2-20-23

Student Body Elections

Micaiah and Liz: Learn your ABC’s

Micaiah Krutsinger, student vice president, who debuted on “The College Tour” is looking to seek another term, but as president, along with Liz Montalvo, director of mental health.

Krutsinger was first involved in Northern Iowa Student Government (NISG) as a senator for the College Humanities Arts and Sciences (CHAS) in 2021 - 2022. Krutsinger worked his way up in the ranks and in 2022 ran for student vice president along with Madame President Leila Mašinović in which they focused on Academics, Balanced, Community and Diversity – also known as their ABC priorities – in informing the Panther community.

Montalvo, who recently joined NISG in the fall of 2022, is looking to push her leadership experience even further in these elections.

Northern Iowa Student Government (NISG), where political science majors and those interested in politics go right? Not exactly. While there are political science majors and political gurus involved, all types of majors and students can be found within NISG; the perfect representation of all students are welcome to be a part of the organization.

“It’s better to be passionate, you don’t necessarily have to be passionate about government, but to be passionate about what you want to see and what you want to bring to campus or things you want to change,” said current NISG President, Leila Mašinović.

NISG is the governing body of representation for the student body of UNI.

Current Northern Iowa Student Government (NISG) Speaker of the House Sam Caughron and At-large Senator Christelle Tungu have their eyes set on an opportunity to make lasting change at UNI: fulfilling the roles of student body president and vice president.

Caughron is currently a third-year public administration and political science double major, and Tungu is a second-year criminology student.

Caughron’s history with public service and student government far predates this presidential run. In high school, he was involved in Waterloo Youth City Council and his high school’s student senate. He has been in NISG for three years and is currently in his second year serving as Speaker of the Senate.

UNI unveils 2023-2028 strategic plan

ERIN MCRAE Staff Writer

UNI has unveiled its strategic plan for 2023-2028 with the slogan “Create. Empower. Innovate.” The plan consists of four main goals. Goal 1 is to create equitable, diverse, and inclusive opportunities, Goal 2 is to empower communities to shape their future, Goal 3 is to innovate for learner success and Goal 4 is to steward resources effectively.

Drew Conrad is one of the co-chairs of the 20232028 Strategic Planning Committee (SPC) and has worked at UNI for 30 years as the director of the Institute for Decision Making, which is one of UNI’s economic development outreach programs within UNI’s Business & Community Services (BCS) division. “President Nook asked myself and Nicki Skaar, associate professor & coordinator, School Psychology Program, to co-chair the 2023-2028 Strategic Planning Committee (SPC) and help manage the strategic planning process. We had a great group of students, facul-

N.I. EN ESPAÑOL

ty and staff who served on the SPC. We also had great facilitation leadership from Randy Pilkington, executive director of BCS, and Andrew Morse, President Nook’s former chief of staff,” Conrad said.

According to Conrad, the new strategic plan is just one more step towards a larger plan that will culminate in the future for UNI. “The new strategic plan continues UNI on our journey of working toward achieving UNI’s Future Vision – what we hope UNI will be by 2051 when UNI celebrates its 175th anniversary. I think current and future students are the core focus of the new plan,” Conrad said. “This is reflected with creating equitable, diverse and inclusive opportunities being front and center in the new plan, along with learner success both inside and outside the classroom. Community engagement and helping to build a better Iowa is also elevated through the new plan.”

The new plan will also go beyond the classroom. One of UNI’s main goals is to fur-

ther connect with the greater Cedar Valley community and provide opportunities for students in new and developing areas of study.

“I think it is an exciting time at UNI. The new strategic plan is part of this excitement and will help to keep us focused on our priorities,” Conrad said. “The new strate -

gic plan has also spurred a lot of strategic planning efforts across campus by colleges, academic departments and other programs. This is great. It has individuals and units truly thinking about where they want to be in five years and what they need to accomplish in order to help achieve what they have envisioned

and how their priorities will help with accomplishing the priorities in the 2023-2028 UNI Strategic Plan and help the University in achieving its Future Vision.”

El florecimiento de la población latinX en UNI

Por primera vez enseñamos la clase de “Translation for Heritage Speakers” en la Universidad del Norte de Iowa (UNI). Es una nueva clase que empezó este semestre. Está enseñada por el Dr. Castillo y fue la idea de él a implementar esta clase específica.

¿Cuál es la diferencia de enseñar esta clase específica?

“Por la misma razón que tenemos ‘Spanish for Heritage Speakers’”, dijo el Dr. Castillo. “Es una manera de separar a los estudiantes

NORTHERN IOWAN

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qué ya saben las cosas básicas del idioma”, dijo él.

¿Cuáles diferencias tiene la clase?

“Podemos poner énfasis en diferentes temas”, dijo el Dr. Castillo. “Translation for Heritage Speakers” enseña el idioma de español en una forma más formal. Para reconocer cómo el idioma puede ser diferente para la fuerza laboral. Entonces, prepara a los que ya están más preparados o cómodos con el idioma de español. Lo que “más preparados” significa es que podemos eliminar la enseñanza de la gramática básica.

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La comunidad de latinae y latinX gente está creciendo en Iowa. ¿Qué piensas de eso?

“Se nota. Es muy bueno. Yo creo que en UNI fue un cambio positivo”, dijo el Dr. Castillo. Esta clase fue capaz de suceder porque la comunidad de latinX está creciendo en UNI y totalmente en Iowa. De acuerdo con un artículo que se llama, “The 10 Iowa Cities with the Largest Latino Population for 2023” escrito por Chris Kolmar, dice que “Ha habido un 48,3% aumento en la población de los hispanos en Iowa”. Antes, casi no había estudiantes latinX en UNI

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y en Iowa. Ahora está creciendo porque, “vienen de otros estados, no de países”, dijo el Dr. Castillo. Había más obstáculos para los que venían de otros países. Ahora, los padres de los hispano hablantes establecen un hogar aquí en Estados Unidos y sus descendientes pueden tener más fácil acceso a la educación.

