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I-T Olympics underway at ISU

April 20, 2009 By

Students compete in I-T Olympics Some 350 young computer experts from 40 Iowa high schools are ready to duel today in Ames at the annual statewide I-T Olympics.

Doug Jacobson, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at Iowa State University, says the teens will be taking part in three categories of information technology, the first of which involves Lego-block robots each team has carefully assembled for battle.

Jacobson says, “The robotics competition is sumo wrestling and they each come with a sumo-wrestling robot and they place the robots on the mat, start ‘em up and they have to find their opponent and try to push them off the mat.”

The students are also showing off their gaming designs as they’ve created entertaining, educational games that teach science and math to middle schoolers. Jacobson says the most popular event during the two-day I-T Olympics involves internet security, as the students are setting up servers and tweaking their electronic firewalls to fend off hackers.

The cyber defense competition has the kids very excited, he says, as it’s a very fast-growing field that gets a lot of media attention due to new attacks, viruses and worms that can strike a company or the country. Jacobson says the kids thrive on the competition and trying to best other teams from around the state, but he admits there’s an underlying motive in the contest.

“During the Olympics, we’ll have companies there that’ll be able to talk to the kids about potential careers,” Jacobson says. “We’ll have people from universities and community colleges to talk to them about the educational path that they would take and the whole goal is to get more kids interested in I-T and eventually into the I-T workforce.”

Competition in all three events runs today from noon to 8 P.M. and tomorrow 8 A.M. to 6 P.M. at I.S.U.’s Hilton Coliseum.

 

Filed Under: Education Tagged With:

U-I looks for new site for flooded Hancher Auditorium

April 20, 2009 By

Clapp Recital Hall, Voxman Music Building and Hancher Auditorium surrounded by flood water in June 2008. University of Iowa officials are searching for a new site for Hancher Auditorium, the university’s flood-wrecked performance hall.

U-I president Sally Mason says it’s taken some time to get over the shock from the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s declaration that Hancher and the other buildings on the university’s "arts campus" must be rebuilt on higher ground.

"You get over that shock when you think about where those facilities are located — how close to the river they are — and that it’s inevitable in the future that they would flood again and what it would cost to try and protect them from flooding again," Mason says.

"What it would cost not only in terms of dollars in trying to come up with a good mitigation scheme for them, but also in terms of what it might mean with regardsto the views of the river and the things that you appreciated at Hancher and Voxman and Clapp to begin with." Hancher opened in 1972.

It was designed by Max Abramovitz, an internationally-famous architect, and Mason expects the university will seek out another well-known architect to build a new performance hall in Iowa City. Sites in Iowa City that are at least 14 feet above the 2008 Iowa River flood levels are being considered.

"This is a fresh start," Mason says. "This is a real opportunity…to think differently, creatively and hopefully — once and for all — protect these facilities from future flooding and future disasters like the ones we suffered last summer." By bulldozing Hancher, flood plain management may be improved. Mason says she and other university officials are working with a crew of consultants to figure out how the university can live with the river that snakes through the heart of campus.

"Times of the year like this when it’s low and the days are lovely, (the river) is an absolutely beautiful asset to have on campus," Mason says. "But last summer we could see how violent and how almost malicious at times it felt as the water started charging across parts of the campus that they’ve never seen before."

According to Mason, it’s likely Hancher will be the name affixed to a new performance hall. "It would take something very unusual for that name to change," Mason says. Hancher Auditorium is named for Dr. Virgil Hancher, the longest-serving president of the university.

He was the University of Iowa’s president for 24 years — from 1940 to 1964. FEMA has pledged to pay for 90 percent of the costs of rebuilding Hancher elsewhere. There is no timeline for a decision on when and where it should be rebuilt, but Mason hopes construction starts within 24 months.

(Photo from U-I News Service)

Filed Under: Education, Fires/Accidents/Disasters Tagged With:

Cedar Rapids inspects flood damaged homes for possible demolition

April 20, 2009 By

City officials in Cedar Rapids have begun re-inspecting some of the homes that were hit the hardest by last June’s record flooding. Utilities director Pat Ball says the homes were marked with a red placard to indicate they had significant structural damage and now they are going back to a group of them for another look.

He says that includes 200 homes that had not had any building permits or work done on them other than cleaning them out. Ball says they will concentrate on those houses to see if they can be deemed an "imminent threat to health or property." Ball says if the homes are deemed a threat, they will move forward with the process of tearing them down.

Ball says there is some paperwork and rules that have to be followed to qualify for funds from FEMA to tear down the houses. One of the issues is getting a "right of entry" to go on the property and inspect the homes to see if they qualify for demolition funds under FEMA’s rules. Ball says the city goes through the demolition process for some homes every year — but the magnitude has changed with the flooding.

Ball says they normally look at 10 to 20 homes a year under a normal process, so "this is obviously significantly higher than that." He says there are also some extra rules in this case to qualify for reimbursement from FEMA. Ball says if approval is given, the FEMA funds would be used to tear down the houses, and then it’s up to the property owner to decide what to do next.

