10-13-22

Then and now: HOCO on the Hill

1996

College Street by the Hill open to traffic on Friday of Homecoming weekend for first time since 1996 riots

For the first time since the riots of 1996, the 2200 block of College Street, known as the Hill, remained open to vehi cle traffic on the Friday of Homecoming week.

As Acting Chief of Police for the Cedar Falls Police Department Mark Howard said, the department didn’t see a need for the street to be closed this year.

“This year we agreed to

not close it on Friday night for the reason that we just didn’t think we were going to have the crowd, and we didn’t,” he said. “Friday nights tend to be real slow, this year was really slow. As a matter of fact, [last] Friday night was slower than most normal Friday nights,” he said.

According to Howard, the size of the crowds on the Hill has significantly decreased since the 90s. “Saturday nights are still busy, but we don’t tend to see the large crowds that we

UNI campus goes bananas

OLIVIA BRUNSTING

The week leading up to Homecoming is usually one filled with fun, food and tra ditions. This year was no exception and even included an unexpected surprise known to the student body as “banana week.”

Many students were puz zled when they started find ing bananas planted all around campus.

“I’ve spotted 41 bananas on campus, mainly on sculptures, we really have a serial banana dit on the loose at campus!”

UNI freshman Mia GreenwellSherman said. “I think it’s fun to look for them like a scaven ger hunt.”

These fruits were most commonly found on sculptures

and signs; however, there is no limit to the creativity of the “bananadits.”

The Northern Iowan spoke with two of the members that were involved in this activity. However, the group as a whole has decided to stay anony mous.

“For us, we chose places where the most people would see them and where it would be hardest for people to reach,” member 1 said. “We did this with bananas in mind since they’re biodegradable.”

“Some required climbing experiences and others incred ible balance and agility, and we had different skill sets all around for the banana place ment,” member 2 added. “A couple we just had to throw and pray.”

They shared that one of the

most creative and challenging placements was at the UNIDome.

“There were many high platforms and hard to reach areas that forced us to quit monkeying around and put our brains together,” member 2 said. “Me and three other gen tlemen learned how to lift one of our banana bandits up in the air to a height I had never seen before in a matter of minutes, and it allowed for multiple suc cessful placements.”

The banana sightings aren’t just restricted to the people who are deliberately searching for them though. Some stu dents have found the produce when they least expected it.

“We have had bananas put in through book drops at the library and have found them on the bikes out front as well,”

saw years ago,” he said.

College Street was still closed off on Saturday night due to the expected larger crowd compared to Friday. However, the street closed at 9 p.m. rather than 8 p.m. as in years past.

The decrease in police involvement on the Hill is a sign of times, as 26 years earli er, Homecoming weekend was anything but “slow.”

Mi visita a México

OSCAR IBARRA MURILLO Escritor Invitado MAYRA VILLANUEVA Editora en espanol

Nota editorial: Esta es una colaboración especial con la clase de español avanzado de la escuela secundaria de Marshalltown. Se le quiere agradecer al escritor, Oscar Ibarra Murillo por su contri bución al periódico estudian til y dedicación al escribir su historia.

Este verano fui a México por cinco semanas con mi padre, madrastra y hermanos. El plan era pasar la primera semana en Michoacán con la familia de mi padre y después mis hermanos y yo nos iría mos a Guanajuato con nues tra madre por el resto de las vacaciones. Nos levantamos a las tres de la mañana y manejamos a Chicago, pero llegamos tarde al aeropuerto y tuvimos que tomar el avión seis horas después. Fue un rato frustrante pero cuando al fin llegamos a Guadalajara allí nos esperaban unos amigos de mi padre y nos llevaron a Michoacán.

revealed Senior Stettson Smith who also works as a library stu dent manager at Rod Library.

Member 2 shared that the book drops and returned bikes weren’t the only place in Rod that they put the bananas.

“There was one on a window sill on Rod Library that we had to continuously toss and hope it would balance,” member 2 said.

COURTESY/MIA GREEN-SHERMAN

Bananas began appearing around campus the week leading up to Homecoming. The panther statue by Maucker Union fell victim to the so-called “banana week.”

CAMPUS LIFE UNI athletes gath ered for the third annual Unity Walk.

Columnist Kamyar Enshayan compares extremism in Iran to sentiments rising in the U.S.

Former Panther and Super Bowl MVP Kurt Warner returns to UNI for Homecoming festivities.

COURTESY/NI ARCHIVES & FACEBOOK

A student submitted the photo on the left from the scene of the 1996 Homecoming riots on the Hill, which culminated in overturning vehicles and smashing the windows of a Kum & Go. The photo collage on the right showing police offers posing with people out this Homecoming was shared on Facebook this past Sunday by Cedar Falls Public Safety with the caption, “University of Northern Iowa, thanks for a safe Homecoming!”

