In the mad rush of moving season — which many residents of Iowa City have had the pleasure of enduring this week — it’s important to periodically stop to ascertain where exactly one stands in the “packing” process. In that same spirit, we on the DI Editorial Board are providing our readers a recap of the big stories that have graced our pages and captivated our attentions this summer:

• 21-ordinance: After going into effect June 1, this controversial measure has caused no end of headaches for city councilors, bar owners, and underclassmen alike. Decreeing that after 10 p.m., all bar patrons must be at least 21 years of age or older, debate has raged on whether the City Council’s ordinance is killing downtown nightlife, causing an increase in house parties, or actually providing a solution to Iowa City’s notorious drinking problem. Until the majority of the student population returns this fall, much of its effects remain to be seen — but we can be sure that businesses are already hurting financially and that the PACs (21 Makes Sense and Yes to Entertaining Students Safely) are gearing up for a tough debate before the public vote in November.

• Deepwater Horizon oil spill: Now in day 100 of BP’s ongoing saga in the Gulf of Mexico, the explosion aboard the Deepwater Horizon oil rig has finally prodded government and oil-industry officials into seriously reforming out-dated standards for spill prevention and cleanup. The Obama administration, largely implicated in its lax reaction to the environmental crisis, is seeking to reinstate a deepwater-drilling moratorium after its first attempt earlier this summer failed; Big Oil, on the other hand, is paying mightily (to the tune of some $256 million so far) in victims’ claims — not including the massive costs of oil collection, dispersants, and wildlife recovery to come in the near future. The spewing well, a fixture on many cable-news shows throughout the summer, was not capped until day 86 of the ordeal, despite public outcry and a variety of alternative techniques pursued by BP engineers. We can only hope that BP gets the “shakedown” it deserves over this catastrophe and that drilling-safety regulations and alternative-energy sources are revised heavily.

• Class of 2014: Preparing for the largest incoming freshman class in its history, the University of Iowa is facing a housing crunch, class and teacher availability, and providing more freshman assistance and outreach than ever before. (And all of this comes despite the state Board of Regents-mandated budget cuts.) For the first time, more than half of the expected 4,500 students will be from out-of-state; yet as the UI nears its enrollment goals, we feel that it is equally important it also improves its retention rates (the lowest in the Big Ten) as well. School budget and dormitory and off-campus housing issues are sure to arise in the coming months.

• UI Museum of Art: Citing less than 50 percent damage to the facilities of the UI’s Art Museum in the 2008 flood, the Federal Emergency Management Agency denied a grant for buildings at a new location in favor of repairing the existing grounds. This was a severe blow to the university, which had already appointed a Museum of Art Envisioning Committee and staked out three potential new sites. Yet moving back into repaired digs, which in and of itself would be extraordinarily costly and risky, would cause the museum to lose its national accreditation. We hope that UI Museum of Art officials will be more successful in their second bid to win FEMA funding for a new (flood-proof) location.

• Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act: July 1 marked the enactment of one of many stages of President Obama’s highly contested health-care reform bill — that insurers may no longer deny coverage to anyone wishing to purchase health insurance. Policies cannot exclude customers on the basis of “pre-existing conditions”; additionally, persons under 26 (read: college students) are now able to stay on their parents’ plans, helping those of us who are just entering the workforce.

• Texting ban: Largely a symbolic gesture, the statewide “texting ban” passed on July 1 with more of a LOL than an OMG. For the first year, offenders will be let off with a warning for sending or receiving messages on their mobile devices while driving (but only if first pulled over by cops for a another reason). After July 2011, offenders will be charged a whopping $30. While the DI Editorial Board hopes that drivers are concentrating more on the road than on Tweeting in the first place, we feel that the cost of a tank of gas probably won’t change many multitaskers’ minds.

• Iowa River: Despite all foreboding weather and warnings to the contrary, the river has so far remained within its banks this summer. We especially laud the work of Army Corps of Engineers unit for their role in keeping Iowa City out of hot water.

There you have it: the big stories rolled up, wrapped, and ready to go. Now it’s time to look forward to new reports, upcoming features, and resolving old issues as we move toward a new semester.

