Iowa City DJs navigate increased competition in the nightlife scene.
Greeted by flashing purple lights and booming bass, patrons at Brothers Bar & Grill grab a drink and hit the dance floor. And waiting for them behind the booth is one of Iowa City’s less conventional DJs.
Anyone who is involved in the Iowa City nightlife scene has likely heard the name “DJ Jimmy Jim.”
Whether Iowa City bargoers are busting a move at
friends at DC’s Sports Bar, or playing beer pong at an Exile Brewing tailgate, Jimmy Jim is likely to have been the one standing behind the DJ booth.
The white-haired performer has no issue keeping up with contemporary hits and peppering in classic throwbacks. He said his main inspiration for his song selections is just to make people dance.
“I think Jimmy Jim plays the best music and has the best transitions out of all of the DJs in Iowa City,” Dane Butler, a University of Iowa second-year student, said.
The man behind the stage name, Jim Bollard, doesn’t fit the typical college-town DJ archetype, but the 70-year-old said he has been embraced and celebrated by younger bar-goers.
Bollard said he loves the atmosphere in Iowa City and being recognized by fans while walking down the street.
“I love the young energy,” he said. “I don’t have a lot of friends my age. All my best friends are in their 40s now. I have a lot of fun with the college kids and think
Ta oo parlor raises funds for food insecurity
Swanky Bits hosted a flash sale Sunday raising $3,000 to combat food insecurities.
With people lining up two hours before the event started, Swanky Bits, a local tattoo parlor, worked on one of its biggest events of the year in hopes of helping combat food insecurity in the Iowa City area.
Inside, the buzz of tattoo machines mixed with steady chatter as the team worked, tattooing clients back-to-back, expressing excitement over the good turnout.
The team raised just over $3,000 and provided service to 28 customers. Nikki Powills, owner of Swanky Bits, and her team tattooed for six hours, with all proceeds going to CommUnity Crisis Services and Food, an Iowa City nonprofit.
Weeks ago, the team came up with the idea for a flash sale. After a planned fundraiser with Swanky Bits fell through, the tattoo decided to focus on addressing the national issue of food insecurity, turning a setback into an opportunity for impact.
To qualify for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP, in the state, gross income must be at or below 130 percent of the federal poverty level. According to the Iowa Hunger Coalition, nearly 10,000 Johnson County residents rely on SNAP as of the most recent data reported in September 2025.
Nearly 18,000 Johnson County residents
face food insecurity, according to Feeding America’s Map the Meal report.
Moved by the current political climate, and uncertainty surrounding SNAP, Medicaid, and Medicare funding, Powills said she hopes to help people during the holiday season.
“It’s the time of year that’s really hard for
people in general. Everybody deserves to be able to celebrate and have that warm, nice meal,” Powills said.
Zac Louis, an apprentice at Swanky Bits, grew up on SNAP benefits and said he loved helping people when he got the chance.
Travel disruptions continue after government reopens
complicated.
As the holiday season approaches, many University of Iowa students are looking forward to heading home, but this year, the ourney might not be so simple. ngoing flight cancellations lingering even after the federal government shutdown ended have left some travelers stranded and others rethinking how they will get home.
Leaders of the U.S. Department of Transportation and the Federal Aviation Administration announced late Nov. 16 that the FAA’s emergency order requiring reduced flights at 0 airports will be terminated at 6 a.m. on Nov. 17. However, many UI students had already made adjustments to their travel plans.
For some students, the shutdown and its aftermath have caused disruptions. UI second-year Jackson Morrissey, a human physiology
I’m one of them, having a lot of fun.”
Bollard has been performing in Iowa City for eight years, doing shows weekly at Brothers Bar & Grill and DC’s Sports Bar on the Pedestrian Mall. Over the years, he’s made a name for himself among UI students and locals. Bollard sells merchandise such as hats and sunglasses that are popular among students, and has amassed over 1,300 followers on Instagram.
“It’s cool that at his age, Jimmy Jim is a DJ and having fun,” Butler said.
Retired for 15 years, Bollard is now able to DJ full time. He formerly worked in technology as the director of IT architecture for Nationwide Insurance until 2011 but always DJed on the side.
The Pocahontas, Iowa, native said he has always loved music and started out selecting songs for high school sock hops. In college, he
Young people have started to flood the market in the DJ scene as music artists such as John Summit have infiltrated the main
stream. As electronic dance music, or EDM, and house music have become more popular among teenagers and college students, many memes circulate on TikTok, X, formerly known as Twitter, and Instagram, all with the same premise: Everyone wants to be a DJ. These memes often make jokes about the lack of young people entering trades and essential jobs, such as plumbing or carpentry, and instead opting for a career in music production.
UI musicology Ph.D. candidate Zane Lar son said house music and EDM are likely seeing a resurgence due to the current 20-somethings’ nostalgia for popular 2010s artists such as David Guetta. He said trends tend to come around every decade or so, and
“We’ve even seen it since the 2000s — the decline of people just picking up an instrument and playing it,” he said. “I think we’re really inspired by the technology around us, whether we want to be or not.”
UI fourth-year student Jack Malmed, who spends his weekends DJing at The Summit, said he has recognized an oversaturation of young people trying to get behind the booth since he started doing gigs and works hard to set
worked for Central College’s radio station in Pella, Iowa, as a DJ and even received a job offer to do sports play-by-play after graduation but turned the offer down.
Retirement has also allowed Bollard to spend more time getting involved with his community, and he currently serves as chair of the Des Moines Parks and Rec board, the Coalition of South Side Neighborhood Associations, and the East Lake Area Neighborhood Association.
As a Des Moines resident, Bollard has to make the trek to Iowa City most weekends and stay in a hotel. He said extra time during the day, however, gives him time to listen to new music and think about what he wants to play that night.
“Being on the road sometimes can be a challenge,” Bollard said. “It’s not glamorous.”
Bollard said despite the age gap with his audience, he doesn’t have a difficult time finding music to please a younger crowd, and his years of experience have made him good at feeding off an audience’s energy. He doesn’t prepare setlists before shows and instead plays songs based on the vibe in the room.
“I describe my style as hands in the air, sing-along, female-friendly,” he said. “When I go to a club like Brothers [Bar & Grill], I tell the guys I don’t care what they think. If you have the girls in the club, the guys are gonna be there, so that’s my target audience.”
Now that Bollard DJs full time, he said he can sometimes overwork himself, and it’s challenging to step away from the booth.
“I’m a very driven person,” he said. “I really don’t take a night off because I don’t want some young kid to come in and take my job. So the challenge for me is my age and breaking that barrier. The first year, I did pretty well, and now, year to year, people kind of know who I am, and they talk about me.”
college students are gravitating toward the popular music they likely heard on the radio growing up.
“People love looking back, and I think it also connects across generations in a way which I find really cool and powerful,” Larson said.
House music was created in Chicago in the 1980s as a counter culture to disco, Lar son said. Underground DJs started layering faster beats over disco classics, which made the songs easier to dance to. He said dance music and house music also come from histor ically marginalized and working-class people, namely LGBTQ+, Latino, and Black commu nities in the U.S.
Larson said house music is coming back in significant way now because dance music is associated with party culture — a culture dominated by “bros.” The genre has reached a large, predominantly white audience.
“It shifts to that kind of almost bro-ey culture,” he said. “It’s part of party culture, too.”
Similar shifts have occurred in popular music history with country and rock ‘n’ roll music, Larson said. He said those genres originated in Black spaces and were later popularized by White artists.
He cited Beyoncé as a musician working to reclaim these genres, with albums such as “Cowboy Carter,” which worked to reclaim country music, and her 202 film “Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé,” which was a project meant to reclaim house music.
Larson also pointed to the digital age as a reason more young people are picking up a laptop and a sound board rather than a guitar.
He said people are much more tech-savvy now, so learning the basics of sound mixing and transitions is easier than ever.
