The Daily Iowan MONDAY, MAY 1, 2023
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THE INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF IOWA COMMUNITY SINCE 1868
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A legacy remembered
Technoblade, who died in 2022, attended the University of Iowa before pursuing YouTube as a full-time career. Marandah Mangra-Dutcher and Jami Martin-Trainor Editor’s note: The now-deceased YouTuber and streamer Technoblade never publicly identified himself. The Daily Iowan is respecting his family’s wish to refer to him as Technoblade throughout the article. The father will be referred to by his online name, Mr. Technodad. Ten months after Technoblade’s death, fans continue to post their favorite memories and moments with the famous Minecraft streamer to social media. Of these voices, University of Iowa students are shining through after Alex, known online as Tehcnoblade, was revealed to have attended the UI. While Technoblade was alive, fans often uttered a popular phrase: “Technoblade never dies.” Technoblade’s impact can be seen in the merch students wear when walking across campus, events planned by UI students, and mentions to the YouTuber made in passing. These actions show that
Technoblade’s mantra ultimately rang true. Technoblade started his YouTube channel in 2013 when the San Francisco native would play Minecraft and tell stories from his everyday life. As of April 30, his channel has amassed a following of 16 million subscribers. Technoblade showed early signs of being a video game master, even as a child. At five years old, Technoblade approached his dad — who sat at his desk playing the popular historical video
game Rise of Nations — and asked if he could join in. Over a decade later, Technoblade’s dad Marshall, known online as Mr. Technodad, recalled some of his fondest memories of playing the game with his son. Despite Technoblade’s love for Minecraft, Mr. Technodad said his son would return to his roots by playing Rise of Nations in the last six months of his life. On Aug. 27, 2021, Technoblade announced to his fans that he had been diagnosed with cancer. Just under a year later, his father announced Technoblade’s death in a video uploaded June 30, 2022, titled “so long nerds.”
‘So long nerds’ After the original sarcoma diagnosis, Mr. Technodad said he knew it was bad even though he wasn’t a doctor. “[Technoblade] was very open about the cancer, but he never said anything about the fact that it was all through his lungs on the day that we found it,” He said in an emotionally-charged and tearful interview with The Daily Iowan. “There’s nothing they can do for that.” After his diagnosis, Technoblade used his fanbase to fundraise and raise awareness about sarcoma. His dad said the first few weeks after the initial doctor’s appointment were chaotic, but Technoblade wasted no time putting a positive spin on the terrible situation. “He got home and got his feet under him, and he was like, ‘Dad, it’s time
Illustration by Marandah Mangra-Dutcher
TECHNOBLADE | Page 3
Residents face mobile home rent increases Some residents from Havenpark Communities’ mobile home parks voice concerns over rent increases and maintenance. Colin Votzmeyer Sports Reporter Editor’s note: One of the sources referenced in the story, Don Lund, who was interviewed in December 2022, died in April. The Daily Iowan chose to keep his comments in the article. When Don Lund moved into Golfview Mobile Home Court in North Liberty in 1980, lot rent was $87 — $334 if adjusted for inflation today. After Havenpark Communities purchased Golfview in 2019, he paid over $400. Lund said the rent gradually increased to $285 before Havenpark bought it, after which he said he came home to find a notice on his door that said Golfview was under new management and that rent would increase to $450. Lund received another notice on his door that the rent would be increased to $506 on December 15, 2022. Those rising rents follows the nationwide trend. According to Statista, the average monthly rent for manufactured housing in the U.S. has been on a steady increase over the last decade, rising from $422 in 2014 to $593 in 2021. Havenpark Communities is a Utah-based company that operates and develops manufactured home communities across the U.S. It began purchasing communities in 2019, including Golfview, Lake Ridge, and Modern Manor in Johnson County. Spokesman Josh Weiss wrote in an email to The Daily Iowan on April 4 that Havenpark Communities owns five Iowa properties. Lund, 69, lived off of food stamps and a social security check. Because he paid rent on top of his bills, newspaper subscription, and gas, he said he struggled to stay afloat. Lund was a quadruple congenital amputee, which means he was born without hands or feet and was unable to work. “I don’t even come close [to covering my fees]. It’s right on the edge, so I have to be real creative [with how I budget],” Lund said. “I can’t make any more money. I can’t go out and get a job. I just physically couldn’t. I’ve tried to find roommates. Sometimes they work out. Sometimes they don’t … It’s been a whirlwind.” Lund said he felt stretched for money to afford his $300 house payment until he received his mother’s inheritance when she died, but he said that only did so much to alleviate the rent pressure. After the initial rent increases, Lund and other resi-
Jerod Ringwald/The Daily Iowan Don Lund sits in a chair at his home in Golfview Mobile Home Park in North Liberty, Iowa, on Dec. 15, 2022. Lund died in April. dents organized a coalition behind Iowa Rep. Zach Wahls, D-Coralville, to contact representatives of Havenpark Communities in Des Moines. Havenpark Communities agreed to slow rent increases in Iowa after a town hall meeting at Golfview, but that did not stop residents from moving out, according to documents obtained by the DI. Weiss wrote in an email to the DI that a $165 monthly rent increase was planned to “bring rents in line with other properties in the Iowa City market” but that the increase would be spread over three years by yearly increases in average monthly rates until the full amount was reached. He also wrote that rent over the last two years matched inflation to pay operating costs.
Wahls said there should be a political resolution to the issues, and the Iowa Legislature should do more to protect residents. “Unfortunately, I’ve continued to run into the buzzsaw,” Wahls said. “The [Iowa] Manufactured Housing Association here in the state and Republican politicians who had initially been very cooperative have since become much more hardened in their opposition to real reform.” The Iowa Manufactured Housing Association did not respond to multiple inquiries from the DI. The situation surrounding Lund and other park resiHAVENPARK | Page 2
ICPD, UI to take closer look at racial profiling at traffic stops Iowa City police are collecting data on traffic stops and utilizing the UI Public Policy Center to research racial disparities and profiling. Iowa City City Council approved for the study to happen at its April 19 meeting. Jack Moore News Reporter The Iowa City Department of Public Safety and the University of Iowa Public Policy Center are taking a closer look at
racial disparities during traffic stops conducted by local law enforcement. The police department and the UI entered a $67,000 contract following Iowa City City Council approval April 25 to analyze traffic stops with data collected since 2006. The UI will study the demographics of people
pulled over with the intent to help reduce racial profiling at traffic stops. ICPD started collecting data on traffic stops in 1999 and continued research into racial disparities during traffic stops in 2006 after entering into a contract with Chris Barnum, the director of the Master of Science in Crim-
inal Justice program and professor at St. Ambrose University. ICPD worked with Barnum from 2006 until 2020, with the last report published in 2021. ICPD Police Chief Dustin Liston said Barnum broke the city into smaller areas and sent researchers out to collect traffic counts
to determine the racial makeup of drivers. Liston said this approach gave a more holistic data set compared to census data that may not accurately reflect who is on the road. Liston said the transition from Barnum to the UI is because of proximity and new research methods.
“St. Ambrose is obviously not in Iowa City, but the University of Iowa is, so we thought it was a good opportunity to team with them, and I think it’s going to be a more robust study,” Liston said. The contract with the UI Public Policy Center TRAFFIC | Page 5