INSIDE THIS ISSUE
Opinion Columnists Drew Hill and Bailey Klinkhammer pose their different views on the future of the judicial branch.
SEE PAGES 4-5
CAMPUS LIFE
The Olson family gears up for another season of fall fun at The Patch.
SEE PAGE 6
SPORTS
Football takes home first victory of the season over Idaho State, 41-17.
SEE PAGE 11
New life is
UNI athletic
as a call for Panthers to pack the stands has been heard all around campus.
Saturday, Sept. 9, we got to see Panther Mayhem in
full effect at the football home opener. By game time, the student section was almost entirely full — a rare sight from previous years’ games. Panther Mayhem’s efforts to draw in students seemed to pay off, and they brought much needed energy into the UNI-Dome.
For this November’s Cedar Falls City Council elections, two UNI alums have begun campaigns to be elected to the open Ward 4 seat vacated by incumbent Simon Harding’s retirement. The two candidates include area financial advisor Gabe Groothuis and local attorney Aaron Hawbaker. Ward 4 consists of the northern areas of the UNI campus (including Dancer and Bender halls), much of the College Hill neighborhood, and private homes between University Avenue, Rainbow Drive, and Grand Avenue on the east side of Highway 58.
Join UNI basketball in downtown Cedar Falls Sept. 21 at 5:30 p.m. for some preseason college basketball madness. A live DJ, face painting, food and beverages will be available. Those who arrive early will receive a special edition rally towel courtesy of First Bank. Fans will get the opportunity to engage with student-athletes and coaches from the men’s and women’s basketball programs at this event. Registration is encouraged but not required. Visit supportthepanthers.com for more information.
The University of Northern Iowa Foundation received $58.4 million in gifts from alumni and friends of the university during the 2022-23 fiscal year. This is a record breaking number from previous years, with a 35% increase over the previous record of $43.1 million in 2020-21. Overall, 9,402 donors donated during the 2022-23 fiscal year.
The tradition of students welcoming their families to campus is set for the weekend of Sept. 29 - Oct. 1. Families will have the opportunity to participate in a scavenger hunt, attend UNI sporting events, see UNI Theatre’s performance of “The Play That Goes Wrong” among many other planned activities. For a full list of events, visit familyweekend.uni.edu.
60th UNI Teacher Education Celebration
UNI’s annual Teacher Education Convocation and Celebration is scheduled to make place Sept. 30 — coinciding with Family Weekend. This ceremony honors education majors who have met the criteria for acceptance into UNI’s Teacher Education program. About 700 future teachers have been admitted to the program since Spring 2022.
Groothuis is a recent 2019 University of Northern Iowa graduate with degrees in organizational leadership and marketing. While at UNI, he participated in programs with the John Papajohn See NEWS BRIEFS, page 2
Entrepreneurial Center and was the proprietor of a small business while enrolled as a student. He currently works at Thrivent Financial Group of Waterloo. Groothuis was
born in Cedar Falls but grew up in Marion. Nevertheless, he returned to Cedar Falls to attend college and has stuck around since.
See CITY COUNCIL, page 2
MAYHEM
continued from page 1
Unlike in the past when there was a mass exodus of students at halftime, most people stayed for the entire game despite the team’s loss.
Back in 2009, the UNI student section at sporting events became an official organization called the Panther Pep Crew, which would eventually earn the title Panther Mayhem. The group has been around since then, but started to go to the wayside with COVID-19. That is until this year, when Panther Mayhem was brought back to life by students wanting to get more engagement at UNI sporting events.
Panther Mayhem’s goal is to promote sporting events to students, pack the bleachers and to create an exciting gameday experience. Northern Iowa Student Government (NISG)
President Micaiah Krutsinger was one of the biggest advocates for bringing back
Panther Mayhem and says that he was able to team up with UNI athletics to bring back the mayhem.
“To truly bring it back we wanted to look at ways to see how we could rebuild the organization as a whole, and I’m happy that we were able to partner with athletics and bring it back,” Krutsinger said.
He also acknowledged that although the student section has existed, it has not been conducive to an exciting environment the past couple of years.
“The students were missing something at the sporting events, the atmosphere was just not as it used to be,” Krutsinger said.
Panther Mayhem Copresident Savannah Soltero had some insight on what could improve the atmosphere of the student section.
“Our goal is to bring as many students as we can to fill the student section and just
get more hype and bring back traditions that have been in the student section in the past,” Soltero said.
Some of these traditions include jingling the keys at kick off, the Interlude dance, reading newspapers during opposing lineup calls and chants of old. These traditions, Soltero hopes, will encourage more student engagement, and she says there may be more exciting activities on the way.
“We have a couple of things up our sleeves that we’re gonna try to implement as the games go on,” Soltero said.
Organizers of Panther Mayhem are actively recruiting students, and were at the student organization fair as well as tabling in Maucker Union in efforts to promote attendance to events.
For more information about Panther Mayhem, follow them on Instagram @ Panthermayhem.
