Soil Compilation

News
Opinion: The University of Iowa must do more to protect its marching band and performers

When a student dies under the university’s watch, it should become the concern of the entire student body. That is why, despite not being a member of the Hawkeye Marching Band or a student-athlete, I write today to call for more robust protocols and protections in the future to safeguard the health of some of the most dedicated and hardworking student-athletes on campus: the Hawkeye Marching Band.  It’s worth comparing what happened on September 5th to a similar tragedy that happened recently at Arizona State. This involved a draft pick, Matthew Mayich, who collapsed from heat exhaustion during an intense … Continued

Online Content
September 14, No New Jail Show

As far back as my first punk show as an Iowa City resident, I would continue to hear calls to action to vote against a bill being proposed to spend $125 million on building a new jail within Johnson County. It seemed like a persistent issue with little in the way of progress, as those with any power to stop it were refusing to listen to the pleas of concerned citizens. So when I saw the announcement of a show to protest this very bill, I knew it was something I couldn’t miss out on.  In collaboration with Johnson County … Continued

Music
Riot Fest Gallery

Riot Fest just wrapped a successful, yet muddy weekend in Chicago. From September 18-20, over a hundred thousand people graced the grounds, later mud pit, of Douglass Park. Here are some of my favorite selects from the weekend.

Iowa City Observations is a continuing column in which I venture out into the streets of Iowa City and ask people to inspire me, as well as make probably irrelevant observations about Iowa City itself.

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In the three seasons since Theo Epstein took over as Cubs president, the Cubs have gone a combined 200-286, good for a .412 winning percentage.  However, this was all part of a master plan to completely revamp the Cubs minor league system and eventually make a big splash in free agency, and in the offseason following the 2014 season, the Cubs made sure they let the rest of the MLB know that it was ready to make an impact.  Once Joe Maddon opted out of the final year of his contract with the Tampa Bay Rays, Chicago quickly picked him … Continued

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Expectations: a word that has haunted Iowa sports for years and something that has not been kind to them when the stakes are high. Last year at this time the Iowa basketball team’s expectations were as high since the Alford era and things looked up for the 2013-14 squad. These expectations were not fulfilled for Iowa fans, losing seven of their last eight games and an identity that seemed to be lost. As the 2014-2015 college basketball regular season begins to wind down with the Iowa Hawkeyes (17-10, 8-6) finding themselves once again amidst a year full of similar expectations for Fran and company, … Continued

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Major League Baseball and its fans have heard it all before. There were sluggers like Mark McGwire, Jose Canseco and most recently Ryan Braun,  who captivated audiences nine innings at a time. Then there were the aces. The guys who threw fire out of their arms. I’m talking guys like Roger Clemens (although it’s still up in the air….) and Andy Pettitte who blew away batters one by one. This is what baseball was supposed to be. Monstrous home runs, blinding strikeouts and game winning hits are what we as baseball fans hope to see during the long 162 game … Continued

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