La población de gente hispanos/latinX está floreciendo ahora más que nunca. Mientras nos acercamos a la primavera, esto sirve como un hito que tenemos nuevos comienzos luego de nosotros en el currículo.

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Advertising errors that are the fault of the Northern Iowan will be corrected at no cost to the advertiser only if the Northern Iowan office is notified within seven days of the original publication. Publisher reserves the right to refuse any advertisement at any time.

The Northern Iowan is funded in part with student activity fees.

All material is © 2023 by the Northern Iowan and may not be used without permission.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

For more information on the 2023-2028 UNI Strategic Plan, visit strategicplan.uni. edu EMMA

Letters must be less than 300 words in length and are subject to editing. Not all submissions will be printed. Send submissions to northern-iowan@uni.edu.

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Tell us what’s happening on campus. Email submissions to northern-iowan@uni.edu.

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According to Drew Conrad, one of the co-chairs of the 2023-2028 Strategic Planning Committee, the new strategic plan places a lot of focus on creating equitable, diverse and inclusive opportunities for students both in and out of the classroom. The above photo shows students at UNI’s Rainbow Reception in August — a celebration of LGBTQ+ students — just one part of UNI’s diverse student population.

KARINA ORTIZ Editora en español

COURTESY/UNI

El Dr. Castillo es el professor que implemento la idea de tener la clase de “Translation for Heritage Speakers”.

Why audiobooks are better than physical copies

ABIGAIL SAATHOFF Opinion Columnist

Throughout my childhood, I loved reading. Every night I spent the moments before I fell asleep with my nose in a book, taking in every single detail before I got so tired I couldn’t keep my eyes open. Even before those times when I could read independently, my parents would read to me – anywhere from Junie B. Jones to my personal favorite, Little House on the Prairie. These special moments, where I was able to leave the world I was in and escape to a new and beautiful place were always part of my life. Then, when I reached high school, and my schedule became even more packed than before, that time to read before bed seemed more like a burden and less like an award. The trend continued in college, and I read four to five books a year, usually in early January or the summer. That was until I discovered audiobooks.

Audiobooks are voice

recordings of reading a book. This means that instead of sitting down to read a physical book, you can clean, walk and more all the while listening to your favorite book. For me, this made all the difference. I listen to a book while I’m walking to class, working out, doing the dishes, cleaning my room, and even during times when I just want to rest my eyes and relax. Audiobooks have made it so that reading feels less like a chore.

These audiobooks are also much easier to engage with, as rather than forming your voices in your head, it

comes pre-made with one. According to Ron Jaworski, “It helps that audio is among the most immersive media formats that trigger memorability, trust, and connection. It’s certainly far more immersive than text, where reading requires you to actively participate and read the words that are laid out in front of your eyes.”Even sometimes with physical copies of books, I struggle to remember the words I just read. Sometimes I end up re-reading the same words a couple of times to fully comprehend what they are saying. With audiobooks I

don’t have that issue, it is much easier to understand, and I don’t have to intensely focus to do so.

In an article by Emily Laurence, “Listening to an emotionally-driven storyteller engages emotional circuits in the brain and can heighten the intensity and imagery of the episodes, leading to a deeper processing of the narrative and greater enjoyment of the material than experienced by reading a book.” This idea couldn’t be more true, I have listened to a few audiobooks over the past months and years, and I can distin-

guish each of them with a clear image of the events in the books. In a conversation with my dad the other day, we couldn’t figure out if we had listened to a book, or seen a movie because the image was so clear in our brains.

Even more so, audiobooks can have some extremely cool narrators. I am currently listening to a book with Star Wars star Daisy Ridley as the narrator, and just finished a book that had a whole cast of narrators including Jennifer Beals, Benjamin Bratt, Judy Greer and Pablo Schreiber. It is incredible to hear your favorite voices reading your favorite books.

Overall, though some people are opposed to audiobooks, claiming that they are cheating or not real books, they are a helpful resource for those of us who struggle to crack open a book and feel we have little to no free time. So the next time you go to buy a book, maybe get an audiobook instead.

Chatbots and plagiarism: Will we ‘get over it’?

MICHAEL BUGEJA Iowa Capitol Dispatch

Editor’s Note: This article was published on Feb. 16, 2023.

In 1999, Scott McNealy, CEO of Sun Microsystems, told reporters and technology analysts concerned about internet algorithms that people have “zero privacy anyway. Get over it!”

The comment shocked people. With the emergence of ChatGPT (Generative Pre-trained Transformer) — a free online application that dialogues with users — teachers are in “near panic” with concerns about cheating, specifically, plagiarism.

It will take a while for us to get over it. But we will.

When McNealy made his privacy comment, eBay, PayPal and Amazon were in their infancy. Facebook would be founded five years later. Twitter, two years after that.

Google Maps came online in 2005. Street View not only showcased property but also occasionally caught people doing assorted embarrassing things.

In 2007, an attorney complained that a Google van can violate privacy by photographing “you in an embarrassing state of undress, as you close your blinds, for example.”

(Google had caught him smoking, and he was hiding that from his family.)

The public was shocked

about Street View for about a year. Then it wore off. People gave up privacy for the convenience of car directions.

Terms of surrender

In 2010, my Iowa State colleague Daniela Dimitrova and I published a book titled “Vanishing Act: The Erosion of Online Footnotes and the Implications for Scholarship.” We traced the history of convenience from a caveman’s rock to an influencer’s blog. Communication has four basic features: durability, storage, portability and convenience. An inscribed rock can last for centuries. But you can’t write much

on it or easily tote it. Clay tablets, scrolls and books provided more storage and portability.

Then came Internet, the ultimate in convenience. We don’t have to leave our home. We order in, pay bills, stream content and work in pajamas.

People will give up anything for convenience, risking privacy and identity theft.

This was McNealy’s message more than two decades ago.

At the time, artificial intelligence was almost a half century old, making tremendous strides. Between 1957-74, scientists developed algorithms that would lead, ultimately, to ChatGPT

and other bots that now write essays and pass law and business exams.