VISITA

En Michoacán viven mis primos, tías, y otros famil iares de nuestro padre. Fue una experiencia interesante en el rancho donde había vacas, puercos y gallos tam bién fuimos a eventos y fiestas locales que fueron muy divertidos. La segun da semana mis hermanos y yo nos alistamos para ir a Guanajuato a visitar a nuestra madre y hermanita Génesis. Me gustó jugar a Génesis y también estar con mi madre porque no la había visto por un año. Génesis es una bebé muy alegre y deseo pasar mucho más tiempo con

ellas. Platiqué mucho con mi madre sobre muchas cosas pero unas de las más inte resantes fue sobre la músi ca. A ambos nos gusta la música que es muy conoci da en la cultura mexicana. Ella me introdujo a cantantes mexicanos, especialmente de Guanajuato, como Lefty, SM y Santa Fe Klan. Desde que regresé de Guanajuato, escucho mucho más el rap mexicano y he aprendido más español haciéndolo.

Una gran diferencia entre Michoacán y Guanajuato, y por lo que pude experimen tar, Michoacán es un lugar más tradicional de música, y estilo de vida rancho y Guanajuato es muy similar

al estilo en Estados Unidos. Hicimos muchas más cosas en Guanajuato como visitar otros pueblos y ciudades, ir al cine, comprar cosas, y otros eventos. Por ejemplo, uno de los viajes más emo cionantes fue cuando nos fui mos a Moroleón, Guanajuato donde compré ropa de tien ditas. Algo interesante de México es que cada pueb lo celebra cuando se fundó.

Este año nos fuimos a la fiesta de La Magdalena y a la fiesta de La Angostura. En las dos fiestas había una banda, paseos de carnaval y mucha comida. Y en la fiesta de La Angostura estuvo Los Felinos, un grupo musical mexicano muy reconocido,

pero no supe hasta cuándo se había terminado la feria.

Ese mes pasó muy rápido y me puse triste cuando era la hora de regresarnos. Hablé con mi madre los últimos días y me dijo cuánto nos iba a extrañar y lo difícil que es para ella vivir en Guanajuato sin nosotros. Disfruté mi tiempo en México y cada vez que voy mi perspec tiva cambia un poco más. Desde que empecé a trabajar comencé a enviar remesas a mi madre en México.

Esta experiencia me dio otra perspectiva de cómo viven los mexicanos, aprendí más sobre la cultura y la importancia de visitar a la familia.

its and energizing atmosphere that characterize the area may regain their strength–safely.

The events the night of Saturday, Oct. 12, 1996, fol lowing UNI’s Homecoming football game have come to be known as the “riots of ‘96.”

After an evening of raucous celebrations, the 2200 block of College Street was closed to through traffic around 11:30 p.m., and businesses on the Hill were ordered by Cedar Falls Public Safety to stop serving alcohol and shut down around 12:15 a.m.

The enormous crowd, expelled from the bars, pro ceeded to become unruly, over turning vehicles and smashing the windows of a Kum & Go.

Over 24 individuals, most of whom were under the age of 21, were arrested that night.

After the riots of ‘96, Howard said, the street had been closed every Friday and Saturday of Homecoming weekend until this year. In the early 2000s, the police also tried placing bar riers surrounding the edge of the road so no pedestrians were allowed in the middle of the street as a form of crowd con trol.

He continued, saying that some of the specific issues that contributed to the riots of ‘96 are no longer present. For many years, pedestrian safety has been the main motivation behind closing the street.

“The years I was in charge of Homecoming as the night shift commander, I liked it

NORTHERN IOWAN

closed down because I just didn’t want to see anybody get hit,” he said. “The more traffic we have going up and down that road, the more dangerous it is, so we’ve always closed it.”

Alongside keeping the street open, Howard said the depart ment also had more officers in vehicles this year rather than walking around.

“We’re trying to be more mobile as was the wish of some of the business owners, and we’re trying to be in better partnership with some of the business owners,” he said.

When asked why the crowd sizes on the Hill have decreased, Howard cited a shift in culture.

“Your [age] group tends to entertain themselves more at home,” he said. “Whether it be video games or social media, electronics plays a big part in why we don’t see the big crowds anymore.

Aside from the Hill, Howard said that the Cedar Falls Police Department has also seen fewer large house parties in recent years, likely due to the City of Cedar Falls placing increased code restrictions on landlords relating to noise violations.

Howard added that the amount of activity on the Hill has leveled out for the most part, and they’ve seen about the same sized crowds for the

past few years. He predicts that the police presence on the Hill will continue to change over the next year as they continue to adjust to the smaller crowds. However, they will continue to monitor the area closely.

“Our big fear is if something does happen, and we’re not ready,” Howard said. “We’ve always got to be a little bit pro active and make sure we have the things in place to respond if something does happen and to get ahead of it, but we just aren’t seeing near the crowds we used to see.”