He cited YouTube videos and Reddit posts from John Summit before his career took off, in which he showed viewers easy ways to start remixing their own songs.
more people. It’s really all about connec tions,” Malmed said. “Honestly, you could be a terrible DJ, and you could still get booked just because you have the connections. It’s a little hard because some of these influencer DJs are getting booked just because they can bring a crowd.”
Malmed DJs at The Summit on Clinton Street in Iowa City and also works as a club promoter and runs all the bar’s “Electric JungAl” nights. The second floor of The Summit provides a more nightclub-like atmosphere compared to the sports bar on the first floor, and patrons can purchase tickets to see the DJ shows upstairs.
He has also done shows at Scout’s Honor, Coa Cantina, and The Airliner. The UI fourthyear has even taken the leap to performing in Chicago clubs such as Joy District.
While in Chicago, Malmed was mentored by music producer Smoko Ono, who has worked on music with famous rappers, including Chance the Rapper. He worked with the producer to improve his skills, as Malmed sees DJing as something he wants to pursue post-graduation.
“What I love about it is just like making people happy,” he said. “It’s my favorite thing
watching people dance and just putting a smile on people’s faces.”
Despite the increasingly competitive market, Malmed said he’s happy more people are getting interested in house music, and he’s glad to share the stage.
“The DJ market right now is so crazy,” he said. “Everyone’s trying to DJ, but I love it because I feel like everyone’s getting passionate about similar things. You just have more people to share the love with.”
UI third-year student and local DJ
Rob Ciresi said he’s seen similar trends, with more young people looking to start DJing. He said with so many people trying to get their start, it’s become chal
lenging to get a foot in the door.
“For the bars, it’s definitely hard getting in there, just to try and get a spot,” he said. “For them, you’re just a random kid, and they don’t have any way to credit you. But for you, you have no way to break in, so it’s super hard.”
Ciresi currently DJs at Scout’s Honor, The Summit, and The Sports Column, located in downtown Iowa City, but said he got his start DJing at a UI Reach Program event. From there, he was able to get videos of his show to send to bars around town as a reference.
find gigs in Iowa City but added an aspiring DJ might have to start out working for free to get exposure.
“You’ve got to take the pay cut, and then it’s ust a snowball effect after your first spot,” he said.
Ciresi also emphasized the importance of having fun with the job. He said some DJs think they’re above taking song requests, but Ciresi encourages requests and said he loves seeing people get excited when they hear their song played.
“I know a bunch of DJs downtown kind of got a high head on their shoulders, thinking they’re too good,” he said.
Kelley said. “[We] just kept high-quality dance music nonstop through all that. We have a sound. When you go to Studio 13, there’s a certain sound you hear on Saturday nights. It’s been consistent, and I’m proud to have helped keep that consistency going.”
During the day, Kelley is a music teacher in the Iowa City Community School District, and has been able to pursue his love of music outside the classroom. He said he had a friend who was a DJ at Studio 13 in the early 2000s who was able to get Kelley a job.
Ciresi echoed Malmed’s comments about the importance of networking to
“But for us, we’re playing a college bar for college kids, so we should play college kid music. We absolutely love it, too — hearing everyone cheer.”
Apart from the DJ scene in most of Iowa City’s bars, Studio 13 is a dance club tucked away in an alley. The club’s head DJ, Nathan Kelley, put it simply: “Studio is the place to dance.”
With its light-up dance floor and intricate light show, Studio 1 offers more of a nightclub environment than the many sports bars in Iowa City.
House music is steeped in LGBTQ+ history, and Kelley said house classics are always on the setlist at Studio 13.
“I really love current dance music, pop music, so he kind of took me under his wing and trained me,” Kelley said.
Kelley said one of the more challenging aspects of DJing at an LGBTQ+ nightclub is the diversity of the crowd. He said college kids always make up a large portion of the audience on the weekends, but there is a substantial queer crowd, too.
“To be a DJ at Studio, you have to be really good at blending, putting a little bit of something in there for everybody,” Kelley said. “There are certain songs that we throw in that are just for the LGBTQ+ crowd, but a lot of it’s mixed.”
Bollard and Kelley both said DJing has undergone many changes since they got their starts, including shifts in song choices and the methods used to play music.
Kelley has been performing at Studio 13 since 2007 and playing house music there for much longer than the recent trends. He said his style is very reminiscent of what is played in Boystown, a Chicago neighborhood home to a large number of LGBTQ+ people.
“Even when music was going through all the changes, like going back from hip-hop to this to that, and people were jumping around, Studio stayed with it,”
Both DJs used to use CDs to play songs before computers condensed their catalogs, and even longer ago, Bollard spun exclusively vinyl.
Despite the changes, Bollard said he’s having as much in Iowa City as he has at any other point in his career.
“People here like me. That makes me want to come back. I like them, too,” he said. “When I first came here, I didn’t know what I was getting into. I was already old, and I didn’t know how well I’d be received.”
“As soon as I heard that people weren’t getting [SNAP benefits], we knew we wanted to jump on a chance to help them out,” Louis said.
With around 10 hours of preparation spent creating aftercare goodie bags, printing copies of the tattoo options, and getting the lined design sheets ready for stenciling, the five-person team four tattoo artists and one staff member working the door handled the steady flow of attendees from the moment the doors opened.
efore the event, owills said the shop had already received strong support from the community, with the post advertising the event earning hundreds of likes and being widely shared.
Droves of people entered the tattoo shop on Nov.1 . Alyssa owills, the receptionist, said everyone was frantic when the event began. To minimize the waiting time, the team would take the customer’s information and call them when they were ready for the next customer.
rightly colored flash sheets cov-
ered the front window, showcasing si sets of designs, ranging from vegetables to cartoon characters, offering ornamental and traditional styles created by the Swanky Bits artists and guest contributors.
“You are drawing a lot more, so we were up late nights, drawing, coming up with the perfect ideas for the flash [sale],” Louis said.
Elisabeth Pumphrey sat in the lobby, talking about tattoos with other customers as each waited for their turn.
Pumphrey, who chose a bonsai tree design, hadn’t been to Swanky Bits but had heard about the event through Instagram, and went to support the cause.
“I think [the flash sale] is so amazing. More people should be doing it. I think it shows these small businesses are the ones making the real impact for the community,” Pumphrey said.
Pumphrey said the flash sale was an example of how simple actions can translate into meaningful local support.
“There’s a lot of little ways to impact the community in positive ways that can really make a big difference,” umphrey said. “Knowing your actions and
the small things you’re doing are impacting real people in the community is important.”
Following the event, Louis said he hopes it shows Swanky Bits is there to help.
“I think it’d be great to help get Swanky Bits out in the community, let everyone know we’re here and happy to help,” he said.
Powills recognized numerous
businesses stepping up during the SNAP funding uncertainty and said she hopes this encourages more to do the same.
“It’s very important to play a part and also show an example to either employees that are working with you or
that
as well,” Powills said. “Any time you see somebody trying to help out, you think, what can I do, then?”
major from the Seattle area, said he’s planning to take the bus home for Thanksgiving this year after his parents and his roommate encountered trouble with recent flights.
“My roommate actually ust flew down to Tampa this weekend, and his flight back got canceled,” Morrissey said. “ e was stuck in Tampa until 5 a.m. last night.”
National data from the days leading up to the announcement show disruptions had begun stabilizing. Data from flight tracking software FlightAware indicated flight cancellations in the .S. had dropped from their peak of 2,800 per day to ust 1 on Nov. 1 .
Air tra c controllers, designated as essential federal employees, were required to work without pay throughout the shutdown. At its peak on Nov. , the FAA recorded 1 sta ng triggers in a single day. ut by Nov. 1 and 15, sta ng triggers dropped to six and eight, respectively, and only one on Nov. 1 , which aligned with pre-shutdown numbers.
During the shutdown, 20 to 0 percent of controllers were absent on any given day at the 0 largest .S. airports, according to the FAA.
