9-26-22

ESP(anther opportunities)N

UNI connects and trains students with ESPN live sports broadcasting

MALLORY SCHMITZ News Editor

a football game, Panther fans can always expect a high qual ity live sports experience.

Who makes up the team that makes the magic happen behind the scenes?

A lot of the workers, wheth er manning cameras or work ing in the control room, are

UNI students.

The Department of Communication and Media offers students, no matter their major or experience level, an opportunity to work on live sports broadcasts with the ESPN team.

As communication and media professor Eric Braley explained, each school in the Missouri Valley Conference is required to do a certain num ber of broadcasts each year.

“The Valley has a deal with ESPN that says [ESPN] will provide a large number of broadcasts per year, and each school has to produce their own broadcasts,” Braley said.

As a result, UNI has capi talized on the provided ESPN broadcasts by giving students real-world experience working on live sports for a major net work.

“We train students to be directors, producers, audio, instant replay, announcers and camera operators,” he said. “There’s about 14 positions on a typical broadcast.”

Students are trained on cameras and in control room operations, such as directors

who decide which camera feed to display, producers who communicate what graphics or commercial breaks to run and instant replay workers who quickly gather and prepare footage to be shown after an important play.

“It’s a hybrid mix between students in these important roles and some former students who are paid freelancers to teach and help them out,” he said.

In a typical week, the team produces three to four broad casts. However, as is charac teristic of live sports, anything can happen. Braley said that during the UNI softball tour nament in the UNI-Dome this past February, they did 16 broadcasts in one weekend.

The opportunity to work on ESPN broadcasts is available to students from any background and from any experience level.

“We have had music majors, we have had public relations majors and we have had digital media production students who are actually majoring in it,” Braley said.

Editorial: New Multimedia Editor

NIXSON BENITEZ Executive Editor

On Tuesday, Sept. 13, the Northern Iowan established a new path and a new page in history after hiring a new Multimedia Editor. After a three-month competitive pro cess, the Northern Iowan is pleased to welcome their new est member, Tanner Raine. Raine has a very diverse expe rience and background in news and will be spearheading this new role. Raine will be work ing closely with our Managing Editor Emma Koehler in establishing different digital avenues and helping execute our editorial projects for the Northern Iowan.

Cedar Falls Ghost Tours ring in spooky season

TALIYA JAMES Staff Writer

As the fall season approaches, horror lovers have a chance to learn more about the haunted history of Cedar Falls. Lauren Riensche offers historical ghost tours around the Main Street area throughout the month of October.

Riensche moved back to Cedar Falls after living out side of Iowa for ten years right before the pandemic. She was working from home in a constant routine, but after a year she realized it wasn’t something she wanted to do all the time. “I love to travel, and whenever I travel, I love to take ghost tours,” she said.

“It’s such a good combination of history and mystery.” She then started doing some of her own research to create the Cedar Falls Ghost Tours.

Some stories she tells on the tour start with history and others start with ghost sto ries. “I think that history is a very important component.... so I would say the tours are 75 percent history and 25 percent ghost stories.”

When Riensche started the project, she walked up and down Main Street to ask for the history of the area and some spooky stories. She learned the “architecture of the buildings, who built the buildings, and everything in between.” She then got in contact with the Cedar Falls Historical Society to fill in some of the gaps and learn more, which is why she donates 10% of the tour pro ceeds to them. She gathered research from March of 2021 all the way up to days before the first tour in October of 2021.

The project has been self-funded since the begin ning. “My investments were largely in research…and the other big budget item was advertising,” she said. She bought books and online archive subscriptions to dive deep on the history of Cedar

Falls and the area around it, and then spent time adver tising with posters, digital marketing and spreading the word. “It ended up being extremely successful,” she said.

She sells tickets on Eventbrite. “I looked up the

investment of starting up a website for the tour verses using a platform, and it made more sense to use a platform.” It made more sense for her to use the platform since the event is only a once a year event with six tours being offered this year. “I use my own marketing skills from my own career in market ing and advertising to utilize social platforms…to promote the event.” Although tickets for this year are sold out, they were sold at $20 a piece.

“Last year, the tickets sold out in 72 hours, which blew me away…and this year I sold out more tours in 36 hours,” Riensche said. She does have a waitlist available for the next available tour spots.

