(Radio Iowa) – An Iowa State University study delved into what people are actually looking at during Zoom and Webex meetings. Joey George, an I-S-U professor of information systems and business analytics, says they used eye-tracking technology to find participants -did- pay attention to whoever was speaking during video conferences, but they looked off-screen frequently and for long periods.  “We don’t know exactly what was going on in their heads,” George says. “We just know that for whatever reason they were disengaged from looking at the screen for about a third of the time.”

Anyone who’s been on a video conference knows they can use the camera like a mirror, but shouldn’t do so during a call. Still, the study found women looked at themselves during video conferences -twice- as often as men. “Women are much more conscious of how they look and they actually use that image of themselves in the meetings to make sure that their hair is right and their makeup is right and the clothing is all right,” George says, “and men apparently just don’t care as much.”

One of George’s personal pet peeves is people eating during a video call, so one of the distractions they used in the study was people munching on snacks or moving the camera to change the background.  “We found that everybody noticed the distractions but they really didn’t pay attention to them for very long,” George says. “They saw them, they registered them and within a couple of seconds, they went back to the meeting. I guess that’s kind of good news that the distractions are noticed but they just don’t become something that’s a major concern.”

The technology for video calling was around long before the pandemic, but George believes Zoom and similar programs will most certainly continue to be popular well after COVID is a distant memory. “It’s not going to be the only game in town anymore,” George says. “People really like the personal contact, but I think it’s here to stay.” He says one goal of the study was to help people avoid distractions and to inform the future design of video conferencing. George is launching another study this spring using the same eye-tracking tech to discover what aspects of social media posts people focus on when they are trying to determine if a post is true or contains disinformation.

(Carroll, Iowa) – The Superintendent of the Carroll Community School District is denying rumors that they are providing litter boxes in their school bathrooms. Dr. Casey Berlau (who previously served as the shared CAM/Nodaway Valley Superintendent), sent a letter to students and parents Monday. In the letter, he wrote “The rumor is that our schools have litter boxes in the restrooms to accommodate individuals who are self-identifying as animals. This is simply and emphatically not true.”

Mary Jane Cobb, director of the Iowa State Education Association, claims that the rumors started in Michigan when a parent spoke out to a school board. Since then, multiple high schools in the country have been targeted by similar rumors, all of which are false. The ISEA says that the rumor is a right-wing attempt to mock LGBTQ restroom equality, and that it harms students’ mental health.

Cobb told KCCI, “It’s absurd and it’s mean-spirited. And, it is absolutely not the focus we should be having right now. I would just ask the people that are promulgating this myth to stop.”

(Radio Iowa) – A special investigation by the State Auditor’s office has found the former director of the I-S-U Extension Office in Jones County was responsible for nearly 86-thousand dollars in improper and undocumented spending in the agency. The investigation covered a four year period when Jennifer Fischer was extension director in Jones County. Auditors concluded she bought thousands of dollars worth of personal items with the organization’s money, including an Xbox, pet supplies, alcohol and groceries. She also used Extension Service money to cover the costs of a trip she took to Texas with her daughter.

Auditors identified more than 30-thousand dollars worth of purchases that lacked documentation, so they couldn’t determine if the expenses were for the Extension Service or personal in nature. The special investigation concludes Fischer received 17-thousand dollars worth of unauthorized payments for travel expenses, paid time off and insurance. Fischer was placed on leave in August of 2020 after another employee raised questions about the purchase of airline tickets on the Jones County Extension Service credit card and she was fired 17 days later.

(Creston, Iowa) – Officials with the Creston Police Department report 70-year-old Timothy J. Ostroski, of Creston, was arrested late Wednesday afternoon at the Southern Iowa Council of Governments (SICOG) building located at 101 E. Montgomery Street. Ostroski was charged with Theft 1st Degree and four counts of Forgery. He was taken to Union County Jail and later posted a $30,000 cash or surety bond.

Authorities say Ostroski fraudulently obtained an excess of $10,000 from SICOG by creating multiple checks made payable to another individual for cleaning services that were never provided. He then deposited these checks into a personal checking account, resulting in personal enrichment. The Forgery charges stem from checks dated January 27, February 26, May 4 and 28, 2021, on which Ostroski admitted to fraudulently signing Tiffany Ossain’s name to the back of checks, without her permission. Ossain is not an employee of SICOG and not affiliated with SICOG.

Tim Ostroski (Photo from the SICOG website)

Ostroski has served as the Executive Director of the Southern Iowa Council of Governments (SICOG) and the Southern Iowa Development Group (SIDG) since February 1984. He also serves as the Executive Director of the Southern Iowa COG Housing Trust Fund, Inc, a charitable foundation with its mission to improve housing in the area.

In an unrelated incident, 26-year-old Jacob Jack Davis, of Creston, was arrested Wednesday night for  Failure to Appear. Davis was taken to Union County Jail and held on a $500 cash-only bond.