Goldman was less concerned.
y Nov. 1 , FAA reduced flights into, between, and out of 0 .S. airports by percent, ramping up to 10 percent by Nov. 1 . ven though resident Donald Trump signed a bill to reopen the government after days, flights were still reduced by percent daily until the FAA determined normal operations could continue.
“I want to thank the FAA’s dedicated safety team for keeping our skies secure during the longest government shutdown in our nation’s history and the country’s patience for putting safety first,” said Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy in an announcement Nov. 1 , adding that air tra c controllers have returned to their posts and normal operations may resume. am inman, director of marketing and communications for the astern Iowa Airport, or CID, said the airport has been operating normally despite having a few flight cancellations.
CID was not one of the 0 airports the FAA was focused on.
Morrissey said his parents are planning to drive from their home in Seattle to Omaha, Nebraska, for Thanksgiving this year to avoid the travel nightmare they
worry they will encounter while flying.
“I don’t know if my dad even bought the [plane] tickets because of the shutdown now,” Morrissey said. “So they might ust be driving instead of flying. It’s a two or three-day road trip.”
Other students have not noticed much of a difference. Tessa Goldman, a linguistics and Japanese double major from oulder, Colorado, said she has not e perienced any problems booking flights home or hearing about delays.
“I personally haven’t come into contact with any flying issues recently,” Goldman said. “My parents flew from Denver to L.A. this past weekend, and they had no issues whatsoever. I haven’t had any notifications about cancelled flights or delays at all.”
While Morrissey said the shutdown added uncertainty to his family’s plans,
“This government shutdown has only been a couple of days longer than the last one, and that one was a couple of days longer than the one before that,” Goldman said. “So I haven’t been worried about it, because if you just look at the track, it’s pretty much a pattern.”
Looking ahead, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said in a press conference Nov. 11 that even with the shutdown over, long-term sta ng challenges will still impact the aviation system. The FAA remains short roughly 2,000 air tra c controllers, and retirements continue at a faster rate than before the shutdown.
“Long after [the media finishes] covering the shutdown,” Duffy said. “We are going to be stuck dealing with this problem.”
Iowa’s mental health revamp shows li le change
The state’s new behavioral health system is streamlining care, but access to services remains tepid.
The old regions each had different entities administering services.
Laura Semprini of Iowa City knows what it is like to call behavioral health providers in a desperate attempt to get an appointment during a time of need, just to be told, “Come in three months.”
This experience is not uncommon, with the average wait time for behavioral health services in the U.S. being 48 days, according to a November 2024 study by the Health Resources and Services Administration National Center for Health Workforce Analysis.
The same study said six in 10 psychiatrists do not accept new patients, making wait times a more significant barrier to accessing care.
Semprini now works as a remote peer support coordinator for the Johnson County chapter of the National Alliance of Mental Illness, or NAMI. Although she has been fortunate enough to access behavioral health services when she needed it, Semprini said she understands, as a patient and a provider, there are notable barriers in access to care.
In an attempt to streamline services and improve access to behavioral health care across Iowa, a new statewide system was implemented on July 1.
After being signed into law by Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds and passing the Iowa Legislature with bipartisan support in March 2024, the new Behavioral Health Service System reorganized resources across the state.
State officials and some mental health advocates said the system will be a more effective way of providing care, while Johnson County officials say the system will be too far removed from the needs of local communities.
Semprini worked on the advisory council and governing board for the East Central Region, one of 14 former behavioral health regions across the state.
She said much of the old system was working, but there were areas that needed improvement, such as the difficulty in providing substance abuse and behavioral health care together, considering the high rates of the co-occurring diseases. According to a study published by the World Psychiatry Journal and archived in the National Library of Medicine, around 50 percent of individuals with severe mental illness also deal with substance abuse.
Marissa Eyanson, director of the division of behavioral health for Iowa Health and Human Services, or Iowa HHS, said the old system was outdated in terms of laws and services designed to provide care to Iowans.
She said Iowa HHS conducted a statewide assessment to identify problems with the old system.
Eyanson said the previous system was inconsistent in providing care and often led to individuals not receiving help until they were in crisis.
She said the new system was developed from a “community-driven, statewide effort,” and has been modernized to fit the current needs of the state to prioritize early intervention.
Early intervention initiatives include increased services in locations such as schools or jails — places where individuals are likely to gain access to care for the first time, Eyanson said.
Johnson County Supervisor Rod Sullivan said funding previously came directly from the county until the funds were combined into regions in 2014, when Johnson County became part of the East Central Region, one of 14 former regions in the state.
Now, the regions combine to form seven districts, and funding is funneled through the Iowa Primary Care Association, or PCA, a singular Administrative Service Organization in an attempt to limit complexities in funding distribution.
Iowa PCA said it does not deliver direct clinical care but rather “builds and supports a network,” which reaches across the state to do so.
Iowa PCA said it contracts with 124 behavioral health providers across Iowa to deliver care as efficiently and consistently as possible.
“Our goal is to ensure Iowans can get connected to care regardless of where they live or what coverage they have,” Abby Ferenzi, senior director of behavioral health services at the Iowa PCA, said in a statement.
Semprini said while some providers’ contracts changed as a part of the realignment, NAMI’s contract remained largely the same, though funding for staff training is no longer included.
Eyanson said a major issue Iowa HHS found was difficulty navigating the old system, leading to hardship in accessing services.
“[People] often found there were too many doors but not enough of the right doors,” Eyanson said.
She said the addition of system navigators, a “boots on the ground” mechanism to help Iowans maneuver the behavioral health system, has been an immediately impactful change with the new system.
Navigators are located throughout the districts and make care more accessible through a less cumbersome process.
“We don’t replace local providers — we connect and support them, and we strive to make sure rural residents have the same clear pathways to care as urban Iowans,” Ferenzi said in the statement to The Daily Iowan Iowa PCA has already participated in more than 4,000 calls to connect Iowans to behavioral health resources across the state from July 1 to late October, the organization said.
Eyanson said the previous system had other system navigation tools that were not as accessible, as some had eligibility requirements.
Both the “Your Life Iowa” line and the 988 lifeline existed before the transition, but Eyanson said the lines are being emphasized in the new system as another tool for providing immediate assistance to those in need.
“What we are trying to do is get people connected sooner,” Eyanson said. “The most common reason folks get sicker with behavioral health-related issues is because they waited to get care, [or] they didn’t know where to go,” Eyanson said.
Semprini said Iowa has a shortage of health care providers, and while there are increasing options through telehealth, peer support can also help bridge the gap. She thinks NAMI has been supported by Iowa PCA in prioritizing peer support services.
Eyanson said the streamlining of services in the new system should help retain providers across Iowa, fighting the provider shortage nationwide.
According to the HRSA, more than 122 million Americans live in an area facing a shortage of mental health professionals.
The Association of American Medical Colleges reported Iowa was 44th in the nation in patient-to-physician ratio in 2024. The data represent all physicians,
Iowa’s behavioral health districts
The 14 statewide regions combined to form seven districts on July 1.
not just behavioral health professionals.
“We find that within services and systems that are complex, sometimes people will leave the profession just because they’re done having to deal with the noisiness of that level of administrative effort,” Eyanson said.
Sullivan, the Johnson County supervisor who has 35 years of experience in the behavioral health field, said while access to services is a nationwide problem, it only gets more difficult in rural areas. However, the issue has more to do with proper funding, compared to the system used to deliver services.
He said the new system will turn out worse for Iowans, and previous barriers to care will continue within the new system because state funding for services is not increasing.
“Iowa does not adequately fund Medicaid,” Sullivan said. “No matter how you provide the service, if they are not funding it adequately, you can’t do what is necessary.” According to a 2025 report from the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonprofit providing research on health policy, Iowa has the highest rate of mental illness among non-elderly Medicaid recipients, at 51 percent.
Medicaid funding is split between the state and federal government. In budget year 2025, $2.2 billion in state funds and $6.8 billion in federal funds were appropriated in Iowa for Medicaid.
Sullivan no longer sits on a state behavioral health advisory board, as district boards do not have direct interaction with county supervisors.
