NortherN IowaNthe UNIversIty of NortherN Iowa’s stUdeNt-prodUced Newspaper sINce 1892

Tuesday, February 1, 2011 I Volume 107, Issue 32 I Cedar Falls, Iowa I northern-iowan.org

International News

The University of Northern Iowa focused on its initiatives in respond-ing to and preventing vio-lence with the official open-ing of its Center for Violence Prevention Friday.

The center, which is the culmination of more than a decade of work done in con-junction with Public Safety, Student Affairs and faculty members at UNI, attempts to stop violence by revising policies and training faculty, staff, students and community members to become leaders in identifying and preventing violence of all varieties.

“The opening of this cen-

ter presents this university and through it many other universities … the opportu-nity to impact the lives of students, faculty, staff and the people of Iowa and even stu-dents in other states, and as an end result, what we need so

Any University of Northern Iowa students who are looking for an accom-modating location to study, socialize or snack will be pre-sented with fewer options this

semester and may need to relocate. The Maucker Union Board, in conjunction with the Department of Residence, has established reduced hours for Maucker Union dining operations.

According to Carol Petersen, Director of Dining

Services at UNI, student traf-fic in the Union is down con-siderably from the fall semes-ter, leading to withering rev-enue from the dining services provided.

“We look at our customer counts and traffic, we review that every month. Over at the Union we have been watch-ing for quite some time, what our weekend numbers were. It continues to decline, espe-cially in the spring semester,” Petersen explained.

Petersen attributed these decreases to several seasonal influences such as cold weath-er and unclear walkways, but also noted a lack of sponsored activity in the Union as well as the indirect effects of bud-get reduction.

Petersen maintains that there are several alternatives to the Union services and says the number of student com-

plaints remains very low.“I’ve had one that I’m

aware of that emailed me directly, a student that worked at the library. She was con-cerned because they only get a certain amount of time for breaks, so I suggested 23rd Street Market. I haven’t heard anything from other students, but it’s not that far into the semester.”

Kerri Dickey, a junior earth science major, finds the cut in hours to be an inconvenience and an alternative to a true effort to increase sales and traffic flow.

“Instead of closing every-thing every weekend to make it more convenient for people to put their lives in suitcases and leave campus, we should be making it harder by bring-ing promotions, sales and

Maucker Union reduces dining operations hours

BRANDON BAKER/Northern Iowan

John Flannery of Verizon (right) presents a ceremonial check to CVP Director Annette Lynch and U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley.

MIRET EL NAGGARMcClatchy Newspapers

JOEY SPIVEYStaff Writer

See MAUCKER, page 2

New center to spearhead violence prevention efforts

JOHN ANDERSONEditorial Staff

See VIOLENCE, page 2

JOEY SPIVEY/Northern Iowan

Maucker Union has reduced hours for its dining operations this semester based on low student traffic rates. The decision has led to mixed student reactions.

ElBaradei returns to Egypt as more protests loom

Nobel laureate and promi-nent pro-democracy activist Mohamed ElBaradei returned to his native Egypt Thursday in hopes of leading the big-gest wave of mass protests in decades. Clashes contin-ued in Cairo and other cities as protesters set fire to gov-ernment property and fought with police, who used rubber bullets and tear gas to break up crowds.

One activist was shot to death in the northern bor-der town of Sheikh Zuwayed, according to local news reports. The country is brac-ing for even bigger planned protests after midday prayers Friday. Just attending will be a gesture of defiance by ElBaradei, and the protests will be a key test as to wheth-er the nascent pro-democracy movement can continue to draw crowds to the street.

ElBaradei, the former head of the United Nations nucle-ar agency, said he’s prepared to lead the demonstrators if asked. Until his arrival, no single leader had emerged, with activists relying on text messages and social network-ing sites for logistics.

In a move apparently intended to stymie the plan-ning for Friday, Twitter and Facebook were interrupted, presumably by official author-ities.

One day after the Obama administration urged the gov-ernment to open a dialogue with protesters, President Hosni Mubarak’s ruling party announced talks on the pro-testers’ grievances, including

See PROTESTS, page 2

NATIONAL CHAMPIONSUNI dance team wins its second championship >>page 3

WOMEN’S BASKETBALLUNI women top Bradley Braves 58-34 >>page 6

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Americans should expect safety when assembling publicly, whether it’s exercising civic interest or even learning in the classroom.

“

U.S. SenatorChuck Grassley

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NEWS I Tuesday, February 1, 2011 I northern-iowan.org PAGE 2

much in this country – and how we have forgotten this I don’t know – but we have to promote more civility among all of us,” U.S. Senator and UNI alumnus Chuck Grassley said during the celebration.

