The Daily Iowan MONDAY, MARCH 21, 2022
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The Pedestrian Mall: Past, Present, Future: Part I
Laying the foundation downtown
For 40 years, the Pedestrian Mall has been the epicenter of Iowa City, but the downtown fixture wasn’t always wanted.
Brian Moore/The Daily Iowan
New benches in the Ped Mall mark the completion of Phase 1 of the downtown renovation project on Oct. 28, 1998.
Kate Perez News Reporter This article is one in a series about the Iowa City Pedestrian Mall. Stories on the present and future of the Ped Mall will follow in future DI issues. It’s a Sunday spring morning and the Iowa City Pedestrian Mall is waking from hibernation. Children frolic on the playground next to the Iowa City Public Library, bouncing on the spongy material, shouting joyfully. People lounge on the stone steps leading down to the fountain, basking in the sunlight and talking as cello music fills the air. A musician perches on a stage next to the Graduate Hotel, entertaining those walking through the mall hoping for a tip. People enter the Dandy Lion, the smells of syrup and ba-
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con wafting out every time every time the door to the restaurant opens. The benches outside Bread Garden Market are free of snow and occupied once more by students, kids, parents, and older adults, all chattering away about their weekend plans. It’s hard to imagine in this moment that Iowa City residents did not always want the Ped Mall, which is now used and beloved by many. In 1960s Iowa City, Dubuque and College Streets intersected where the Weatherdance fountain — a series of waterspouts that shoot water out from the ground, forming a tunnel when all spouts are active — now entertains children and families on hot summer days. Then, the area was a center for commerce. Colorful Chevy Impalas and Ford Pintos lined the streets, parked and waiting for their owners to re-
turn from shopping at JCPenney and Things & Things & Things. The Iowa City Pedestrian Mall, affectionately known to many as the Ped Mall, City Plaza, and the Dubuque-College Street Mall, has been a downtown staple for University of Iowa students and community members alike. However, this Iowa City activity hub would not change for another 10 years. The idea of urban renewal spread rapidly throughout the U.S. during the ‘60s and ‘70s. Cities and towns, desperate to compete with the growing popularity of shopping malls, turned to urban renewal to rejuvenate their dying downtowns. Iowa City was no differentand created its own urban PROJECT | Page 2
Iowa OSHA issues no citations against UI
UI researchers study COVID-19 signs in mouth
The Iowa branch of Occupational Safety and Health Administration will not cite any official violations against the university.
Researchers discovered bacterial biomarkers that can indicate a COVID-19 infection in the mouth for patients with and without symptoms.
Iowa City West student kickstarts chess club for young girls
The Chess Butterflies teaches elementary-aged girls how to play chess. Iowa City West High School freshman Anjali Lodh, who organized and runs the club, has played chess since she was 5 years old. Page 6A
Anthony Neri News Reporter
sures. It also advised that the UI “evaluate any improvements that could be made to reduce and minimize” exposure to COVID-19. The UI does not require vaccination or masks for students or employees, in line with the state Board of Regents’ policies. The UI and regents strongly recommend vaccination against COVID-19, and until the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
University of Iowa researchers are looking for signs of COVID-19 in the mouth. A group of researchers in the UI Carver College of Medicine conducted a study to identify biomarkers that indicate whether a patient has COVID-19. Sukirth Ganesan, assistant professor in the UI Department of Periodontics, said previous COVID-19 research focused on the virus’ effects on the gut and the skin microbiomes, but not so much on the mouth or oral microbiome — which differs drastically. “The studies have shown that we cannot extrapolate what we find in the gut environment to the body in the oral cavity, the mouth, because the mouth is very different,” he said. The medicine college awarded Ganesan and his team a Carver Trust COVID-19 Pilot Collaborative Award of $74,900 to fund the study in June 2021. What researchers discovered was that the oral microbiome looks distinct when infected with COVID-19 compared to other viruses, Ganesan said, but also that asymptomatic COVID-19 patients have different oral microbiomes than symptomatic patients. “I’m not saying we are there yet because this was a small group,” he said, referring to his 80 patients who were split into four groups of 20. “But this is very promising, to show that there are very clear concise results that we’ll be able to transform into a bigger study.” Ganesan said the biomarkers, like
OSHA | Page 5A
RESEARCH | Page 5A
UI Cambus celebrates 50 years of student-run service
Student supervisors for Cambus, the University of Iowa’s transportation service, reflect on what it’s like to work for the fully student-initiated service as the operation turns 50. Page 8A
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Grace Smith/The Daily Iowan Signs encouraging students to wear masks in classrooms are seen on the doors of the English-Philosophy Building at the University of Iowa on Aug. 23, 2021.
Anthony Neri News Reporter The Iowa branch of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration will not issue any violations or citations against the University of Iowa, following an investigation into complaints by the UI’s Campaign to Organize Graduate Students. In a letter to UI Occupational Safety Manager Steve Paulsen, Iowa OSHA did not issue any citations, but noted that employees contracted
COVID-19 through their work at the UI by being in close contact with others. “It was determined that there were certain employees who contracted work-related COVID-19 by being in close contact … with others including other employees, students, and/ or the public,” the letter stated. The letter, written by Iowa OSHA Administrator Russell Perry, advised the university to encourage or require employees to engage in COVID-19 mitigation and protective mea-