“They are taking the county’s output out of the process and moving it to a state-driven system,” Sullivan said.
“Everything state-driven ends up being, in my opinion, worse, because [it
is] more removed from the people.” Johnson County Supervisor Lisa Green-Douglass said county-level influence in the system had been decreasing since the realignment was developed and passed into law in March 2024, noting the new governing board, the District 7 Advisory Council, does not include any elected officials.
Green-Douglass said having elected officials on the board allows it to be held accountable, “because if they are unhappy with what you are doing, you don’t get reelected.”
Semprini works on the new advisory council as both a provider and advisor — as a person who has lived experience with mental illness — and said even though there are no elected officials on the board, Iowa PCA and Iowa HHS have worked to get input from a wide variety of sources. These sources include patients, law enforcement, and elected officials, on the transition.
Sullivan said the new system intends to fix barriers to care throughout Iowa, but he doesn’t think it will be possible without funding increases.
“We are going to see less availability [of services],” Sullivan said. “We might see some improvements on some of the very acute stuff, but I would expect things are going to get worse and not better.”
Sullivan said he still attends a monthly system of care meeting in Johnson County to discuss access to services, and while he feels like he still has adequate knowledge about the system and services, he no longer has direct input.
Eyanson said while the distribution and organization of state-appropriated funds for the behavioral health system have changed, the dollar amount has not.
For fiscal 2026, $236 million has been allocated for the system, a number that has not changed from fiscal 2025.
Iowa Rep. Timi Brown-Powers, D-Waterloo, said not only is the behavioral health system not funded enough, but she foresees cuts considering the recent projections that the Iowa revenue is projected to fall $800 million in fiscal 2026, leading to potential complications with the state budget.
Eyanson said she does not anticipate any changes in the amount of funding appropriated to Iowa’s behavioral health system, even in light of potential budget difficulties and revenue falls.
Brown-Powers said the new behavioral health system looks good “on paper” but will be ineffective without wproper funding.
Eyanson said the “streamlined administrative effort” prioritized in the new system, particularly through the use of Iowa PCA as an Administrative Service Organization, has saved the state money, which is being reinvested to expand services, such as school-based behavioral health care and system navigation.
Eyanson said while the installation of the statewide system was only a few months ago, she has already received feedback in spaces that are improving, including reduced administrative effort from providers.
“That means providers get to spend more time being providers,” she said.
Eyanson emphasized the goals of Iowa HHS in providing services to all Iowans more efficiently and effectively than before.
“It really doesn’t matter where you are, where you sit, who you are you should be able to get connected to the services, the resources that you need, and be able to feel confident about how to do it,” Eyanson said.
OPINIONS
Sit down, be quiet, and watch the movie
Theaters
Movies are a beautiful art, and the best way to e perience them is in a large dark room, on a big screen at loud volumes, and surrounded by a crowd of complete strangers.
ut in recent years, I’ve noticed an increase in bad manners at theaters. At a time when streaming services are threatening to put the entire movie e hibition industry at risk, every movie theater attendee needs to put in the work to keep these cinema monuments a destination for film fans.
ven though I go to movie theaters a freakish amount compared to the average theater-goer once a week since I was a kid sometimes I’d rather watch something at home ust because I’m worried about the audience’s behavior.
Any time I see someone pull a sneaky, “half-out of the pocket time check” with their phone on full brightness, my eyes immediately dart to that person, and my immersion in the film is completely disrupted.
As someone who fre uents Chicago’s repertory movie theater scene, I vividly remember the discourse when David Lynch’s “Twin eaks Fire Walk With Me” screened at the wonderful Music o Theatre in 2021. The movie is incredibly sad and fre uently uncomfortable, but the crowd responded to the unfamiliar tone of the film with laughing, chattering, and clattering beer cans, as illustrated in a disgruntled Reddit thread from the day after the screening.
Repertory screenings, or the re-release of old films, have proven to be a financial boost for theaters around the world. According to the Los Angeles Times, over Labor Day weekend, “Jaws” came in second at the weekend bo o ce after an international re-release. In May, “Star Wars pisode III Revenge of the Sith” was rereleased and raked in 55 million at the bo o ce over its brief run in theaters.
While these screenings have been popular, I’ve also found them to feature the most rowdy audience e periences I can remember.
Most audiences enter a movie theater
with modern film sensibilities in mind.
nless you’re a film student or fanatic, you may not engage with movies made before 2000 very often. The shock in how different older movies felt, were paced, and looked can elicit some snickering or impatient sighs from modern audiences, which, while understandable, gets on my nerves.
I love seeing my favorite old movies in a theater. ut if even I, someone whose wallet starts panicking when I open the AMC Theaters app on my phone, am hesitant to make the trip to the theater out of fear my e perience will be ruined by rowdy casual viewers, how is the theater industry ever going to compete with streaming services
The streaming addiction, as Caroline Reid describes it in an ctober 202 Forbes article, has conditioned casual viewers to e pect theatrical products to be available on streaming services uickly after release. Despite uggernaut films like “ ppenheimer,” “ arbie,” and “Spider-Man Across the Spider- erse” releasing in 202 , that year’s global bo o ce gross of .9 billion was 15 percent lower than the average totals from 2019, 201 , and 2017, the three most recent pre-pandemic bo o ce years, according to Forbes.
The C ID-19 pandemic shut movie theaters down and left streaming services as the only option for people to watch movies. This e tended period of time captured people’s attention and for some, deterred them from theaters permanently. For those who returned to theaters upon their reopening, the effects of streaming were revealed to be more than financial people act like they’re still sitting in their living room when they’re at the theater.
illy gden, an Iowa City local, fre uents both arthouse FilmScene and local megaple Marcus Theaters, seeing a movie in a theater around once a week. They have noticed fewer people in theaters since the pandemic, but when those people are in attendance, they think there has been a noticeable shift in people using their phones.
“I think people fell out of the habit of going they are less sympathetic to the person sitting ne t to them, in a way,” gden said. “ ne time, this guy answered the phone and talked at full volume as he got up and walked out of the theater. e didn’t wait to leave to answer, he picked up the phone and said, eah, I’m in the theater, I can talk.’”
Generally, though, gden en oys audience interaction. After the pandemic, they were especially looking forward to hearing a reaction during movies. There is always a
line, though, and recently, many people have been having full conversations without a care for who can hear have crossed it.
“I think people might be more introverted, too, now. I remember when I was younger and going to the theater, and people would shush someone if they were being loud,” gden said. ven if audiences have become more introverted, I know from e perience employees at FilmScene and Marcus are happy to deal with a noisy audience member when asked.
I may sound like an old man shouting at clouds in complaining about this, but I am an old man deep in my heart, and shouting at clouds is my favorite activity.
During one of my multiple theater trips to see “Sinners” earlier this year, a group sat behind me and my friends and would not stop talking. ne of them asked aloud, “Is that Josh Allen’s girlfriend ” in the last scene of the movie, after ailee Steinfeld had already been in the movie for a solid two hours.
The popularity of recliner seats has been detrimental, too. Just because the seats imitate the comfort of your home does not mean you are in the comfort of your home, so stop rummaging in your popcorn bucket for three minutes straight, answering phone calls, and having full, audible
conversations. I will throw my shoe at you. oor eti uette keeps people from theaters and is contributing to the decline in the industry, sure, but it also indicates a larger apathy problem that has become an increasingly noticeable scourge since the pandemic. As Richard Gibson describes in an article from rindle ost, the decline in manners at the cinema is indicative of the degradation of people’s compliance with the “social contract.”
It is the easiest thing in the world to obey the implicit societal politeness policy in a movie theater. ou are sitting comfortably in an air-conditioned room while a large screen pro ects across your entire sightline, yet people fre uently break the contract. Theaters are my church, and movies are my bible. I care far too much about the continued health of the movie theater industry, so this is a call to anyone who goes to movie theaters be uiet. specially as we approach the anticipated releases of “Wicked For Good” and “Avatar Fire and Ash,” be considerate of the space, the employees, and the people around you. This advice should e tend to all environments, but at the very least, keep your mouth shut, put your phone away, and let the power of cinema whisk you away.
