(Radio Iowa) — Representatives of the Obama Foundation have been in Iowa this week, looking for artifacts from Barack Obama’s 2008 and 2012 presidential campaigns in Iowa. Sam Michel  is a spokesman for the foundation. “Obviously Iowa in 2008 played a huge role in the Obama campaign,” he says, “and as the museum team was designing the Obama Presidential Center they wanted to highlight the role of Iowa, the role of the people who were volunteering and working on the Obama campaign in telling the story of President and Mrs. Obama.”

Earlier this week, the foundation hosted events in Mason City and North Liberty for Obama campaign volunteers to share their stories — and their memorabilia.”Yard signs, campaign pamphlets, photos as well as things that are personal memento’s to people who worked on the campaigns, things that mean a lot to them,” Michel says, “things that help explain why they decided to work for then-Senator Obama.” There’s an event tonight (Friday) in Des Moines for more story telling and memorabilia sharing. “Right now, we’re just trying to get a good understanding of what all is out there,” Michel says. “We’ll catalog it this week, we’ll record it and then go back to Chicago, figure out what we want to display in the Presidential Center Museum and go from there.”

Tonight’s Obama Foundation meeting will be held at the headquarters of the Isiserettes, a drill and drum corps made up of Des Moines kids. In November of 2007, the group led Obama, his wife and Obama supporters on a march up a Des Moines street to the Iowa Democratic Party’s annual fall fundraiser. The Obama Presidential Center Museum is still being designed and Michel says they hope to break ground within the next year or so.

(Radio Iowa) — An Iowa State University researcher says the idea that striking a “power pose” in the mirror can boost your confidence, abilities and testosterone levels is complete bunk. The idea of power posing gained popularity after a study came out about a decade ago, but I-S-U psychology professor Marcus Crede says there’s no scientific evidence it really works. Just what is a power pose? “The most common example is standing like Wonder Woman, your hands on your hips, upright,” Crede says. “Some people extend their arms up in the air. It’s a pose associated with powerful people. You’re taking up lots of space, you’re standing very tall and upright.”

Crede says there’s not a single study to support claims power posing is effective, while the original 2010 report made numerous claims. “One was that it would make you feel more powerful,” Crede says. “The second one was that it would make you more willing to take risks, which in many business settings is important, you know, you put yourself out there. It also claimed it would increase your testosterone levels and lower your cortisol levels, and cortisol levels are associated with stress.”

The original study has drawn criticism as the results couldn’t be replicated, but a follow-up study in 2018 presented an updated analysis of the research. Crede says from all the studies he’s reviewed — some three-dozen of them — power posing just doesn’t work. “Some people say before you go for a job interview or give that big presentation at work, go to the bathroom and power pose for a couple of minutes,” Crede says. “There’s nothing wrong with that and I don’t think it’s going to hurt you, but don’t think that you can substitute good preparation for an interview or a presentation with simply power posing for a minute or two.”

Power posing is the subject of a TED Talk which is reportedly the second-most viewed TED Talk on YouTube, with some 70-million views. There’s also a book on power posing that was a New York Times bestseller. “A lot of people have been exposed to this and there’s a huge industry on power posing where the main proponent goes around the country giving talks at $100,000 a pop telling people to power pose,” Crede says. “There’s simply no evidence for this. To me, that’s somewhat troubling that so many people have been sold this idea that really has no scientific basis.”

Crede compares power posing to a drug being sold to the public without a single study ever having been able to show the drug works better than a placebo — or better than doing nothing.

The Adams County Sheriff’s Office says three people face burglary charges following an incident in Corning Thursday. Deputies were called to a burglary in progress around 5:40 p.m. in the 2000 block of Quincy Street in Corning. Following an investigation, 48-year-old Fred William Ehrman, of Des Moines, 64-year-old Stanley Wayne Roberts, of Corning, and 47-year-old Michelle Lyn Paradise, of Des Moines, were arrested for second-degree burglary.