They even fool developers into believing they are sentient.

Take my word

Prose isn’t dead; we just won’t be doing much of it in a variety of jobs. Chatbots have infiltrated the writing professions, customer support, programming, media planning and buying, judicial filings, and consulting.

That last category will impact the pocketbook of many professors fretting that ChatGPT has killed the required term paper.

 See CHATGPT, page 9

PEXELS

It’s not too late to make reading more one of your goals – audiobooks are a great way to learn and read on the go.

Meet Micaiah and Liz

Capitol every wednesday to directly discuss with state legislatures about the university and student needs. Krutsinger’s team is hoping to pass the $4 million state appropriations, the $4 million for educators for Iowa and the $1 million request for mental health resources in the legislature.

“I’ve already been having experience with the Board of Regents, with the state legislature, I currently have the contact information to a lot of individuals in these positions (of power)… So, if reelected, we are able to work off of our connections, and it’s not a reset from administration to administration,” Krutsinger said. “We are able to still make stronger relationships with our local governments. Instead of having to reset NISG and have new individuals be making new relationships.”

Another project that they are working on is the Counseling Compact, which is a compact between states for mental health resources. This project would make it easier for mental health professionals to travel state to state with multiple licenses.

“That’s something we want to focus on because that is bringing resources to UNI,” Krutsinger said. “We don’t know where the legislature is going to end up by the end of our term [in April].”

With the administration keeping the ABC’s the same they are looking to push the message to the community.

“So, we kept it the same as last year, because I want the student body to see that if they elect me that there are continuous (priorities and efforts) in student government, and we are willing to work on the same initiatives that we’ve been working on for the last year, but also adding a lot more to our own.” Krutsinger said.

Get to know your ABC’s, then come along support their priorities

Academics

Kicking it off with “A” their platform is looking to publicly be in favor of the UNI and Iowa Community College Partnership, also known as UNI@IACC, tuition differentiation, “Our Tomorrow Campaign” and the development of the nursing program that will be launching its first cohort in 2024. Their platform is taking action by talking with members of the Board of Regents and state legislators to receive the necessary funding and approval of these future initiatives.

“Without academics we wouldn’t be here at UNI, we wouldn’t be working towards a degree.” Krutsinger said.

In the September meeting of the Board of Regents, President Mark Nook requested $2 million for funding to double the community colleges involved and push student support specialists on the community college campus. This agenda item has already been presented to the House Education Appropriations Subcommittee by Nook, and the next step will be voting on the request; a timeline is not yet determined on voting.

They are also looking to incentivize educators to enter the education field by having student teaching be paid. Right now, education majors do not get their student teaching paid.

This administration is also looking forward to working alongside the office of the President to advocate for the necessary funding from the state to keep the university tuition from rising. In the Board of Regents Nook requested a total of $4 million dollars to maintain the university’s tuition from rising. This agenda item has already been presented to the House Education Appropriations Subcommittee by Nook and the next step will be voting on the request; a timeline is not yet determined on voting.

They are also wanting faculty to add a trigger warning in the syllabus of content that may have domestic violence, hate crimes, sexual assault and more etc.

The administration wants to also help bring awareness of Rod Library’s textbook equity initiative to offer free textbooks to students by sharing it on their social media.

Balance

Krutsinger and Montalvo are seeking to advocate for Mental Health, Campus Safety and STD testing.

With the $1 million request for mental health approved by the Board of Regents the two are looking to continue the advocacy in passing the request in the state legislature. This also includes the awareness of telehealth opportunities. The administration is also wanting to continue the partnership with the Student Health Center and looking to fund for more graduate assistant positions.

Montalvo has been working closely with the student health center leadership team as the director of mental health.

Meet Sam and Christelle

SAM & CHRISTELLE

continued from page 1

He has served under three different NISG presidencies and has worked directly under two of them.

“Since I started my first semester, my first year at UNI as an at-large senator, every single initiative I’ve worked on, I have not failed a single one. I’m very proud to say that,” he said.

Caughron cites involvement in a variety of initiative during his time in NISG, including helping pass “The Pronouns Project” which listed students’ pronouns on class rosters, giving students the ability to use their preferred names on UNI IDs without changing their legal name, NISG’s menstrual products initiative and their textbook equity initiative.

He also played a key role in writing the resolution to have Juneteenth and Latinx Heritage Month recognized by the university.

“UNI students deserve leading executives who are going to work the hardest they can to implement their initiatives, that are actually going to do the work, that are actually going to show up, that are going to be present and that care enough to do the work, to show up, to want to do this,” Caughron said.

“I have seen the inner workings of student government. I have seen people work on impactful, structurally changing initiatives that have improved our campus, and I know how to get the job done,” he said.

Platform

The job Caughron and Tungu are setting out to complete revolves around four core pillars: Presence, Advocacy, Campus Life, and Transparency, represented by the acronym PACT. They are leading their campaign with the slogan, “Making a PACT with our students.”

Presence

During the past few weeks of campaigning, Caughron and Tungu attended a series of meet and greets with various student organizations on campus, fostering a presence they want to make a key factor in their presidency if they win the election.

Both of them want to create more collaboration between NISG and student organizations on campus, specifically targeting the Office of International Engagement and fraternities and sororities.

“A big part of presence on our platform is encouraging members of student government to go outside of their comfort zones and attend student org meetings, not only to get the experience and to gain knowledge, but also to be a resource for students so they can meet their representatives,” Caughron said.

Tungu continued, “I passionately believe that a great way to represent someone is by going down and being there with them, mingling with them. Not just being on top and assuming what they need and what you can get done for them, but coming down, asking them questions and noticing the little things that they might need,” she said.

Advocacy

Caughron and Tungu want to continue lobbying for issues that directly involve students. They will continue general lobbying to increase general funding for the university in order to keep tuition low while accounting for inflation.

They also want to continue lobbying for mental health allocations from the Board of Regents, as well as lobbying for more scholarships for third-year graduate students in the Clinical Mental Health Counseling program.