AI is developing rapidly, are we ready for it?
New UI certificate threatens to dull human abilities in education and academics.
Artificial intelligence is everywhere. From automated Google responses to ChatG T, the technology is rapidly integrating into our daily lives. As AI makes its way into formal education, however, we might need to do a double-take.
Some innovations are revolutionary, providing services humans aren’t capable of, such as the use of AI in medicine for diagnostic purposes or personalized patient care. When AI is used to augment human skills and abilities rather than replace them, the payoffs trump the downsides.
Some AI developments are ust plain weird, though. “Friend,” an AI friendship necklace, is a pendant that provides advice and companionship by always listening. As a substitute for human friendship, this technology is blurring the line between innovation and absurdity. This 129 necklace has over 200,000 users now, according to Friend’s website.
ut now, AI isn’t ust a part of our daily lives it’s a part of our education, and it’s developing faster than we are.
The niversity of Iowa announced its new AI certificate program to be offered in 202 , claiming it will prepare students to operate successfully in an AI-dominated world. Centered around software processing and engineering, the certificate offers courses that blend the use of AI with machine learning and programming.
ut if we don’t properly understand AI ourselves, how can anyone consider themselves an e pert The I ce of the ecutive ice resident and rovost said the AI certificate will
work to educate students about the capabilities, limitations, and ethical standards of AI, emphasizing “both proficiency in using AI tools and human-centered applications of AI.”
Classes will teach students how to integrate AI into both academic and professional work in the years to come.
The I isn’t alone in this trend. Across the country, universities have integrated AI into their curriculum as a response to market pressures and an increased demand for e perimentation, according to a report from the ducause Review.
This feels like a byproduct of our increasingly tech-driven world we are formalizing something we don’t fully understand. niversities need to ask if they are responsibly embracing AI and what it has to offer, or if they are ust racing to keep up with tech development.
That’s not to say it’s all bad to incor porate AI initiatives into education, or that it’s impossible for humans and AI to operate simultaneously. Many universities already use AI for helpful edu cational programs, such as the niversity of ridgeport’s personalized learning and data-driven approach.
AI is not going away soon, so we need to recognize it in an academic setting. ut doing so without understanding all its capa bilities, and not using it for the right reasons is where education becomes threatened.
A 202 N SC survey concluded fewer than 10 percent of schools and universities have AI-use policies, creating a gray area where academic integrity and accuracy can easily slip.
ias contributes to fear around the tech nology’s use in education, as AI learns from already e isting human data. AI’s algorithms are only as unbiased as the data its software is trained on, so it can portray e isting biases as truth.
These concerns are either being disregarded by institutions, or AI’s easy accessibility is pressuring initiatives to be taken without considering the dangers. Whatever is true at the I, students are seeing how AI implementation is being fast-tracked.
“I think the university is offering the AI certificate as more of a trend response,” raylon Demattia, a second-year I student, said. “It sounds like something they are trying to use to grab students’ attention and get ahead of our AI use, not really help with our learning.”
Indeed, the I’s initiative could create more ob opportunities and help prepare students to be involved in the future of their field. owever, in reality, AI tends to erode human obs and capabilities, as people are
replaced with automated systems . We’re already seeing the negatives. A report by the Stanford Digital conomy Lab published in August found a 1 percent relative decline in employment for employees aged 22 to 25, especially in software engineering and customer service professions, which are highly e posed to AI-automation. ducation is the number one precursor for future careers. So educational institutions embracing a technology replacing human obs seems counterproductive. AI has faults, so the uestion remaining is whether the new certificate will help humans solve problems or dull human ability. It’s up to us to stay smarter and more human than the machines we create, especially when we choose to weave them into higher education.
Tapped out: IC bars, breweries navigate tari s
Tari s are driving up costs of ingredients and supplies for Iowa City’s local breweries.
The Iowa Chop ouse, located in downtown
Iowa City, serves the taproom’s brew as well.
This is an installment in a multi-part series. As global tariffs drive up alcohol costs, Iowa City breweries say the real impact is hitting harder on the price of barley, malt, and even the aluminum cans their beer comes in.
According to The Washington Post, tariffs imposed by resident Donald Trump put a 20 percent duty on all goods imported from the . n March 1 , Trump posted on , formerly known as Twitter, that he would impose a 200 percent tariff on alcoholic drinks from nations unless the bloc dropped a planned 50 percent tariff on .S. whiskey.
Re nion rewery, located on the edestrian Mall in Iowa City and Second Street in Coralville, has been brewing its own craft beers and distilling li uor since 2015.
Re nion’s Chief perating cer ris Mondonaro said despite brewing their own beer, tariffs are still impacting them, saying the 25 percent to 5 percent tariff increase has affected their prices as well.
“We were brewing a German ilsner, and then there are tariffs with urope, so then you have to look into, do I change my ilsner and buy different wheat or barley ” she said. “Also, a lot of our malt has come from Canada.”
Mondonaro said tariffs also impact the aluminum cans the brewery imports.
“A lot of people buy our cans overseas, so the shipping costs and tariffs have been e traordinary, and that definitely affects everybody,” she said.
ig Grove rewery and Taproom also brews its own beer, with popular crafts served in other bars and restaurants, such as Mickey’s Irish ub, in Iowa City, including the asy ddy and the Citrus Surfer.
Tari s impact the cost of art supplies
Rising tariffs increase the cost of art supplies, impacting artists and retailers.
Will Farmer, brewery production analyst at ig Grove rewery and Taproom, said the brewery’s aluminum can costs have seen a 10 to 20 percent increase due to tariffs.
e said the cans themselves can increase in price as well as the parts that go into manufacturing them, including the tab and the body.
“We get hit twice on those,” Farmer said. “The other thing is that some of those cans are actually made out of the country.
ur 19-ounce cans actually get made in Me ico. So on top of the aluminum prices themselves, every truckload of those that we buy, we actually have to pay an additional ta on top to get those across the board.”
Farmer said the hops and barley the taproom uses in its beer are domestically sourced, but some of the specialty malts, including a German ilsner, come from urope.
owever, he said those ingredients were able to bypass the tariffs.
“There’s a lot of barley that gets farmed there, and a lot of those companies that do the malting in that area get it from both sides of the .S. border,” he said. “We are lucky that we didn’t see any incidents from that, but there are definitely a lot of breweries that have.”
As of right now, Farmer said the taproom has not had to drive up the prices of its beer to customers, but it might be an issue in the future.
“It is something that we have discussed as a trade-off,” he said. “We got lucky that we were able to negotiate some other cost savings throughout our process to kind of offset that, so we were able to keep our prices consistent. ut going forward, if prices keep going up, that’s going to be something that we seriously have to look at.” ars like The Airliner, The Summit, and rothers ar Grill, located in downtown Iowa City, that don’t brew their own beers
have avoided impacts from tariffs.
Carson Justice, general manager of The Airliner, said the bar’s prices have not increased at all, as they only serve brands sourced in the .S., including udweiser, Coors, and usch.
“I have not noticed any change with the cost of our li uor for the bar,” he said. “The price of li uor has been very consistent because most of the products we use are American brands.”
This is an installment in a multi-part series. Colorful oil paints and markers line the shelves of lick Art Materials, drawing in Iowa City residents and university alike.
ut across the country, several art supplies and art retailers have seen rising prices for their colorful materials since resident Donald Trump’s administration began implementing reciprocal ta es across all markets and countries.
Several local suppliers are left to face uncertain futures and find creative ways to continue supplying materials to their communities.
The Trump administration has enacted a series of tariffs, or a ta on imports, over his second term in an attempt to negotiate relationships with various global .S. trade partners. These tariffs have led to increases in the cost of imported goods and national supply chain issues, affecting a wide range of .S. markets, including for art supplies.
