GSB to discuss renaming health center

Steven Brittain

The Government of the Student Body Senate will discuss legislation dedicating the Student Health Center to the person who played the biggest role in the center’s foundation.Thomas B. Thielen, who preceded Thomas Hill as vice president for Student Affairs, served Iowa State from 1977 to 1997. Thielen was important in the development of the Student Health Center, sponsors of the resolution said.According to the resolution, written by Alex Rodeck, off campus, “Dr. Thomas B. Thielen played an instrumental role in all stages of the inception of the health facility.”GSB Finance Director Steve Medanic said he supports the renaming efforts because of Thielen’s commitment to the students.”He was instrumental in getting funding and every other aspect of setting up the Student Health Center,” Medanic said.Jim Nelson, director of the Student Health Center, said he would love to have the building named after someone so influential.”It’s warm to have a name attached to a building,” he said. “It’s kind of like the difference between a house and a home. We want the Student Health Center to be a warm, loving and friendly place.”If students want the building named after Thielen, Nelson said he has no problem with it.”If the students knew him and loved him, then I would love to see his name on the building,” he said. “He was a great man who was loved by everybody. I’ve heard nothing but great things about him.”GSB also will be voting on a bill authored by Andrew Kothenbeutel, Towers Residence Association, which will reform the apportionment process. According to Kothenbeutel’s bill, the GSB election commission apportions the seats available to each constituency on the GSB Senate based on the numbers provided by the Registrar’s office taken from one “count day.”Kothenbeutel said errors may appear in the registrar computer system. Sometimes, students aren’t appropriately placed under the right constituencies, he said, especially if they move or drop out during the semester.”For example, say a student decides to join a greek house. That student may remain living in Towers for the next three months, but the registrar would count him under greeks instead of Towers,” Kothenbeutel said.He said his bill is trying to give the senate a way to fix these problems on the senate floor instead of in a more roundabout way.