“[Third-year mental health counseling graduate students] have to tackle their education, an outside job and their internship or their GA position on campus, and that’s a lot, so we’d like

to get more scholarships for them,” Caughron said.

The pair would also like to work toward getting an in-house mental health professional at the Wellness and Recreation Center to be utilized by the general student body and, more specifically, student athletes.

Their platform also includes continuing to encourage students to become Green Dot trained, the gender violence prevention initiative implemented by

NISG in fall of 2022.

Campus Life

The campus life pillar involves expanding the current free menstrual products initiative to include all bathrooms on campus, including dorms.

This category also includes textbook equity, in which professors will be encouraged to use cheaper versions of textbooks or to utilize the course materials that are free through Rod Library.

 See SAM & CHRISTELLE, page 6

MICAIAH & LIZ

continued from page 4

The Student Health Center currently has two graduate assistants (GA) and both have brought a tremendous amount of help according to Montalvo. Montalvo is looking to fund and double the GA’s for the counseling center. This is currently in the works and being presented to the student fees committee on Wednesday, Feb. 22. Montalvo is also hoping to possibly have a new addition in the athletics department and wellness center later in the future.

“Students feel safer and more relatable if we go to speak to students,” Montalvo said.

Right now, there is no counselor in the athletics department according to Krutsinger.

With the Green Dot program successful launch this past September, they are looking to bring more encouragement in the campus community to be Green Dot trained. Their platform wants to continuing the funding of Green Dot and continue emphasizing the presence of resources for sexual assault. The final push of the balance initiative is to advocate for more resources of STD testing on campus.

Community

The two are looking to bring back the Panther Mayhem (PM) Student section to revive the student presence at the athletic events. PM was abruptly discontinued because the leadership team during the time it was active were seniors when the pandemic hit. There was no transition due to everyone being sent back home. This was brought to their attention by the Panther Soccer’s Prowlers executive board. The goal of PM would get the attention of students to go to the games and this increased the engagement of the student body at all athletic games.

With the enrollment rate taking a hit, it has also impacted student involvement and Fraternity and Sorority Life. The administration expressed this was brought to their attention and that they hope to focus on student retention rates to continue having an active and engaged culture at the university.

In their community initiative, they are also looking forward to adding more seating and picnic tables with umbrellas at the roof of Maucker Union. In the fall there were 12 tables located on the roof of Maucker; they have recently been removed, as they have outlived their useful life, according to Mike Bobeldyk, director of student involvement and services.

To add on, the administration is planning on seeking

permanent funding through the university for menstrual products. In this request they are hoping to expand to other buildings and residencies that don’t hold menstrual products.

In their mission in improving quality of the Panther experience the administration will also be seeking the following:

• Collaboration with UNI Public Safety and getting a greater understanding of UNI’s parking system.

• Getting students informed through their phone of the priority snow routes.

• Working with the mayor in combating the city zoning requirements and bringing new businesses to the hill.

They are also pushing to have a better transitional system where branches of government can easily share information on things going on in the community. This includes making contact sheets for university’s departments, offices, committee and boards.

Diversity

In their list of priorities they are looking to enhance the connection between the underrepresented and being successful at UNI. Their plan would be to begin with working with the Student Success and Retention Office to enhance retention rates and encourage students to participate in the Thrive Mentorship Program. This encouragement continues to echo to better prepare faculty and students to understand the needs of individuals. They plan to also maintain a good relationship and communication with the President’s Council of Inclusion Transformative Social Justice.

Montalvo, who is a mentor for the Thrive Program, saw the early engagement in the start of the semester and then it was brought to her attention on how that engagement later died down. She hopes to bring more communication and a more convenient time for students to meet and feel supported.

“I know I’ve had some people discuss to me how difficult it can be, especially in your first semester.” Montalvo said Montalvo said that she is very passionate about student government and her cousin, who is an alum, was also involved in NISG inspired her to take on a leadership role.

“This election is going to be a close election. So, I think anyone, no matter who you are, should be going out there and voting.” Krutsinger said.

They also want to collaborate more with the Campus Activities Board to hold events both during the week and on weekends. They want to create more engagement for students of all backgrounds on campus, especially those who remain on campus on the weekends.

Transparency

Caughron and Tungu want to simplify the process for student organizations to request funding by decreasing the amount of paperwork and number of required meetings organizations must attend. They want to make sure all of the information on funding is available at the first meetings of the year that student organizations are required to attend.

They also want to continue NISG’s relationship with the Northern Iowan and to keep producing monthly press releases.

“And overall, we just want to continue the work on fostering a positive and welcoming environment in student government,” Caughron said.

At the end of the day

The pair and their campaign staff have certainly made their presence known on campus over the past few weeks. They have been tabling from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. in Maucker Union every day since their campaign started and have created a strong social media presence alongside the many hours they have spent interacting with student organizations.

“We’ve created a dialogue with student orgs and students. We have had countless amazing conversations. The people we met with are so passionate about what they do, what their org does and what they provide to campus, and it’s been great to be a part of that,” Caughron said.

Tungu added, “These past two weeks have been just eye-opening for me. I’ve encountered amazing orgs here on campus that I wish I would have known about earlier.”

“We are here not just to impact during the campaign, but we want to be friends with you. We want to connect with you. We don’t just want to be there.

No, we want to really come and interact with you, know how your semester is going, how classes are, even if you won’t sign a petition,” Tungu said.

“As long as we get the friendship, that’s all we are about,” she said.

No matter how the elections pan out, Caughron is determined to continue making change on campus any way he can.

“UNI students deserve dedicated public servants who have a history of putting in the work, who show up, who are present, who legitimately care, and when they’re in office, who will not disappear,” he said.

“It doesn’t go our way, we will still show up and we will still do the things we currently do. Granted, we may not be in the positions we are aiming for. We may not be implementing the initiatives we hoped we’d implement, but we will continue that work. That is a promise,” Caughron said. “Not even a promise, that is a fact. It’s a fact. It is what Christelle and I will do. I think that’s what students deserve, and that’s what we bring to the table.”