COURTESY/LAUREN RIENSCHE

Lauren Reinsche was inspired by her experiences while traveling to start her very own ghost tours back home. This year, tickets sold out in just 36 hours.

COURTESY/CHRIS MARTIN

Students involved with the ESPN team are trained on manning cameras for broadcasts televised on ESPN, video board footage and instant replays.

CAMPUS LIFE Staff Writer Theo Alder reviews the whirlwind film “Don’t Worry Darling.”

CAMPUS LIFE PAGE 5

OPINION Guest Columnist Do ris Kelly challenges the lack of transpar ency in Iowa’s state government. OPINION PAGE 3

SPORTS Panthers get first win of the season taking down Western Illinois 52-17

SPORTS PAGE 6

Whether seeing dazzling graphics on their own televi sion during a UNI game on ESPN or watching clips of spir ited fans displayed on the video board in the UNI-Dome during

EMMA KOEHLER/NORTHERN IOWAN The Northern Iowan is excited to wel come Tanner Raine to the editing team as multimedia editor.

Students can also receive an applied media credit for work ing games. They are required to work 13 events over the course of the semester and then receive a letter grade and one credit hour. Students also often par ticipate for multiple semesters.

Although UNI is not the only university to offer live sports production experience, Braley believes the emphasis on education in the program sets UNI apart.

“The feedback we’ve gotten is that we are one of the best schools in the Missouri Valley Conference at quality produc tion because we work really hard and teach it as a class, and students get that hands-on experience working on it,” he said.

Junior digital media pro duction major Emma Criswell manned the wireless camera at the UNI home football game Sept. 17.

“I was holding a camera for like four hours running around the field and running around the student section, and it was a lot of fun,” she said. “I was a

little sore, but I think it’s a really good time to be able to interact with people and not just stand behind the camera.”

When Criswell heard about the opportunity to work with the ESPN team while she was enrolled in one of Braley’s classes, she had had some prior experience making videos for sports teams in high school,

but had never worked on a live broadcast.

“I would say honestly this has probably been the best opportunity I have ever gotten being at UNI because it opens you up to those connections to people in the sports industry and people doing the producing for ESPN,” Criswell said. “It’s on your resume. I’ve done stuff for ESPN before. I’ve done pro ducing. I‘ve done the camera work.”

Braley echoed the differ ence this hands-on experience can have on future careers saying, “We have had students who have graduated and now work in the NBA. They work in the NFL. They run the ESPN programs at other colleges and universities across the country.”

Andrew Levesque is a 2019 UNI graduate who now serves as the Coordinator of Video Production at the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee.

Levesque said that he had his very first college class his freshman year, an 8 a.m. on a Monday, with Braley. After hearing Braley talk about the opportunities available in sports broadcasting on campus, the rest was history.

“When I was able to start producing, which was basically running the graphics and help ing coordinate the broadcasts, I really enjoyed doing that,” Levesque said. “That’s when I kind of realized that this was a career that I wanted to pursue.”

Levesque spent a total of three years working with the ESPN team.

Now he runs the ESPN Plus productions at UW Milwaukee, hiring and coordinating his own student staff just like the one he was a part of at UNI.

“I never would have been in a position to do this if it wasn’t for my time at UNI because not only is that what made me real

ize that this is what I want to do for a career, but it also gave me a ton of really good experience to put on my resume before I’d even graduated,” he said.

“By the time I had gradu ated, I already had a good few years of real production experi ence, and that made it so I could jump straight into a graduate assistant position where I was already running broadcasts at a Division I institution,” he con tinued. “That never would have happened if I didn’t get the quality experience that I had at Northern Iowa.”

She runs the project by herself as of right now. “I started doing this as a pas sion project. I love storytell ing…and so for me, I’m not the most interested in scaling at this time…perhaps in the future, I might turn all the stories into a book.” She enjoys giving the tours in person and plans to keep it self-run for a while.

If people are interested in the tours, the best place to stay up-to-date is the “Cedar Falls Ghost Tours” page on Instagram and Facebook. Or people are welcome to submit stories or book a private tour by sending a note to cfghost tour@gmail.com. “I love to hear feedback and other peo ple’s spooky stories. I will definitely continue collecting more of the community’s his tory and spooky stories,” she said.