Specific tariffs imposed on paints and coating raw materials range from 15 percent to 5 percent, according to Cognitve Market Research. These materials are heavily sourced from China and Germany, and with both countries facing high tariffs, .S. manufacturers could see costs increase by 2 percent.
Andrew lack has been the assistant manager at lick Art Materials for three and a half years and said the store has seen an increase in cost, but so far, prices have not been as bad as e pected.
lick Art Materials, a family-owned company in downtown Iowa City, has been selling art supplies since 1911. lick has worked to keep costs low despite the rising prices.
“ ne of the things that’s nice about this, about our store in particular, is that we supply products that students and artists really want, and they’re still very affordable,” he said. “When the tariffs started, we all ust kind of thought this [was] terrifying.” he said.“ ut while prices have gone up, we’ve been sort of cautiously optimistic.”
lack said their main concern would be supply chain issues. Materials made in other countries would be harder to gain access to, slowing down the supply chain. Several different kinds of supplies, including watercolor paper and paint, are shipped in from overseas, but so far they haven’t seen much of a disruption.
lack also said this could be due to suppliers stocking up beforehand, so they still have inventory to pull from. ut as time goes on and tariffs remain in place, this could change.
“There are a few products that we’ve seen that might take a little bit longer to get in, but nothing massive to this point,” he said. “It’s sort of a wait and see.”
lack also said the arts can be uni uely affected, as art supplies like canvases are generally e pensive, getting up to 125. e said this makes him nervous, as he wants to
ensure artists always have the supplies they need to create art.
“ ven as an artist myself, I want to make sure I can afford the things that I use so I can keep creating artwork,” he said.
lack said despite the tariffs, lick has seen an increase in sales and tra c, which he attributes to how art helps people process hardship.
“That made me happy,” he said. “I feel like we’re providing that service to people that need it.” lack said the art store has worked on slowly increasing prices when they need to, and has made keeping prices stable a priority.
Art supplies, like paint and watercolor paper, are not the only kinds of products affected by the tariffs.
Metals and special packing, specifically for ewelry making, have also seen rising prices.
Glassanodos, a local ewelry business that sells handcrafted ewelry, has also been affected by the tariffs. Abby Restko, the company president, said the business stocked up on supplies before the tariffs were enforced, which has helped them save money. She said the store will eventually run out of the items they purchased ahead and will have to face higher pirces.
Restko said she believes people’s drive to create will not be affected by the higher pricing.
“I think people always need an outlet,” she said, “If anything, if people are upset about something like, say, a tariff, that may honestly drive them to create.”
Wendy Dorn-Recalde, co-owner of Wren and url, a local yarn shop in Mount ernon, made an effort to buy .S.-based products and isn’t e pecting to see a large increase in prices until the spring. owever, the company has made decisions to cut certain brands in preparation for those increases.
“We have made the choice to not carry a brand that we had carried for a while on the craft yarn side because it is from a company in the ,” she said. “The reason we brought that one in was because it was a craft yarn, that’s well made and affordable, and [the tariffs] made it unaffordable. So what’s the point
”
Dorn-Recalde said it will be hard to predict what brands the shop will carry, as tariffs are not stable anywhere. She said this will especially affect ChiaoGoo knitting needles, which are entirely produced in China, meaning the needles are currently facing a 10 percent tariff.
“ ur distributor for needles [ nit ro] has been in a constant freakout fest via email,” she said. “They’re always updating us, but it’s very panicky sounding on their end, and so I think that’s where it’s going to hit harder.”
She said she wasn’t nervous about people’s creativity dwindling.
“I think handcrafts, crafts of any variety, actually usually do pretty well in times of stress,” she said. “ eople turn to those things.”
ut that stability still hasn’t carried over to the brewery side. To avoid the rising costs of imported ingredients hit by tariffs, Mondonaro said Re nion rewery started turning to local farmers, using Iowa corn in their amber ale.
“It’s kind of chaotic, honestly,” she said. The tariffs keep changing, so you’re always chasing your tail trying to find what’s available, what’s affordable, and what’s even worth brewing ne t.”
SPORTS
‘America Needs Fredericks’
How Kyle and Connor Frederick turned their Hawkeye fandom into a fan-favorite Iowa football podcast.
Kyle and Connor Frederick were born on March 23, 1994, and grew up in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The twins’ childhood consisted of watching countless Iowa football games with their parents, Rob and Katie. The experience created a love for Hawkeye football, leading the brothers to start a podcast.
The ANF Podcast, or the “America Needs Fredericks Podcast,” provides insightful breakdowns of Iowa football, both offensively and defensively. They look back on the previous game and also preview the next matchup for the Hawkeyes.
The breakdowns include a unique style of personnel and scheme analysis for the Hawkeyes and their opponents. Kyle and Connor Frederick both come prepared
with specific plays to talk about in each hour-long podcast, which can be found on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and YouTube. Viewers on YouTube can watch videos of the selected plays as the Fredericks provide their analysis.
The Fredericks fell in love with football at a young age and quickly began to understand the inherent strategy behind the sport.
“Even when we were 8 and 9 years old, we could tell you what man-to-man coverage was,” Kyle Frederick said. “[We were] super interested in the chess match of football.”
Kyle and Connor’s love for Hawkeye football stemmed from their family. The twins had nine close family members attend the University of Iowa, including both of their parents and Rob’s parents.
The Frederick family had season tickets for Iowa football from around 2000 to 2011 and attended as many
games as possible in that time frame.
Kyle and Connor grew tremendous respect for head coach Kirk Ferentz and the Hawkeye football program, especially Iowa’s dominant run from 2002 to 2004. Iowa claimed two Big Ten titles and only suffered one loss at Kinnick Stadium in that span.
“It was always a part of our family’s culture,” Kyle Frederick said. “Tailgating was everything in our family. Saturday mornings were the best time to have as a big family, with all of them going to the tailgate and all of them going to the games.”
At just 8 years old, the twins recognized the passion their family showed for the Hawkeyes, and they inherited such emotion as Iowa football became more prominent in their lives.
Kyle Frederick still remembers the Kinnick crowd’s raucous reaction in Iowa’s 31-28 win over Purdue in 2002,
when Hawkeye tight end Dallas Clark caught a short pass and ran it 95 yards for a touchdown.
“It was the first big roar we heard as fans, and that game was just insane,” he said. “That memory definitely sticks out, even to this day. I can still remember the feeling when he was scoring.”
The Frederick twins were extremely competitive as kids, fighting nearly every time they played sports against each other. While the two didn’t always get along, they held each other to a high standard, especially in football. As teammates at Alburnett High
With a career-high performance against Evansville, Hays aims to be an e icient scoring option.
While Iowa City got a mild taste of Alaskan weather on Nov. 9 with temperatures dipping below freezing, the fans inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena were treated to a healthy dose of Alaskan hoops. Hawkeye Layla Hays, a first-year out of Wasilla, Alaska, delivered a breakout performance against the Evansville Purple Aces on Nov. 9. Hays led the team with 20 points, shooting 9-of-11 from the field en route to a pulverizing 119-43 Iowa victory.
Hays was authoritative in the paint, with all nine of her converted shots coming from under the basket. Additionally, the freshman earned three trips to the free-throw line with her physicality and relentless effort to get a shot up. Iowa head coach Jan Jensen has told Hays to play “meaner,” and Hays is still trying to emulate such an identity.
“I’m trying to figure out this role,” Hays said. “Most of it is trying to translate my effort to physicality.”
to perform, keeping the energy up until play resumes. For
Iowa City. The women’s basketball team calls a timeout, giving the Hawkeyes a precious 30 seconds to regroup, rehydrate, and restrategize. While the women’s team has a few seconds off the court, Iowa’s pep band heightens the intensity inside an already electric venue by launching into a rendition of Chappell Roan’s “HOT TO GO!” Now,
years, the band’s presence has made itself known in the stands behind the basket, but now such numbers are diminished. The pep band historically sat in sections G, H, and I of Carver but are now confined to only section H. Eric Bush, director of the Hawkeye Marching Band, wrote in an email to The Daily Iowan that while the band didn’t have
to cut down on members, the number of people who attend each game is now limited.