Two members of the Iowa men’s golf team — Vince India and Barrett Kelpin — will compete in the 2010 U.S. Amateur Championship at Chambers Bay in University Place, Wash., Aug. 23-29. This year marks the 110th edition of the event.

India finished in second place July 26 at the USGA Amateur Qualifier at Cantigny Golf Club in Wheaton, Ill. The senior-to-be shot a 72 (par) in the first round and followed that with a second-round score of 69.

Kelpin, who will be a junior, also finished in a second-place tie in his qualifier at the Moors Golf Club in Portage, Mich. The Kalamazoo, Mich., native shot a 137 (seven-under), knotting him up with Columbia’s Daniel Zuluaga.

The field for the Amateur Championships consists of 312 golfers who will initially compete in stroke-play. The low 64 scores will advance to a match-play bracket, which will be played on the Home Course in Dupont, Wash.

The Iowa men’s golf team will open up its fall season at the Golden Gopher Invitational in Minneapolis Sept. 12-13.

Everyone said summer in Iowa is supposed to be a slow time for sports. They said football is still a month away (no, the Iowa Barnstormers don’t count as football), the Cubs and Brewers are as bad as ever, and the national landscape has been reduced to ESPN’s shameless love fests for LeBron James and Brett Favre.

Everyone was wrong.

Sure, there wasn’t a whole lot of Hawkeye action to talk about, and the “Worldwide Leader in Sports” became unwatchable when it aired James’ sellout-a-thon.

Look beyond the superficial layers, though, and there was plenty of sports to go around.

Iowa students kept themselves active by participating in RAGBRAI, the Bix 7, and various Ultimate Frisbee and softball leagues across the city. All the activity is made even more impressive when it’s done in spite of 95-degree heat and 200 percent humidity. Take that, global warming.

The Game Time and Prime Time Leagues offered Iowans the chance to see the state’s past, present, and future basketball stars up close. Hawkeye walk-on hopeful Andre Murphy was relentless, Morgan Johnson flexed her muscle in the paint, and ageless wonder Darryl Moore narrowly missed being named to The Daily Iowan’s all-Prime Time team in his 12th summer season.

Anyone who watched the action at the North Liberty Community Center should be excited about this year’s Hawkeye teams. The young core of the Franimals was impressive across the board, and Bluder’s Bunch showed they have plenty of talent besides Kachine Alexander, who was injured for much of the summer. Just imagine how much better they’ll be when Alexander — arguably the Big Ten’s premier player — returns to full strength.

While we’re on the topic of the Big Ten, this summer’s addition of Nebraska gives the Hawkeyes another team to mercilessly beat down in Kinnick, Carver-Hawkeye, and the Recreation and Wellness Center. If nothing else, the Cornhuskers’ entrance will spark debates over how much longer the Big Ten will remain mathematically incorrect.

Nationally, the Chicago Blackhawks gave a whole new generation of fair-weather fans reason to celebrate by winning the Stanley Cup. Maybe they were excited that an American team seems to be good at a sport nobody cares about.

Speaking of which, it’s a sad day when the lasting image of a World Cup is of 50,000 fans blasting their vuvuzelas. Noisemakers are nothing new in soccer — the horns were readily available at a Barcelona-Chivas Guadalajara friendly in Los Angeles several years ago — so it makes no sense that people are complaining now.

Although, maybe it’s a good thing. Maybe it means Americans are finally starting to watch the world’s game, regardless of where the United States ranks among the world powers (tied with Serbia for 13th out of 202 nations, by the way). Go ahead and jump on the Landon Donovan bandwagon — there’s plenty of room on his forehead for everybody.

As we peer down the barrel at the inevitable reboot of classes, it’s possible to feel a wave of sadness at the end of an easygoing sports season. Soon, Hawkeye fans will have to once again deal with losing to Northwestern, and one of these days — this is a guarantee — we’re going to long for the slow days of summer.

Iowa will need great play from numerous players this season to live up to the ever-ballooning hype. But the team’s success can be most dramatically altered — for good or for bad — by these Hawkeyes.