While the activity on the Hill isn’t what it used to be, Howard is optimistic that the high spir

“I think the [College Hill] Partnership is working desper ately to rebuild some of that culture on the Hill, and I sup port that,” he said. “I was a UNI student and I can tell you, in the early ‘90s, we lived up here. We had a great time up here, and I’d love to see that come back.”

The relationship between the student community and the Cedar Falls Police Department has also greatly changed since the riots of ‘96.

“The student culture has changed. There’s a lot of respect students give us to where we trust them,” Howard said.

According to Howard, over 65 percent of the Cedar Falls officers have four-year degrees, many of whom attended UNI.

“We have UNI students that work for us,” Howard contin ued. “I have several officers who are still in school at UNI, so we’re a young force that understands the younger cul ture, and many of us are still part of it,”

Howard reminded the com munity that at the end of the day, the police have one priori ty: safety.

“Enforcement is part of it… but really our proactiveness is to provide safety for the students who choose to go have fun on those nights,” he said. “When you see that large amount of police out that night, it’s just because we want everyone to be safe.”

LETTERS TO THE

ADVISORS

CIRCULATION

ELIZABETH

SEND US STORY IDEAS

COURTESY/CEDAR FALLS TOURISM & VISITORS BUREAU

COURTESY/OSCAR IBARRA MURILLO Génesis, la hermanita de Oscar Ibarra en su visita a México.

Ask your local immigrant

KAMYAR ENSHAYAN Guest Columnist mantle everything about our democracy!

Editor’s Note: Kamyar Enshayan works at UNI and served on the Cedar Falls City Council (2003-2011).

He can be reached at ken shayan@gmail.com

I was born in Iran and grew up there until I was 19. I managed to leave Iran in 1978, just as the extreme religion-based regime took over. For the past 44 years, we have seen their brutality towards the people of Iran, especially towards women, journalists, native peoples of Iran and anyone else who simply supports a more dem ocratic process.

The recent killings in Iran is just the normal daily func tioning of what a dictator ship approach to governing looks like. We immigrants who have escaped these sit uations to come to the U.S. have experienced these first hand, and know the tragedy of it. And that’s why I am shocked and scared to see the ugliness of extremism and hate mongering emerg ing and gaining traction right here in the U.S. It looks like we are allowing it, tolerating it and actually voting for those who say they will dis

I am astonished to see that many elected officials (and some running for pub lic office) continue to say that they will not accept election results unless they win, even when all courts have ruled that our votes are always properly count ed, and that the last elec tion was absolutely flawless. Denying factual evidence has no place in a democracy.

We celebrate our WWII veterans as heroes who lib erated Europe and the world from an authoritarian, rac ist, and hateful regime. We say they gave their life so that we live in a free coun try! And yet we are tolerat ing and actually voting for people who are promising to dismantle it all and pro mote hate towards others, totally dishonoring all who have served our country.

For those of us who have endured lawlessness and “no government,” this is a very scary development. It is an aggressive cancer that must be treated immediately. We are not that far behind Iran.

These are clear signs that we are falling for deception.

All things that we cherish about our nation are being devalued and diminished as

evidenced by lying elected officials, treating women as second-class citizens, pro moting hate towards others, polluting industries trash ing this American land and the delusion that we are a Christian nation (mean ing all others are inferior). People in Iran wished their vote counted, in order to free themselves from the brutali

ty of extremism.

In the U.S. we have an amazing and accountable system of voting, but it seems like some people want more extremism and brutali ty!

We know we have better American stories; we know hate should not prevail. We are full of great ideas, we are loving and caring and

we innovate to make our communities better. The only antidote for the slip pery slope of a weakening democracy is citizens (not Democrats vs. Republicans) who are on the ball, paying attention and fully weighing in. This is an emergency. Everything about our nation depends on us electing better people.

Tonya Harding needs grace–not everyone is perfect

ABIGAIL SAATHOFF Opinion Columnist

On Jan. 6, 1994, Nancy Kerrigan was clubbed in the knee by a jealous Tonya Harding in an effort to secure the gold medal at the Olympics for herself.

Right? That’s the story we all learned in class, and that’s the story we choose to believe.

In reality, a much different story took place, one that the media elected to ignore in favor of a different story. The story that I told above is the story where Harding faced merciless scru tiny for an act she didn’t even commit.

Thinking only of the facts, here’s how the story went: On Jan. 6, 1994, Kerrigan was attacked after her practice ses sion, by a masked man, later revealed to be Shane Stant, who whacked her with a collapsible police baton on her lower thigh.

The attack left her with severe bruising, and unable to com plete the following day. After the attack, a video of Kerrigan’s reaction circulated through the

media, one of Kerrigan on the ground screaming “why.”

Initially, Harding didn’t seem to have any involvement, but as the story unfolded, and more and more people from Harding’s inner circle began to appear in the story, the more the assumptions about Harding’s involvement grew, with more the media latched onto said involvement.

