The Stanford marching band, which is known for making people upset, had a little fun with Iowa during halftime of the Rose Bowl last month. There were inflatable cows and some light farmer jokes, and boy, Iowa fans got upset. Well, according to the Des Moines Register, it turns out some people in Iowa are still pretty hacked off about this, and those people happen to be state senators who sponsored a bill in the Iowa Senate that would ban "cooperation" between Stanford and the three major state universities (Iowa, Iowa State, and Northern Iowa) until they get an apology from the university.
Iowa senators really want the Stanford band to apologize for the Rose Bowl
Looks like the Stanford band got exactly the response they were looking for.
Robert Hanashiro-USA TODAY Sports
State Sen. Mark Chelgren, R-Ottumwa, told The Des Moines Register at the Iowa Capitol on Wednesday that he introduced Senate File 2081 because he believes Stanford officials have condoned improper behavior by the marching band.
“I think it’s unfortunate because here in Iowa we try to teach sportsmanship,” Chelgren said. “We try to teach courtesy, and when someone behaves in a way that is contrary to that, we need to point it out.”
Judging by the emails Iowa fans sent in response to this halftime show, Chelgren’s sentiment is not a rare opinion in the Hawkeye State.
The actual language of the bill would bar “future collaboration and cooperation,” but that apparently would not include a ban on intercollegiate athletic contests between Stanford and any of the three schools. And with those things ruled out, that would mean this bill would bar actually important things like academic research.
The chair of the Senate Education Committee, Herman Quirmbach -- who is also an economics professor at Iowa State -- had this entirely reasonable take on the proposed bill.
“Stanford University is one of the premier research universities in the world and for us to cut off contact with Stanford over something that happened on a football field I think sinks to a level that would be unworthy of our fine research institutions[.]”
Probably the right approach.
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