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$1000 Rebate * * College Grads 2212 S. Duff • scionofames.com • 800-232-4081 2010 Scion xB Pure Price $16,520 April 27, 2010, Volume 204 >> Number 146>> 40 cents >> iowastatedaily.com >> An independent newspaper serving Iowa State since 1890 TUESDAY Men’s Basketball McDermott departs for Creighton Student Death Main Street Tour President Barack Obama will visit Ot- tumwa on Monday. He will be conducting a roundtable discussion in Ottumwa as part of his White House Main Street tour at ap- proximately 4:45 p.m. at Indian Hills Com- munity College. According to the White House website, the tour is intended to reaffirm the presi- dent’s efforts to focus economic redevelop- ment in “main street” America. The tour is focusing on visits to businesses that are creating green energy, such as wind turbine plants like the one Obama will visit Tuesday in Fort Madison. The tour has been proceeding on and off since Dec. 3. Monday’s visit will be the first since Obama visited the community for the 2008 primaries. Obama will also be touring loca- tions in Missouri and Illinois. Tickets to the event will be available at noon Monday at Indian Hills Community College. — Daily Staff By Tyler Kingkade Daily Staff Writer Jonny Choate, junior in political science, tried to follow the process his brother went through when his brother financed college at Upper Iowa University. His elder sibling went through Iowa Student Loan and came out with a total of $32,000 in debt. After going through Iowa Stu- dent Loan and Wells Fargo for private loans plus federal loans, Choate will have over $50,000 in debt by the time he graduates after nine semesters at Iowa State. “I didn’t really have much money coming in [to college],” Choate said. “I had an account saved up, but I ended up needing to purchase a car with it before college.” Choate said he was set on attend- ing Iowa State “off the bat,” and gave little thought to other choices for his education, although it wasn’t until his junior year when he actually found his major. When he started going to Iowa State, he first financed his edu- cation through Iowa Student Loan. “My dad had taken care of my brother’s, so he’d gone through it be- fore, so he planned to do the same thing for me through Iowa Student Loan,” Choate said. Choate ran into an obstacle when he contacted Iowa Student Loan to reapply his sophomore year and was told to find another lender. Iowa Student Loan did not go bankrupt nor did it close its doors; rather, the credit market crisis affect- ed the availability of student loans. “At its peak in 2008 and 2009, it caused a reduction in the private stu- dent loan options available to college students,” said Steve McCullough, chief executive officer of Iowa Stu- dent Loan Liquidity Corp. “Since then, Iowa Student Loan has been working with its partners to rebuild Iowa students’ supplemental fund- ing options.” Choate went to private lenders, but the situation was further com- plicated when he scrambled to find a co-signer for a Wells Fargo private student loan as his sophomore year approached. Five family members — two aunts, both parents and a grandfather — were rejected when Wells Fargo said they did not have ad- equate credit. “My aunts had bad credit and my dad is a small business owner, which he filed bankruptcy for,” Choate said, adding his grandfather is retired. Choate lives in Frederiksen Court with three roommates from his high school — each of whom is in a finan- cial situation he’s jealous of. Choate said two have most of their expenses covered by parents, and the other has every dime covered by the federal government as a member of the Air Force. Choate found slight relief his President to visit Ottumwa Degrees in Debt College loans remain a struggle Editor’s note: The following is the second part of a five-part series on student debt. see LOANS on PAGE 4 By Chris Cuellar Daily Staff Writer After days of speculation, hours of rumors and a single team meeting, the Greg Mc- Dermott era has ended for ISU basketball. Announced Monday after- noon, McDermott accepted an offer to become the head coach at Creighton University in Oma- ha, Neb. The terms of the deal were not disclosed by Creighton, a private insti- tution, but reports from the Omaha World-Herald said it would be for 10 years for a total of $9 million. Iowa State’s contract with McDermott included an $800,000 buyout if another school pulled the coach away before 2015. Holding a 59-68 record over- all — just 18-46 in Big 12 play — McDermott’s clubs struggled against the top competition Iowa State faced throughout the schedule. ISU athletic director Jamie Pollard gave the coach a vote of confidence on March 8, giving McDermott more time to work through his fourth con- secutive losing season. Pollard’s news conference appearance came just two days after the Cy- clones defeated then-No. 5 Kan- sas State, pushing McDermott’s record against top 25 competi- tion to 1-20. Creighton coach Dana Alt- man left the job he held for 16 years for Oregon on Sunday, and McDermott accepted the university’s offer in just one day. “I know this was a very dif- ficult decision for Greg and his family,” Pollard said in a news release. “The contract terms that Creighton offered him and an opportunity to coach his son were significant factors in his decision. We wish Greg the best of luck at Creighton.” Also departing with McDer- mott is assistant director of bas- ketball operations Erik Craw- ford. A graduate of Northern Iowa in 2006, Crawford played for McDermott’s NCAA tourna- ment teams and joined him as an assistant once he hung up his jersey. McDermott’s son Doug was a member of Ames High School’s state championship team and had committed to his father’s old school, Northern Iowa. The Panthers are coached by Ben Jacobson, McDermott’s McDermott see COACH on PAGE 4 By Allison Suesse Daily Staff Writer Initiatives to revitalize Campustown date back 25 to 30 years, but many of the projects have not come into fruition until recently. City Council will vote Tuesday to ap- prove an action that will mark one of the first steps to begin the Campustown revital- ization process. City Manager Steve Schainker noted that developing an area like Campustown, which incorporates a number of different property owners, has been a challenge. However, the city identified a plan to rejuvenate the area, thanks to the combined efforts of university and city officials. In order to be successful in the redevel- opment process, the city acknowledged that the process would require an active leader- ship role from the ISU officials. Schainker established a group of ISU and city officials to convene as the Campustown Redevelop- ment Committee. Since the group’s creation in late 2009, members have discussed criteria they are looking for in a developing company, which included a strong development team, proj- ect experience of the same magnitude as Campustown redevelopment, commit- ment to due diligence work and an under- standing of project objectives among other criteria. Beginning Jan. 18, the Campustown Re- development Committee hosted meetings with all eight of the developing companies that expressed interest in the rejuvenation project. After deliberation, the committee se- City Council Lane 4 to lead Campustown revitalization see COUNCIL on PAGE 3 ISU accounting sophomore Raven Gileau was found dead on the railroad tracks near 13th Street and Ontario Avenue after friends reported her missing Sunday morning from a bar in Campustown. Photo: Rashah McChesney/Iowa State Daily An incomplete puzzle Friends, police discuss circumstances around unexpected death of ISU honors student By Rashah McChesney Daily Staff Writer Raven Gileau had a tattoo of a puzzle piece on the back of her neck that she had done with Mallo- ry Ashley, Kaye Guldner and, soon after, their friend Sarah Anne Fox Hughes got one as well. They used to make a complete puzzle. Now, after Gileau’s death, that puzzle will for- ever be incomplete, and her friends are struggling to come to terms with their unex- pected loss. Gileau, sophomore in ac- counting, was found by Ames Police on Union Pacific Railroad tracks near the intersection of Ontario Avenue and 13th Street at about 5:30 a.m. Sunday morning she was re- ported missing by friends who became concerned after the ISU honors student left a bar in Cam- pustown and was separated from their group of friends. Police said alcohol was involved, but they are unsure how Gileau ended up on the train tracks and are waiting for an autopsy report for further details. Hughes remembers Gileau as a middle-school Gileau see GILEAU on PAGE 3 S Clue #2 Find the second clue on the see PAGE 3 New fire truck on the way see AUTOS on PAGE 5