In Harding’s side of the story, she claims that she had no involvement in the attack, and only realized in the days afterward that her ex-husband and bodyguard may have been involved, after recalling a con versation she overheard about them taking out “one of her competitors.” Because of this, she was later charged with con spiracy to hinder prosecution, where she served three years of probation and paid a $160,000 fine.

Harding became a pawn for journalists to take advantage of for the sake of a story. In an interview with the Washington Post, various journalists from the time admitted to flatten

ing Harding’s tires, having her car towed, digging through the trash at her home, rink and her coaches home, and more. Harding was also convinced her house had been bugged.

After the attack and the involvement of her inner circle began to come out, Harding was kicked off the Olympic Team by the U.S. Olympic Committee, but after suing them for $25 million, she was allowed to remain on the team. When Harding did compete, she strug gled and ended up receiving eighth, while Kerrigan earned silver.

Headlines capturing her loss were brutal. “Few Tears, No Blood as Snow White Beats Poison Dwarf,” the Irish Times declared. “A perfect Lutz, a total klutz,” screamed the New York Daily News. “Beauty crushes the Beast,” pro claimed Norwegian newspaper Dagbladet. These articles only serve to prove that the world had found its enemy, and that enemy was Harding, not the people who actually executed the attack.

But why? Why did America latch on to this story, and use it to propel Harding – Harding’s life to the depths of despair for no real reason? In the opin ion of Sarah Marshall Harding was the topic of news because she didn’t fit the picture-perfect image of the ice skating world that everyone wanted.

Harding was far from pic ture-perfect. Harding was raised in a low-income family, her mom was verbally and physi cally abusive and she worked multiple jobs in her teenage years to ensure that she could afford to skate. Harding’s story was placed in immediate oppo sition to Kerrigan’s story of the middle-class girl with a blind mother who just so happened to be picture-perfect. Even in interviews and conversations, Harding was viewed as crass and trashy, while Kerrigan was graceful and well-spoken.

Harding was viewed as white trash, while Kerrigan was viewed as a perfect angel.

For years, I’ve contemplat ed this story, listened to pod casts, read articles and more

trying to determine whether I believe Harding or not, whether or not the media’s perception of her even before the attack had an impact and more. I believe that the media latched on to Harding’s involvement even though there was no real backing to it, and racked her through the mud mercilessly, additionally, I believe Harding likely had little to no involve ment, her ex-husband was insane, and her bodyguard had dreams of growing his business. The relevance of this story has been long-standing, and ignites thoughts of media involvement in other large events.

Though I believe Harding’s side of the story, if only barely, this quote still makes me feel the slightest bit fishy.

In an article in USA Today, Harding said, “Enough apolo gizing; she has her life. I have my life. We both have wonder ful lives. That should be all that matters.”

People gathered around a burning motorcycle in Iran’s capital city, Tehran, on Oct. 8, 2022.

Many of the themes of extremism present in Iran are gaining traction in the US–why?

UNI Athletics third annual UNity walk

DIAMOND ROUNDTREE Campus Life Editor

Oct.10, 2022 marked the Third Annual UNIty walk hosted by UNI Athletics. Athletes, community mem bers, faculty and staff gath ered to bring awareness to the daily racial injustices, mental health stigma, and general issues that athletes face. The theme of the UNity walk is to create a community that supports one another. The university’s athletics depart ment will continue to have a week of unity, participating in community clean-ups and collaborating with other stu dent organizations on cam pus.

Three years ago, on Oct. 9, 2020, during the outburst of a global pandemic and the height of racial inequalities in America, a group of UNI stu dent athletes wanted to come together and bring aware ness to these issues. Andrea Greve-Coello, the associate director student athlete devel opment and inclusion, stated, “In the fall of 2020, we had many student athletes impact ed by the murder of George Floyd because it was in their hometown and right there in their community. There was a lot that happened that summer. Our student athletes were really in tune, too; they were following along and wanted to make sure that we came together as an athletic community to support one another, especially our stu dent-athletes of color.”

In the heat of these world wide events, UNI student ath letes wanted to ensure that the community addressed issues in their backyard, primarily because of all the backlash athletes faced when discuss ing social issues in main stream media. 2020 was the year to break the stigma of athletes having to be silent— their voice matters on and off the playing field.

Greve-Coello and the other staff in the athletics depart ment heard the voices and pleas for change from the student athletes and want ed to help bring their vision to life. Greve-Coello and other staff asked student-ath letes to devise a plan of action.

“We asked them right away, ‘what do you want the mes sage to be? How do you want people to feel as they leave this event? Do you want it to be a protest? Because if you do, we’ll support you. What do you want it to be?’ And so we challenged them with that.”

When discussing how they wanted to go about addressing these uncomfortable issues, student athletes didn’t want to protest or boycott. They just wanted to use their platforms. They had to say something.