CITY COUNCIL
continued from page 1
On the other side of the ballot, Hawbaker is a Des Moinesborn but longtime Cedar Falls resident and former UNI graduate with the class of 91’. Hawbaker has a degree in Political Science and a Juris Doctorate from the University of Iowa Law School. He is currently employed at the Black Hawk County Public Defender’s Office in Waterloo, and Hawbaker has served as the senior defender since 2010.
As election season has ramped up, the candidates have explained and reaffirmed their intentions and goals for running for the Cedar Falls City Council. Candidate Groothuis’s campaign is centered around three main principles: servant leadership, strategic planning and citizen’s voice. On the other hand, Hawbaker’s three main priorities if he were to be elected to the council include promoting and creating strong neighborhoods, economic development and collaboration/ community building.
Both candidates expressed a hope to serve in a way that would benefit and grow the city positively if elected. Hawbaker expressed a desire to do as he was raised.
“I want to give back to the community that has benefited me so greatly.” Groothuis stated, “The best is yet to come. Cedar Falls’ best days are ahead of it, and we are just getting started.”
will begin to take shape within the next few years if elected to council. Hawbaker stated, “When I was here, College Hill was a one-stop-shop for everything. Downtown was developed very successfully, and the efforts and funding that was used should be replicated on the Hill.” Groothuis exposed a similar view, “There has to be a strategic partnership between the university, the city and the developers, as well as the residents who live there. College Hill is the front door of UNI, and we, as the city, need a vision and funding plan to get this figured out.”
Young people could have a defining impact in this election if they were to vote on election day. Ward 4 has a large student population, and both candidates hope youth participation will occur in this election. Groothuis, who is a recent graduate of UNI, believes he has the pulse of students and can be an effective communicator to make sure their voices are and can be heard, “Where your voice will be heard the most will be in a local election, UNI students can have their voices heard by someone who really empathizes with them, as I was in your spot not too long ago.”
STEPH STARK
Panther Mayhem has been tabling at student organization fairs and has been active on social media to encourage attendance at games. They’ve been working to both rejuvenate old traditions, like shaking keys before kick off, and bring new fun, like printed signs for the student section to wave.
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As with most areas, the pandemic took a toll on the business climate of College Hill. Both candidates hope that the redevelopment of that area
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Hawbaker also believes that the youth of Ward 4 will play a huge and defining role in this election, “All politics are local. Even though some of you may only be a four-year resident, this election can impact the city during the time you are here, as well as affecting future students who will be here in the future.” Hawbaker stated, “Even if you don’t vote in this election, it should be the one in your town, as local elections are very important.”
See CITY COUNCIL, page 4
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Cedar Falls’ best days are ahead of it, and we are just getting started.
Even though some of you may only be a fouryear resident, this election can impact the city during the time you are here, as well as affecting future students...Gabe Groothuis Ward 4 Candidate Aaron Hawbaker Ward 4 Candidate
Thursday morning, Northern Iowa Student Government’s Upper Cabinet offered a listening ear for students while also providing a tasty treat in between classes. They set up a table outside of Maucker Union for their annual “complain for a cookie” event.
Students came up to the table with complaints on everything from dorm accommodations to the practices of specific professors.
“The whole point of this has been to get areas that we can improve on campus, and there have been a lot of very interesting areas,” Student Body President Micaiah Krutsinger said. “We’ve had some unique ones … hopefully we’ll be able to look at these comments and really give the university feedback on areas they can improve.”
One of the most common complaints students had was the lack of air conditioning in dorm buildings. Other hot topics were parking, ranging from the university overselling CP passes to parking lots being in rough condition to drive through. Students also brought up accessibility concerns in some campus buildings and a lack of food options.
“One of the ones that was
unique to me that I found interesting was professors who don’t use BlackBoard, so they require everyone to turn it in on paper,” Krutisinger said. “So when they need something in color, color costs students at UNI, so they aren’t able to turn their assignment in in color, so that’s a disadvantage they’ve been having.”
Aside from creating a space for students to share what makes them unhappy, NISG also plans to use the information for the better.
“We move forward with different initiatives based off of these feedback and comments and see how we can implement change, so if that’s meeting with different faculty
and leadership teams so we can bring awareness to that and we can advocate for that change, and hopefully some things get changed for the better,” Director of Diversity Christian Johnson said.
Krutsinger added, “It gives us some ideas on some initiatives that we might want to focus on this year or years after, and it gives us talking points so when we meet with university administration, we can discuss, like ‘we had this complain when we were talking to this student,’” he said.
In particular, NISG plans to take that feedback to the next Board of Regents meeting at the University of Iowa on Sept. 27-28.
“This helps structure what topics we want to bring up in our meeting with the Board of Regents,” Krutsinger said. “Obviously we won’t go up to them and bring up every little thing, but maybe bring up areas that are big that we’re seeing all over campus and we are really hearing students like, hey this is a problem.”
CAROLINE CHRISTENSEN Executive EditorNorthern Iowa Student Government (NISG) has proposed legislation that would shift the way in which funds are allocated to student organizations. The proposed bill, SSB 2024-47, specifies that student organizations can only spend $3,000 from the contingency fund per year.
