Working as a CNA at Mercy One Medical Center in Cedar Falls, junior pre-med biology and global health major Mikaela Elenz risked her health protecting COVID patients, some of whom died. Now, she, and other Panthers, are among the first in the state to get vaccinated, providing a welcome ray of hope after a difficult year of illness and uncertainty.
Some hopeful news arrived last week as hospitals across the country began administering the first COVID-19 vaccine approved in the U.S. The Food and Drug Administration is expected to clear another vaccine for emergency use this week. Initial supplies of both the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines are limited and are only available to health care workers, but last week was widely viewed as an important step in ending a global pandemic.
The University of Northern Iowa is creating change on campus, and faculty, staff, and students are working together to make it happen. This past fall, President Nook announced twelve action items to address needs, challenges, and opportunities expressed by the campus community.
As a Waterloo West High School graduate turned University of Northern Iowa football player, Blake Thomas has been a Cedar Valley native his entire life. Thomas wanted to make an impact in the classroom as well as on the field, and he initially decided to pursue a major in biology and pre-med. His intention was to go on to medical school, but that all changed when he took public health courses with Disa Cornish, an associate professor in the health, recreation and community services department.
In the early months of the pandemic, University of Northern Iowa student Hannah Van Theemsche realized it was society’s most vulnerable who were most in danger.
So Van Theemsche (pictured standing on the right) designed and built mobile wooden stands stocked with free masks made by a local nonprofit group to help local homeless and underprivileged populations stay safe during the pandemic.
The UNI Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders has welcomed a new addition to their department: baby “Paul.”
Weighing just under two and a half pounds, “Paul” is a preterm infant born at 27 weeks. He has a pulse, real hair, and can breathe and cry.
Paul is not a real infant, though, but rather a top-of-the-line high emotion simulator that students in the department will soon begin using for classwork.
2020 hasn’t been easy. A global pandemic, national reckoning on racial inequality and economic crisis have led up to a contentious election season. Psychology professor and department head Adam Butler and family services assistant professor Heather Kennedy are here to help with some ways to cope with stress and anxiety this election season.
While Panthers have done a great job of working together to slow the spread of COVID-19, case levels nationally are expected to begin rising as we enter the fall and winter months. Having a frank conversation about safety precautions is a good way to ensure that everyone in your residence, whether on or off campus, stays safe.
We reached out to some UNI public health students to ask how they’ve handled it.
Answering the phone has never been more important.
Since the beginning of the semester, UNI contact tracers have been hard at work helping prevent the spread of COVID-19 by notifying students of their required quarantine for those in close contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19.
To maintain classroom safety, keep face-to-face instruction and prevent healthy students from being asked to quarantine, UNI has reassigned a total of 160 classes to new locations, and redesigned seating in over 100 classrooms, to further increase physical distancing and reduce the need for students to quarantine because of potential exposure.