NIXSON BENITEZ

This past Wednesday, Feb. 15, the Northern Iowan Student Government (NISG held a debate in the Maucker Union Ballrooms for the first time in 4 years.

NIXSON BENITEZ

Sam Caughron (right) and Christelle Tungu spoke on their platform this past Wednesday about some of the future initatives for their administration.

SAM & CHRISTELLE continued from page 5

Northern Iowa Student Government is here for you

NISG’S IMPACT

continued from page 1

They take initiatives and tackle issues they believe make the college experience better and take interest in what students really care about at UNI. Specifically, the organization does many different things across campus from lobbying in Des Moines to providing funding to student organizations.

“We have a variety of purposes, it kind of depends on what lens you’re looking through,” said NISG Chief of Staff, Trina Tounjian. “Through a student lens, we advocate for students, we have our constituents, and within the Senate we try to have equal representation from each college for academics but also from different places across campus such as different dorms. From a UNI standpoint, we do a lot of funding for student organizations, provide student representatives for different on-campus committees or going down to the capital and advocating for UNI for things such as mental health resources,” she said.

NISG is set up just the same as the United States government with three branches: executive, legislative and judicial. In addition to these branches, NISG has a Legislative Liason Team, Board of Directors and Senate committees. Students can become involved in any of these areas, there is no experience or position hierarchy for new students required.

“Don’t try to fit yourself into a job, we’ll make the job work for you,” said Tounjian. “What it looks like for each person is very different. You can be as

involved as you want to be or as uninvolved as you want to be.”

The upcoming NISG elections will be on Feb. 21 and 22. Those being elected include President, Vice President and Senate positions. Candidates running for these positions have initiates they are wishing to put into action once elected and have gotten signatures from their respective colleges. Those running for President and Vice President also receive endorsements from students and student organizations showing their support.

“Vote for your elected officials because these are the people that are going to be fighting for what you want to see on campus, they’re going to be the people that represent you and your needs, if something is not happening how you want it to happen,” said Mašinović. “These will be the people, that you hopefully, go to and you can voice your concerns to and hopefully steer you in the right direction, give you more information or advocate for you in places like the capitol building where laws will affect everything and everyone. The person that you vote for will impact you greatly,” she said.

“It’s students representing students,” said Tounjian in agreement. “If you see something that you don’t like, having that vote toward choosing someone to represent those issues gives them the authority to make that change.”

If you are interested in joining NISG, reach out to anyone involved in the organization, ask questions or show up to weekly meetings on Tuesdays at 6 p.m. in the Oak Room of

Maucker Union. Voting in the upcoming elections can be done through MyUNIverse.

“You meet people from all around campus that you would never meet otherwise,” said Mašinović. “One of the most rewarding things is having a

student come up to me and say, ‘Hey I heard you did this, this is how it impacted me’ and good or bad, it’s good feedback so you know a way to go next.”

“Once you’re in student government, you’re going to fall in love with it,” said Tounjian.

“It’s really the people, everyone genuinely has UNI’s best intentions and everyone always gets super excited and positive when things are happening.”

NISG Voting Information

COURTESY/NISG TWITTER

Members of NISG recently represented UNI in Des Moines for “UNI Day at the Capitol.” They had opportunities to connect with local legislators and advocate for fellow students.

Black leaders in the state of Iowa

JERRELL BATES Guest Columnist

Editor’s Note: This article is from Feb. 24 2022. This Archive is featured as a part of the NI”s Black History Month coverage.

Black History Month: A time dedicated to the celebration of Black history, culture and excellence. According to National Geographic, the first official celebration of Black history started with Negro History Week in 1926. At this point, Black history was not recognized nationwide, but with the creation of Negro History Week, Black history began its journey towards recognization. In 1976, President Gerald Ford extended Negro History in order to give proper recognition of the accomplishments of African-Americans, and it officially became the nationally recognized month that we know today, Black History Month.

Today, we see many African-Americans following in the footsteps of the leaders of the past.

“I got involved with Black Student Union (BSU) because it was the first place here on campus that I could meet people who looked like me and were going through the same things I was,” Black Student Union Vice President Christiana Downey

“Though I have been involved in leadership positions before college, this one seemed to be so much more important because I was representing a larger, underrepresented population.”

An example of the importance of Black leadership, Downey is one of many people dedicated to service and leadership. UNI alum and Director of Multicultural Student Services at Wartburg College Krystal Madlock was heavily involved during her undergraduate career. “At UNI I was involved in the typical student organizations created for students of color, Black Student Union, Ethnic Student Senate, and I made a lifetime commitment and became a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. I was on the Maucker Union student board.”

Many years later, she continues to find ways to be involved and serve her campus and Waterloo community. “My current involvement continues to be in my church, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., March Against the Darkness Board of Directors, Youth Art Team Board of Directors, Community Foundation of Northeast Iowa Scholarship committee, a member of Club Les Dames and hopefully soon the UNI Alumni Association Board of Managers.” Madlock said.

Another UNI Alum and Black leader, Yakira Sanders, has dedicated a lot of her

time to leadership and was inspired by another Black leader. “My first interaction with someone at UNI was my Jumpstart pathfinder, Juana Hollingsworth. It was really cool to have a Black woman who I could look up to.” Sanders has served in many roles on UNI’s campus, including serving as the current Program Assistant for the Center of Multicultural Education.

When speaking further on her journey, and providing advice to students growing in their own leadership journeys, Sanders said, “Trust the process. Things will constantly change from a year, two years, three years, four years down the line. So just trust the process and make sure that you are holding yourself accountable to make sure that you are accomplishing those goals that you set for yourself.”

Apart from the Black excellence that has graced UNI’s campus in the past and present, there are a number of influential Black leaders in the surrounding Waterloo community. “Growing up, I thought leadership was just about being one with the ‘big idea.’ It wasn’t until I was a senior in high school that I understood I was a leader by engaging in what was happening in my school and community through volunteering and showing my support. The more I served, as a student senate representative

and on the judicial committee, the more my self-confidence grew as I saw the impact of my participation.”