Bush said the Iowa Athletics Department informed the band of the change just prior to the start of Iowa basketball’s seasons, which began with the women’s team’s season-opener on Nov. 3.
The 6-foot-5 center seems to have made a tremendous leap from the team’s previous game against Southern, where she tallied only 4 points. In Jensen’s eyes, Hays wasn’t glancing to the bench when she made a mistake. Awareness replaced any nerves, and instead, Hays tacitly acknowledged her error.
“Today was fun because she was playing with much more confidence,” Jensen said. “She was just going for it, and that’s the breakthrough. That’s what I loved.” While not a starter, Hays plays a key role in a lethal Iowa frontcourt. Accompanied by senior forward Hannah Stuelke and sophomore center Ava Heiden, the trio form one of the most dangerous post units in the
Women’s wrestling enters NCAA era
Xtream Arena will host the first-ever NCAA Women’s Wrestling Championships in March.
When Clarissa Chun took over as head coach of the University of Iowa women’s wrestling program, she wasn’t just building a roster — she was constructing a movement.
This March, that movement will reach its most significant milestone yet as Coralville’s tream Arena hosts the first NCAA Women’s Wrestling Championships.
“I didn’t even realize when I started wrestling that other girls were doing it across the country,” Chun said. “To see women’s wrestling finally reach the NCAA level is truly special.” A world champion and Olympian, Chun has spent her life breaking barriers in a sport long dominated by men. For her, the word that defines this moment is opportunity for ath letes, universities, and future generations.
“It validates everything they’ve worked toward,” Chun said. “But more than that, it gives these women the platform they deserve — to get an education and compete at the highest level.”
When Iowa launched its women’s program in 2021, it became the first ower Five school to offer the sport, a decision that changed collegiate wrestling.
“It’s Iowa,” Chun said. “When people think of wrestling, they think of Iowa. eing the first ower Five to add women’s wrestling showed the world it could be done — and done the right way.”
That move inspired programs nationwide, from Lehigh to Oklahoma State, to add women’s wrestling teams. Chun calls it the sport’s “4minute-mile moment.”
“Once one person does it, everyone knows it’s possible,” she said. “Now everyone wants to see how far women’s wrestling can go.”
While Chun and her wrestlers prepare for history on the mat, another team is helping shape it behind the scenes — the Iowa City Area Sports Commission.
“This community has proven time and time again that it loves wrestling,” Laney Fitzpatrick, events manager for the commission, said. “There’s a reason it’s called WrestleTown USA.”
The commission has hosted major events like the Olympic Trials and Freestyle World Cup, and Fitzpatrick said hosting the NCAA Championships “just makes sense for Iowa City.”
“Hosting the inaugural tournament is super special,” Fitzpatrick said. “This community values women’s athletics, and we want to fill the arena and show the nation what we can do.”
Fitzpatrick and colleague Kylee Stock
said the tournament will bring thousands of fans to Coralville, boosting local hotels, restaurants, and shops.
“Being in such a walkable area helps a lot,” Stock said. “Fans can stay near the arena, explore the Iowa River Landing, and experience everything our community offers.”
The commission worked closely with the UI to secure the bid, promote the event, and ensure its success.
“The university helped us reach fans and spread the word through their media channels,” Fitzpatrick said. “They trust that the sports commission can deliver.”
For Chun, the NCAA championships represent more than just a weekend of competition — they mark the next step in the evolution of women’s wrestling.
“Every one of our women is a trailblazer,” she said. “They want to compete, they want to represent Iowa, and they want to show the country what’s next.”
Iowa libero thrives in fast-paced environment
the way we want to keep getting better, and we want to earn those Big Ten wins. I think that is really unique.
What do you think is the best game the team has played this year?
She also credits Iowa’s wrestling legends Tom Brands and Dan Gable for championing the women’s program.
They’ve helped ensure we’re not just here but that we belong,” Chun said.
Chun and the sports commission hope this championship will be the first of many milestones for women’s wrestling in Iowa.
“ eing the first year of any event is special,” Fitzpatrick said. “Every athlete who competes will always remember that they wrestled in the first NCAA women’s championship in Coralville, Iowa. We just want everyone — athletes, fans, coaches, and media — to feel welcomed and know they’re part of history.” For Chun, it all comes back to gratitude and legacy.
“I hope people see that we did it the right way,” she said. “We built something with character, integrity, and gratitude. We gave our athletes the best opportunity we could — and they gave everything they had back.”
The Daily Iowan: What’s one thing you enjoy about playing a defensive role?
Greta Schlichter: It’s awesome how fast it is, and you just have to react to everything that’s happening around you. It’s a really important role for the team because in the end, if the defense doesn’t roll, there’s nothing else you can build on. I love to take over that responsibility.
What’s your favorite food?
I’m vegan, so it’s probably lentil lasagna.
What stands out to you about Iowa compared to schools like Syracuse?
I think our practices are so competitive, so driven. I think the way we push ourselves and
robably against Indiana. I think our team is getting better and better the more we play. It’s awesome to see. Every weekend, I feel like we’re leveling up in certain parts of the game, and even though we could not get that win, it was really fun.
Who is someone on the team you look up to and why?
I think our seniors do a great job leading the team, and I think every single one of us can learn from that. Honestly, I can learn from every single one of my teammates. They are all awesome. They all have their own strength. We all try to push each other every day and practice and learn from each other.
What’s your favorite place in Iowa City?
robably The Nest, ust because a lot of us live [there], and I just feel at home. It’s a great feeling to have so far away from home, being here with all the teammates.
What’s the transition to the U.S. been like for you?
I’m in my third year now, so I feel like I’m slowly rising. I think the cultural differences are really interesting and challenging for me. ersonally, I love my team. I love the family Iowa gives me here, and I feel really at home.
What’s one way the U.S. is different from Germany?
I think the awareness about things is just so different. eople care about different things. eople carry themselves differently.
Will Hawkeye football finish the season ranked?
Sports reporter Trey Benson believes the Hawkeyes will fail to finish the season ranked, while fellow sports reporter Patrick Halma argues Iowa can conclude ranked.
The odds may be against the Hawkeyes at this point in the season, but based on what Iowa has done up to this point and could still do, I see no reason why the Hawkeyes could not land at No. 24 or No. 25 in the ranking at the end of the season.
First, let’s look at the reason why Iowa made the first top-25 ranking at No. 20. The Hawkeyes’ record of 6-4 overall and 4-3 in conference play really doesn’t promote them above other teams.
But looking more in-depth into Iowa’s season really makes it stand out. Iowa’s only four losses this season have come to top-15 teams and only by single-digit margins.
The Iowa State loss came from a game-winning field goal after being tied 13-13.
The Indiana game went a lit tle differently, with a deficit of 5 points being just too out of reach, and the loss to Ore gon by two points can be accounted for by the safety that the Hawkeyes gave up in the first quarter. Aside from its four losses, Iowa beat Rutgers in a blackout game, shut out Wisconsin, and demolished Minnesota for Floyd of Rosedale. This ultimately got them to the original No. 20 ranking.
Looking at the remaining two games, the Hawkeyes play a bad Michigan State team on Senior Day and travel to Lincoln for a rivalry clash against Nebraska. If the Hawkeyes take care of business by easily beating the Spartans and dispatching the Cornuskers, Iowa will finish in the rankings ahead of its bowl game, whether that be at No. 25 or slightly higher.
Expectations for Iowa football entering the 2025 season were sky-high after successfully landing new talent via the transfer portal. Fast-forward 10 games into the season, and the Hawkeyes sit at 6-4 overall and still face a treacherous stretch ahead against several topranked opponents.
Iowa has two regular-season games remaining, beginning with a home contest against Michigan State and concluding with a road trip to face cross-state rival Nebraska. The Hawkeyes are familiar with Michigan State — a team that handed them a 32-20 loss last season.