“By focusing on violence on college campuses, this cen-ter will focus on best practices for responding to and, most importantly, preventing vio-lence,” he continued. “This is a noble mission and a timely one. The center will provide leadership in developing solu-tions to campus violence and

research ways to stop tragic events from ever occurring.”

Grassley feels this center comes at a very solemn time in our country after the recent public shooting in Tucson, Ariz., in which six were killed and many others were injured.

“Americans should expect safety when assembling pub-

licly, whether it’s exercising civic interest or even learning in the classroom,” he said. “A tragedy like Arizona encour-ages us all to redouble our efforts to prevent violence.”

According to Annette Lynch, a UNI professor and the director of the new cen-ter, the work leading up to the opening of this center began with grants written in 2000. Since that time, she has expanded work onto all three Regents campuses, at which these initiatives spawned informative theatre groups like UNI’s SAVE Forum Actors and revised sexual misconduct policies on all three campuses “so we’re more responsive and more effective when a victim reports,” Lynch said.

The center provides a victim service institute on a roughly annual basis at which it trains campus police, victim advocates and all points of first contact for students in Student Affairs, such as resi-dent assistants and residence life coordinators.

“We also are very involved in engaging men in the issue and have created training pro-grams where male students can go through a certifica-tion process where they learn how to be better bystanders, be leaders within their peer

groups,” Lynch said.Lynch feels these training

programs are very important, because she feels violence pre-vention is more effective when it’s coming from peers.

“If you’ve got a friend that’s trying to get a girl drunk at a party because they’re hoping that she’ll go home with them, you need to intervene and say, ‘That’s not a good idea,’ ‘Maybe you should call her back when she’s sober and ask her for a date,’” Lynch said. “You want that to happen within the peer group, not because someone on the outside is telling them to do that.”

The center will also focus on working with teacher edu-cation curricula and sending coaches and teachers into public schools prepared to deal with bullying and disre-spectful students on a daily basis.

“We want people to have violence prevention skills that they carry into all the communities where they get jobs throughout the state of Iowa,” Lynch said.

For more information on the program, if you would like to get involved in a train-ing program or if you are a victim of violence, visit www.uni.edu/cvp.

VIOLENCEcontinued from page 1

MAUCKERcontinued from page 1

PROTESTScontinued from page 1

activities to students on the weekends, and encourage a sense of home, something not really provided anywhere on campus,” said Dickey.

Dickey suggested the Maucker Union Board and the DOR work to make the two more compatible. She strongly supports the idea that the use of meal plans in the Union

would dramatically increase student traffic, and the pur-chase of meal plans by both on-and off- campus students.

Not all students feel they face the same inconvenience as Dickey, and find that seek-ing alternatives to the Union services has its benefits. Maggie Forsyth, a sophomore elementary education major, explained that she wasn’t really affected by the hours change, but finds that when

she encounters an inconve-nience, she’s forced to explore other parts of campus for more “personal study spots.”

Forsyth also believes that her ease of adjustment will be typical of students across campus and trusts that this move will be a positive one for the Department of Residence.

“The Union will be using less money throughout future semesters, and that money could be directed towards

other areas of improvement,” said Forsyth.

The Department of Residence encourages stu-dents and staff to submit their thoughts on the reduction in hours so the move can be properly evaluated. Petersen also encourages those affect-ed to examine both sides of the issue before jumping to any conclusions and empha-sizes the Department of Residence’s priorities.

“We’re always open to evaluating our services, and whether or not we’re meeting student’s needs. We want to be good stewards of student money; we want to provide good services to our students. Whether we’re making money or not, we are always willing to do what’s needed to serve our students,” said Petersen.

issues such as unemployment and poverty. However, Safwat el-Sherif, the secretary-general of the National Democratic Party, didn’t acknowl-edge their main call for the end of Mubarak’s 30-year rule.

“We are confident in our ability to listen. The NDP is ready for a dia-logue with the public, youth and legal parties,” Sherif said. “But democracy has its rules and process. The minor-ity does not force its will on the majority.”

The protests roiling the Arab world’s most populous nation and a stalwart U.S. ally began Tuesday, when tens of thousands marched in the capital, Cairo, and several other major cities displayed banners declar-ing it “the day of revolt against tor-ture, poverty, corruption and unem-ployment.”

At least six people have died in the melees so far, though local media reports put the number higher, and hundreds were injured. Police have arrested more than 900 people, accord-ing to news reports and human rights groups.

Economic distress has drawn many to the protests against the political leadership.

