Northern Iowan

Seybert: The truth behind defunding the police

Opinion Columnist: Addi Seybert breaks down the 'Defund the Police' movement.

ADDI SEYBERT, Opinion Columnist

September 21, 2020

Amidst the recent Black Lives Matter movement, there has been a call to defund the police. If you’re like me, the thought of defunding the police confused me at first. Defund the police? Wouldn’t that just make their jobs even harder, and subsequently lead to even more unnecessary deaths or violence...

Rawwas: Stop making heroes out of political leaders

MOHAMMED RAWWAS, Opinion Columnist

September 21, 2020

This is not a personal attack, at least not in the traditional sense. It is not an attack of a specific person, but rather an attack on the very concept of a “person.” We can relitigate the fact that Ginsburg referred to Kaepernick’s protest of kneeling during the national anthem as “really d...

Slomka: TERFs present a danger

EMERSON SLOMKA, Opinion Columnist

September 17, 2020

In Dec. 2019 author J.K. Rowling expressed support via twitter for Maya Forstater, who was fired for her series of tweets criticizing the United Kingdom government plan to allow citizens to declare their own gender—it was the start of a long descent into controversy, criticism and a polarized foll...

Horning: Independent media is lost, let’s find it again

COLIN HORNING, Opinion Columnist

September 17, 2020

We hear all the time about the need for a free press in our society. After all, freedom of the press is enshrined in our First Amendment rights as Americans, giving us the freedom to criticize our own government as a basic right as human beings. Freedom of the press is one of the most important aspe...

Montgomery: Go to therapy

Tyler Montgomery recommends therapy to everyone

TYLER MONTGOMERY, Opinion Columnist

September 14, 2020

The University of Northern Iowa offers five free therapy sessions. Even without a pandemic going on, more people should attend therapy. That’s one of those “scary” words, therapy. People scold at the idea of it. Why talk about my feelings on a chair, when I could be in my dorm watching a program on ...

Goedken: Get a pet for a forever companion

Dani Goedken recommends a get to anyone feeling lonely or in need of a friend

DANI GOEDKEN, Opinion Columnist

September 14, 2020

Pets make the best friends in the entire world. It’s hard to find a better friend than a pet. People come and go all the time, they don’t always need you, and may not want to hang out with you all the time. Pets on the other hand will always want to hang out with you and they will never leave beca...

Rawwas: U.S. makes ‘enemy’ out of China

MOHAMMED RAWWAS, Opinion Columnist

September 10, 2020

In every era, the United States requires an official enemy, an embodiment of evil itself, an “axis of evil,” or an “evil empire” as you will, as Reagan once termed the Soviet Union. This is required as a justification for the continuation of the military industrial complex, the ridiculous am...

Seybert: Teach ASL in schools

ADDI SEYBERT, Opinion Columnist

September 10, 2020

This world is full of sounds, even ones we don’t think about--the clacking of a keyboard, birds chirping, background conversations. For a hearing person, these little sounds are taken for granted every day. Yet for Deaf people, these little noises go entirely unnoticed. Deaf people cannot hear things a...

Slomka: Listen to Black Lives Matter

EMERSON SLOMKA, Opinion Columnist

September 8, 2020

765 people have been killed by police officers in 2020. Black people make up 28% of this statistic, despite only making up 13% of the United States population. In general Black people are three times more likely to be killed by police than white people, with approximately 17% having been unarmed at th...

Taking a look at 1968 vs 2020 election years

COLIN HORNING, Opinion Columnist

September 8, 2020

Picture this: there’s an election year in which there’s global unrest and turmoil, mass protesting in American cities, a Republican nominee running his campaign on the message of law and order and the “silent majority,” while the Democrats are running a former establishment vice president as ...

LTE: Advocate for global poverty

Guest Writer, Guest

September 3, 2020

Editor’s note: The following letter was submitted by senior public relations major Nicole Iradukunda, who works as a public relations and marketing intern for the Borgen Project. Did you know that you can advocate for the world’s poor, one email and a 30-second phone call at a time? In fac...

Goedken: Menstruation is not a choice

DANI GOEDKEN, Opinion Columnist

September 3, 2020

On average people who get their period spend around $13.25 a month on menstrual products. An amenity that many people cannot afford but desperately need. Menstrual products have never and will never be a choice. No person, especially a student, should have to make a decision about if they can afford or...