N.I. EN ESPAÑOL Translation: UNIdos and the presence ofLatinos at UNI

HEDEN PERÉZ Guest Columnist

Original article written in Spanish by Mayra Villanueva, Spanish Editor.

Hispanic Heritage Month started on campus with a Carne Asada, or barbeque, where there were tacos, beverages, a piñata and live music playing

in the background.

There is no doubt that the Latino population on campus has been growing steadily, but it was much more evident seeing many Latin students gathered to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month, and it has only one purpose: to celebrate what we are and how we are.

On Wednesday, Sept. 13, UNIdos organized a Carne Asada event where many peo ple attended and were able to enjoy the social atmosphere and being able to share Latin culture together.

In addition, many students signed up to contribute with food, beverages, and snacks so everyone could share. Without

a doubt, this event demonstrat ed the customs and values that we as Latinos share.

The president of UNIdos, Yessenia Rodríguez, comment ed the reason for this event, saying, “We organized this event to have a good begin ning to Latin Heritage Month. The Carne Asada was a way to show others what UNIdos is, to share delicious food and to invite people to bring their own food to share with every one. This is something that UNIdos has also done before, like back in 2019, and that was an event where people got to know other Latine students and people could feel like they were at home.”

Rodríguez mentioned that the executive board expect ed around 50-60 people, but the attendance exceeded their expectations and a lot more people arrived. “It was a suc cessful event!” said Rodriguez.

Heden Peréz, co-host of the event and president of Lambda Theta Phi Latin Fraternity, Inc. commented, “I didn’t expect to see so many people at Seerley Park for some tacos, but it was

a very pleasant surprise.”

Perez also spoke about the impact of the event and that he was a witness of “the unity that we have as students, Latines, and students of color.”

Elise DuBord, Ph.D, a Spanish professor at the uni versity, also attended the event to accompany and be part of this celebration. She said, “I know that the pandemic has had a negative impact on stu dent organizations these past two years, and it makes me very happy to see such an active participation of students in UNIdos and in this event.”

DuBord congratulates all those who made this event possible and for the other events yet to come.

UNIdos has planned many more events that will take place during the next couple of weeks with the goal of cel ebrating Hispanic heritage and being able to have a connec tion on campus with Latinos and thus be able to share Latino culture with everyone on campus. Everyone is cor dially invited to participate.

NORTHERN IOWAN

L011 Maucker Union Cedar Falls, IA 50614 www.northerniowan.com northern-iowan@uni.edu

319.273.2157

NIXSON BENITEZ

Executive Editor benitezn@uni.edu 319.273.6826

EMMA KOEHLER

Managing Editor koehlere@uni.edu 319.273.6420

EDITORIAL STAFF

MALLORY SCHMITZ

Editor schmimbt@uni.edu

DIAMOND ROUNDTREE

diamondr@uni.edu

DAVID WARRINGTON

warringd@uni.edu

SOPHIE HOFFMEIER

hoffmeis@uni.edu

PRODUCTION STAFF

EMMA KOEHLER Webmaster Graphic Artist

ADVISORS

ANELIA DIMITROVA anelia.dimitrova@uni.edu

CHRIS MARTIN christopher.martin@uni.edu

CIRCULATION

ELIZABETH SPAKE Circulation Manager

The Northern Iowan is published semi-weekly on Monday and Thursday during the academic year, except for holidays and examination periods, by the University of Northern Iowa, L011 Maucker Union, Cedar Falls, IA 50614-0166 under the auspices of the Board of Student Publications.

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 © 2021 by the Northern Iowan and may not be used without permission.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

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.

SEND US STORY IDEAS

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

Do you want to have an event listed here? Email us at northern-iowan@uni.edu with information about the event to have it featured.

CEDAR FALLS GHOULS continued from page 1

ESPN TEAM continued from page 1

COURTESY/EMMA CRISWELL

During the first home football game of the season, Emma Criswell got to capture fan reactions and get a close up view of the action on the field as she worked with the wireless camera.

COURTESY/CHRIS MARTIN

Students gain hands-on experience working in the control room between the UNI-Dome and McLeod Center. They serve as producers, directors and more.