Mayor of Waterloo Quentin Hart said.

When asked if he ever envisioned himself as mayor, Hart said, “I did not grow up dreaming about being the Mayor of Waterloo. With each act of service, my circle of influence grew and my network of resources grew as well, leading me to greater and greater opportunities.”

Sharing similar sentiments with Mayor Hart is Nia Wilder, businesswoman and Councilwoman for Waterloo’s Ward 3. “We don’t always realize when leadership starts. We don’t always realize when we are being a leader. Leadership doesn’t have certain characteristics” Wilder said.

To her, leadership is important and a journey that we continue to grow in. “Don’t ever stop growing. Don’t ever feel like you know what the answer is. Keep seeking answers. Know that your purpose is something serious.”

Recently, the UNI campus community has had the honor of welcoming Rastafari Smith back to campus. Smith is not just a UNI alum; he also serves as the Student Services Coordinator at UNI and as a legislator in the Iowa House of Representatives.

For him, civic engagement was a part of his upbringing

but he never expected to land in the position he is in now. “If you would’ve asked me seven years ago if I would be here today, I would’ve laughed at you,” Smith said. “I was never someone who would consider me to be politically engaged. I was all about social advocacy. I would protest, be at marches and speak out against things but I never saw myself running for office.”

Smith was presented with the opportunity to run for the House of Representatives and hasn’t looked back. To the young adults growing in life, Smith says, “Be authentically who you are, because that’s when your success comes.

As people of color, we bring our creativity, our uniqueness and our lived experiences to help the overarching system improve so don’t feel like you have to change.”

With the conclusion of February 2022, we have had another successful month of celebrating the accomplishments and the excellence of Black history. Our Black colleagues have continued to do great things and serve as inspirational leaders like our ancestors before us. Even though Black History Month has concluded, may we still continue to shine bright and highlight the achievements of our African-American colleagues, friends and leaders.

From left to right: Representative RasTafari I. Smith, Vice President of Black Student Union Christina Laneisha Downley, UNI Alum and Director of Multicultural at Wartburg Krystal Madlock, Councilwomen for Waterloo Ward 3 Nia Wilder and Mayor of Waterloo Quentin Hart lead in variety of leadership roles in the state of Iowa. said.

“I believe that the Gen Z generation is considered lazy due to the fact of the entitlement issue. Many kids think that the world will be confined to them and that everything will be given to them.”

VOX POP

Why is our generation, also known as Gen Z, considered a lazy generation?

Quotes and photos by: Grant Gloeckner

CHATGPT

continued from page 3

Artificial intelligence operates on theft. Consider the definition of plagiarism: presenting someone else’s work or ideas as your own by incorporating that into your own content without full acknowledgement.

Computer scientists call that “machine learning.”

Chatbots analyze what you ask them, evaluate responses, swipe content by others with similar requests, prompt for more information, scour the web for answers (without citation), and access data on your device if you agreed to the app’s terms of service.

And you’re worrying about plagiarism?

Getting over it

Here’s what’s in store : Corporations will invest in AI, lower wages and downsize. Corporate profits will rise as chatbots innovate everything from onboarding to operational strategies.

Consumers will interact with chatbots at all hours, without having to wait for retailers and banks to open. People can complain vociferously about inferior products and services without the chatbot losing composure or calling you a Karen

“Gen Z is considered lazy because they grew up with technology that allows them to complete tasks a lot faster than other generations. They are considered lazy just because they can finish tasks in a simpler manner due to new technologies.”

or Ken.

School systems will try to ban chatbots, purchasing services to detect cheating. But results will be unreliable as AI content improves and digital natives find workarounds.

Gen Z discovered how to cheat while remote learning during the Covid pandemic. They’re loving ChatGPT. Eventually, plagiarism will morph from failing grade to reprimand.

The public will become bored with the slush pile of mediocre machine prose, patronizing authors with insight into the human condition. Their copyrighted works will continue to sell.

Infringement will remain on the books. Content owners will decide who, when, how and where original material may be used. If they can document any monetary loss, their attorneys can sue the offending parties.

A chatbot will write the legal brief and file it with the court.

“I would say Gen Z is lazy because of all the advancements in technology that we have now and how easy it is for them to access technology, like video games, computers, phones, and ipads. Kids these days don’t get outside very often, instead they sit inside all day and play video games or sit on their phones.”

“I believe that Gen Z is considered a lazy generation because of the parenting styles that they have grown up with. As in, parents do not believe in harsh punishments, allowing kids to get away with things and that is what they learn growing up.”

“I believe the Gen Z generation is considered lazy because they have grown up with easier access to everything due to technology and they grew up in homes with parents who would rather be their friends than their parents.”

Ryan Morgan, 20 Major: Supply Chain

Mason Miller, 20 Major: Finance and Real Estate

Jaiden Jacobson, 23 Major: Public Relations

Joey Townsend, 20 Major: Business

Evan Pensel, 19 Major: Politcal Science

Panthers fall to Bulldogs, take down Bears

BEN LAHART Sports Writer

As the men’s basketball regular season begins to wind down, the Panthers are looking to pull in as many late wins as possible. UNI was able to do just that in their second game last week. On Wednesday, Feb. 15, the Drake Bulldogs traveled to Cedar Falls for a rematch of the double-overtime thriller earlier in the

season. The Panthers traveled to Springfield, Mo. on Saturday, Feb. 18 to play Missouri State in search of redemption from a loss in late December.

In the McLeod Center, the Panthers looked for revenge against their in-state rivals. This would be no easy task as Drake is the number one team in the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) currently. The game started off very tight but UNI jumped

out to an early five-point lead. Drake retook the lead and the game was backand-forth for the next seven minutes of game time. There were five more lead changes in the first half but once Drake took the lead, they never looked back.

UNI found themselves down by double-digits with just over four minutes left in the half. Both teams were trading blows as they continued to score as time wound down. At the end of the opening 20 minutes, the Panthers trailed 41-31.

