The Daily Iowan WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2020 THE INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF IOWA COMMUNITY SINCE 1868 DAILYIOWAN.COM 50¢ INSIDE Trial date of man accused Faculty plan for catastrophic-leave policy of killing JoEllen Browning to be moved The dates for the trial and case Faculty Senate discussed a second phase of updates to the catastrophic-leave program, which aims to management conference of Roy Browning — the create a central donation pool and to organize the ways in which leave is donated and received. man accused of killing his wife, BY RACHEL SCHILKE University of Iowa Faculty and and improve how do- He said the second phase will in- UI Health Care [email protected] budget official Staff Disability Services Director nations are received. clude a total review of the program, JoEllen Browning Nathan Stucky provided an update “We want to create exploring how donations are request- — will be reset to The University of Iowa Faculty on the next step in the catastroph- a centralized pool of ed and where they come from. One of different dates. Senate on Tuesday planned for the ic-leave policy at the shared-gover- sorts that anyone in the review methods included updat- Roy Browning The case second phase of the catastroph- nance branch’s Tuesday meeting in the catastrophic-leave ing the website so that it presents the management ic-leave policy, discussing how va- the Old Capitol Senate Chambers. program can pull out program’s stance on confidentiality conference was set for Friday, and cation-leave time is donated and re- Sick leave cannot currently be Stucky of,” Stucky said. between faculty and staff in a clear the trial previously was going to ceived by faculty or staff who need to donated to other individuals, but begin on March 10. A scheduling take leave for catastrophic illnesses. Stucky said there are efforts to fix SEE FACULTY, 2 conference will be held at 10:30 a.m. Feb. 26 via telephone between the defense and the state to set new dates for both. According to documents filed Monday, the defense requested a delay in the trial due to a previ- ously granted motion to extend Joint session tackles deadlines on pretrial motions. The defense also wanted a trial delay due to “other conflicting profes- sional obligations, the substantial amount of discovery yet to be housing affordability reviewed, and the need to pursue additional defense investigation,” court documents read. JoEllen Browning was found dead in her home on April 5, 2019, and autopsy results showed she died of sharp-forced injuries. Roy Browning was arrested for his wife's murder on Oct. 28, 2019, and has pleaded not guilty. 6 UI researchers create chemical earmuffs to protect against hearing damage Researchers from the UI Biology Raquele Decker/The Daily Iowan Department have discovered Mayor Bruce Teague (far right) and members of the Iowa City City Council sit before two UI student governments for a discussion about a proposed development project in down- potential “chemical earmuffs” that could prevent hearing damage to town Iowa City during a joint meeting on Tuesday. the ear in mice, but are continuing their research to make it available BY ELEANOR HILDEBRANDT AND HANNAH for human use. At the inaugural joint session ROVNER The housing affordability conversation re- [email protected] volved around a newly proposed development between both student at 12 E. Court St. that would contain a 900-unit governments and the Iowa At the inaugural joint session between Uni- building with student housing, academic study 8 versity of Iowa Student Government, Graduate areas, and other recreation amenities. City City Council, students and Professional Student Government, and Construction for the unit would not start for raised concerns about housing Iowa City City Council, all three groups were up to a year and a half, Iowa City City Manager focused on housing developments and afford- Geoff Fruin said. affordability. ability in Iowa City. SEE CITY COUNCIL, 2 Student Life VP finalist IOWA POLITICS Martin leads the way for Iowa baseball Austin Martin has only been in Record the Iowa baseball program for a year, but he was already voted a talks representation captain by his teammates. With two key leaders from last year’s JoCo Dem team gone, he and the rest of the At the final VP for Student Life forum, political-science Associate captains will have to step up in the Professor Brian Lai discussed retaining underrepresented staff. leadership game. turnout 8 Johnson County saw a record turnout at the Democratic caucuses, driven largely by on- campus locations. BY CALEB MCCULLOUGH [email protected] Amid lower-than-expected Demo- Big Ten title within reach cratic caucus turnout across the state for Hawkeye wrestling this year, Iowa’s bluest county set a cau- Iowa wrestling can clinch the Big cus record, partially due to a record pro- Ten’s regular season title with portion of young people participating. a win over Minnesota or a Penn State loss on Saturday. However, While Democratic caucus turnout the Hawkeyes have larger aspira- across the state was far below where it tions than a conference regular was in 2008, Johnson County set a re- season title. cord with 21,437 people showing up to caucus, according to numbers provided to The Daily Iowan by Johnson County organizer John Deeth. According to the Associated Press, Mason Childs/The Daily Iowan Democratic caucus turnout across the Political Science Department Executive Officer Brian Lai speaks at an open forum about the Division of Student Life in the state in 2020 was around 176,000 — IMU on Tuesday. Lai is the fourth candidate for UI vice president for Student Life. 5,000 more than 2016 but far below the Tune in for LIVE updates 2008 record of 238,000. Watch for campus and city news, In Johnson County, turnout was weather, and Hawkeye sports BY ALEXANDRA SKORES ership and methods of increasing proactivity. 19,407 in 2016 and 18,362 in 2008. The coverage every day at 8:30 a.m. [email protected] Lai began in the UI Political Science Department in 2008 Democratic caucuses were held at dailyiowan.com. 2001 as an assistant professor. In 2019, he was named on Jan. 3, when students were on win- At the fourth and final public forum in the search the department’s executive officer. He said in the 166 ter break and not populating Iowa City. to fill the position of University of Iowa vice president IMU on Tuesday that he believes the Division of Stu- The turnout change is indicative of for Student Life, political-science Associate Professor dent Life is essential and fundamental to the academic party trends in Iowa, Deeth said. Brian Lai, the department executive officer, spoke to faculty, staff, and students about opportunities in lead- SEE FINALIST, 2 SEE CAUCUS, 6 2 NEWS THE DAILY IOWAN | DAILYIOWAN.COM | WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2020 Volume 151 ENGINEERING THE PERFECT VALENTINE The Daily Iowan Issue 88 BREAKING NEWS STAFF Phone: (319) 335-6030 Publisher. 335-5788 Email: [email protected] Jason Brummond Fax: 335-6297 Editor in Chief. 335-6030 Marissa Payne CORRECTIONS Managing Editors Call: 335-6030 Brooklyn Draisey Policy: The Daily Iowan strives for accuracy and fairness in the Kayli Reese reporting of news. If a report is Sarah Watson wrong or misleading, a request Managing Digital Editor for a correction or a clarification Aadit Tambe may be made. 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Ganim, now the International meet faculty needs while the Iowa City, Iowa 52242-2004 Emily Callahan FACULTY The updated program fol- Programs dean, in an October Faculty Senate continued to FROM FRONT lows the state Board of Re- Faculty Senate meeting. work on the next phase of the BUSINESS STAFF gents’ November 2019 approv- The program’s first step program. Business Manager Advertising Sales al of the policy change. The went into effect Jan. 1, Stucky “With this change, Faculty Debra Plath. .335-5786 Bev Mrstik. 335-5792 and easily accessible way. changes included modifying said, and extended its reach Senate will now work with Advertising Director/Circulation Stucky said university of- eligibility for catastroph- to include faculty and staff colleagues in [UI Human Re- Production Manager Juli Krause.