See ESPN TEAM , page 4

COURTESY/MAYRA VILLANUEVA

The UNIdos executive team at the Carne Asada event.

Iowa lack of transparency

The vexing problem of Gov. Reynolds, GOP-controlled legislature and Iowa Agencies

DORIS KELLY Guest Columnist

Editor’s note: Doris Kelly is a former Iowa State Representative and served on on seveal government commit tees. She also served as vicechair of the Administration and Regulation Appropriations Subcommittee.

When former Republican Gov. Terry Branstad signed executive order number 85 on March 24, 2014, he stat ed. “transparency provides Iowans the necessary access to information to hold our gov ernment accountable and our Open Records Act is essential of ensuring openness . . . our administration has maintained a steadfast commitment to a transparent government.”

Iowans are proud Branstad held weekly press briefings and being honest with his constituents; bravo. However, when Gov. Kim Reynolds and her GOP-driven Senate and House legislators took control of Iowa’s Capitol a few years ago, transparency went out the window . . . and with the baby. Easy access to govern ment data has gone to hell in a handbasket.

Transparency is part of Iowa law, whereby any offi cial of any organization that

receives taxpayer funds must make it easy for the public to know the decision-making process and/or make data eas ily accessible when requested.

“Ease” and “easily” are the key words; not burdensome . . . not in secrecy . . . and not hidden.

The lack of transparency examples by Reynolds, GOP legislators and agencies under Reynolds’ leadership seem to be unending.

Gov. Reynolds has not revealed the reasoning behind her $55 million private school scholarship program (SF 2369) that only affects 2 percent of Iowa’s children and would drain $79 million per year from the coffers of Iowa’s public school districts (Fiscal Services Division). Is her pro-voucher decision polit ically motivated to appease her evangelical Christian base of voters (private schools already receive $100M/year) or does she have irrefutable evidence that private school educational outcomes exceed those provid ed by public schools? Why the secrecy?

In May of 2021, after the Iowa Workforce Development declined to answer questions from Iowa Capital Dispatch about claims that Director Beth Townsend made related to unemployment fraud, requests

for information were filed. It was later determined the Iowa Workforce Development vio lated the Open Records Law. Iowa’s Open Records Law was enacted in 1967.

Journalists Laura Belin, Clark Kauffman and Randy Evans were plaintiffs who sued Gov. Kim Reynolds and some of her staff in Dec. of 2021 for ignoring five requests for open records information.

A Polk County District Court rejected the state’s (and Gov. Reynolds) motion to dismiss the lawsuit.

I remain perplexed when ever Reynolds or any of her agencies try to hide legally accessible information from journalists. Such action also keeps Iowa’s 3.15 million citi zens in the dark, a far cry from Reynolds, et al, oath of office to serve and protect.

During the past six legisla tive sessions controlled by Republicans, the Iowa Senate and House Government Oversight committees have rarely examined executive branch practices or questioned Gov. Kim Reynolds’ appoin tees.

Here are other examples of the GOP-controlled oversight committee’s negligence. NO meetings were held:

1) related to Iowa’s han dling of the COVID-19 pan

demic, 2) to inquire Iowa Department of Public Health officials on why they reject ed federal offers to help test workers (COVID-19) at food processing facilities,

3) to ask the Iowa Workforce Development leaders why many qualifying Iowans had to wait months for pandemic-re lated unemployment benefits or why hundreds of unem ployed Iowans were asked to repay benefits they received,

4) to discuss the 45 percent salary raise Dr. Caitlin Pedata, Iowa’s State Medical Director, received (a clear violation of state policy),

5) to question why $448,449 in federal CARES Act funds was used to compensate 21 of Gov. Reynolds’ staffers,

6) to scrutinize the no-bid contract to a Utah firm for COVID-19 testing,

7) to inquire why Reynolds sent $95 million of COVID19 testing funding back to the federal government instead of giving Iowa’s schools the option to use the money for COVID-19 testing protocols and

8) to find out why a no-bid contract worth $50 million to purchase the Workday com puter system for the entire state government at a time when Iowa State University

had switched to Workday and were having a host of account ing problems with the new system.

The GOP-controlled Government Oversight com mittees should be retitled “Don’t Ask Why Nor Probe Committee.”

