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UNIVERSITY OF NORTHERN IOWA CEDAR FALLS, IA THURSDAY, APRIL 5 VOLUME 114, ISSUE 42
CEDAR FALLS, IA
VOLUME 119, ISSUE 14
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2022
OPINION
CAMPUS LIFE
SPORTS
OPINION PAGE 3
CAMPUS LIFE PAGE 4
SPORTS PAGE 6
Guest Columnist Kamyar Enshayan compares extremism in Iran to sentiments rising in the U.S.
Former Panther and Super Bowl MVP Kurt Warner returns to UNI for Homecoming festivities.
UNI athletes gathered for the third annual Unity Walk.
Then and now: HOCO on the Hill Mi visita a N.I. EN ESPAÑOL
1996
2022
México
OSCAR IBARRA MURILLO
Escritor Invitado
MAYRA VILLANUEVA
Editora en espanol
Nota editorial: Esta es una colaboración especial con la clase de español avanzado de la escuela secundaria de Marshalltown. Se le quiere agradecer al escritor, Oscar Ibarra Murillo por su contribución al periódico estudiantil y dedicación al escribir su historia.
COURTESY/NI ARCHIVES & FACEBOOK
A student submitted the photo on the left from the scene of the 1996 Homecoming riots on the Hill, which culminated in overturning vehicles and smashing the windows of a Kum & Go. The photo collage on the right showing police offers posing with people out this Homecoming was shared on Facebook this past Sunday by Cedar Falls Public Safety with the caption, “University of Northern Iowa, thanks for a safe Homecoming!”
College Street by the Hill open to traffic on Friday of Homecoming weekend for first time since 1996 riots
MALLORY SCHMITZ News Editor
For the first time since the riots of 1996, the 2200 block of College Street, known as the Hill, remained open to vehicle traffic on the Friday of Homecoming week. As Acting Chief of Police for the Cedar Falls Police Department Mark Howard said, the department didn’t see a need for the street to be closed this year. “This year we agreed to
not close it on Friday night for the reason that we just didn’t think we were going to have the crowd, and we didn’t,” he said. “Friday nights tend to be real slow, this year was really slow. As a matter of fact, [last] Friday night was slower than most normal Friday nights,” he said. According to Howard, the size of the crowds on the Hill has significantly decreased since the 90s. “Saturday nights are still busy, but we don’t tend to see the large crowds that we
UNI campus goes bananas OLIVIA BRUNSTING Staff Writer
The week leading up to Homecoming is usually one filled with fun, food and traditions. This year was no exception and even included an unexpected surprise known to the student body as “banana week.” Many students were puzzled when they started finding bananas planted all around campus. “I’ve spotted 41 bananas on campus, mainly on sculptures, we really have a serial bananadit on the loose at campus!” UNI freshman Mia GreenwellSherman said. “I think it’s fun to look for them like a scavenger hunt.” These fruits were most commonly found on sculptures
and signs; however, there is no limit to the creativity of the “bananadits.” The Northern Iowan spoke with two of the members that were involved in this activity. However, the group as a whole has decided to stay anonymous. “For us, we chose places where the most people would see them and where it would be hardest for people to reach,” member 1 said. “We did this with bananas in mind since they’re biodegradable.” “Some required climbing experiences and others incredible balance and agility, and we had different skill sets all around for the banana placement,” member 2 added. “A couple we just had to throw and pray.” They shared that one of the
most creative and challenging placements was at the UNIDome. “There were many high platforms and hard to reach areas that forced us to quit monkeying around and put our brains together,” member 2 said. “Me and three other gentlemen learned how to lift one of our banana bandits up in the air to a height I had never seen before in a matter of minutes, and it allowed for multiple successful placements.” The banana sightings aren’t just restricted to the people who are deliberately searching for them though. Some students have found the produce when they least expected it. “We have had bananas put in through book drops at the library and have found them on the bikes out front as well,”
saw years ago,” he said. College Street was still closed off on Saturday night due to the expected larger crowd compared to Friday. However, the street closed at 9 p.m. rather than 8 p.m. as in years past. The decrease in police involvement on the Hill is a sign of times, as 26 years earlier, Homecoming weekend was anything but “slow.” See COLLEGE HILL, page 2
Este verano fui a México por cinco semanas con mi padre, madrastra y hermanos. El plan era pasar la primera semana en Michoacán con la familia de mi padre y después mis hermanos y yo nos iríamos a Guanajuato con nuestra madre por el resto de las vacaciones. Nos levantamos a las tres de la mañana y manejamos a Chicago, pero llegamos tarde al aeropuerto y tuvimos que tomar el avión seis horas después. Fue un rato frustrante pero cuando al fin llegamos a Guadalajara allí nos esperaban unos amigos de mi padre y nos llevaron a Michoacán. Ver VISITA, página 2
COURTESY/MIA GREEN-SHERMAN
Bananas began appearing around campus the week leading up to Homecoming. The panther statue by Maucker Union fell victim to the so-called “banana week.”
revealed Senior Stettson Smith who also works as a library student manager at Rod Library. Member 2 shared that the book drops and returned bikes weren’t the only place in Rod that they put the bananas.
“There was one on a windowsill on Rod Library that we had to continuously toss and hope it would balance,” member 2 said. See BANAN-IGANS, page 5