NISG’s Director of Finance, Geneva Bell, emphasizes this change is necessary to allocate funds in an equitable way.
“Ultimately, what it’s going to do is make sure all of the money is being spread out throughout all organizations,” Bell said. “If we don’t limit how much bigger organizations can request, then they are going to drain the contingency fund.”
Although COVID-19 bolstered the fund for a time, Bell says, “We have significantly less money than what we had in the past.”
Miembros del Gabinete Superior del NISG invitaron a estudiantes a compartir sus consejos el jueves mientras daban galletas y dulces. Ellos planean usar comentarios de estudiantes para formar sus iniciativas y tener conversaciones con las oficiales de la universidad y la Junta de Regentes.
Outside of this annual event inviting students to share their troubles, Krutsinger encourages students to reach out to NISG for any complaints or concerns they have throughout the year. More information about NISG can be found at nisg.uni.edu.
El jueves en la mañana, el Gabinete Superior del Gobierno Estudiantil del Norte de Iowa (NISG por sus siglas en inglés) ofreció escuchar a los estudiantes y al mismo tiempo les brindó un sabroso golosina entre clases. Instalaron una mesa afuera de Maucker Union para su evento anual de “quejarse por una galleta”.
Los estudiantes vinieron a la mesa con quejas sobre todo, desde el alojamiento en los dormitorios hasta las prácticas de profesores específicos.
“El objetivo de esto ha sido encontrar áreas que podamos mejorar en el campus y ha habido muchas áreas muy interesantes”, dijo el presidente del cuerpo estudiantil Micaiah Krutsinger. “Hemos tenido algunos únicos [quejas]… con suerte podremos anali-
zar estos comentarios y realmente brindarle a la universidad comentarios sobre áreas que pueden mejorar”. Una de las quejas más comunes que tenían los estudiantes era la falta de aire acondicionado en los dormitorios. Otros temas candentes fueron el estacionamiento, desde la sobrevenida de los pases CP de la universidad hasta que los estacionamientos estaban en malas condiciones para circular. Los estudiantes también mencionaron preocupaciones de accesibilidad en algunos edificios del campus y la falta de opciones de comida.
“Uno de los que me pareció interesante fue el de los profesores que no utilizan BlackBoard, por lo que exigen que todos lo entreguen en papel”, dijo Krutsinger. “Entonces, cuando necesitan algo en color, el color les cuesta a los estudiantes de UNI, por lo que no pueden entregar su tarea en color, y esa es una desventaja que han estado teniendo”.
Aparte de crear un espacio
para que los estudiantes compartan lo que les hace infelices, NISG también planea utilizar la información para mejorar las cosas alrededor del campus.
“Seguimos adelante con diferentes iniciativas basadas en estos comentarios y opiniones y vemos como podemos implementar cambios, así que si eso implica reunirnos con diferentes profesores y equipos de liderazgo para que podamos crear conciencia sobre eso y podamos abogar por ese cambio, y con suerte, algunas cosas cambian para la mejor”, dijo el Director de Diversidad Christian Johnson.
Krutsinger agregó: “Nos da algunas ideas sobre algunas iniciativas en las que podríamos querer centrarnos este año o años después, y nos brinda puntos de conversación para cuando nos reunamos con la administración de la universidad, podamos discutir, como ‘tuvimos esta queja cuando estábamos hablando con este
estudiante’”, dijo él.
En particular, NISG planea llevar esos comentarios a la próxima reunión de la Junta de Regentes en la Universidad de Iowa los días 27 y 28 de septiembre.
“Esto ayuda a estructurar los temas que queremos abordar en nuestra reunión con la Junta de Regentes”, dijo Krutsinger. “Obviamente no nos acercaremos a ellos y les mencionaremos cada detalle, pero tal vez mencionaremos áreas que son grandes y que estamos viendo en todo el campus y que realmente escuchamos a los estudiantes decir, oye, esto es un problema”.
Fuera de este evento anual que invita a los estudiantes a compartir sus problemas, Krutsinger los anima a comunicarse con NISG ante cualquier queja o inquietud que tengan durante el año. Puedes encontrar más información sobre NISG en la página web nisg.uni.edu
According to Bell, the lack of guidelines would theoretically allow a single student organization to drain almost 20% of the fund. NISG realized limits may need to be imposed when 22% of the contingency fund had been allocated in the past two weeks—counting current pending organizations.
Bell recognizes student organization’s concerns, however notes there are several additional funds student organizations can use to fund events including the Coca-Cola Fund, which Bell is encouraging student organizations to utilize. She also notes NISG is not in control of how much money is in the contingency fund.
“A common misconception a lot of student organizations have is that we control how much money is the contingency fund, and that’s not something we control,” Bell said. “The allocation we get is directly from student fees. The contingency fund is rollover from those past years. The only thing we can do is figure out how we can make sure that the money goes out to organizations and that they can still access it.”
NISG encourages student organization leaders to attend the Senate meeting this Thursday at 6:30 p.m. in Maucker Union to express their thoughts on SSB 2024-47. NISG Vice President Lizbeth Montalvo urges students to inform themselves about these possible changes.
