Opinion: Growing pains and plants during COVID-19 quarantine
Signe Nettum, Opinions Columnist
April 7, 2020
I never considered myself a green thumb growing up. My father, on the other hand, cherished the flower bed in our front yard every growing season. We have a section in my scrapbook of him elbows deep in the dirt while I stood in the background, smelling the flowers he was about to plant. During the...
Letter from the editor: We will get through COVID-19 with you
Marissa Payne, Editor-in-Chief
March 29, 2020
It’s the people, not the buildings, that make the University of Iowa great. President Emeritus Sandy Boyd’s adage is precisely the sentiment that will get Hawkeyes through the worst public-health crisis we’ve seen in our lifetimes. And it’s you, the people of our community, whose stories w...
Opinion: David Bowie, Eugene Debs, and the view of the virus from Henry County
Elijah Helton, Opinions Editor
March 29, 2020
MOUNT PLEASANT, IOWA — Ziggy Stardust started a dance party of one in my parents’ basement this morning. It was calm and carefree. It was just me, my coffee, and David Bowie. Even before the pandemic, I was going to come home for spring break. After all, food in my parents’ house is free,...
Opinion: Crohn’s, COVID-19, and the current crisis
Ryan Adams, Photo Editor
March 22, 2020
I lay awake in bed at 1:30 a.m. March 18, focused on the tightness in my chest, my hands and lips tingling. My breathing was labored, my mind was racing. I couldn’t tell if the physical state I experienced was out of anxiety or out of true illness. I decided to visit my doctor in the morn...
Opinion: The dream of commencement hangs in the balance for first-generation Hawkeyes amid COVID-19 concerns
Marissa Payne, Editor-in-Chief
March 12, 2020
Commencement may not carry on as I had envisioned since I was a little girl. I had always wanted to attend a large public university such as the University of Iowa, where campus was my world. My parents had always urged me to do well in school to open doors for a better future — one filled with ...
Letter From the Editor: The Daily Iowan to continue publishing after spring break during COVID-19 in-person class suspension
Marissa Payne, Editor-in-Chief
March 12, 2020
The University of Iowa community is preparing for two weeks of online course instruction from March 23 through at least April 3 after spring break because of the COVID-19 pandemic. As the UI’s independent student-run news organization, The Daily Iowan considered what the university’s decision...
Opinion: UI students should follow expert guidance on coronavirus
Visouda Somsaath, Columnist
March 12, 2020
Now that the Iowa Department of Public Health has confirmed 12 presumptive positive cases of coronavirus in Johnson County, it is now more critical than ever to take the steps to protect ourselves from the disease. COVID-19 originated in Wuhan, China in 2019 and eventually made its way into the U.S. ...
Opinion: Low-income students deserve spring break, too
Becca Bright, Columnist
March 11, 2020
“Poor” is a word most college students use liberally. This raises brows when the same students are able to afford going on a road trip, or travel abroad. Having the income — whether it’s individually earned, or given by family, or through loans — to buy a vacation experience is not bein...
Opinion: The Bachelor franchise allows sexism to grow in media
Angela Stansbery, Columnist
March 10, 2020
Gendered double standards can work in reverse. With the presence of the #MeToo movement, women’s voices are being heard in profound ways. However, in this process, other interests can go ignored. Men who wish to abstain from sex are being left behind and the television media is a big culprit. The Bachelor ...
Opinion: Even when it’s not in the news, gun violence remains a problem
Hannah Pinski, Columnist
March 10, 2020
When you hear “gun violence,” what are the first things that come to mind? Sandy Hook, Stoneman Douglas, Las Vegas? I’m sure if it wasn’t one of those events I mentioned, it was probably another mass shooting that occurred within the past few years. However, the reality is that gun v...
Opinion: Owning my seat at the journalism table
Marissa Payne, Editor-in-Chief
March 10, 2020
If I were a man, my experience in journalism would look a lot different. Legendary TV host Tom Brokaw sat down in The Daily Iowan newsroom with me and members of my team in January to film an interview for a segment that aired Feb. 3 on MSNBC’s Morning Joe. Brokaw, who attended the University of I...
Opinion: TikTok is dialing up addiction to social media
Hailey Marx, Columnist
March 9, 2020
TikTok is a social-media platform that was released in September 2016, but didn’t gain notable, worldwide attention until 2019. Users can create videos ranging from 15 to 60 seconds and edit them, utilizing cut scenes, visual effects, and song overlays. The reason it has taken off is due to the inner wo...