UNI was forced to play catch-up in the second half which did not look great at first. Drake’s lead grew to 14 points five minutes into the half but the Panthers did not give up. UNI continued working into the deficit and with under three minutes remaining, Tytan Anderson scored a layup to cut the lead down to just three points, the lowest of the half. This was as close as the Panthers would get to the win. Late in the game, Drake free throws finished off the season sweep for the Bulldogs as they won, 82-74.

Bowen Born led the team in scoring with 16 points while four other Panthers also reached double figure scoring. Trey Campbell had 15 points, followed by Anderson, James Betz and Cole Henry with 12, 11 and 10, respectively.

Missouri State proved to be great competition for the Panthers with a tightly contested first half featuring five lead changes and eight ties. Neither team led by more than four points in the half, until Missouri State took a five-point lead in the final seconds to enter halftime leading 38-33.

The second half played out similarly to the first, but with less back-and-forth action. Missouri State was able to hold onto their slim lead as UNI fought to stay close throughout. Despite this, the Bears lead grew to as much as seven points with just over five minutes left. The Panthers closed the game with a 16-6 run over the final minutes to complete the comeback win, 69-66. This ended the Panther’s six-game losing streak dating back to the end of January.

Born once again paced the Panthers in scoring with a team-high 21 points, his 12th 20-point outing of the season. Michael Duax had a great game with 17 points while Anderson posted a double-double with 12 points and a team-high 12 rebounds. This was his 11th double-double of the season which leads the MVC.

Born also surpassed 1,000 career points with a 3-pointer midway through the second half of the Missouri State game. He is the 45th Panther to reach this milestone and is the first tplayer to do so since Trae Berhow in 2021.

UNI now holds a 13-15 record with a 9-9 record in the MVC, good enough for eighth in the standings. They will look to pick up a win in their last regular season road game this Wednesday, Feb. 22, as they travel to Carbondale, Ill. to play the Southern Illinois Salukis. The Panthers came out on top in this matchup back in early January, winning 69-57. This game will tip off at 7 p.m. and can be streamed on ESPN+.

SWIMMING & DIVING

Larsen claims gold, Panthers finish 4th at MVCs

DREW HILL Sports Writer

The UNI women’s swimming and diving team competed at the 2023 Missouri Valley Conference Swimming and Diving Championships on Wednesday through Saturday, Feb. 15-18. UNI ended up placing fourth, one spot better than last year’s finish. UNI had multiple top-five finishes that helped them finish in fourth.

Faith Larsen claimed the lone gold for UNI in the 50-yard freestyle with a time of 22.50 seconds, breaking a 2019 program record. Larsen also had a strong performance for UNI in the 100-yard freestyle. In an extremely tight race that came down to the wire, her time of 50.26 seconds put her just two-hundredths of a second behind second-place finisher Alexa Szadorski of Illinois State and just over two-tenths of

a second behind first-place finisher Jordan Wenner of Missouri State.

Another great performance came in the 200-yard backstroke. Amber Finke claimed second-place with a time of 1:57.34, finishing less than two seconds behind first-place finisher Celia Pulido of Southern Illinois, who had a time of 1:56.01. Finke added a bronze in the 100-yard backstroke, finishing with a time of 54.45.

Just behind Finke in the 100-yard backstroke were two other top-eight finishers. Helena Heuberger claimed fifth with a time of 55.18, and Payton Hall claimed eighth with a time of 56.06. Hallory Domnick took sixth in the 100-yard freestyle with a time of 1:51.33. Olivia Chambers finished in seventh in the 1650-yard freestyle with a time of 17:10.48. Finally, rounding up individual top-eight finishes, Hannah Taylor claimed eighth in

the three-meter diving with a score of 204.57.

UNI also saw several of its relay teams fare well. In the 200-yard freestyle relay, UNI placed three teams within the top ten. Finke, Larsen, Clare Christensen and Abby Lear finished in third with a time of 1:32.97. Hannah Nedder, Abby McCorkle, Morgan Meyer and Casey Summers finished in seventh with a time of 1:34.57. Heuberger, Natalia Verastegui, Taylor Short and Ema Lavigne finished in 10th with a time of 1:35.82. The 400-yard medley relay team, composed of Finke, Larsen, Scout Bergwall and Sydney Aird, claimed fifth place with a time of 3:43.29.

The 200-yard medley relay saw one UNI team place in the top 10. Heuberger, Aird, Bergwall and Larsen grabbed another fifth place with a time of 1:41.12. Two Panther teams placed in the top 10 in the 800-yard freestyle

relay. Finke, Domnick, Verastegui and Sarah Walpole finished third with a time of 7:35.11, while Chambers, Meyer, Nedder and Madison Carleton claimed ninth with a 7:45.80 time. Finally, a team composed of Finke, Meyer, Lear and Larsen took fourth in the 400-yard freestyle relay with a time of 3:24.07.

Larsen and Finke received First-Team AllMVC honors. Domnick, Heuberger, Hall, Chambers and Taylor received AllMVC Honorable Mention.

UNI finished with 881 points, putting them in fourth. They finished between Illinois State with 997 points and Southern Illinois with 854 points. First place went to Missouri State with 1,326 points, and second went to Indiana State with 1,200.5 points. The NCAA Zone Diving will be held Monday through Thursday, March 6-9. The NCAA Championships will

be held Wednesday through Saturday, March 15-18.

STEPH STARK/NORTHERN IOWAN

Bowen Born (13) went over 1,000 points for his career during UNI’s 69-66 victory over Missouri State on Saturday.

COURTESY/UNI ATHLETICS Faith Larsen with her championship plaque from the 50-yard freestyle.

Panthers fall to Rebirds, roll past Braves

PAUL NOBLE Sports Writer

The UNI women’s basketball team split a couple of games this past week. The Panthers lost on Thursday, 72-70, to conference-leading Illinois State before defeating Bradley on Saturday, 76-50.

The UNI game on Thursday was a big one. It was a battle for first place in the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC). Illinois State came into the McLeod Center tied with UNI atop the MVC standings. The Panthers were riding high on a five-game win streak, and the Redbirds had won 11 of their last 12 games.

