Speech and communication are some of the most basic functions in our everyday lives – and they come so naturally to most, it’s easy to take them for granted.
But what if you weren’t able to communicate, or express your thoughts and ideas effectively? It would be frustrating, and even frightening – and that’s an everyday reality for the millions of people living with neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson’s, Alzheimer's and dementia.
A joint art project by students at the University of Northern Iowa and Holmes Junior High School persevered through a global pandemic to convey a message of inclusivity and creativity.
The first time she stepped inside of the UNI Metal Casting Center, surrounded by the red-hot glow of molten metal, Maria Alverio knew she was hooked. “There are two types of people in this world: the type who see molten metal and run away, and the type who can’t help but go closer. I’m definitely the second type,” Alverio said.
Tucked away in the corner of an old, ranch-style home turned art studio, Abby Hedley found her personal oasis – a place to explore and create alongside other local artists.
The Iowa Energy Center announced more than $800,000 in grant funding to two University of Northern Iowa projects working to boost energy efficiency in underserved rural areas and educate the next generation about career opportunities in an ever-evolving energy market.
Although COVID-19 has forced students to keep the residence hall doors of Lawther Hall closed, there are still signs of life taped to hallways in the form of small, origami creations of Baby Yoda.
The characters, from the television series “The Mandalorian,” were created during an origami-folding grab-and-go event, one of several efforts of the dorm’s nine resident assistants to bring students together during a global pandemic that is forcing everyone to stay apart.
With early polling locations in the November general election opening next week, college students across the country are preparing to vote, some of them for the first time.
Issues including the COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare, the environment and racial justice have made this an election that some are describing as perhaps the most important in a generation. And with an ongoing pandemic, voting will look much different this year.
George Stigler (UNI ’72), who retired July 30 as Iowa’s longest active serving judge and only its second Black district jurist, credits an impromptu hallway chat with two of his University of Northern Iowa professors with changing his life’s course.
“In fall semester of my senior year, I was waiting for class to start in Seerley Hall when Professor Thomas Ryan asked me to come into his office,” recalled Stigler, 70, who earned his bachelor’s degree in History in three-and-a-half years.