Even if Iowa can finish the last two games with a 2-0 record, that leaves the squad at 8-4 and could still result in an unranked finish.
Additionally, Hawkeye football has continued to struggle to finish and grind out a win when trailing teams. Iowa was the home team in two of those losses and was still not able to find a path to victory.
While Hawkeye football has proven even the most pessimistic fans wrong before, this season’s grueling schedule will likely be the root cause of Iowa not being ranked at the end of the season.
Iowa’s last three matches against Nebraska have all come down to the final moments of the fourth quarter. Even without starting quarterback Dylan Raiola, the Hawkeyes will likely find themselves in a close one-score game at the Cornhuskers’ Memorial Stadium. While not impossible, finishing the season 2-0 still does not guarantee the Hawkeyes a ranked finish. Iowa had just cracked the Associated ress top 25 two weeks ago at No. 20, but following the 18-16 loss to Oregon, the Hawkeyes fell out of the rankings.
School, their focus on preparation for games grew to occupy the forefront of their minds. In 2011, their senior season, Alburnett had a legitimate shot to win a state title, so Kyle and Connor Frederick began studying film as often as possible.
“We started to watch film pretty much every night during that season,” Kyle Frederick said. “We’d watch film on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday in preparation for our games on Friday nights.”
He said the way he and his brother watched film in high school is similar to how they do their podcast now, studying the scheme, personnel, and players to gameplan for. Alburnett went 11-1 that season, losing to West ranch in the state uarterfinals.
While the Fredericks’ love for football was developed by going to Iowa games with their family, the concepts they learned about the game came from their high school coach at Alburnett, Chris Evers.
“He really developed some key concepts that we still use today,” Kyle Frederick said. “I feel like it’s very foundational to have him e plain the game to us, so I definitely want to give him a shoutout.”
The twins attended the niversity of St. Thomas in St. aul, Minnesota, for seven years — four for an undergraduate degree in finance, and three for law school. Connor played football for one season at St.
Thomas, but the twins’ collective football careers ended in 2013. Their love for the game remained, but they didn’t have an outlet for it. Both were
sode on May 0, 202 , and gained positive feedback uickly. The podcast has since grown to over 3,000 subscribers on YouTube.
focused on school and didn’t have any desire to become coaches, so they began breaking down Iowa football games on their own as a hobby.
The twins were met with an opportunity to put their knowledge out into the football world in 2023 when a friend of theirs launched a content creating studio.
“[They] said, I have a full-fledged podcast recording studio,’” Kyle Frederick said. “We were just at a party with them, having some drinks, and we were like, What if we did an Iowa football podcast?’ We’ve built up this knowledge for a decade, and we’re basically super fans, but quiet.”
The pair posted their first podcast epi-
The podcast not only gains praise from Iowa fans but fans and reporters of opposing teams as well. After listening to the ANF odcast episode previewing Iowa’s game against SC, n regon football reporter Justin Hopkins said on X, formlery known as Twitter, “ SC fans, I assure you this is one of the best, fairest breakdowns you can find of this game.”
The podcast’s increasing popularity has not only grown the Fredericks’ love for Iowa football, but the community surrounding it as well.
“You meet more people that think like you and have a fandom for Iowa, and it makes you feel more tied in than you’d expect,” Kyle Frederick said. “It’s built a stronger community of people that we know that care about the team, so it has built us to be bigger fans because it’s more community-based than anything.”
For Iowa athletics, the change in the band’s seating is part of an overall shift to Carver. A new student section was installed behind one of the baskets to provide baseline access and a more intimate e perience for fans. The department said in a statement to The Daily Iowan that the band’s seating changed to accommodate those alterations.
“The pep band remains an important part of the gameday experience, and its presence continues to be a priority for us,” the statement read. “While the size of the band isn’t necessarily limited, we wanted to ensure that we maintained strong fan engagement by allowing sections of students on each side of the band to keep the energy high throughout the arena.”
Students and faculty associated with the program have expressed a range of emotions related to the changes. In Bush’s eyes, band members are disheartened by the change.
“This change, of course, translates into students attending fewer total games this season,” ush said. “My perception is that they are somewhat disappointed by the change, especially given that they have seen many empty seats in the other sections where they have been seated in the past.
Students involved in the Iowa pep band include second-year mellophone player thyn Tallman. e e plained how prior to the changes, band members could pick and choose which games to perform at. Now, members don’t have the same fle ibility.
Kyle and Connor both work as corporate attorneys in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and are starting families. Kyle has a 14-monthold son, and Connor is married and focused on starting a family as well. The balance between creating content, work, and family life is something the Fredericks have come to master — prioritizing work and family over the podcast while still focusing on producing high quality content.
“I make a rule, [the podcast] stays in my free time,” Kyle Frederick said. “And then I also have a segmented free time at home. I don’t want to be doing this around my son, so I try to find a time after 7 p.m. on weekdays to watch the team we’re going to play next week.”
yle and Connor record the podcast at 7 a.m. on Mondays. The studio they record at is ust a five-minute walk from their workplace in downtown Minneapolis.
Though the podcast seems to be on the verge of taking off and going viral, the Fredericks maintain their focus on putting out a good episode every week. Kyle Frederick said he and his brother view the podcast as a hobby.
“It’s a hobby right now,” Kyle Frederick said. “Truly, we ust view it as a hobby because we have careers.”
“We’re not thinking too hard about the future,” he added. “If you just put out good stuff, good stuff happens. That’s all we’re doing.”
dance for events such as men’s basketball games, but it would be too premature to evaluate effectiveness.
“The nonconference games, you’re never getting full crowds for that, especially when you’re playing Robert Morris, Western Illinois,” Tallman said. “I would hope that the energy is higher than it has been, attendance is better than it has been, but at this point, it’s just too early for me to
nation. n the glass, the trio combine for 22.5 rebounds per game. n the scoring end, the group accounts for 44 percent of Iowa’s points so far this season. Sophomore guard Chazadi “ChitChat” Wright explained the team’s keys to success, showing how the importance of post play correlates with their firepower offensively.
“ ushing the pace, making sure we see the bigs, and making the right play,” Wright said.
The importance of the trio’s success in the paint goes beyond the numbers in their own point column. The more attention the post unit draws from defenders near the basket, the more the team’s guards can find opportunities at the perimeter.
Such increased chances from deep flashed often against Evansville, when Iowa players Wright, Taylor McCabe, and
Addie Deal all thrived from the three-point line with plenty of open looks. The team went 14-of-26 from three during the game.
Hays said she’s learned much from Heiden, who embarked on a scoring tear late last season in the ig Ten Tournament. Heiden’s season-high that year was a 15-point showing against Murray State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, and with a 20-point performance already etched in her career, ays figures to follow such success.
If Hays can continue to be a strong second option for eiden off the bench, the Hawkeyes will be able to rotate the two more often, allowing them each more rest, fresh legs, and sharper performances. Jensen witnessed Heiden’s climb last season and believes a similar arc can be achieved for Hays.
“She’s just like a sleeping giant,” Jensen said. “If she can continue to refine her size and get more confident, I think she can be pretty good.”
“Not being able to just show up and play, I’m kind of inconvenienced,” he said. “If there’s a game I really want to go to, but I’m not scheduled for it, I have to go out of my way to buy a ticket.”
Tallman believes the changes were made to encourage more student atten-
really say anything for sure.”
Third-year avier ongphakdy, who is in his second year as an electric bass player for the band, said despite opposition from those involved with the band, the athletic department holds final sway.
“They’re the ones that kind of own Carver, where basketball games [are] played,” ongphakdy said. “As much as the band tried to advocate and tried to stop this, we can’t. In my opinion, I don’t really like it.” For band members like ongphakdy and others, the path forward is hoping that more cuts aren’t made in the future.
“The pep band is important,” ongphakdy said. “We’re the ones that play the fight song when the players come in, and we play a lot of stuff as tradition. opefully this just stays where it is, and hopefully athletics doesn’t change anything more.”
