The high school football playoff field will be set following tonight’s close of the regular season. One of the most interesting races is in class 3-A district two. Seventh ranked Clear Lake is in with a victory at Waverly-Shell Rock. Charles City also can clinch a spot out of district 2 with a win over Webster city. Three other teams have hope heading into the final night. Clear lake coach Fred Wieck says they say they’re going to win and get in and not worry about help from others.
It’s down to three games for a UNI title
October 31, 2003 By
With three games left, UNI has the gateway conference title in its sight and returns to the UNI-Dome to play Youngstown State. The Penguins are 2-2 in the gateway and 5-4 overall but Panther coach Mark Farley says don’t be fooled by that record.Farley says the Panthers have gotten to this point by showing strength in a number of phases of the game. And he says there’s balance within each segment of the game from defense to offense to special teams.U-N-I is coming off a 38-30 win at Western Illinois and Farley says quarterback Tom Petrie should have a lot more confidence, as he stepped up as a leader to carry some of the weight.UNI is sixth ranked nationally in one-double-a.
Iowa hosts Illinois Saturday
October 31, 2003 By
The Iowa Hawkeyes are at home in the Big Ten on Saturday when they host Illinois. Iowa is 6-2 overall while Illinois is 1-8 overall and winless in the Big Ten. Kirk Ferentz says the Hawks can take nothing for granted. He says every week in the conference and across the country there’s plenty of material to show that to players. Ferentz says the balance in the Big Ten has provided for some surprising scores. Plus, he says nobody is mistaking his team for a top five B-C-S team. He says they have to play well all the time or bad things can happen quickly. Receiver Mo Brown is expected to see his first action since injuring his ankle in the September 13th game at Iowa State.
Drake looks to finish on high note against Dayton
October 31, 2003 By
Drake is at home against Dayton and for one of the few times the Pioneer League title will not be on the line. Valparaiso clinched the north division crown last week with an overtime win over Drake, another in a string of heartbreaking losses for the Bulldogs this season. Title hopes are gone but Drake coach Rob Ash says there is plenty to prove. He says the thing that bothers them is how good they could be after several close loses. He says that knowledge that they could win the conference carries them. And he says there will be plenty of motivation,as Dayton is a rival and the game has been for the conference championship in the past.
Student wins horticulture scholarship
October 31, 2003 By
An Iowa State University student majoring in horticulture is now considered the top turfgrass student in the nation. 22-year-old Marcus Jones has just won the Mendenhall Award from the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America which includes a six-thousand dollar scholarship. Jones says he’s stunned.Jones is an Ottumwa native who went to high school in Centerville. He plans to graduate in December and head right into graduate school at I-S-U to get his master’s degree in turfgrass management. Jones loves to golf and says he has a knack for making grass grow so the career path seemed natural.From January through May this year, Jones did an internship as part of the grounds crew at Augusta National in Georgia, site of the Master’s Tournament.
Grant will help UNI center
October 31, 2003 By
A grant of more than 320-thousand dollars will help establish the Iowa Center for Applied Gerontology at the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls. Julia Wallace, the Dean of the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, says it’s the study of aging, and Wallace points out Iowa has the highest percentage of people over 80 and their numbers will continue to increase, expanding the job market in health care and also leisure services for them. Part of the grant will fund “tele-training” to upgrade skills for family-services workers and other counselors. Wallace says since the market for careers in aging will escalate in the next few years, U-N-I wants to support students who’ll work in those careers. Some may work in fields like retail, community planning or even advertising, and while they’re not working with the sick or handicapped, dealing with elderly citizens will require some specialized knowledge.The undergrad focus is part of the grant, and another is helping businesses become “elder friendly.” The grant will also develop business outreach, to help chambers of commerce and business people aim their products and services at an aging market. Wallace says doing business with aging customers is not a matter of catering to the sick, handicapped or frail.Older adults have more trouble telling blues apart from greens, so advertisers might choose other colors, and forgo fast-scrolling text because it’s harder for them to read. While the focus of the grant will be increasing awareness of careers in aging, Wallace won’t assume most students intend to work in nursing homes.Many will find jobs in leisure services, and businesses that increasingly need human-resources departments aware of how to deal with aging employees. And Wallace hopes the gerontology center adds some awareness to a wide range of courses at U-N-I, to spread useful knowledge about the aging process to students heading into many academic career fields.
Group holds service to talk about children and war
October 31, 2003 By
A coalition of religious organizations is holding another antiwar event this Sunday to speak out against the U.S. action in Iraq. Spokesperson Eloise Cranke says this is the fifth such event in the last year. She says this particular service focuses on the impact of war on children. Cranke says the event begins with an ecumenical gathering Sunday afternoon. She says they’ll start with some study and reflection time and they have a professor from the St. Paul Seminary in Kansas City who’ll be there and a person from Palestine that will share firsthand knowledge on the impacts of war on children. Cranke says they’ll be talking with attendees about things they can do to help the cause. She says there’s always the regular writing to congressmen, and they’re also promoting a day to go to the Legislature in January. The events begin 3 p.m. at St. Ambrose Cathedral in Des Moines
