New York State of Mind

In recent trip to New York City, I was afforded the opportunity of spending time is a city that decided to pass a smoking ban in public places. My family was able to visit any restaurant, tourist attraction, sports bar, or comedy club with out the worry being subjected to itchy eyes and smelly hair (or lung cancer for that matter). If Iowa truly wants to show the nation that this is a great place to travel to, we need to take a hint from the greatest tourist city in America. Banning smoking in public places may cause some businesses to lose some loyal smoking patrons. Yet for every smoking patron they lose they will gain two or three non-smoking patrons. Contrary to popular belief, banning smoking in public places will help businesses, not hurt them.

Walk it Off

I am not surprised to hear that there are individuals misusing and abusing the disability parking program in Iowa. I think there is a general lack of respect for the program in Iowa. I was sorry to hear stories of Mr. Pabon and others, and the hardships he and others have felt as a result of the abuse of the program. I think it is important to point out that the abuse is two sided, both of which don’t deserve the preferable parking privileges. There are those that are simply in a hurry and take the spot because “it will only be a little while”. This is incredibly disrespectful to those who truly need the designated parking stalls, but not as disrespectful as the other class of offenders: those who have “legal” parking privileges that don’t deserve them. Forget the people who buy forged permits of the internet, if Iowa really wants to view this as a true problem then it needs to be a little more strict on how the permits are distributed. The following comments may offend many, but this is the main reason there is a lack of respect for the system: obesity is not a disability and laziness should not be condoned with preferred treatment. The current rules for obtaining a permit state that if you can not walk distances of over 200 feet without taking frequent breaks then you are eligible for the permit. I just don’t feel that chronic arthritis and obesity are the same thing. I truly mean no disrespect to those I may offend, but if your obese, then you need to park further away to get exercise, not closer. There are others that are not deserving of permits for other reasons, but I feel that giving disabled parking permits to obese Iowans is what is causing the abuse, like it or not.

Where's our Headline?

I am rather disappointed with the Daily Iowan’s choice of sports headlines on Monday, March 6. To place the wrestling failure as the main headline over the basketball victory is a gross misunderstanding of importance. I understand that here at Iowa we expect that our wrestling program is among the top ten in the country, and has been for the better part of the last half century, however, I think the Daily Iowan missed a great opportunity to salute the greatest home court performance Iowa may ever see in basketball. To go undefeated at home is a tremendous accomplishment achieved by only very talented teams. After all the hardships that this group of players have gone through in the past three seasons, the lack of support from fans and media, you would think that when they finally make it to the top of the mountain that there could be some support there waiting for them. I don’t mean to down play the importance of the Iowa wrestling team finishing 6^th in the Big Ten Tournament, but I’ve always thought that the positive news pieces should be getting the spotlight over the negative stories. I have been a student ticket holder for three years now, have gone to ever home game this season, and could not be more proud of what this team has accomplished. This is a season that I won’t forget; I just wish that I had a front-page headline to show my kids someday.