“The people in Suez are choking; the prices are rising while the salaries are not,” said Moustafa Hosni, 30, a crane operator.

“Look at the last elections. Nothing changes in this country,” Hosni said Thursday, referring to parliamenta-ry elections in November that were widely considered to have been rigged to guarantee a landslide victory for the NDP, a tipping point for many Egyptians who said they’re fed up with the regime.

Egyptian activists said they were inspired by events in Tunisia, where large-scale rallies toppled the regime and forced longtime President Zine el Abidine Ben Ali into exile. These days, Tunisian activists use Facebook and Twitter to offer advice to their Egyptian counterparts: wear goggles and wet scarves, for example, to fight off the effects of teargas.

Fears over the unrest also took a toll on the Egyptian stock mar-ket, where trading briefly stopped on Thursday and the Egyptian pound plummeted for the second day in a row.

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3feaTUresTuesday, February 1, 2011 I Volume 107, Issue 32 I Cedar Falls, Iowa I northern-iowan.org

Comedian Tom Green to perform at Joker’s Comedy Night Club

See GREEN, page 4

Over the past few decades, Tom Green has become a prime comedic figure in the entertainment industry. Many know him as the funny and unpredictable personal-ity from MTV’s late 90s hit, “The Tom Green Show,” while others know him for his loony roles in film comedies includ-ing “Road Trip,” “Freddy Got Fingered” and “Stealing Harvard.” But these days, Green is not only tackling the World Wide Web with his highly popular Internet talk show, “Tom Green’s House Tonight,” but he is also going on a World Stand-up Comedy Tour. Green will make a stop in Cedar Falls on Feb. 9 to perform two live shows at Joker’s Comedy Night Club at 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. Tickets are $22.50 in advance and $25 at the door. After his stop at Joker’s, Green will continue his trek across Iowa, performing shows in Cedar Rapids, Burlington and Dubuque. In an exclusive phone interview, the Northern Iowan got the latest on Green’s World Stand-up Comedy Tour, his Internet talk show and his plans for the future. NI: What can you tell viewers about the Tom Green World Stand-up Comedy Tour? Green: It’s going to be a good time. I’m on stage telling jokes and stories … and having a great time meeting every-body who has been watching my show on

the Internet over the last few years, or my movies, or my MTV show. (The tour has) been a lot of fun so far. NI: What specific topics are you planning on joking about on the tour? What can fans expect? Green: It’s a very high-energy show. I definitely do a fair amount of improvis-ing, but there are also a lot of subjects that I like to talk about such as tech-nology, the media and things that are

happening in my life – stories from my show over the years. I also do a little bit of political comedy, but mostly it’s social commentary and pop culture comedy. NI: Have you ever been to Iowa before? Green: I’ve been to Iowa before. I’ve traveled all over the states on road trips just filming, but this will be the first time I’ve ever performed in Iowa.

The University of Northern Iowa dance team knows a thing or two about winning national champion-ships. They’ve done it two years in a row. The team has brought home yet another shiny trophy from the 2011 Universal Dance Association National Championships in Orlando, Fla. The reason for the dance team’s success in the Poms division was very clear to financial management major Emily Hauser, who has been on the squad for four years. “Our team seems to have a special bond this year and we were all on the same page from day one,” Hauser said. “While we work hard to per-form well at football and bas-ketball games, nationals is what we really work toward every year. We really have to come together and be able to critique each other as well as self-motivate in order to

achieve our goals.” Jessica Fuller, who became the UNI Spirit Squad advi-sor after being on the dance team herself from 2005-2009, knew that each individual was a vital factor to make up the success of the team.

“Each dancer on the team is extremely dedicated,” Fuller said. “These girls do not receive scholarships or any funding other than what they fundraise themselves. They have no other benefits to being on the dance team

other than the fact that they are truly passionate about dance (and) love to cheer on the Panthers and entertain you! Without their positive attitudes, commitment to the team and love for dance, they

See DANCE TEAM, page 4See GRADUATE, page 4

UNI dance team wins national championship

By CASSIE TEGELEREditorial Staff

Courtesy photo

Famous comedian Tom Green is performing at Joker’s Comedy Night Club on Feb. 9 at 7 p.m. and 9 p.m.

By TEHRENE FIRMANStaff Writer

CASSANDRA HAYNE/Northern Iowan

Members of the UNI dance team perform during a men’s basketball game. The team won first place in the Universal Dance Association Championships for the second year in a row.