Kathie Obradovich, Editor-in-Chief, Iowa Capital Dispatch news service and a journalist for over 30 years said what I think best sums up Reynold’s administration:

“In my years as a journal ist in Iowa, I’ve covered five gubernatorial administrations.

I can say without hesitation that Gov. Reynolds’ adminis tration has been the absolute worst in terms of secrecy and outright denial of public access to information” (Iowa Capital Dispatch, Aug. 9, 2021).

On Tuesday, Nov. 8, will Iowans give Reynolds and her GOP peers a pass on their vio lation of Iowa’s open records law and transparency trans gressions or will they hold her and them accountable for their gross dereliction of duty?

It is well known that past actions are the best predictor of future behavior. If Reynolds, et al, are re-elected, secrecy and non-disclosure will continue to endure into 2023, 2024, 2025 and 2026.

Alcohol safety training should be mandatory

ABIGAIL SAATHOFF Staff Writer

The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) esti mates that “about 1,519 college students ages 18 to 24 die from alcohol-relat ed unintentional injuries, including motor vehicle crashes each year.”

Alcohol consumption has been a part of the college experience from the dawn of time, but campuses can become hot spots for unsafe drinking habits. According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 53 percent of full-time college students drank alcohol in the past month, and of those people, 33 percent reported binge drinking, and 8 percent reported heavy drinking.

This means that the pos sibility of encountering an alcohol-related emergency during your time in college

is relatively high. According to Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAHSA), “599,000 who are under the influence of alcohol are unintentionally injured, and 22,219 are hospitalized for an alcohol overdose each year.”

These statistics may seem irrelevant, but a large num ber of college students have either taken care of someone having an alcohol-related emergency or have had one themselves. It’s also import ant to note that these statis tics don’t include the people who don’t go to the hospital for alcohol overdoses.

This is why I think it is incredibly important that all college students undergo an alcohol safety program. I’m not suggesting we add anoth er training on Blackboard that most college students skip through and ignore I’m suggesting that we hold Red Watch Band Training for the campus.

Red Watch Band Training is a “comprehensive bystander intervention pro gram designed to provide students with the knowl edge, skills, and awareness to prevent death from toxic drinking.” At UNI, this pro gram is held by the Student Wellness Center specifically for Fraternity and Sorority Life. But, I think it could be even more effective if held for all students.

I know in my years at UNI, I’ve thought back to that training more than a couple of times, and it’s made me feel safer and more comfortable helping with the situation in front of me. Additionally, this train ing helps people to know when the right time to call 911 is, and be able to do it quickly and swiftly without wasting time.

Alcohol safety is import

ant for every single col lege student, and I think it is extremely important knowing the statistics in tandem with my own expe riences that all students should undergo some sort of alcohol safety training. To ensure they know the tools to step in when needed.

According to the NIAAA, about a quarter of college students report having consequences academically due to their drinking. This includes falling behind, doing poorly on exams and even missing classes.

opinion articles featured do not reflect the opinion of the Northern Iowan newspaper or staff as a whole.

Original radio play to debut in Interpreters Theatre

MEG GROVE Staff Writerr

The season opener

“Roses are Red: A Radio Play” will be debuting in the UNI Interpreters The atre on Sept. 30, 2022. The theatre is located in Lang 040.

“‘Roses Are Red: A Radio Play’ is an episode of a fictional true crime podcast called, ‘Crime Shape Shifters’ where the podcast hosts tell the sto ry alongside the victims of the crime,” said Emma Kossayian, director of the play. Cayenne Pepper, the main character, receives a rose and poem on Val entines Day, which she learns to be the town seri al killer’s M.O.

This radio play was created by Kossayian, a communication-theater teaching and English

teaching student in her senior year. “Theatre has always been a part of my life,” said Kossayian. She has experience acting, directing and writing her own plays. She has direct ed two original 10-minute plays in the past for The Interpreter's Theater Cel ebration of Women Di rectors.

This play has been in the works for many years. “I have had this story with me since I was a 10th grader,” said Kossayian. Early in her studies at UNI, she was told by a theatre professor that the story would make a great radio play. This semester she was offered a direc tor position and decided it was the perfect time to produce the show.