“They didn’t want to pro test, and they didn’t want just, you know, something, they wanted to use their platforms; they wanted to come together,

especially because we were in the middle of a pandem ic. Just being together was hard at that time. And so this is what they came up with. And we’ve been doing the same thing every year, giving space for student-athletes and people in attendance to talk,” Greve-Coello stated.

It is imperative to con tinue the conversation of change. To speak up when issues are rising, significant ly if people you know are affected by them. Director of Athletics David Harris stress es this message. Especially the importance of the UNity walk at UNI.

“I think for us, it’s import ant because even when you make a decision, that’s

important. So you have to take action to try to rein force it. And so by doing this every year, it keeps it in the minds of our student-athletes and coaches, department and university, and hopefully the entire community, just the importance of coming togeth er for a purpose, speaking up on behalf of others that need assistance and trying to unify as a community.”

The main message that Director Harris has is speak ing up on others’ behalf. This message goes beyond the UNity walk into our everyday lives. Director Harris’s mes sage is essential, especially after being named the first Black director for UNI ath letics; the UNIty walks also affect him.

“The big thing for me is the importance of us all speaking up on behalf of each other. There’s never been any problem that I believe has been solved when only the people impacted by the prob lem are speaking up. It takes allies and friends, and sup porters to deal with any issue. And so we can’t just say that racism is an issue, sexism is an issue, or homophobia is an issue, and those impacted by it have to figure out how to solve it. It takes everybody pulling together to be able to do that. And so if you consid er yourself to be a friend or an ally of someone who falls in a group that is discriminated against or feeling like they come under fire for being who they are, then it’s your responsibility to speak up on their behalf.”

UNI

DIAMOND ROUNDTREE/NORTHERN IOWAN The UNity walk is just the kick start to a week-long of events that athletics, the community, and campus organizations will be teaming up to create change around UNI.

UNI Art Gallery presents: Elena Diane Curris Design Exhibition

NKASA BOLUMBU Staff Writer

The UNI Gallery of Art will present their “Convergence and Creation of Design: Elena Diane Curris Design Exhibition” display from Oct. 10 to Nov. 9, 2022, in the Kamerick Art building. The gallery is located at the south side of Kameick’s main floor. It’s free and open to all during regular hours, Monday through Friday 10 a.m. - 3 p.m. or through scheduled appointments. A mask and social distancing is encour aged while in the gallery.

The opening reception will begin at 6 p.m. in the Kamerick’s Art Building on the Main floor. James R. Ewald, assistant pro fessor of graphic design at Oklahoma State University, will follow up with his pub lic lecture, “Triple Double: Independent Publishing,

BANAN-IGANS

“After some deep study ing and a quick getaway we succeeded in finding the right velocity and arc for the banana,” they added.

Not only have the bananas been a hot topic on cam pus, but they have also been getting noticed by the tour groups that have recently been walking through the campus. Senior Andy Straube recently led a tour group and admitted that it was someone in the group that first noticed these scattered fruits.

“I usually have an answer for questions that prospective students or parents might ask, but last Monday, I didn’t have anything to offer for the ques tion of why there were banan as everywhere,” Straube said. “Instead I told them some thing to the effect of ‘creativ ity seems to blossom here at UNI.’”

Sensory Experiences and Visual Narratives.” The lec ture will be held in room 111 of the Kamerick Art Building.

The exhibitors are very diverse in the areas of graphic design they cover, and are accomplished educators. The exhibitors are James Ewald, Soo Hostetler, Riva Nayaju, Sang-Duck Seo, Ph.D. and Jessica Barness.

Ewald teaches undergrad uate graphic and interaction design and graduate design research courses. He is a for mer alumni of Iowa State University, where he earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in graphic design. He researches graphic nov els, sensory designs and visu al narratives. He is a partner at a risograph printing press, Cauldron Press, in Oklahoma City. Recently, his work has been exhibited around the world including China,

Straube continued, “While the bananas were certainly a bit unorthodox…[they] got a nice laugh out of the whole experience.”

Straube shared that this wasn’t the first time that they have seen bananas placed around campus. He revealed that his first interaction with the “yellow produce” was during his first year of giving tours while showing a family Hagemann Hall.

“Along our way to the bathroom, we found a banana pinned to the individu al bulletin board of one of the rooms,” Straube said. “I guess bananas really are a universally funny object to see anywhere but in the gro cery store.”

While some students kept their eyes peeled for banan as for the game-like quality, others expressed their need to be alert for other reasons.

Freshman Alaynah Rieck explained her love-hate rela tionship with the bananas on

Mexico, Japan, Taiwan and Singapore.

Co-curators Hostetler and Nayaju are both UNI asso ciate professors in graphic design. Hostetler designs are inspired by South Korean Minhwa art from the Joseon Era, which spanned from the 17th century to the 19th cen tury. She is passionate about cultural connections by blend ing social bonding with visual aesthetics. She exhibits her culture while increasing the cultural diversity of the view er. Her work has an emphasis on motion graphics and uses math proportions, music and motion integration with digi tal technology.