University of Northern Iowa 2010 graduate Amy Martens’ teaching experi-ence has been a little different from many other students’. Martens spent last semester student teaching in Cairo, Egypt. She said she chose the Middle East as her top choice because of the strong friend-ships she formed at UNI with Saudi Arabian students. Also, she was strongly interested in experiencing life in their culture, surrounded by their religion and the Arabic lan-guage. “Egypt quickly rose to the top as the best host coun-try in this region, with Cairo American College being one of the top international schools in the world. It was really the best of all worlds and I can’t imagine a better placement,” Martens said. Martens taught sixth through 12th grade art class-es and volunteered in the ele-mentary school. Martens said the class-es had students of mixed nationalities, and many spoke more than three different lan-guages. She said she loves their global mindfulness and how “they genuinely valued their education and wanted to learn.” Martens said she felt inspired to push the students and herself to learn more each day. One of Martens’ favor-ite memories with students is when a sixth-grader cor-rected her during a mixed media class. “I instructed my stu-dents to get their pieces out when the student said, ‘Miss Martens, why do you keep calling them pieces? ... They’re masterpieces!’” Martens new motto is now to turn the pieces into master-pieces. Martens’ favorite trav-el moment was seeing Abu Simbel and climbing Mount Sinai. Her best memories in Cairo were linked to the peo-ple she met. The students, teachers and families impact-ed her life there. “I integrated into a very welcoming family, created a social life outside of school, and met new friends from all over the world,” Martens said. “(I) traveled the entire country, visiting Alexandria

UNI graduate to teach in India

By ASHLEY WILSONStaff Writer

PAGE 4 FEATURES I Tuesday, February 1, 2011 I northern-iowan.org

GREENcontinued from page 3

NI: Recently, you’ve been known for your popular Internet talk show, “Tom Green’s House Tonight.” What do you want peo-ple to know about the show? Green: The best way to get involved is to go to tomgreen.com and start watching shows – there are hundreds of them on there. We’ve had tons of great guests. You can also follow me on Twitter at tomgreenlive. I alert people when we’re going on the air and you can tune in live and see our shows and phone in to actually talk with the guests … it’s really cool. We run the Skype video feed right into our switcher so we can actually cut to you full screen … it’s like you’re actu-ally on the show. NI: You talk about social media and the Internet quite a bit during your new tour. How do you think these technologies are chang-ing our world? Green: I’m sort of poking fun at our addiction to tech-nology and how people are becoming so caught up in their Facebook pages, their text mes-saging and their cell phones that we’re sometimes, I think, losing sight of what it’s like to have normal interaction with people. There’s a lot of funny scenarios and pictures that I paint of this in my show. I think people are sort of laugh-ing along with it because they realize that people really are getting addicted to this stuff,

and I think it’s affecting us in a lot of ways that we haven’t thought about yet. NI: Many people know you from your late ‘90s MTV hit, “The Tom Green Show.” What do you miss most about the show? How would you compare that show to your new Internet talk show? Green: The things that I really miss about it I’m trying to recreate on my web show – which is this sort of grass-roots way that we did things. We really were doing things in a raw, homemade TV kind of way, and I’m doing that on the web now. I’m doing these shows in a very different way of making TV … it’s very low budget TV which is a lot of fun because you get a much more honest, real expression on the show. When you’re young and you’re really (seeing) your first successful thing happen, it’s so exciting. But in a lot of ways (The Tom Green Show) was so exciting that it was sort of stressful. I don’t miss that – I’m much more comfortable doing what I do now, and I really enjoy doing stand-up comedy because it’s been a highly suc-cessful tour and now I’m get-ting to perform comedy on my own terms. I don’t have to deal with any of the politics of working in television. It’s just very fun to be able to go direct-ly to the audience. NI: You’ve also been working on a new film called “Prankstar.” What is the film about? Do you know when the film will be

released? Green: We’re still doing a little bit of editing on it. We’re shooting some extra things. It’s sort of a crazy movie – that’s all I can really say because it’s top secret. It’s a crazy, crazy movie – it’s the craziest movie I’ve ever made. NI: What advice would you give to college students who are looking for a career in the enter-tainment industry? Green: I’d say that the best thing to do is to go out there and start doing it. If you want to be directing videos or movies, you should start making movies and shooting right away. If you want to get into acting or com-edy, you should get involved with a local comedy club or theatre group. You’ll pick up a lot of things just from being around other people that are passionate about it. Just work really hard every day and study the people that you’re inspired by and look up to – read a lot of biographies. If you want to be a stand-up comedian, watch and read different biographies of all the great comedians in history and learn from their mistakes. Just keep trying and keep going and never quit. If you never quit, you’ll eventually find suc-cess. For more information, visit Green’s website at tomgreen.com. The website features Green’s stand-up tour dates, podcasts, blog posts, videos and “Tom Green’s House Tonight” – the only long-format nightly talk show of its kind.