The Panthers started slow, missing their first five shots from the field and turning the ball over twice before they finally got on the board at the six-minute mark thanks to a Maya McDermott 3-pointer. UNI struggled in the first quarter, falling behind 23-15, and only scored once in the final 2:20. The Panthers finished the first quarter shooting 21% from the floor.

In the second quarter, it looked like a threepoint contest. There were six 3-pointers between the

Redbirds and Panthers, each nailing three, respectively. The Panthers would get a few extra baskets to narrow the lead to four as the Redbirds led 34-30 at the half.

In the opening minutes of the third quarter, the Panthers started hot. A layup by Kam Finley brought the Panthers within in one with 9:06 remaining. The teams would trade points before Emerson Green scored a bucket for the UNI women that tied the game at 39. Right when the Panthers thought they were back in it, the Redbirds went on an 11-2 run. The UNI women tried to fight and claw their way back but ultimately found themselves behind 55-48 to end the third.

The final quarter was full of excitement. The UNI women would open the quarter on a 9-3 run capped off by a Finley jumper to bring the score within one with 7:05 remaining. UNI would continue its fourth quarter successes with a fast break layup by Green with 5:12 remaining. That gave the UNI women their first lead of the game at 63-62. Both teams would battle down the stretch, and

the score ultimately became tied at 70.

When the Redbirds made their way down the court with 30 seconds left, Paige Robinson missed a jumper with seven seconds remaining, but teammate Kate Bulbman was able to grab the offensive board and was fouled. Bulbman knocked down both free throws as the Redbirds took the lead 72-20 with seven seconds remaining. On the final possession, UNI put the ball in the hands of clutch shooter McDermott. Redbird defenders mobbed McDermott, and her shot came up short as time expired, giving the victory to the Redbirds.

The competition was much easier for the Panthers on Saturday, as they faced the 3-23 Bradley Braves. The Panthers started slow again, but it didn’t worry Head Coach Tanya Warren. “We just talked about how we don’t need to be up 10, 12, or 20 at the end of the first or second. We’ve just got to continue to do what we do and, in the end, wear them out,” Warren said. The Panthers actually found themselves behind 13-12 in the first quarter, but in the final three quarters,

UNI would do what Coach Warren said they would do, wear them out. The Panthers shot 54% from the field in the last three quarters and outscored the Braves by 27 points, ultimately winning 76-50.

Grace Boffeli and McDermott led the Panthers with 17 and 16 points, respectively. Many of the

younger Panthers were also able to get valuable minutes and experience as well once the game became out of reach for the Braves.

UNI will hit the road next week, playing Belmont in Tennessee next Thursday before traveling to Kentucky on Saturday to play Murray State.

UNI drops dual to No. 19 Wisconsin, 23-17

CADEN SHEA Sports Writer

The 13th-ranked Panthers and the 19th-ranked Wisconsin Badgers battled it out to the very end as UNI had their final dual meet of the season. The Panthers lost 23-17 against No. 19 Wisconsin. The Panthers were on the road at the UW Field House as they battled

one-on-one with another team for the last time this season. The Panthers finished the season with a total record of 7-5 and a Big 12 record of 5-3.

The meet opened with UNI’s Kyle Gollhofer being pinned right away in about 30 seconds against Eric Barnett. No. 12 Kyle Biscoglia battled Wisconsin’s Taylor LaMont tough throughout, eventu -

ally going into the sudden victory round. LaMont was eventually victorious after he took down Biscoglia in sudden victory. The 141 lb. war between Cael Happel and Joseph Zargo ended with UNI’s Happel getting the pin late in the match after being ahead for the majority of the matchup. UNI trailed Wisconsin 9-6 after three matches.

Adam Allard was a shining star in his second dual of the season as he won the 149 lb. battle against Felix Lettini 7-3. Allard got both a takedown and a reversal in the win. The Panthers’ Derek Holschlag fell to his opponent Garrett Model 5-2 in the battle of top20 opponents in the 157 lb. weight class. Holschlag got an early takedown but it was not enough as Model edged him out for the rest of the matchup. The 15th-ranked 174-pounder Austin Yant of UNI was also defeated in

action as he wrestled No. 6 Dean Hamiti. Hamiti defeated Yant by major decision in the battle. This would put Wisconsin up 16-9 over the Panthers going into the final matchups.

Lance Runyon got things back in swing for the Panthers as he defeated the Badgers’ Josh Otto 6-2 after two takedowns and an escape from Runyon. Next up for the Panthers was the second-ranked wrestler in the 184 lb. weight class Parker Keckeisen as he faced Tyler Dow. Keckeisen dominated Dow throughout the match, eventually winning by technical fall after a score of 22-6. This gave Keckeisen his 18th win of the season. Keckeisen took down Dow eight times in the match while also grabbing four back points.

The Panthers had Noah Glaser representing them in the next match as he faced No. 20 Braxton Amos in

197 lb. action. Amos would go on to defeat Glaser with a major decision and a score of 10-2. The Badgers led the Panthers 20-17 in team scoring going into heavyweight action. No. 15 Tyrell Gordon faced off with No. 10 Trent Hillger in the last matchup of the night. The two juggernauts would be as tightly contested as possible until Hillger scored an escape late in the final round to give the Badgers the eventual team win. The Panthers would finish the season in fifth place in the team standings with 100 total points.

The Panthers next challenge will come in the form of the Big 12 Championships March 4 and 5 in Tulsa, Okla. If Keckiesen wins the championship he will continue the Panthers’ dominant streak over the 184 lb. weight class since the Panthers joined the Big 12 in 2018.

STEPH STARK/NORTHERN IOWAN

Maya McDermott (0) finished with 16 points in UNI’s 76-50 win over Bradley on Saturday. McDermott made all four of her second half 3-pointers.

COURTESY/UNI ATHLETICS

Parker Keckeisen continued his winning ways on Saturday, winning by tech fall 22-6.