Nayaju is an architect and graphic designer who special izes in watercolor, typography, motion and print design. She is from Nepal, and earned her master’s degree at Oklahoma State University in 2021. Her work on tactile hand crafted

campus.

“It felt like I was play ing Mario Kart with all the bananas on the ground,” Rieck stated. “It got to the point where I thought I might need to start looking out for red shells too.” Rieck continued, “It was funny to see all the creative places people put them, but it wasn’t funny when they all ended up on the ground rotting.”

Many students have echoed a similar response once the bananas started rot ting. A majority of UNI stu dents and faculty have no idea who was behind these banana placements. Students have even expressed confu sion over how certain place ments have been possible. There is also a possibility that there are more hidden banan as that have yet to be found.

Although there are still many questions that remain unanswered, junior Noah Massey found enjoyment in

designs, blended with digital technology is motivated by her interest in fine art and illustration.

Togher, they first present ed the third iteration of the exhibit in 2018.

Seo is a professor at the University of Nevada in graphic design and media. They use Gestalt Theory to represent visual form and space. Symbolic abstraction is experimented on to improve the “visual balance between complexity and simplici ty.”

Their research is centered around humans and collecting data from empirical studies on human behaviors by using user experience and user inter face or UX/UI design.

Jessica Barness is a UNI alum who is now an associate professor of graphic design at Kent State University. Her work is based on participa tory projects and scholarship

the grand scheme of things.

“I think banana week was a lot of fun and brought more life to campus,” Massey said. The achievement of bringing life to campus aligns with the main objective of the crew’s “ban-antics.”

“A friend of mine, who was involved in these ban-an tics, showed me that someone decided to put a few banan as on their college campus,” member 2 explained. “We decided it would be a great idea to enlighten the UNI population and campus with our ability to spread banana awareness.”

Greenwell-Sherman expressed her sympathy towards the UNI groundskeep ers.

“I think as long as it only lasts a couple of days it’s not too bad,” she said. “I can see how it would be disrespectful to the groundskeepers especially if it continues.”

There have even been dis cussions about moral behav

design. She uses visual, inter active and sound based items to show how media plays an important role in the practice of media itself. Barness’s two current works relate to how the issues of power and rep resentation relate to critical practices of design.

The exhibition is in honor of Elena Diane Curris. She is an alum of UNI and the daugh ter of former UNI President Constantine Deno Curris and Jo Hern Curris. She studied at the UNI Price Lab school and attended school the same time her father was holding office. She was very passionate about graphic design. The first exhi bition in her honor was pre sented in 2018. Contributions and long term support of this display come from her family, friends and other individuals who wish to promote excel lent graphic design education here at UNI.

ior surrounding this topic. Freshman Olyvia Charlot regarded the act as “wasteful and disrespectful.”

“It might be funny, but there are so many people who can’t afford half of what we get handed daily,” said Charlot. “Being more thoughtful of the differences like that would improve our selves and the community.”

UNI’s campus has been bustling with many mixed opinions about banana week and the effect it has had on Homecoming week. Amongst all these different perspectives though is the burning ques tion of whether this anony mous group will strike again. While talking to the banana crew, they shared their hopes that this is only the beginning of their “bananigans.”

“Our bananigans were fun while they lasted,” member 2 said. “We accomplished much in a short amount of time, but our work is not over. Keep your eyes, or your bananas,

STEPHEN STARK/NORTHERN IOWAN

The UNI Art Gallery is great for relaxing and getting creative inspiration. Students can visit the exhibition during Kamerick’s regular hours.

Kurt Warner returns to UNI

CADEN SHEA Sports Writer

As a part of UNI’s 2022 homecoming weekend, one of the most famous Panthers of all returned home. Pro Football Hall of Famer Kurt Warner made his return to the Cedar Valley to celebrate UNI in their homecoming festiv ities with him and his wife Brenda being honorary VIPs for the Homecoming parade. Warner played for the UNI Panthers football team from 1989 until 1993. Warner was on the bench for many of his college years but started for the Panthers in his senior sea son. Warner went on to have a stellar career in the NFL, primarily for the St. Louis Rams and Arizona Cardinals, winning both regular season and Super Bowl MVP awards. Warner’s return after a long hiatus allowed for a lot of reflection and remembrance about his time at UNI. One of the first things Warner was asked about upon his return to UNI were some of his favorite memories while attending col lege.

“There’s so many great memories. I met my wife here so I’d probably have to say that,” Warner said. “So much of my life was shaped here during those years.”

A primary reason for Warner returning to his alma mater was to promote the

new Our Tomorrow fund raising campaign that is looking to raise $250 mil lion for the betterment of the university. Warner explained his involvement in the cam paign through his belief in legacy.

