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THURSDAY, APRIL 5
MONDAY, MARCH 11 CEDAR FALLS, IA Border security 3 INSIDE THIS ISSUE Menstrual products on campus 2
VOLUME 114, ISSUE 42
VOLUME 115, ISSUE 42 Women’s History Month 4 Wrestling 6
Special election brings early voting LEZIGA BARIKOR Staff Writer
There will be early voting for the Iowa Senate District 30 election this Tuesday and Wednesday on campus. Students and Cedar Falls community members registered to vote can do so in the Maucker Union from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. There will also be polls open Wednesday and Thursday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Diamond Event Center, 5307 Caraway Lane, Cedar Falls. This sudden election comes after the resignation of former Sen. Jeff Danielson who resigned on Feb. 14. Danielson cited the Cedar Falls Public Safety Officer (PSO) program and a new position as the American Wind Energy Association’s central region director as his reason for leaving, according to reports from the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier. With his absence, Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds had to select a date for a new election. Reynolds set March 19 as
GABRIELLE LEITNER/Northern Iowan
LEZIGA BARIKOR/Northern Iowan
Democratic candidate Eric Giddens speaks at a fundraiser at the Octopus on College Hill on Thursday, March 7.
Republican candidate Walt Rogers campaigns in Maucker Union with the Northern Iowa Republicans.
the election date, which falls on spring break for many students in Cedar Falls including UNI and the public school district. There initially was no plan to allow early voting. There are some people disappointed by the election date, including members of the NI Democrats. Hannah Gregor, the vice president for the NI Democrats and senior political communications major said, “We were very disappointed to hear
Maucker Union to table with the NI Republicans. Rogers weighed in on the election date. “I’ve talked to a lot of people and it’s going to affect both parties in adverse ways. I’ve talked to a lot of people on the phones and a lot of people are out of state right now,” Rogers said. “A lot of Republicans are down south and all over the country, so I think in a lot of ways it will probably going equalize itself
Gov. Reynolds scheduled it for spring break. I think that was very intentional.” According to Democratic campus organizer Sam Blatt, people need to request satellite voting. She helped with the push to get two days of early voting on UNI’s campus and better locations. The NI Republicans and NI Democrats both tabled for their respective party candidates last week. Candidate Walt Rogers came to the
out as far as being good or bad for either party.” Rogers has been in politics before as a member of the Iowa House for district 30. He’s a Cedar Falls native, as is his opponent Eric Giddens. “I want to get down there and represent UNI, and my record in the past eight years in the House show that I’ve been a strong supporter of UNI,” Rogers said. See ELECTION, page 2
Mountainfilm On Tour makes first visit to Iowa ALLISON MAZZARELLA Staff Writer
From the mountains of Spain to the Rio Grande River in Texas, Mountainf ilm On Tour brought natural wonders to UNI’s campus on Friday, March 8. Mountainfilm is an annual film festival in Telluride, Colo., featuring documentary films focusing on environmental, political and social issues, often highlighted through adventure sports. Throughout the remainder of the year, the films are shown at different venues around the world. This marked the tour’s first time ever visiting Iowa. The U NI Fi lm Appreciation Club (FAC) collaborated with the Green Project and the Philosophy Club to bring Mountainfilm On Tour to campus with funding from Northern Iowa Student Government. “[The films] provoke this desire to protect our natural world and experience
it to the level that others are experiencing it,” said Lily Conrad, a senior studying environmental science and president of the Green Project. Many of the films deal with conservation, breaking stereotypes, pushing physical and emotional boundaries, as well as highlighting the importance of community. “We’re hoping the inf lux of emotion that the films place upon each of the people that will be watching is enough to carry on into the future,” Conrad said, “long enough to strive to go outside themselves and push their limits and explore and experience things that are maybe uncomfortable at first.” Members of the FAC, the Philosophy Club and the Green Project watched and ranked the films in their order of preference, selected which films they thought best to show and sent in a finalized list. “They’re very moving,” Conrad said. “It swallows
you up and it just holds your attention until it’s done. Every story is very vibrant and engaging and meaningful.” Around 70 people filled the auditorium to watch 11 short films that ranged in length from one minute to almost half an hour. After a welcome from Nicole Baxter, FAC president, the Mountainfilm tour director and emcee, Crystal Merrill, introduced the films. The lights dimmed as the voice of Wallace Stegner penetrated the quiet room. Colorful images of trees, mountains and rivers rolled across the screen as Stegner implored Congress to protect natural lands. In the following f ilm, much in the same vein, Ben Masters discussed “mother nature’s wall,” as he paddled between the canyon walls of the Rio Grande, while in the background, a crowd could be heard chanting as President Trump spoke of building a wall. See MOUNTAINFILM, page 5
GABRIELLE LEITNER/Northern Iowan