4) Shaun Prater, cornerback

Amari Spievey’s early departure following his junior season means Prater is now “the guy” at his position. Spievey’s interception total dipped from four in 2008 to two last season, but there’s a simple explanation for that — teams didn’t throw to his side of the field.

As a result, Prater was essentially baptized by fire in a starting role in 2009. With Spievey’s man typically on lockdown, opposing offenses instead targeted Prater. The Omaha native did more than hold his own, collecting two interceptions and breaking up eight passes.

That being said, even in defensive coordinator Norm Parker’s “bend but don’t break” scheme,

Prater will shoulder a lot of responsibility as the Hawkeyes’ No. 1 corner. He may be the biggest beneficiary of Iowa’s stellar safety duo of Brett Greenwood and Tyler Sash, but he’ll still have to perform to help the squad clamp down on opposing receivers.

3) Tyler Nielsen/Jeff Tarpinian, linebackers

If one must circle an area of Iowa’s defense as its “weak link,” there’s no debate — it’s the linebacking corps. Jeremiha Hunter is the crew’s only returning starter, and many are anxious to see how his less-experienced counterparts (Nielsen and Tarpinian) will perform.

Make no mistake — Hunter and these two, as a trio, has the potential to be very good together.

Nielsen and Tarpinian are both unproven commodities at this point. The Hawkeyes don’t need Nielsen and Tarpinian to be quite as good as A.J. Edds and Pat Angerer were last season, but they can’t only show up to play, either.

Iowa’s defensive line foursome of Adrian Clayborn, Christian Ballard, Broderick Binns, and Karl Klug will make these guys’ lives easier. But strong play at linebacker will allow those four to wreak even more havoc in the trenches.

2) Markus Zusevics/Adam Gettis, offensive linemen

The losses of Bryan Bulaga, Rafael Eubanks, Dace Richardson, and Kyle Calloway on the offensive line certainly leave massive cleats to fill.

Gettis and Zusevics, both redshirt juniors, were both listed as first-teamers in the spring depth chart.

Assuming redshirt sophomore James Ferentz doesn’t win the starting center job over Josh Koeppel, both will also be the line’s least-experienced players in terms of actual in-game action.

Riley Reiff and Julian Vandervelde are close to “sure things” at left tackle and guard, respectively.

And after a healthy position battle, whoever emerges at center should be reliable as well. But for the Iowa offense to reach its full potential, both Gettis and Zusevics will need to perform well.

1) Ricky Stanzi, quarterback

At this point, we know all about “Love it or leave it” and Stanzi’s 18-4 record as Iowa’s starting quarterback over the last two seasons. And don’t get me wrong — an 18-4 record is nothing to complain about. Stanzi is a proven winner.

But if the Hawkeyes want to truly take that “next step” and win a Big Ten championship and possibly a BCS national championship game berth, the Mentor, Ohio, native will need to elevate his play to the level we all know he’s capable of. It may sound greedy, but Stanzi has to be more than simply a “winner.”

He needs to be a playmaker.

All the tools are in place. Iowa enters the season with arguably its deepest set of offensive weapons ever seen in the Kirk Ferentz era. The Hawkeyes have a talented stable of running backs, which should help open up the passing game for Stanzi. We know No. 12 has a big arm, and he’s shown before that he’s capable of making any throw he needs to.

But in his redshirt senior season, it’s time he delivers those throws at a higher volume. If Stanzi can do that, he will truly be the “Manzi.”

More importantly, Iowa may go undefeated.

The Johnson County Sheriff’s Office is investigating the theft of several guns from a residence near the Johnson County/Iowa County line.

Sometime between 11 p.m., July 26 and 8 a.m. July 27, someone forcibly entered the detached garage at a Homestead residence and stole numerous firearms, including rifles and shotguns, according press release from the Iowa City police.

The release stated that the residents were home at the time of the incident and were not harmed. At 5:45 a.m. Tuesday, a black Dodge Ram pickup truck with striped decals near the rear of the truck was last seen speeding out of the area toward Johnson County.

Iowa City Area Crimestoppers is offering a reward of up to $1,000 for information leading to the arrest of this suspect.