“I wanna leave a legacy that impacts the next gener ation. I wanna go beyond a football field and impact the lives of people.”

Warner has been an inspi ration to many with his under dog story and never-give-up attitude. A lot of his attitude can be attributed to the most important lesson he ever learned during his time at UNI: the importance of prac tice.

“Probably the greatest les son I’ve ever learned was the idea of who are you at prac tice? I sat on the bench for four years and I remember having a conversation through the coaches of why I wasn’t playing and one of their mes sages to me was I wasn’t a very good practice player. 95 percent of life is lived in prac tice and people wanna know who you’re gonna be every day, how you’re gonna show up for work, and they trust you in the big moments by what you do in the little moments.

Whether I’m being a husband, whether I’m being a father, whether it’s one of my other jobs, it’s how I do my job on a daily basis.”

Another important topic

that Warner spoke about was the significance of opportu nities and what we do with them.

“The biggest thing that I’ve realized is what do you do with your opportunity when you get it. Just keep working everyday and at some point the opportunity is going to come and at the end of the day you gotta prove whether you can handle that oppor tunity or not.”

His words of wisdom resonate with those who don’t know what to do when faced with important decisions that may lead to a tremendous opportunity in the future.

Warner’s indirect path to NFL superstardom has attract ed the attention of many peo ple around the country. His path has directly impacted the way that football players of all levels are drafted and chosen in the NFL and beyond. When asked about what players in the FCS can do to make it to the next level, Warner’s advice was, “It doesn’t matter where you start, it’s all about where you finish.”

Warner’s return to UNI was a very memorable experience for all involved. His impact on the university could be felt throughout the campus during the homecoming weekend. Warner’s pledge to give back to the university and the com munity as a whole made one thing very evident: he is still proud to be a Panther.

Panthers tie for fourth straight match

BEN LAHART Sports Writer

The UNI women’s soccer team traveled to Carbondale, Ill. last weekend to play the Southern Illinois University Salukis. After 90 minutes of play the teams sat at 1-1 and finished in a tie. This marks UNI’s fourth straight tie and pushes their record to 4-5-5.

The Panthers started off the game hot as goalkeep er Brittney Bentheimer had two saves in the first eight minutes. The first shot from UNI came in the 11th min ute, and was a goal scored by midfielder Siri Ott. This was Ott’s only shot of the game. UNI had another shot on goal in the 52nd min ute from Caroline Hazen that was saved by SIU’s

goalkeeper Maddy Alaluf. Southern Illinois had four more shots in the first peri od, a total of six, none of which were at the goal.

In the second half, the Salukis once again started off with two quick shots on goal. The first came in the 56th minute from forward Sam Dodd but was saved from scoring by Bentheimer. In the 63rd minute of the contest, Southern Illinois scored their first goal off the leg of forward Emma Spotak tying the game at 1-1. The Panthers had two more good chances to retake the lead in the 70th and 81st minutes. First was Sophia Balistreri’s shot that was saved by Alaluf. Then Lauren Heinsch’s kick was saved once again by Alaluf for her third save of the

game. In the 82nd minute Dodd had the final shot on goal for the afternoon that was saved by Bentheimer once more.

For the game UNI took nine total shots, with four being at the goal and only one making it past Alaluf. On the other side, SIU only had five shots on goal out of their 14 total shots and also had one goal. Bentheimer finished the game with four saves.

The Panthers will travel to the University of Illinois Chicago on Thursday, Oct. 13 for their next competi tion. This game will start at 6 p.m. The next chance to catch the team at home will be the following Thursday, Oct. 20 as they play Murray State starting at 3 p.m.

NIXSON BENITEZ/NORTHERN IOWAN

Kurt Warner speaks to the media during his trip to Cedar Falls this past weekend.

STEPH STARK/NORTHERN IOWAN

Lauren Heinsch (9) was one of four Panthers to manage a shot on goal on Sunday. All but one of those shots was saved.

Panthers shutdown Drake to stay perfect in MVC

ADAM JOHNSON Sports Writer

The UNI volleyball team went into a home matchup on Tuesday, Oct. 11, and were facing the Drake Bulldogs. This was a battle of the top two teams in the conference, as Drake was 5-1 in confer ence play, and UNI was 6-0. The Panthers would turn 6-0 into 7-0 by the night’s end, as they beat the Bulldogs 3-1.

The first set saw a lot of back in forth action early on. The score was at 8-7 when the Panthers leapt out in front of the Bulldogs, going on an impressive 9-0 run to put the score at 17-7. Drake would only get within seven points of the Panthers throughout the rest of the set, and UNI took the victory in set one, 25-18. The Panthers were led in the first set by Carly Spies, Olivia Tjernagel and Kira Fallert, who all had three kills. Spies, Baylee Petersen and Sydney Petersen each had an ace to help out as well.