“This money is what funds student orgs, and it is important to the campus and campus life,” Montalvo said. “We’re glad this money is being spent, but obviously we are seeing it’s going fast. It’s important everyone knows we are doing this for a reason and this is for their benefit.”
“So, if a law be in opposition to the Constitution, if both the law and the Constitution apply to a particular case, so that the Court must either decide that case conformably to the law, disregarding the Constitution, or conformably to the Constitution, disregarding the law, the Court must determine which of these conflicting rules governs the case. This is of the very essence of judicial duty.”
In Marbury v. Madison, the first precedent, and arguably the most important, establishes the Supreme Court’s power of judicial review. This doctrine gives federal and state courts alike the power to declare executive acts and legislation unconstitutional. But Marbury v. Madison was decided 219 years ago. How does judicial review affect judicial power today?
Currently, the Supreme Court bench sits at a 7-3 balance. Our Supreme Court justices include Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, Neil Gorsuch, Brett Kavanaugh, Amy Coney Barrett and Ketanji Brown Jackson. When the Supreme Court releases a decision, that decision sets a prece
interpreter of the Constitution.” So, even according to the Supreme Court, their main function is to act as interpreters of the Constitution when it comes to interpreting cases.
To examine some of the judicial power and the effects of judicial interpretation, let’s examine Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA) v. President and Fellows of Harvard College. This case deals with Affirmative Action and its interactions with the college admissions process.
The Court has upheld the use of Affirmative Action in college admissions processes on multiple accounts.
One of these accounts includes the Abigail Fisher case, Fisher v.
University of Texas. This case is one of a select few where the Supreme Court pretty much entirely agrees on something.
In Fisher v. University of Texas, the plaintiff, Abigail Fisher argued that due to Affirmative Action, she was not admitted to the University of Texas. The
ply one factor to diversify the campus, which falls under precedent set by Grutter v. Bollinger.
In SFFA v. President and Fellows of Havard College, we see a similar argument with a strangely different outcome. In this case, there isn’t a singular individual who is challenging this precedent, it’s a political organization. SFFA is an organization dedicated to “color-blind college admissions”. On their website, there is a submission box that reads, “Were You Rejected from a College or University?” SFFA is a political organization that advances the idea that Affirmative Action is bad for everyone. The truth is, Affirmative Action allows for there to be designated places for minorities at collegiate institutions that may not be there without Affirmative Action. What some white people, especially those within SFFA, believe is that making spaces for minorities through Affirmative Action takes away from a white person's place, when in real -
Supreme Court ruled in their favor.
But, how does this decision affect people? This is where the question of judicial power comes into play. The Supreme Court made the decision to effectively end Affirmative Action at collegiate institutions, declaring that “race may not play a factor in the college admissions process”. This means that the decades that DEI officers have worked to integrate diversity and inclusion into admissions processes go out the window, as collegiate institutions are no longer allowed to pursue these notions. It also opens the doors for future cases against integrated diversity in the college admissions process.
One of the main reasons that the Supreme Court can be so dangerous is because the justices who serve on the Court serve life terms, and their ideology or the way they perceive the constitution could inevitably affect everyone. So, the same people that reverse decisions that have served as precedent for decades of law because it isn’t verbally written in the constitution will serve on that same court until they die or retire, whichever comes first. Whether people want to pay attention to judicial power will not weaken the power that they have. While they cannot rule on any other cases but the ones that make their way up to them, the cases that do affect almost all Americans.
Judicial power can be cloudy, but, what is very clear is that the power the Supreme Court has, in the wrong hands, can be very dangerous. We can see that in the recent precedent reversals we’ve seen. The only unelected body within our government has been passing down legal rulings that affect the entirety of America, and it’s time that we revise the power and formatting of the Supreme
As a contested race, these two candidates are meeting people, knocking on doors and putting out yard signs to obtain the vote of the citizens of the 4th Ward. Hawbaker explained that experience is crucial and that he has gained it through his years of work in local government’s judicial and executive branches, “We all want what is good for the city. What I bring to the table is varied experience; I was in private (legal) practice for ten years. I’ve worked with banks, hospitals businesses, as well as county government and courts. The communication skills that I have developed over the years, which I can tell you I did not have that understanding thirty years ago, have allowed me to learn what experience really is.”
Groothuis is the younger of the two candidates; he believes that his youth and fresh connections with UNI will help facilitate more robust relationships in the community, “I believe that I would connect better than my opponent with the students. I have siblings that are at UNI, I know current professors and administration.” Groothuis also stated, regarding building community relationships, “While they say the young perspective is great when it comes time actually to listen, I don’t think they always want that diversity of opinion. If the students want someone more established, they have a very clear choice. If they want a younger perspective that can still be connected and has the finger on the pulse of the students, I’d be happy to meet and talk with them just like in this interview.”
