ISU?s College of Agriculture and Life Science Students Upset Over Newspaper Column

by | Sep 28, 2016 | 5 Ag Stories, News

by Whitney Flach

The College of Agriculture and Life Sciences makes up more than 15% of Iowa State University?s 30,671 undergraduate students. More than 1,000 people have signed a petition protesting that ISU students be exempt from paying any fees that helps fund the campus newspaper. It is estimated that every students pays about $3.89 per year indirectly to the Iowa State Daily.

This petition took flight because of a recent opinion page in the paper that criticized the treatment of pigs at slaughterhouses. Senior Katlyn Kahler, who is in ISU?s College of Agriculture and Life Science with an emphasis in swine shared that the newspaper ignored her written response to the opinion column. She said, “The CALS student body is tired of paying for a newspaper that goes against our lessons, lectures, and lifestyles.”

The petition that hundreds of people are signing demands that the Iowa State Daily start publishing articles on agriculture that are factual-based and unbiased, including those written by students who do not have a journalism or communications background.

Emily Barske, Iowa State Daily?s editor in chief said, ?We?re definitely going to try and improve, but we?re never going to change the role of our opinion section to stop including contradictory views.?