa than there were two years ago and our survey took place before the smoke-free air law took effect so we should see a sustained decrease in the number of smokers."

Whitaker says Quitline Iowa offers smokers all the tools they need. "Every Iowan can get up to two free weeks of nicotine patches, gum or lozenges sent to their home absolutely free," Whitaker says. "They also get counseling through Quitline Iowa that can more than double their chances of quitting."

The number to call is 800 Quit-Now. State health officials say smoking costs Iowans about a billion-dollars a year in health care costs.

AUDIO: Radio Iowa’s Matt Kelley reports on federal cigarette tax :42 MP3

Filed Under: Health & Medicine Tagged With: ,

Northwest Iowa man pleads in animal neglect case

March 30, 2009 By

A northwest Iowa man has pleaded guilty to animal neglect and six other charges. A judge Monday accepted 28-year-old Andrew Vaske’s guilty pleas to animal neglect, failing to properly dispose of a dead calf and horse and failing to vaccinate four dogs.

Vaske was charged by the Plymouth County sheriff’s office earlier this month after sheriff’s deputies seized 30 head of cattle claiming they lacked feed and water. Dead animals were also found at two rural Remsen locations. According to Plymouth County clerk of court records, the judge sentenced the rural Remsen man to serve seven days in the county jail for the animal neglect conviction.

He was ordered to pay fines totaling $750 for failing to dispose of the dead animals and failing to vaccinate the dogs.

Filed Under: Crime & Courts
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