These candidates will debate the issues to the public at Cedar Falls City Hall on Wednesday, Oct.14, 2023, at 7 p.m. All interested parties are welcome to attend. Also, both candidates encourage the public to learn more on their respective websites, hawbaker4cf.com and groothuisforcedarfalls.com. Groothuis and Hawbaker both encourage citizens and students to contact their campaigns with questions or concerns they may have.
Election day is Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2023, and early next year, Cedar Fall’s 4th Ward will have a new council member representing its borders.
It’s time we revise the power and formatting of the Supreme Court to fit a growing contemporary nationCOURTESY PHOTO ILLUSTRATION/KMD Architects Iowa’s Supreme Court building, pictured above.
The polarization in the United States political scene today is no secret. Those general feelings have been extended to the judicial system as well, especially in the last couple of years. Decisions like the Dobbs v. Jackson decision last summer which overturned Roe v. Wade have caused division and undermined confidence. Even President Biden has described the Supreme Court and its decisions as “radical,” “extreme” and “not normal,” according to White House records and AP News.
What should the ordinary American’s reaction be? It often seems like people will support the courts when they make decisions that agree with their policy preferences and be quick to bash the courts when they do not. Should people be more consistent in their reactions to judicial decisions?
According to professor Scott Peters, the head of the Department of Political Science here at UNI, people often react differently to courts now because of people’s perceptions of what a judge should be. “The courts are political institutions. The decisions they make are political. There's often a desire to treat courts differently as legal institutions that are somehow outside of politics ... If you ask someone what makes a good judge, they'll probably say something like being independent and impartial … To the extent that judges break from those conceptions of what people think good judges are, they put their own legitimacy at risk.”
He also noted that federal judges are often primarily appointed based on their
federal legislative process was designed to not move too fast and make sweeping changes.
Especially in such polarized times, it can be difficult for a president to pass laws promised to voters. So, the president will often use executive action to try to move forward. When a president oversteps his executive authority, it brings conflict with the judicial branch. One arena where this has played out has been in federal district courts where a judge can file an injunction on a federal policy passed through executive action.
“Regardless of whether it's an injunction against the Democratic or Republican policy, to be able to sort of forum shop, find one ideological judge and have that judge stop national policy in its tracks. It's probably not a great idea,” Peters said. That is a valid concern. Should one federal district judge be able to put a federal policy on hold if it does not directly violate individual rights?
The Constitution creates a system of checks and balances on the three branches of government. When the overstep of administrative authority is checked by the judicial branch, people often react to the judicial branch’s decision instead of the overstep that started it. Many of the major cases decided by the Supreme Court in the last two years have been related to the power of executive agencies. In Biden v. Nebraska, the Supreme Court ruled in a 6-3 decision that the Secretary of Education did not have the right to forgive student loans under the Higher Education Relief Opportunities for Students (HEROS) Act. Two separate decisions in the last two years limited the authority
And in January of 2022, the Supreme Court blocked the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OHSA) from passing an Emergency Temporary Standard of a vaccine-or-test mandate for large businesses.
If both the executive and judicial branches seem to be seizing too much authority, then the branch to put a check on both should be the legislative branch. The Constitution gives Congress some regulatory authority over the Supreme Court and especially over lower federal courts. Constitutional amendment would be a way to alter the Court. There have been ideas proposed to change parts of the Court’s structure, including term limits.
One idea that generated controversy was a plan to “pack” the Supreme Court. In 2021, Democrats proposed legislation to increase the number of justices from nine to 13. There have been attempts to get the bill passed since, but it has not happened, in part due to reluctance by Biden.
The last time there was a serious push to expand the Supreme Court was under Franklin Roosevelt. The Court opposed some of Roosevelt’s New Deal legislation, so he formulated a plan to appoint a new Justice for every Justice over 70 years of age, which at the time would have allowed him to appoint six new justices. The plan failed, as the legislation was eventually tabled in the Senate. It faced a lot of opposition then as a plan to simply create a court that would rubber-stamp his decisions.
This is similar to the push to expand now. Democrats feel that since Republican-
appointed justices 6-3, four more justices would balance the Court out in their favor. The problem is this essentially destroys the Court’s independence and makes it a third branch of legislation for the majority party. If Democrats expanded the Court to switch its ideological positions, why wouldn’t Republicans do the same thing if they won the
in those countries is parties taking power legally, being very popular, and then once they're in power and they have a large majority, changing the rules to favor their side and make it harder for the other side to win. And so, this dynamic can be a bad thing for democracy overall.”
The other is in the backand-forth pushing on the limits of power. Peters pointed out, “There are some who look at the health of democracies and sort of trends and say that that kind of exercise of power without forbearance is not a good thing because what it does is it means that when the other party gains control, they're not going to exercise any sort of self-restraint ... so you'll have this sort of seesawing back and forth.”
majority in future elections?
In a process like this, it’s conceivable the Court could grow exponentially and essentially lose its function as a check on the other two branches.
There is a danger in making sweeping changes to institutions for the purpose of immediate satisfaction. One side wants a law passed, and so they legally change the rules of the game. This is a concern to political scientists, according to Peters. There are two risks. One is in pushing things to the max and fixing the rules and boundaries to give one party such an advantage as to essentially create a one-party State. Peters remarked that we’ve seen this play out in countries around the world.
