The University of Northern Iowa’s student-produced newspaper since 1892
Northern Iowan
Friday, September 17, 2010 Volume 107, Issue 6 Cedar Falls, Iowa northern-iowan.org
“The American” provokes more thoughts than thrills
Panthers to face high-powered offense
Page 7
Page 3
Students enage in peaceful couterprotest in absence of WBC ERIN TRAMPLE Staff Writer
On Monday, hundreds of University of Northern Iowa students gathered in support of “The Laramie Project,” a movie that tells the story of the murder of Matthew Shepard. The students were joined together to counter the Westboro Baptist Church’s planned protest, which was not carried out. The WBC is headed by Fred Phelps, and its members mainly include his very large family (his eldest daughter has 11 children). The main focus of this group, which is commonly called a cult and a hate group, is to tell the world that they are going to hell and to celebrate the deaths of those whom they call “fags,” which include the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender community, adulterers, Jewish people and any who support
any of these groups. Some of their most controversial slogans include “God Hates Fags,” “God Hates America,” “Thank God For AIDS,” “God Hates Your Tears” and “Thank God for Dead Soldiers.” These slogans create a very angry reaction from the general public, sparking an eight-part YouTube documentary entitled “The Most Hated Family In America” where even the documentary host finds it difficult to stay impartial. The WBC’s first church service was held on Sunday, Nov. 27, 1955, and since then they have held many protests like the one that was planned for Monday. The most current count, according to WBC themselves, is at 41,000 protests, and on average the church protests in six locations each day. They have done protests all over the nation, covering 650 cities and using a travel budget that exceeds $200,000 annually.
WHITNEY WILLIAMS/Northern Iowan
Tyler Sharp, a junior marketing major, shows his support at Monday’s counterprotest of the Westboro Baptist Church.
At 3:30 p.m., the students walked from Maucker Union to the Gallagher-Bluedorn Performance Arts Center with signs and, in some cases,
costumes. One of the most noticeable costumes was by Tyler Sharp, a junior marketing major at UNI, who dressed as Jesus and carried
a sign that stated, “I Love Everyone.” When asked why he chose to dress in such a fashion, he stated, “(I wore this) to make some fun of a bad situation. I mean, these people are hateful people, so, to have Jesus show up to say that he loves everybody, that’s funny, and just look at all the people that are smiling and happy now.” Another protester, graduate student Derk Babbitt, said, “(I came to support) the diversity of people that we have here at UNI, and part of that is paying honor to Matthew Shepard’s death and the LGBT community.” Along with students from UNI, many members of the local LGBT community were present. This group of protesters included Anne Myles, an associate professor of English at UNI. “As a gay person I felt morally compelled to attend. See PROTEST, page 2
National Teacher of the Year Students react to “The Laramie Project” to speak at UNI TALEE MABE
JESSICA SNOOK Staff Writer
The 2010 National Teacher of the Year, Sarah Brown Wessling, will speak at the University of Northern Iowa on Sept. 21 at 7 p.m. She will discuss worthy learning in Communications Arts Center room 108. Being the 60th National Teacher of the Year, she is dedicating her year to acting as a national and international spokesperson for education, hence visit to UNI. Rick Vanderwall, an instructor in UNI’s English department, initially contacted Wessling about coming to UNI to speak. Vanderwall and Wessling have known one another for a number of years, as both serve on the Board of the Iowa Council of Teachers of English and
attend the Conference of the National Council of Teachers of English. Vanderwall believes that anyone who is interested in education or is a future or current teacher would benefit from listening to Wessling speak. “She is a lot of fun…an inspiration. She was an Iowa kid who grew up here and is a product of our great education system.” “She is a role model to young women as well,” he added. “We have a lot of great people in the state of Iowa, but we don’t always get a lot of national recognition. Here’s a person who is at the top of her profession and is getting the national recognition she deserves.” After attending high school in Winterset, Iowa, Wessling pursued a bachelor’s degree and a mas-
ter’s degree from Iowa State University. She taught at Cedar Falls High School for one year and then taught English to 10th through 12th graders at Johnston High School in Johnston, Iowa, for 10 years. Michael Ellis, a 2008 graduate of Johnston High School who is now a Criminal Justice major at Des Moines Area Community College, had Wessling as a teacher his senior year. “There was never a dull day,” he said. “Not many teachers out there can get you so involved to the point where you’re writing a two-page paper for a oneparagraph assignment. She really deserves the award.”
Staff Writer
A viewing of “The Laramie Project” was held Monday in the Great Hall of the Gallagher-Bluedorn Performing Arts Center. The film was shown as part of the Univeristy of Northern Iowa’s “Standing On Higher Ground” campaign. Based on the play of the same name, “The Laramie Project” is the result of interviews conducted by Moises Kaufman, a member of the Tectonic Theater Project, among citizens of Laramie and others in close proximity to the events surrounding the brutal torture and murder of Matthew Shepard, who was killed because of his homosexuality. It is a dramatized representation of the experiences gained by the interviewers, the subjects and every-
one within distance of the shockwaves sent out by the murder. Asked to lend support to the “Standing On Higher Ground” initiative, Sheri Melby, manager of marketing and public relations at University Book and Supply, felt that a viewing of the film preceding the appearance of Judy Shepard and the presentation of the theatrical production of “The Laramie Project” would be ideal. In hosting the viewing, Melby also sought to facilitate a greater amount of community participation in the event. With the upcoming appearance by Judy Shepard, the possibility of appearances on behalf of groups protesting the showing was a distinct possibility. The Westboro Baptist Church, infamous for their See LARAMIE, page 2