would not nearly be as suc-cessful as they are.” According to Fuller, the four captains, Emily Hauser, Jessica Marx, Laura Dahm and Hayley Rinehart “truly stepped up and committed themselves to the team.” Of all the memories Hauser has of the dance team throughout the past four years, she cherishes the little things the most. “Some of my fondest memories aren’t necessarily the biggest game of the year, dancing in front of thou-sands or putting on spar-kly earrings,” Hauser said. “Our team is a really fun group of girls, and the time we’ve spent together outside of practice is what I’ll trea-sure the most. We did things like spending a weekend at Twin Lakes, went to movies and had team dinners. We’re not one of those teams that hang out because we feel like we’re obligated, but because we genuinely want to.” When the UNI dance team isn’t busy winning nationals, they’re at “UNI games, spe-cial events and completing

community service through-out the campus and the Cedar Falls/Waterloo area,” Fuller said. “These ladies are out-standing role models for this university and community.” If you want to be part of the nationally-acclaimed dance team in 2011-2012, tryouts are March 31-April 3. For more information, visit the “Spirit Squads” sec-tion of www.unipanthers.com.

in the North, climbing Mt. Sinai and camping in Nuweiba on the Sinai Penninsula, vis-iting touristic landmarks in Luxor and Aswan, camping with 20 eighth-graders in the White Desert, visiting a family in rural Mallawy, not to mention the hundreds of adventures I had on a daily basis in Cairo.” UNI Career Services hosts an Overseas Fair for educa-tors Feb. 4-6 in Waterloo. Martens said that more than 100 schools from all over the world come to hire teachers for the next school year. She started applying in November

for jobs starting the following August. Martens received an offer to teach in India. She said she is “honored and humbled” to teach at the American School of Bombay. She looks forward to being able to take part in a new world and culture, as well as being independent and adjust-ing to differences she discov-ers. “These culture jolts are what I thrive on. I am ner-vously anxious to get to know Mumbai in a very real way in just a few short months,” Martens said. Students can read more about Martens’ experiences in her blog, www.copernicusin-cairo.blogspot.com.

GRADUATEcontinued from page 3

DANCE TEAMcontinued from page 3

While we work hard to perform well at foot-ball and basketball games, nationals is what we really work toward every year. We really have to come together and be able to critique each other as well as self-motivate in order to achieve our goals.

“

Emily Hausermember of the UNI Dance Team

MAPLE LANES: Wed. & Fri. 8:30 PM

5OpiniOnTuesday, February 1, 2011 I Volume 107, Issue 32 I Cedar Falls, Iowa I northern-iowan.org

This semester I made my triumphant return to the humanities classes. After a brief hiatus from freshman to senior year, I found myself amid a sea of underclassmen and procrastinating seniors. All were disgruntled. Among the groans that typically accompany the semester’s start came the historic lib-eral arts core lament. “Why do I have to take this bor-ing history class?” “How will this class make me a better (insert whiner’s career ambi-tion here)?” This long and storied objection comes each semester in each LAC class. Students who pay good money for a good educa-tion seek not a Renaissance enlightenment but a Henry Ford assembly line that effi-ciently installs their occupa-tion’s requirements piece by piece. “Why shall I tarry with Williams Shakespeare and Wallace when my fate lies with William Gates?” Okay, no one says that, but the sen-timent still remains. Why do

we have to study subjects out-side our major’s focus? Why do we have to spend moun-tains of money on books for said classes? These questions have the same merit as “Why do I have to eat my broccoli?” Bill Early, my father, would say, “Because I said so,” an answer as perplexing as it is unhelp-ful. However Sara Early, my mother, would say, “Because it’s good for you.” She justi-fies the bitter taste of furry green mini trees by saying that they are, in fact, good for me? Fifteen years or so removed from the scene, I look back thankfully to my parents’ wisdom. If I ate nothing but pizza and Gushers, I wouldn’t be here today. Sometimes we have to do things, even unpleasant things, for our own good. The liberal arts core can be like that sometimes. We find ourselves in a boring Non-Western Civ. class or a hor-rifying Oral Comm. class and wonder “WHY?” Classes like these make us better people. It may not seem like it at the time but these classes sharpen our interpersonal communica-tion skills and broaden our

perspectives. With each LAC course, one sheds away igno-rance and prejudice. As a senior I look back on the 2007 version of myself. If there was a way to learn just what my major required and nothing else, would I con-sider myself a college gradu-ate? What formed me into a well-spoken, well-rounded critical thinker was not my major classes but my liberal arts education. Employers search through mounds of applications every day. They find candidates with good major GPAs and bring them in for an interview. As they meet each well-qualified candidate, they look for some-thing exceptional. Each LAC course gives you a chance to be exceptional. Employers don’t hire machines programmed for specialized tasks; they hire people. They don’t just hire an accountant, scientist or teach-er; they hire a good person. Every LAC course gives you a chance to be that good person. So instead of stewing in the seat of your next humanities class pondering, “Why does this matter?” ask yourself, “How can I make this matter?”

