The University of Northern Iowa’s student-produced newspaper since 1892
Northern Iowan
Friday, December 10, 2010
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Volume 107, Issue 27
Cedar Falls, Iowa
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northern-iowan.org
Men’s Basketball Cold shooting dooms the Panthers
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No Dead Week here In the capitol SARAH KELZER
Staff Writer
ANNA SCHRECK/Northern Iowan From left to right; Ben Peterson, Shay Trask and Jenny Moeller, junior business majors, attend Oral Communications. The week before finals is traditionally considered Dead Week at many universities.
What Inspires You? ALLISON OSTWINKLE Staff Writer
On Dec. 7, the University of Northern Iowa community was inspired to look into traditions for our influences. Jeremy Schraffenberger, a poet and UNI professor of English, gave a speech at the University Museum about how traditions can be used
to discuss poetic influence. Schraffenberger has been a professor in the UNI English department for just two years, but he’s been writing poetry since high school. During his speech, formally titled “On Becoming a Traditional Poet,” Schraffenberger discussed not only his own influences,
The week before finals for some universities has been declared Dead Week in order to help students review and prepare for final examinations. It is not a list of mandatory rules but more of a series of guidelines universities prefer professors and students to follow. During Dead Week at these universities, 23 hours are deemed mandatory quiet hours with one hour left for See DEAD WEEK, page 4
but also the inspiration and ideas of many great poets, such as Barry Lopez, Allen Ginsberg, Walt Whitman, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Ron Silliman and Robert Pinsky. According to Schraffenberger, inspiration can come from anywhere. He discussed stories from his past, including a story about how he stole a book in grade school that was See INSPIRATION, page 3
COURTESY PHOTO
Jeremy Schraffenberger, poet and UNI professor of English, expressed his definitions of inspiration and how it has affected his writing over the past years.
NISG increases lobbying efforts in preparation for 2011 legislative session JOHN ANDERSON Executive Editor
The Northern Iowa Student Government senate recently passed a resolution that encourages state legislators to consider instating a statewide sales tax holiday on textbooks at the beginning of each semester.
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A lot of people feel restricted because we (the student government) have no binding power on the state government; however, we can write resolutions (and) use them as lobbying efforts. It’s a piece of paper, but at least it’s something that we can (use to) at least make an effort to help the student body out. Jared Parker NISG senator
The resolution, which was unanimously passed during the senate’s Dec. 1 meeting, will be sent to university, city and state leaders. According to Senator Jared Parker, who first drafted the resolution, the idea for a sales tax holiday on textbooks stems from the current tax holiday on school supplies that occurs on the weekend before public schools are in session. Students at the University of Iowa and Iowa State University, which own their own bookstores, can currently mail in a rebate for the tax paid for their textbooks. The suggested tax holiday on textbooks, however, would eliminate the hassle
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and paperwork involved with the rebates and benefit universities and businesses across the state of Iowa, which must compete against online book sales, said Spencer Walrath, chair of the External Relations Committee for NISG. “Books generally tend to be cheaper online,” Walrath said. “You can buy them used; it’s a much fairer price. What you lack is the convenience of getting the book, you lack the ability to know what edition it is – because the bookstore has the right book; amazon.com may not have the right book. They may not have released that edition yet, the book you need for the class may be one written by the professor… that’s not out in the publishing world.” According to Parker, local businesses and the state will also benefit from increased revenue as a result of the local commerce. “Students will spend that (saved) money elsewhere,” Parker said. “They’ll probably spend it on tuition, they’ll spend it on other supplies – in fact, if they’re going to a local store, they’ll probably spend that money at the store.” While he feels the benefits to students are clear, Walrath believes that NISG must focus on the benefits to the state of Iowa in their lobbying efforts for this and other resolutions. “They know that everyone is strapped for money right now,” Walrath said. “They have every sort of See LOBBYING, page 3