One of Kossayian’s

biggest goals is to make theatre accessible for ev erybody. Radio plays do just that. In order to listen and follow along to radio plays, all people have to do is press play on a recording. “I am honored to have this experience be my final hurrah before I go off to student teach in the spring,” said Kos sayian.

Tickets to the play are free, but there is limited seating for the one-night event. Seats can be re served on eventbrite.com. A recording of the audio will also be available after the show.

For David War rington, a senior digital media journalism major, working with the ESPN team has also begun to turn a dream into reality.

After having class with Braley, Warrington mentioned his interest and past experience as a play-by-play announc er. Soon enough, he was announcing at the UNI softball tournament last February, which has giv en way to even more an nouncing opportunities with UNI athletics and ESPN.

When asked about the impact working with the ESPN team has had on him, Warrington said, “It’s huge. I didn’t really know if I could make it as a play-by-play announcer before I took this oppor tunity, and now with this awesome experience, I have zero question that I’ll be able to find some thing once I get out of school to get into playby-play announcing.”

“It’s completely changed my career out look,” he said.

“I would say for any students that are interest ed in sports, or production for that matter, it really is a good opportunity,” he added. “Those ESPN let ters on your resume, that looks great, no matter what you’re doing or how much experience you have.”

Braley said that they always have spots avail able for anyone look ing to get involved, and they work with students’ schedules when assigning events to work at.

“Live sports is a won derful field to go into,” Braley said, “It’s tons of fun. It is competitive, but by having these experi ences, it just opens up so many doors and opportu nities after graduation.”

Students interested in learning more can contact Eric Braley at eric.bra ley@uni.edu.

ESPN TEAM continued from page 2

COURTESY/CHRIS MARTIN

For

information on these wonderful Panther opportunities, contact Eric Braley by email, at eric.braley@uni.edu

COURTESY/INTERPRETERS THEATRE

Make sure to get tour ticket to the show–seating is limited for this one-time event!

The drama of “Don’t Worry Darling”

THEO ALDER Staff Writer

“Don’t Worry Darling” is a film that premiered in theaters on Sept. 23, 2022. Directed by Olivia Wilde, “Don’t Worry Darling” follows a life in a 1950s perfect suburbia that twist ed around much like the Stepfoward Wives–some thing's not quite right. The film has a star studded cast, which is where the drama starts.

Though Harry Styles stars in this film, he was not originally casted for his role–it was initially given to Shia LaBeouf.

According to NME, “His departure from the project in 2020 was origi nally cited by the studio as a ‘scheduling conflict,’ until director Wilde claimed to Variety that she fired him in order to create a ‘safe, trust ing environment’ on set.”

LaBeouf is also a known abuser; he has had assault allegations as well as being sued by his former part ner, singer FKA Twig. It would make sense that the set would be tense during intimate scenes. With that, LaBeouf was cut from the project and replaced by Styles. Though Styles has appeared in other films, his status regarding acting has been questioned. How does this One Direction star go from singing to acting with

out any experience? It has been confirmed that Wilde and Styles are dating–this may have played a role in his casting.

According to Glamour, “Wilde announces that she and her fiancé of seven years, Jason Sudeikis, split toward the beginning of the year (2020).” While on set, the tensions were high, with cast members stating that there was a screaming match between Florence Pugh and Wilde.

Labeouf released a video on Aug. 26 of this year with the director beg ging to have him back on the project, as quoted by Glamour, “The actor also sent Variety a video that Wilde had allegedly sent him at some point during all this negotiation, in which she refers to Pugh as ‘Miss Flo’ and seems to confirm that the actors did not get along. ‘I feel like I’m not ready to give up on this yet, and I too am heartbroken and I want to figure this out,’ she says in the video, which has leaked online. ‘I think this might be a bit of a wake-up call for Miss Flo,’ Wilde continues, ‘If she really commits, if she really puts her mind and heart into it at this point and if you guys can make peace—and I respect your point of view, I respect hers—but if you guys can do it, what do you

think? Is there hope?’” With all this drama and a delib erating nickname for Pugh, The drama continued at the Venice Film Festival–Pugh did not show up to the press conference for “Don’t Worry Darling” because of “scheduling conflicts.”

According to NPR, “When asked about working on the film, Styles–who is dating Wilde–gave a response that the internet is still trying to understand: ‘The thing I like about the movie is

that it feels like a movie.’