A s M o h a m e d B o u a z i z i was selling

produce in the streets of Tunisia, he was apprehended by the police and ordered to halt his activity. Mr. Bouazizi did not want to be a criminal. He had resorted to illegally sell-ing produce because he could find no other work. This is not uncommon in a country whose economy is run with the interests of only the ruling elite in mind. After being hauled away, he returned to the street and burned himself alive. This event has been marked as the spark that ignited the pow-der keg of civil unrest in the Arab world. After this protest, the Internet erupted with Tweets, Facebook posts and YouTube videos detailing the event and calling for a change in government. Nine days following Mr. Bouazizi’s actions, President Zine el-Abi-dine Ben Ali was on a plane out of Tunisia. Since that time, the government has been taken over by a man seen by many Tunisians as an extension of the repressive Ali government. Consequently, the protests have continued almost daily. Along with the Tunisian revolts, there have been upheavals in Algeria, Egypt, Jordan and Yemen. Specifically in Egypt, President Mubarak has gone as far as to oust his entire cabinet. Facebook, Twitter, SMS and Blackberry Messenger have been used to help plan pro-tests, inform others of where the police are and share stories that are used to inspire others to protest. Despite the apparent importance

of the Internet in these revolutions, there are those who feel as though it is not necessarily a liberating force. One of these people is Evgeny Morozov, author of “The Net Delusion.” He believes that while the Internet is a source of power, it is more likely to be perverted by authorita-tive regimes than used for the public good. He cites the ability of the Chinese and Iranian governments to hack into the Google accounts of their opponents and restrict the use of social networking sites to all of their citizens. While it is certain that these draconian regimes are apt at censoring their people, I believe the will of the people will prevail. For one, the culture of hackers across the globe has always been anti-establishment: think Che Guevera with less social skills and a better understanding of “Star Trek.” Furthermore, the use of cyber-attacks among nations is increasing by the day. Recently, it has been speculated that the United States and Israel have used a Stuxnet worm to set back the Iranian nuclear program “sev-eral years.” It is evident that attacks on a nation’s defense system require the attention of their elite hackers, not a student posting a photoshopped picture of Ahmadinedschad’s face on the backside of a donkey. It is clear from the Egyptian and Tunisian censorship of social networking sites that these regimes are concerned with its potential impact. While these revolts will be judged in time alone, it is clear today that these revolu-tionaries are standing together with a single message: C-ya l8r repression ;)

The UniversiTy Of nOrThern iOwa’s sTUdenT-prOdUced newspaper since 1892

@RevolutionGREG H. GREUBEL

greubelg@gmail.com

Mom says eat your humanitiesTOM EARLY

earlyt@uni.edu

Last month the Iowa Board of Regents requested a $19.1 million budget increase that would help keep tuition affordable without sacrificing the quality of