The second set was much closer down the stretch than

the first. Drake maintained a decent lead throughout the majority of the set, usually being ahead by three to five points. They found them selves in a great position late in the set when they had a 22-17 lead. However, much like in the first set, UNI made another impres sive run. They scored the next seven points of the set and went from down 22-17, to up 24-22. Drake did manage to answer the run, and scored two straight to even the score. UNI brought the set to set point multi ple times, but the Bulldogs kept answering. Finally the Panthers pulled it off when Inga Rotto and Kaylissa Arndorfer blocked Drake’s Haley Bush to win the set 29-27.

Going into the third set up 2-0, the Panthers looked to send the Bulldogs home early. After Drake came out and scored the first six points of the set, it was clear that they had different plans. They never looked back after the great start to the set, as they maintained a steady lead throughout, even extending the lead to nine at one point. Drake

would stay alive in the third set, winning it 25-18.

The fourth set had UNI trying to finish it off, and Drake trying to even up the match. When UNI was down 8-6 early in the set, Rotto shifted the momentum with back-to-back kills to even the score at eight. Drake would get a kill to go up one, but then the Panthers scored three straight to go ahead 11-9, a lead that they would hold onto the rest of the way. The Panthers kept the Bulldogs at a bit of a distance the rest of the way, and scored three straight to end it, finishing Drake off with an ace by Tayler Alden, 25-18. The final set was led by an impressive 18 kills for UNI, six of which were at the hand of Emily Holterhaus.

The Panthers won this match 3-1, and improved to 14-6, 7-0 in the MVC. They will look to add two more MVC victories on Friday, Oct. 14, when they go up against UIC at home, as well as on Saturday, Oct. 15, when they host Valparaiso. UIC and Valpo are both cur rently 5-2 in Missouri Valley Conference play.

Preview: Trailblazers @ Panthers

COLIN HORNING Sports Writer

The UNI football team is in the midst of a fourgame homestand at the UNI-Dome and will take on the Trail Blazers of Utah Tech this Saturday in the third straight home con test. The Trail Blazers play in the Western Athletic

Conference, or WAC, mak ing this matchup a rather unorthodox non-conference game in the midst of the season. The Panthers will be looking to bounce back from a tough loss to Illinois State on Homecoming weekend while Utah Tech is coming off of a bye week last week end. The Panthers come into this game with a 2-4 overall

record and a 2-2 record in conference play, while Utah Tech is 1-4 overall and 0-2 in their conference. The game can be viewed on ESPN+ and KCRG 9.2 and can be heard on the radio on AM 1540 KXEL.

Utah Tech is led by Kobe Tracy under center. So far this year he has complet ed about 51 percent of his passes for 1,229 yard and nine touchdowns, along with three interceptions thrown. His favorite target this season is wide receiver Joey Herbert, who leads the team by far with 38 catch es for 636 yards and five touchdowns, all team-highs. Quail Conley is the lead running back for the Trail Blazers as he’s accumulated 460 rushing yards and five touchdowns on the season so far.

The offense from Utah Tech has shown signs of promise early on this sea

son, but has since regressed a bit. They put up a com bined 89 points in their first two games of the year, the first being a 56-33 loss to Sacramento State and a 56-10 win against Chadron State in week two. However, the Trail Blazers have only scored 14, 17 and 10 points respectively in their last three games, which could make this an opportunity for the UNI defense.

The defense for the Blazers has not been great so far in 2022. They average 33.6 points allowed per con test, and have particularly struggled against the run in their last three games, giving up an average of over 130 yards against opponents.

Look for the Panthers to utilize their duo of running backs against the Utah Tech run defense. Dom Williams and Vance McShane have similar running stats, with Williams leading the way

at 377 yard this year and McShane at 334. Keeping with the trend of the typi cal hard-nosed running style of UNI football, expect this tandem to have big days on Saturday.

Playing in the UNIDome is almost always an advantage for the Panthers, and this will be especially true against Utah Tech. The Blazers are winless on the road so far this season, and in fact, have only won a single road game in the last three years. This should eas ily play to the advantage of UNI.

The Panthers will round out their stretch of home games on Saturday, Oct. 22 against Missouri State for family weekend, with kick off scheduled for 4 p.m. Utah Tech will return home to play host to Sam Houston State the same day, Oct. 22. Both games can be viewed on ESPN+.

COURTESY PHOTO/UNI ATHLETICS

Emily Holterhaus (10) prepares to attack during UNI’s 3-1 win over Drake on Tuesday. Holterhaus finished with a team-best 16 kills.

WHEN:

WHERE: CEDAR FALLS, IOWA

TV: ESPN+ RADIO: PANTHER SPORTS RADIO NETWORK LAST MEETING: FIRST MATCHUP

STEPH STARK/NORTHERN IOWAN

Spencer Cuvelier (41) is leading the UNI defense in tackles so far this season.

linebacker

tackles.