CAMPUS LIFE

SEPTEMBER 8, 2022 | NORTHERNIOWAN.COM | VOLUME 119, ISSUE 4

Five tips to survive freshman year

ABIGAIL LAUREN

Staff Writer You visited colleges, applied to a few, found scholarship applications, finished out your senior year, packed up all your belongings, said goodbye to your friends and family, moved into a brand new place with brand new people - now what? If you’re anything like me, this was my story to a tee. I arrived on campus with no idea what I would do afterward, my parents walked out of my room, and I spent the following few hours attempting to make friends on my floor before eventually attending the UNI NOW event for the night. I overthought everything, and I was terrified that I was never going to make friends, be successful in my classes or get involved.

Here are my five tips and tricks that helped me find my footing and survive my freshman year:

Utilize UNI’s Counseling Center

According to the Mayo Clinic, 1 in 3 college students experience significant depression and anxiety. Freshman year is the start of the college experience, and it can be extremely difficult. Having a friend to talk you through, give you advice and make sure you’re okay will help you get through anything that comes your way.

Listen to music or podcasts on the walk to class

Before my freshman year, I had never had to walk more than three to five minutes inside of my school to arrive at class. I quickly found that listening to music or a podcast while I walked not only made the walk go by faster but gave me alone time to digest my day.

Set clear expectations with your roommate

According to Georgetown University, about 1 in every 3 college students in the U.S. reported roommate problems last year. Living with a roommate in close quarters is one of the most difficult things about college - especially if you had never met them. It can be difficult to breach the conversation of boundaries or a contract but it makes all the difference. It puts into writing the things each of you feels strongly about, so they don’t have to be addressed each time they come up, and it will truly be better for both of you. Important topics to discuss are; turning the lights off, guests (who, when and how long), and cleaning.

Don’t be afraid to talk to your professors

First and foremost, your professors are here to teach you and help you. Introduce yourself to them, visit their office hours, be open when you are struggling, ask for advice and be brave in class, you’ll become more confident and comfortable with your professor, and they will know who you are and be ready to jump in and help as needed.

Take time for yourself

Between homework, new friends, student organizations and more, it can be difficult to take time for yourself. Taking those moments to take a long shower, watch a movie, do a face mask, or journal has real benefits on your mental health. According to the National Council for Mental Wellbeing; 64 percent of those who practiced selfcare reported enhanced self-care as a benefit, 67 percent reported increased productivity and 71 percent reported happiness.

Overall, freshman year is difficult and takes a lot to adjust to, but it is nothing you can’t handle. Try your best to follow these tips, accept help from others, and try new things. You will get your footing and confidence in no time.

NI ARCHIEVES

A good album to listen on the way to class is “Renaissance” by Beyoncé, specifically the song “Alien Superstar.” UNI Dance Marathon wants to see a change this year

MEG GROVE

Staff Writer

UNI Dance Marathon is a student-led organization that raises money for children with life-threatening illnesses. Their first few informational meetings were held last week in Maucker Union.

UNI Dance Marathon raises money for children around the Cedar Falls/Waterloo area that are patients at the University of Iowa Stead Family Children’s Hospital. Students from UNI raise money for over 60 families.

Allie Moeller, director of design, has been a part of Dance Marathon for the last four years. Over the years she has been able to see the impact Dance Marathon has had on families firsthand. “It really is eye opening when you get to spend time with those families,” said Moeller. “You grow a relationship . . . it’s kind of like one big family.”

Students can get involved with Dance Marathon in a variety of roles. Students can join as dancers where they will fundraise throughout the year and be a part of the Big Event at the end of the year. There are six different committees students can join to be a part of Dance Marathon as well. Other positions include moral captains, miracle makers and being a member of the management team.

“We really want to have a rebuilding year,” said Moeller. “Since COVID-19 we haven’t gotten as many people involved and we haven’t raised as much money as we have in the past.” Moeller’s goal for this year is to surpass the amount they have raised the past two years.

More information about registration, meetings and events can be found on the UNI Dance Marathon website and social media accounts.

FUTURE

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which is what concurrences are made to do, right? If Kavanaugh’s target audience with his concurrence is first graders, he hit the nail on the head. Unfortunately, no one reads concurrences to hear the majority opinion regurgitated and repackaged as if the writer is having an earth-shattering idea, and Kavanaugh’s concurrence fails to go beyond the scope of the majority opinion, falling flat amongst the other concurrences.

Chief Justice Roberts makes an equally disappointing concurrence with a different path. His concurrence comes with judgement, meaning that he agrees with the initial ruling of Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, but he does not agree with the overturning of Roe v. Wade and Casey v. Planned Parenthood. Roberts’s concurrence is disappointing not because he’s essentially saying nothing, but because Roberts has recently been hailed by the Democratic party as ‘The Good One.’ He’s seen as the one conservative justice on the bench that rules outside of his own views and instead through the lens of the living document that is the Constitution. But, in his concurrence with judgement, he scrutinizes both the Roe v. Wade and Casey v. Planned Parenthood decision, along with the viability

rules that the cases put into place. He claims that the right to an abortion, under the right to privacy from the 14th amendment, is ‘entangled’ in the viability rules, and he goes onto explain that that is the reason why he’s in concurrence with the majority opinion. What’s important to remember is that not one Supreme Court justice, even the ones that align with your views, can be trusted to rule fairly and justly, or even write coherent concurrences, as Kavanuagh demonstrates.