our public institutions. Their request was met with Governor Terry Branstad’s recommendation to cut $28 million from the Regents’ budget. This means that Governor Branstad wants to have the Regents’ budget roughly $50 million below what they think is necessary to best serve students. For students this can mean higher tuition, fewer course offerings, larger class sizes, over-worked professors, and more adjuncts and teaching assistants. I understand the desire to tighten the state budget and to move for a more efficient government. I also understand that such a government needs to heavily prioritize and focus on what is important to its people. Unfortunately, it seems that Branstad has monstrously confused his priorities during his time out of office. For something that is so important to Iowa’s economic, civic and social development, Iowa’s public universities have been taking disproportionate blows from the state. Since fis-cal year 2001, state appropriations for the state government (minus the Regents) have increased by approximately 13 per-cent, while at the same time, funding for Regents institutions has decreased by approximately 24 percent. During that same time, funding to the Iowa Department of Education increased nearly 10 percent and funding to Iowa’s community colleges also increased by about 5 percent. So while Iowa legislators seem to have no problem funding community colleges and K-12 education (though they don’t seem too keen on Pre-K these days), they apparently have no qualms with slashing budgets for Iowa’s public universities. What they don’t seem to realize is that the information taught and the methods used in K-12 classrooms come from research performed at institutions of higher education and that the majority of Iowa’s teachers receive training at Iowa’s public universities. In 1981, state appropriations made up 77.4 percent of the Regents universities’ general fund. That number has since decreased to 39.7 percent, and the remainder has been picked up by outrageous tuition increases and unfortunate institu-tional cuts. How can this happen? How can our lawmakers continually cut funding to services that have an enormous and important impact on our state? I don’t know. But I can certainly say that between vying for votes and debating over preschool and the purpose of govern-ment, higher education seems to have fallen off their radars. I recently attended a public hearing for House File 45, a bill that proposes to significantly cut funding for higher education in addition to ending universal preschool and other programs such as Quitline Iowa. Ninety-three speakers were signed up to talk at that hearing, and in three hours I only heard four people speak on behalf of higher education. Four. Lawmakers sat in a room listening to people either pat them on the back, speak up for pre-school or ask for the construction of a passenger rail to Chicago for more than two hours before anybody even mentioned higher education. I later attended a public hearing here in Cedar Falls at which the Cedar Valley’s legislators answered questions from their constituents. Only one student, Jennifer Nulty, asked about higher education, and even though she directly addressed specific congressmen, not a single legislator said anything substantial about higher education; most of them did not even address the question at all. I clearly am not an expert on the matter, but I cannot help but feel that Iowa’s legislators simply do not understand the importance of higher education. This is because students aren’t .speaking up. They’re emptying our wallets, they’re nar-rowing our future, they’re hindering the future of our state, and we’re not doing anything about it. This needs to change. Write your legislator, write the gov-ernor, write to our student body president – just make sure that your voice is heard. We need to send a message to Des Moines: higher education is important to us and integral to our state, and we’re not going to stand by and let them continually

Take a standFrom the editorial staff JOHN ANDERSON Executive Editor

6SportSTuesday, February 1, 2011 I Volume 107, Issue 32 I Cedar Falls, Iowa I northern-iowan.org

UNI women top Bradley 58-34

See RANT, page 7

By BRAD EILERSSports Editor

By ANGELA DEHARTYSports Writer

See UNI, page 7

Sports Super Posse By RYAN FRIEDERICHSports Columnist

the UniverSity of northern iowa’S StUdent-prodUced newSpaper Since 1892

Ryan’s Rants

Strong defense led the University of Northern Iowa women’s basketball team to their seventh straight win by outscoring Bradley University 58-34 Saturday afternoon in the McLeod Center. The Panthers are halfway through their conference schedule and are still hanging on to their No. 1 spot in the Missouri Valley Conference standings. “I think our team is playing very well right now and it all starts with our ability to defend. When we play together and defend well, we have played very well,” said senior forward Erin Brocka. Lizzie Boeck led UNI (15-5, 8-1 MVC) with 16 points, eight rebounds, three blocks and two steals. Jacqui Kalin wasn’t far behind, notching 13 points and four rebounds in the game. Brocka also helped out the Panthers by snatching seven rebounds and five assists. After an 8-7 lead with 14:32 left in the first half, the Panthers went on a scoring streak and never looked

back. UNI tallied up a 31-12 lead over Bradley (10-10, 2-6 MVC) with three minutes before halftime. The Braves scored with 2:55 remaining, yet couldn’t keep pace with a free throw from Amber Kirschbaum and a lay-up and free throw from Boeck to end the half at 35-14. The Panthers started the second half managing

a 20-point lead and built up the advantage to as much as 28 points on the way to the finish line. The win against the Braves is the Panthers’ third straight victory in which they held an opponent to fewer than 40 points in the game. They also have kept their opponents from scoring more than 16 points in the

first half in the last three games. UNI’s 8-1 record in the MVC is its best start to conference play since they joined Division I basketball in 1982. UNI is now looking ahead to the rest of the season with hopes of continuing on their winning streak. However, there is still room

Panthers knock off MVC leading Missouri State 60-59

MICHAEL BROWN/Northern Iowan

UNI has won seven consecutive games and currently sits atop the Missouri Valley Conference standings with an 8-1 record in conference play. The Panthers return to action Feb. 4 when they travel to face Wichita State.