Ball says the property is still the property of the owner and they are not acquiring the properties at this point. He says they properties could eventually be purchased under another program, but the focus right now is to remove the dangerous structures. There was tension among homeowners who were forced out by flooding and not let back in some homes that were damaged. Ball says there are different levels of reaction now as they move ahead with the demolition phase.

Ball says it depends on the individual circumstance, as he says some have been able to get in and do some reconstruction. He says some of the properties that were originally considered "significantly structurally damaged" have been rebuilt.

 "I think most of the people are understanding of why some of these things need to happen. I think more than anything they’re hoping that some of these things happen faster," Ball says. Ball says letters were sent out to property owners explaining what is happening. He says they will try to do the re-inspections in groups of 70 houses.

Filed Under: Fires/Accidents/Disasters, Politics & Government

It’s National Turn off TV week

April 20, 2009 By

Seven days without Spongebob or Hannah Montana? Yes, it’s possible. Iowa kids, and adults, are being prodded into switching off their television viewing habits for all of this week as part of National Turn Off the TV Week.

Dennis Haney is the coordinator of "Iowans Fit for Life" through the state Department of Public Health. Haney says everyone, especially kids, is encouraged to turn off their TVs for the week and enjoy other activities like playing outside, biking, walking, whatever they might enjoy.

A study finds American children watch an average of three hours of TV per day. Just plopping on the couch in front of the tube may tend to promote obesity, but Haney says the ads that bombard kids while they’re sitting can also be a negative influence on their lifestyles.

Every day, Haney says children receive about 58 commercial messages from TV alone and about half of them are for food. Of those commercials, about 98%t of those on weekend morning network TV are for unhealthy foods high in fat, sodium, cholesterol or sugar.

Also, he says the amount of marketing aimed at children has more than doubled during the last decade, from $7 billion to $15 billion a year. Many Iowa children will not voluntarily give up the tube and Haney says that’s where the parents will likely have to step in.

He says moms and dads need to be good role models: "Being aware of our own TV habits, knowing our kids will take their cues from us." Also, know you may have to endure your kids’ complaints. While it may be a parent’s biggest challenge, he says to stick with it.

Haney says parents also need to help their kids deal with the "boredom" of no TV and be prepared to suggest other activities. Over time, kids will learn to entertain themselves. For more tips to tuning out, log on to " www.tvturnoff.org ".

Filed Under: Recreation & Entertainment

Drake Relays ready to run for 100th time

April 20, 2009 By

This week’s Drake Relays will be a special one for director Brian Brown. This will mark the 100th running of the event,something he says he circled on the calendar when he was hired four years ago. Brown says there are a lot of people who love the event and are working tirelessly to make the 100th one of the best ever.

The events on the track begin on Wednesday. Brown says he is going back and forth between being a leader of the event and also being a fan. He says he looks forward to celebrating the 100th Relays.

 

Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: ,

Rockwell City man dies in motorcycle crash

April 20, 2009 By

A 22-year-old Rockwell City man died over the weekend after a crash near Lohrville in Calhoun County. The Iowa State Patrol identified the victim as Adam John Williams.

Reportedly Williams was operating a 2005 Kawasaki motorcycle on Highway 175 heading eastbound at an apparent high rate of speed after being clocked by a Calhoun County Sheriff’s Deputy.

When the Deputy initiated a traffic stop Williams made a west turn on 175 striking the rear side of a westbound pickup truck driven by 54-year-old Daniel Wallace of Fonda. Williams was thrown from the motorcycle and was pronounced dead at the scene.

Wallace escaped injury. The accident remains under investigation by the State Patrol and the Calhoun County Sheriff’s Department.

 

Filed Under: Fires/Accidents/Disasters

Second date set for Mission of Mercy free dental care

April 20, 2009 By

The Iowa Dental Association’s "Mission of Mercy" program that provides free dental care to anyone who wants it will hold its second event September 25-26th at the Iowa Speedway in Newton. Dentist Richard Hettinger says 85 of his colleagues from all over the state will work on patients at the event.

He says they will be providing fillings, hygiene visits, tooth removal, the whole gamut of dental care. The first "Mission of Mercy" in Waterloo last October saw 1,250 Iowans take advantage of the service. Iowa Dental Association president, Heather Heddens says those patients received over $600,000 worth of free care from the volunteer dentists and other volunteers.

"Of course when you see the smiles of those faces walking out of the Mission of Mercy, no dollar amount comes close to that rewarding feeling of taking care of those folks and helping them," Heddens says. Newton dentist Steve Rabedeaux participated in last year’s event and is chairing the steering committee for this year’s.

Rabedeaux says people are so grateful by the care they get that he was almost overwhelmed and moved to tears by the gratefulness of people for services that were out of the reach of the people.

The free dental service is given on a first come, first served basis with no financial restrictions. The event will run from seven A.M. until five P.M. on both days. For more information, visit the Mission of Mercy website . The Iowa Speedway is donating the building space for the program.

 

Filed Under: Health & Medicine
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