“If we look at countries like
Even though some things may technically be legal if one side pushes the limits, there are ethical concerns and reasons why doing so may be harmful in the end. Making sweeping institutional changes can be reckless and have massive consequences.
While some people look at the Supreme Court and our judicial system as a whole as having too much power, it is often operating as the check it should be on oversteps of the executive branch and administrative agencies. The increasing division in political opinion and policy is unlikely to go away anytime soon, including in courts, but making sweeping changes could potentially increase that division and create more problems down the road. While we may not always agree with judicial decisions, the American system of government has proven to be arguably the most successful in history at guaranteeing rights and freedom to its citizens. It has balanced out before, and it still works today.
While we may not always agree with judicial decisions, the American system of government has proven to be arguably the most successful in history at guaranteeing the rights and freedom to its citizensOpinion Columnist
pumpkin bowling, witch hat ring toss, hay bale climbing, pedal kart racing, basketball and playing in the corn pit.
I love watching people enjoy their time here. It is really fun to see,” Abby said.
It’s the Great Pumpkin, Cedar Falls!
Even though Charlie Brown and the gang were unable to see the Great Pumpkin, Cedar Falls residents and UNI students may have a chance at finding even better pumpkins at a local pumpkin patch.
The Patch, located at 305 Roosevelt Street, is a family-owned and operated business that offers two separate areas for customers to explore.
The retail area offers free admission for customers to purchase a variety of pumpkins, cornstalks, hay bales, mums, squash and more. The indoor area offers candles, t-shirts, fall decorations, tote bags, jewelry, socks, soap, hot and cold drinks and many more goodies.
The admission area offers a $5 admission for kids and adults to explore various fall games and activities such as
Customers can also make use of the fall photo ops displayed around the grounds. The business accepts both cash and debit/credit cards.
The Patch is open Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday from 1-6 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. The business started their fifth season of operation on Sept. 16 and the season will run through Oct. 31.
The Patch is owned by Darron and Debbie Olson and their family. Darron is an entrepreneur and one day decided to sell pumpkins, utilizing a building the family owned. The idea only grew from there.
Darron and Debbie’s daughters Liz, Alex and Abby also help run the business. Abby graduated from UNI in the spring of 2022 and majored in Marketing.
“My favorite part is bringing something to the community.
The Olson family creates all of the items featured in the retail and admission areas and they begin prepping for the season in the summer. The family also grows all of the pumpkins they sell with the help of local farmers.
“Before opening this, I had never seen so many pumpkins before…apparently there are a lot of different ones out there,” Abby said.
The Patch offers over 20 varieties of pumpkins to purchase. Abby said that her favorite kind of pumpkin is the “fairy tale” pumpkin which is technically known as a black futsu.
Abby also mentioned how her family members are vendors at the Cedar Falls Farmers Market. She and her husband, Brandon, also plan to open a bookstore, The Nook, on Main Street in November. The couple will move into the space where Miss Wonderful was located prior to its closing.
Other than offering two areas for customers to explore, The Patch also hosts birthday parties, work out
open a haunted house within their building in the next two years.
Those wanting to learn more about the Patch can visit
Well over 400 years old and guarding campus for the past 122 years, the two cannons facing the east entrance of campus in front of Lang Hall have a long but largely unknown history harkening all the way back to 1565. They were originally used by Pedro Menendez, a Spanish navigator who founded Ft. Marion, the oldest fortification in North America.
Menendez installed 80 large siege cannons in defense against the British on Ft. Marion, and in the following centuries from 1565 onwards, the fort alternated control between the British and Spanish. The cannons were used in 1702 and again in 1741 when British troops attempted to capture Ft. Marion to run the Spanish out of Florida.
In 1821, Florida was sold to the United States and the
old cannons were torn out of the fort to make room for new weaponry. They remained discarded on a sandy beach at Ft. Marion where they laid unbothered until 1901 when Cedar Falls resident James
Brownell Post secured the cannons from the war department.
On June 10, 1901 the two cannons were formally presented on UNI’s campus, (then known as the Iowa State Normal School) in conjunction with the Quarter Centennial anniversary commencement exercises. For a brief period, piles of cannon balls were placed along with the cannons.
According to an article
published in a 1961 edition of the College Eye (now known as the Northern Iowan), “The two cannons are among the very few remaining relics of the early Spanish navigators to be seen anywhere besides being the oldest armament belonging to the United States.”
Now rusted over, eerily silent and generally lost to history, the cannons will continue to guard campus for many years to come.
On June 10, 1901 the two cannons were formally presented on UNI’s campusCATHERINE CROW The cannons in front of Lang Hall, pictured today. COURTESY/SPECIAL COLLECTIONS Former UNI students admire one of the cannons located outside of what is now known as Lang Hall.
The UNI volleyball team had seen a lot of time on the road lately, but finally had a chance to play in the McLeod Center, hosting a tournament this weekend. On Thursday, Sept. 14, they went up against North Dakota, and on Friday, Sept. 15, they matched up with #25 Dayton. The Panthers split these two games, winning the home opener against North Dakota, and falling to a solid Dayton team.
