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THURSDAY, APRIL 5
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 26
VOLUME 114, ISSUE 42
VOLUME 116, ISSUE 8
JO KNOLWES
EMMYS REVIEW
HALL OF FAME
NEWS PAGE 2
CAMPUS LIFE PAGE 4
SPORTS PAGE 6
Young adult novelist visits UNI’s campus.
Executive Editor Gabrielle Leitner gives her take on the 2019 Emmys.
UNI Athletics Class of 2019 inducted into Hall of Fame.
Keep the light on for Banned Books Week SOFIA LEGASPI
Campus Life Editor
Rod Library and the College of Education are observing Banned Books Week alongside the rest of the nation this week from Sept. 22 to 28. This year’s theme is “Censorship Leaves Us in the Dark: Keep the Light On.” A display highlighting recently challenged books is located in the HNI Corporation Instructional Resources and Technology Services (IRTS) Lab in the Schindler Education Center. “Banned Books Week is an important observation,” said Katelyn Browne, youth services librarian. “It helps us have this conversation once a year about, you know, why would a library have a book that I think is inappropriate, or is scandalous, or is 100 years old and is pretty racist now?”
Although some literature for adults does spark controversy, Browne said it is most often books for children and teens that are challenged. “So I think it’s good and healthy for us to talk about what’s suitable to have in a library, what’s suitable to have as an assigned text in class, what’s suitable to have in a public library versus a school library,” she said. Banned Books Week is a project of the American Library Association’s (ALA) Off ice for Intellectual Freedom. According to Browne, it began as an annual observation in the early 1980s, with the first display going up in 1982. “What was going on in that time was that there was a new and unusual wave of organized book challenges in the United States,” Browne said. Browne said these challenges went beyond individ-
uals in a community raising concern about a book that their own children were reading and having private conversations with teachers and librarians. “This was kind of a wave of national organizations or state-wide organizations saying [in] communities all around the country or the state, ‘Here’s a list of books. Let’s try to get them out of as many schools as possible or as many libraries as possible,’” Browne said. Since the 1980s, the ALA and other organizations concerned with free expression have worked to raise awareness about challenged and censored literature. The ALA Office for Intellectual Freedom annually compiles and releases a list of that year’s top 10 banned books, based on reports from the media, school and library staff.
SOFIA LEGASPI/Northern Iowan
See BOOKS, page 5
UNI-Dome hosts Bands of America COLBY WEBER
Staff Writer
GABRIELLE LEITNER/Northern Iowan
Courtesy Photo
High school marching bands will gather at the UNI-Dome on September 28 from across the Midwest. Instead of coming together for a football game, they’re going to be competing against one another for the regional championship. “Bands of America is a competitive high school marching circuit,” said Hannah Butler, Public Relations Representative for the Panther Marching Band. “It’s similar to an athletic event, they go to a lot of different competitions. It’s structured so that they have a postseason, and they work their way up to the Grand National Championships.” The gates for the event will open at 8:15 a.m. on Saturday, and the final award presentation will be given at 10:30 p.m. In total, 24 bands will be present at this Bands of America event. The rules of the competition are open-ended, and there are several categories including visuals, music and drumline. Contestants
can earn a certain number of points in each category and the judges score them on their execution within each one. The judges for the contest are certified through the Bands of America program. Through this certification, they are given the training that is needed to judge a marching band. While UNI has had a relationship with Bands of America in the past, this is the first event which UNI has hosted. “We’ve been in contact with the Bands of America facilitators for several years now,” said Butler. “This is just the first year that they’ve talked to us where we’ve had the right weekend open for us to host. Since the UNI-Dome is a shared space, it gets a little creative in there sometimes with scheduling.” The Panther Marching Band will be helping UNI to prepare for Bands of America by almost completely staffing the event. In addition, two exhibition performances will be presented by the band. The
first exhibition will be around 5 p.m., where they will perform an Earth, Wind and Fire show. Around 10:45 p.m. on Saturday night, they will do their pre-game show. “I really hope that the students [enjoy] getting a chance to play in the Dome,” said Butler. “We have such a unique facility as compared to a lot of other bands in the country. I’ve gotten to play at different venues such as Jack Trice and stuff, and I love playing in the Dome. As for the audience, I hope that they get to enjoy seeing some of the top high school marching bands in the country perform right here.” Butler believes that UNI hosting Bands of America is a unique opportunity. She wants UNI students to attend, noting that information about tickets and scheduling can be found on the Panther Marching Band social media pages. On Facebook, they are Panther Marching Band, and their Twitter/Instagram handle is @UNIPMB.