While the majority opinion is split into several concurrences, the dissent is joint, with Justices Kagan, Sotomayor, and Breyer behind a rare united decision. “Roe held, and Casey reaffirmed, that in the first stages of pregnancy, the government could not make that choice for women. The government could not control a woman’s body or the course of a woman’s life: It could not determine what the woman’s future would be.” The dissent navigates the majority opinion, the threat of established civil rights being reveresed, and touches on stare decisis, the Latin term used for the idea that the court should respect set precedent. What the dissent doesn’t quite touch on is the vague warning Alito and Thomas give in the majority and concurring opinions, which is the term ‘deeply rooted traditions.’ While it’s never explicitly defined in the decision, there’s a con clusion that can be drawn as to what is meant by “deeply rooted traditions.” If there’s a discussion around deeply rooted traditions, especially in the Constitution, you cannot leave out the simple fact that traditions that are deeply rooted in American history include racism, misogyny, xenophobia, homophobia and transphobia. The U.S government and it’s foundational documents were specifically written to exclude marginalized groups, because at the time, marginalized people weren’t even thought of as people. Legally, many marginalized groups couldn’t even be considered people, at the mercy of the Supreme Court. That idea, in and of itself, is what America was founded upon. Many courts, people, activists, politicians and judges have spend decades trying to reverse this environment and make the American government work for people that weren’t initially considered in these conversations. This decision effectively dismisses decades of work, and clears the path to continue to tear down precedents that give marginalized people the space to simply live their lives.

In the 69 days since this decision was handed down, there’s been a scramble for the power tossed carelessly to the states by the Supreme Court. In some states, there have been large movements to completely outlaw abortion, in a few, even pushes to make it a felony. Currently, in Iowa, abortion remains legal. The

24-hour waiting period prior to an abortion and the 20-week viability date restrict access, but nevertheless, it remains legal. While Reynolds begs the Iowa Supreme Court to reevaluate the injuntions placed on different restric-

SEPTEMBER 8, 2022 | NORTHERNIOWAN.COM | VOLUME 119, ISSUE 4 tive abortions laws that she attempted to pass prior to the overturning of Roe v. Wade and Casey v. Planned Parenthood, the law remains the same for now. In other states, there have been strong protections to abortion rights. In states like Montana, their state constiution does enumerate the explicit right to an abortion. While they have viability laws, it’s still protected, similarly to states like Minnesota and Nevada. But, in a larger scope that state power, is the known fact that abortion can be codified at the federal level, and it just simply hasn’t. Most recently by the Biden administration has been the erasure of student debt and an extension of payments. In many college students’ eyes, this is a great advantage, and it’s greatly boosted Biden’s approval ratings over the past week. But, we mustn’t forget how violently the Democratic Party the Obama and Biden administrations have failed Americans when it comes to failing to codify Roe v. Wade into federal law. Actions speak louder than words. The emails begging for funding and voting directly after the decision was handed down is irrevicoably unforgivable. Outside of the years that the Democratic Party has had to codify Roe v. Wade, at the very least, they had two months to protect the people they were elected to represent. Yet there is only one movement, at the federal level, to push one of the platform issues of the party through the Senate. The Reproductive Freedom for All Act is quite literally too little, too late. The Democratic Party failed its constituents at all levels, then asked for money to do it again. The career politicians of this party will continue to ask you to vote for them. The only answer is to vote for the candidates primarying them at midterms. There is no one else to blame for the continued procrastination and failures than the Democratic party.

What happens next is incredibly unclear. The reversal of a right that’s been in place for decades is dumbfounding, and although it’s been over two months, we are still feeling the initial effects of it. At the heart of this issue is this: we are going beyond the scope of reproductive rights. We must. Clearly, Justice Thomas intends to expand this scope to other cases, as outlined in his concurrence. If the Democratic Party doesn’t get ahead of that curve, there will be yet another wave of disappointment, shock and anger, when a landmark case like Roe v. Wade or Casey v. Planned Parenthood gets overturned. The majority of the Supreme Court outlined their plan to the American people. It is no secret. That is why Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization it not a lesson. There is little to nothing to learn from this situation. This decision is a warning. If the organizational leadership that was elected to represent the will of the people fails once again to heed these warnings from the Supreme Court, the civil rights and liberties granted by the 14th Amendments will slowly begin to disappear.

MEACHAM

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Jon Meacham is the current Canon Historian of the Washington National Cathedral and the chair of American Presidency of Carolyn T. and Robert M. Rogers Endowed Chair. Meacham won the Pulitzer Prize for Biography after publishing “American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House” in 2009. He is also critically acclaimed and a number one New York Times bestseller, and he has several other titles covering historical figures including Thomas Jefferson, George Washington and Civil Rights leader John Lewis to name a few. He will be releasing his latest book “And There Was Light: Abraham Lincoln and the American Struggle” later this fall on October 18. Former Iowa Lieutenant Governor and alumna of UNI Joy Cole Corning created the Joy Cole Corning Distinguished Leadership Lecture Series in 2001. The goal of this lecture series is that students will gain the knowledge of how to become a leader by learning from different leaders across multiple kinds of disciplines. Various recognized leaders, national and international, are brought to campus to share their knowledge and experiences.

“Our mother embodied what it meant to be a lifelong learner,” said Joy Cole Corning’s daughter Ann Lyons, courtesy of UNI Foundation. “Education was both her passion and mission throughout her life. We are so very proud of the legacy she created through the Joy Cole Corning Distinguished Leadership Lecture Series and are honored to be in this collaboration with the University of Northern Iowa.”