The Panthers started their hosted tournament with a matchup against North Dakota. The first set saw a lot of back-and-forth action, as neither team managed any big runs throughout. It stuck close the whole way, as the two teams were knotted up at 22 points towards the end. The Panthers came up huge to finish up the set, as Olivia Tjernagel got a kill for the lead, and Kira Fallert finished it up in exciting fashion with back-to-back aces.
The win in the first set carried over for the Panthers into the second, as they came out strong with a 10-6 lead. The Panthers were able to slightly extend the lead at 14-8. It looked like they might run away with it, but
the Fighting Hawks stuck around and brought it within three at 19-16. Although North Dakota managed to stick around, they did not get back enough to top the Panthers. UNI went on a bit of a run to finish things off, winning the second set 25-17.
Going into the third set, it was all Panthers early. On the back of seven kills and two aces, they came out to a staggering 13-1 lead. It looked like they might just run away with things, but North Dakota kept fighting the rest of the set. Despite their efforts, they could not do enough to overcome the early deficit. The Panthers completed the sweep of North Dakota, 25-19.
The Panthers had an impressive sweep of North Dakota on Thursday, but it was going to be tough to get it done in a matchup against a ranked Dayton team on Friday. Dayton jumped out to a slim lead in the early going, and managed to stay just a point or two ahead of the Panthers throughout the majority of the set. That was until UNI tied it up at 19, and soon after took their first lead at 21-20. The game went back and forth the rest of the way, and the Panthers had a chance to take the victory when they were at game
point, 24-23. A service error by Erin Powers allowed the Flyers to tie it up, and they scored the next two points to take the first set over the Panthers, 26-24.
In the second set, the Panthers held a slim lead early, but the Flyers scored five straight and claimed a 14-11 lead. They maintained late into the game, and the Panthers were in some trouble when down 20-16. With the help of two kills by
Layanna Green, the Panthers mustered a 5-1 run when they needed it most to tie it up at 21. Like in the prior set though, the Flyers were able to get it done in the clutch, finishing the game on a 4-1 run to defeat the Panthers 25-22.
In the third set, the Flyers were looking to close out the Panthers, and they came out of the gates quickly with a 6-1 lead. UNI managed to rebound well though, and
had the game tied at 12 later. The game went back and forth, but just like they did in the first two sets, the Flyers had the push in the end. They finished the game on an 8-2 run, and completed the sweep of the Panthers, 25-19.
Following the two games, the Panthers record moved to 5-6. They finished up play in the tournament on Saturday, Sep. 17, with a game against Nortthern Illinois.
MICHAEL SPAHN Sports Writer
The Panthers finished second in the Northern Iowa tournament, capping it off with a victory over Northern Illinois on Saturday. The Panther offense started off hot with a 3-0 lead thanks to back-to-back kills from Layanna Green. Emily Holterhaus followed that up with a kill of her own. Green added another kill, extending the Panthers lead to 6-0. Soon after, Holterhaus, Green, Olivia Tjernagel, and Kira Fallert combined for seven points to extend the lead to 13-4 Panthers. The Panthers then went on a 7-5 run which gave them a 20-9 lead. Towards the end of set one, Kaylissa Arndorfer stepped up with a key block to make it 22-9 and a kill shortly after to make it 24-11. The Panthers finished off the Huskies with an ace, taking set one 25-11.
Holterhaus got the Panthers going in set two with three straight kills.
With the Panthers leading 7-2, the Huskies put up three straight points to cut the lead to 7-5. Green responded with two kills to make it 9-6 Panthers. Fallert continued the Panthers offensive run with five straight kills to make it 14-9. Holterhaus added two kills of her own to make it 18-13. With the Panthers winning 20-16 in the set, Tjernagel fired away back-to-back kills to extend the lead to 22-16. The Panthers ended up taking set two by a score of 25-17.
Holterhaus once again sparked the offense, accounting for three of the Panthers six points to start set three. After Northern Illinois cut the lead to 8-5, Fallert responded with two kills to give the Panthers a 10-5 lead. Later in the match, the Panthers got help off the bench from Megan Witte, as she put up two consecutive kills to extend the Panther lead to 15-9. The Huskies didn’t go down without a fight, as they went on a 8-1 run and took a
17-16 lead towards the end of set three. Coach Peterson called timeout to address her team.
“We kept it game-plan specific,” Peterson said in her postgame press conference. “It’s easy if it’s one specific thing that’s causing that run, but when
it’s a number of different things it’s more challenging.” The Panthers ended up pulling away thanks to a block by Fallert, and an ace by Grace Mikota to make it 22-18. After a point by Taylor Alden, a Husky error awarded the Panthers set three, evidently sweeping
Northern Illinois 3-0. The Panthers placed second in the tournament with a record of 2-1. They defeated North Dakota and Northern Illinois, and lost to Dayton. The Panthers improve to 6-6 overall as they start conference play on Friday versus Bradley.
