It's been a torturous summer for some of the nation's top college sports programs.

Reader Issue #594 We've seen screaming headlines of a grading scandal at Auburn, the shocking arrests on murder charges of two former Montana State University athletes, and sharp scrutiny over so-called high-school-diploma mills that churn out would-be college athletes who lack the requisite academic credentials. Echoing among these stories is the Duke University lacrosse scandal, which continues to percolate in the national news media.

It's nearly college football season, which means Iowa fans can look forward to another Top 25 squad, and Illinois fans can pray for respectability and then look forward to basketball season.

But maybe avid boosters ought to consider their own critical role in the ills of college athletics. Namely, they ought to recognize that they're supporting of the exploitation of college-sports stars. (Full disclosure: As a University of Illinois graduate and fan, I'm part of the problem.)

Issue 585 Cover Editor's note: Last year, after a European vacation, longtime Renaissance Rock Island leader Dan Carmody submitted a draft of a "Vacation Manifesto" - a series of anecdotes and ideas for the Quad Cities.

In the year since, Carmody left our area for Fort Wayne, Indiana, where he serves as president of the Downtown Improvement District. We recently asked him to revisit his manifesto. Here it is.

We welcome your ideas in the comments section of the article.

 

palm_resturant-aweb11 Welcome to the spring/summer edition of the Quad Cities Dining Guide, presented by the River Cities’ Reader. We’ve contacted hundreds of local restaurants and asked them for the information that would be most useful to our readers, from kitchen hours to payment options to specialties to alcohol offerings.
Loose Change 911 Creators: Korey Rowe, Dylan Avery, Jason Bermas

On Friday, Paul Greengrass' film United 93 opens nationwide, telling a story of bravery that this country has embraced because of the comfort it provides in the face of intense pain. On September 11, 2001, passengers on that plane stormed the cockpit and foiled a terrorist plot, in the process sacrificing themselves.

On a white pedestal sits a ring of smaller eggs encircling a much larger egg. Their surfaces are covered with painting that is precise and utilizes geometric patterns, dots, and leaf/sprout motifs with a color sensibility reminiscent of old wrapping paper.
In the folk tale "Iron John," a mysterious being living in a lake grabs people and animals and pulls them under the water. After seeing his dog nabbed by the creature, a hunter has an ingenious idea: He gathers three men armed with buckets and empties the lake.
A critical thing to understand about the Freight House proposal that will probably go before the Davenport City Council again next month is that it's not really about that building, or the "public market" concept that's being championed by DavenportOne.
An ad in the March issue of New Orleans magazine boasts, "Lots Start at 100' Above Sea Level." That's life in the Big Easy, post-Katrina: It doesn't matter how much it costs as long as it's on high ground.
Imagine yourself in outer space, gazing at the blue and green sphere that is our home. Now zoom in, fast, diving toward continents and oceans. Soon rivers and cities emerge, then individual houses, then cars. Zoom closer - there's a camel in the desert, and you can even zoom right to its eyelashes.

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