The University of Northern Iowa men’s basketball team escaped a sold out JQH Arena in Springfield, Mo., with a 60-59 victory over the Missouri State University Bears Sunday. Junior guard Johnny Moran sunk a pair of free throws with 5.2 seconds remaining to give the Panthers a one point advantage. However, the game wasn’t over until the Bear’s Adam Leonard missed a running jumper in the lane as time expired. The Panthers (17-6, 8-3 MVC) have now won seven consecutive games and sit alone in third place in the Missouri Valley Conference. After starting conference play 1-3, the Panthers are just one game out of a first-place tie with Wichita State University (18-4, 9-2 MVC) and MSU (17-5, 9-2 MVC) with seven conference games remaining. The Panthers trailed 52-44 with 10:08 remaining in the game before rallying for the victory. UNI went on a 9-0 run to take its first lead since an 8-7 lead early in the contest. Senior forward Lucas O’Rear scored the first four points of the run, then sophomore forward Jake Koch drained a three-pointer out of the right corner before sophomore guard Anthony James gave the Panthers the lead with 6:10 left in the game. The lead would change hands eight times in the final 6:10 of the game as momentum swung in both directions. MSU’s Kyle Weems gave the Bears a 57-56 lead with 1:07 on the clock, but Koch scored a bucket in the lane with 42.7 seconds left to put the Panthers back on top, 58-57. Weems then drained an 18-footer with 18.2 seconds left to give the Bears the lead again to 59-58. However, UNI would score the final points of the game as sophomore guard Marc Sonnen missed a three-pointer from the top of the key, but Moran flew in and grabbed the rebound. Moran

I have a tendency to speak my mind and I am usually not worried about other people’s reactions. On rare occasions I will find someone who likes to listen to my incoherent ramblings and engage in friendly debate over all sorts of topics, mostly covering sports. On the other hand, I often find myself in heated debates with people who don’t enjoy my insight. My friends say I need to learn how to put my foot in my mouth, and Rex Ryan would strongly encourage that as well. Maybe it is those kinds of comments that get me into trouble? Regardless, I have decided it would be best if I created some sort of sports super posse - a group that would protect my behind when I irritate the wrong person at the wrong time, more than likely in a bar. The first guy I would include would be Sean Avery, feared hockey player from the New York Rangers.

Avery is seen as an agitator and enforcer, and that would be a necessity for me. If I really wanted to make someone mad, I would bring Avery with me to get the conversation heated. A majority of the National Hockey League has voted Avery the most hated player in the league and I want that kind of guy on my side. When things started to escalate, I would call my boy Ray Lewis over. Not only does Lewis land brain-crushing hits on the gridiron, he was also indicted on murder and aggravated assault charges in 2000. If that isn’t a rap sheet to be feared, then I don’t know what is. With Avery and Lewis on my side I would begin to feel more confident and would probably start to run my mouth a little more. When the fight gets taken outside I will be glad I am friends with Edinson Volquez, pitcher for the Cincinnati Reds. Edinson not only throws incredibly hard, he also took performance-

Courtesy Photo/MCT CAMPUS

Baltimore Raven’s linebacker Ray Lewis is known for his hard hitting, making him the perfect choice for Ryan’s Sports Super Posse.

See PANTHERS, page 7

enhancing drugs. If his arm doesn’t scare off my enemy, I will show them the video of Volquez wielding a gun in a music video alongside a Dominican rap star. After the poor sap submits in the parking lot, I will call in D Generation X to clean up my mess. If anyone

claims that World Wrestling Entertainment isn’t a sport, they will also answer to Shawn Michaels and Triple H, a famous tag team duo. All I really need these guys for is to give a DX salute as I jump into Jimmie Johnson’s getaway car and head to Lucas O’Rear’s apartment to plan our next beat-down. My main target: that Doug guy from Creighton University. Go Panthers!

SPORTS I Tuesday, February 1, 2011 I northern-iowan.org PAGE 7

ClassifiedsThe UniversiTy of norThern iowa’s sTUdenT-prodUCed newspaper sinCe 1892

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Answers to puzzle in January 28th, 2011

Northern Iowan paper

for improvement. “We will continue to work hard and improve on both ends of the floor by boxing out,

valuing the ball and doing little things such as working on our hustle plays,” said Kalin. The Panthers’ next match-up will be at Wichita State University on Feb. 4. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.

UNIcontinued from page 6

was fouled in the act of shooting with 5.2 seconds left. Moran then calmly sunk both free throws. UNI was led in scoring by James, who scored 17 points. MSU was led in scoring by Weems, who scored 18 points

for the Bears. Weems hit the game-winning three-pointer against the Panthers in Cedar Falls on Dec. 29, snapping UNI’s 21-game home court winning streak. The Panthers returned the favor Sunday night, snapping the Bear’s 19-game home court winning streak. UNI returns to action

Wednesday night when they host the Illinois State University Redbirds. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.

PANTHERScontinued from page 6

Get live UNI athletics updates on Twitter at: @NISportsLive

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RANTcontinued from page 6

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