UNI lost their first game after going 8-0-1 in the 2023 season,
season.
back of the net.
The Panthers’ eightmatch unbeaten streak ended Sunday afternoon as they fell to Drake 2-1. UNI attempted to make another historic come from behind victory as they trailed 2-0, but ultimately came up short, losing 2-1.
Macy Smith was the lone goal scorer for the Panthers, scoring her sixth goal of the 2023 season, resulting in a tie for fifth in Panther history for goals scored in a single-season. She joins current teammate Lauren Heinsch who scored six goals in the 2021
UNI Head Coach Bruce Erickson gave credit to Drake following the defeat. “They were the aggressor and we just couldn’t find a rhythm to the game … Macy [Smith] got us one back but we just weren’t quite good enough on the day.”
The Panthers had an early scoring opportunity to start the game, but the Bulldogs pounced first by a goal from Drake’s Zoey Mahoney. Mahoney, with a little luck on her side, threw the ball in play from the left touchline where it deflected off of Caitlin Richards and into the
Drake looked to add to their total when another scoring opportunity failed to accumulate any goals thanks to Richards. Drake’s Angel Gutierrez was one-on-one with Richards when she made a gutsy save to keep the game at 1-0.
After trading opportunities for the remainder of the opening period, the Panthers went into the break with a 1-0 deficit.
Coming out of the break, Drake was back on the attack as Gutierrez crossed the ball into the box in the 58th minute where Emma Nagel sent
it past Richards to give the Bulldogs a 2-0 lead.
The Panthers looked to regroup offensively by making substitutions in an attempt to notch another comeback victory in the win column. The pressure paid dividends as UNI scored in the 66th minute following Smith’s goal.
Smith intercepted a slow pass from a Bulldog defender and fired a shot into the empty net to cut the lead to a manageable 2-1 deficit.
UNI kept the attack on as they looked for an equalizer, but failed to even the score, ending their unbeaten streak
with a valiant effort.
Smith’s lone goal marked the 26th goal on the season for UNI, which is currently fourth all time in program history for most goals scored in a season for the Panthers. They are one goal away from tying the 2017 team with 27 goals in a season with 10 regular season games remaining on their schedule.
The Panthers return home with two MVC matches next week. UNI will host UIC on Thursday at 3 p.m. and will host Southern Illinois on Sunday at 12 p.m. Both matches will be streamed on ESPN+.
Sept. 21 (Thu) 3 p.m. vs UIC
Cedar Falls, Iowa (UNI Soccer Field)
Sept. 24 (Sun) 12 p.m. vs Southern Illinois
Cedar Falls, Iowa (UNI Soccer Field)
Oct. 1 (Sun) 12 p.m. vs Indiana State
Cedar Falls, Iowa (UNI Soccer Field)
Oct. 5 (Thu) 3 p.m. at Murray State Murray, Ky. (Cutchin Field)
Oct. 8 (Sun) 2 p.m. at Belmont Nashville, Tenn. (E.S. Rose Park)
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NICOLE WATERS Sports Writer
The UNI Football team found their momentum this weekend with a big 41-17 win over Idaho State. The Panthers started out with a 91-yard march downfield on its opening possession after forcing Idaho State to punt on its first possession and then leading the Panthers to score a touchdown via a run from Tye Edwards.
On the next possession, Tate Sander forced a fumble by the Bengals. This allowed the Panthers to respond with a two play, 65-yard touchdown drive with a pair of receptions
capped by a 54-yard touchdown by Sam Schnee. Idaho State would respond a few minutes later with a 49-yard field goal, making the score 14-3 Panthers.
Matthew Cook had two field goals from 26 and 47 yards thanks to receptions from Layne Pryor and Schnee.
Cordarrius Bailey’s first sack of the season helped give possession back to the Panthers. Idaho State tried to make an effort to score as the first half was coming to an end, until Edwin Dearman intercepted Jordan Cooke at the Panthers own 9-yard line. The Panthers were able to capitalize on the turnover and score as Day found Schnee for his second
touchdown in the final seconds of the half, boosting the Panthers to a 27-3 lead.
UNI started off strong in the second half thanks to a 32-yard catch from Schnee. Harrison Bey-Buie would find the end zone marking his first rushing touchdown of the year. The Bengals would make their way to their end zone in the final seconds of the third quarter and score on a one-yard run making the score 34-10.
The Panthers would then respond on the next drive with a 12 yard touchdown run by Josh Jenkins and the first touchdown of his career, and help push the lead to 41-10. The Bengals then made way down field and scored their second touchdown of the day, making the score 41-17. Theo Day finished the day with a career high 388 passing yards and two touchdown passes.
Schnee tallied 174 receiving yards on seven catches, and Jenkins led the Panthers in the running game with 69 rushing yards. Bailey had a career
high three sacks while Jahsiah Galvan had ten total tackles, to lead the team, and seven solo stops. Corry Thomas Jr. and Sander both tallied six tackles as well. With a big win over Idaho State, Head Coach Mark Farley records his 175th victory of his coaching career.