Chris Pine's reaction to this moment birthed memes that would pave the way for many more to come.”

Pugh eventually arrived to the premiere of the film and took pictures with the cast. The drama continued well after they all sat down.

Rumors of Styles spit ting on Pine before taking his seat and how seating arrangements were made to keep certain individuals from each other filled the

press.

The movie premiered in the U.S. Sept. 23, 2022. Many people speculate that all of the drama was a pub licity stunt to get more buzz around the film. How much of the drama do you think is real? You’ll have to go see the movie and decide for yourself if it needed the push of drama to get butts in seats, or if it was a good enough film on its own.

TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE

The new film starring pop icon Harry Styles hit the theaters on Sept. 23, but the drama that preceded its release garnered just as much–if not, more–attention.

TWEET COUTRSEY @filmgal

After the Venice Film Festival, there have been mountains of memes dedicated to the alleged Styles-Pine feud.

Panthers dominate Leathernecks, 52-17

COLIN HORNING Sports Writer

The UNI football team bounced back in a big way in Macomb, Ill. this past Saturday as they trounced the Leathernecks of Western Illinois 52-17. Both teams came into the matchup with 0-3 records and were looking to get into the win column for the first time this season.

The Panthers were coming off a 37-21 loss at the hands of Sacramento State in their home opener at the UNI-Dome last Saturday while WIU was coming off a 17-10 defeat to Southern Utah the previous week.

Neither team managed to score in the first quarter. Western Illinois came close, but UNI safety Benny Sapp III intercepted WIU quarter back Clay Bruno at the goal line. In the second quar ter the UNI offense came alive. Following a nine-play,

73-yard drive, Panther quar terback Theo Day found wide receiver Quan Hampton for a six-yard touchdown early on in the second, the first of two touchdowns in the game for Hampton. UNI running back Dom Williams capped off another long 75-yard drive with a one-yard touchdown run with about four minutes remaining in the second quar ter, and kicker Matthew Cook connected on a 34-yard field goal just before halftime to extend the UNI lead to 17-3 at the break.

The third quarter in this con test was all about UNI defen sive back Woo Governor. With the Panthers leading 24-10 about midway through the quarter, Governor intercepted a pass from Leatherneck quar terback Clay Bruno and took it 43 yards to the house for a touchdown. Just three plays into the next WIU possession, Governor again intercepted Bruno and brought it back for

a score, this time a 49 yard return. UNI led 38-10 going into the final frame.

The Panthers added two more touchdowns in the fourth quarter, one being a four-yard pass from Day to Desmond Hutson and the other a fouryard run from Harrison BeyBuie. Western Illinois tallied a touchdown with 37 seconds remaining, but the game was already well out of hand as the Panthers won with a 52-17 final score.

UNI put up a stellar 468 yards of total offense, with a balanced attack of 271 yards through the air and 197 yards on the ground. They had 28 first downs as opposed to 19 from WIU and converted seven of 12 third downs as opposed to just three of 12 from their opponents.

Day had a solid game with 23-29 passing and three touchdowns, along with zero interceptions. Williams ran the ball 14 times for 70 yards

and a touchdown, while Sam Schnee led UNI in receiving yards with 70 on four catch es. Edwin Dearman led the Panthers with nine tackles on the defensive side and Devin Rice recorded his first two sacks of the year. For WIU, Bruno was 15-29 with 166 yards and one touchdown, along with three interceptions thrown.

The win puts the Panthers at 1-3 overall on the season and 1-1 in Missouri Valley Football Conference (MVFC) play while Western Illinois

falls to 0-4 on the season and 0-1 in MVFC play. UNI moves to 35-16 all-time against Western Illinois and recorded their fourth consecutive vic tory over the Leathernecks. The Panthers will return home for a long homestand as they will play their next four games at the UNI-Dome, starting with Indiana State on Oct. 1. Kickoff is scheduled for 4 p.m. and fans are encouraged to wear black for the Blackout game.

UNI blanks Redbirds, falls to Bears

ADAM JOHNSON Sports Writer

UNI soccer traveled to Normal, Ill. on Thursday, Sept. 22, to go up against Illinois State. UNI came into this game having lost their last four games, and were looking to snap the losing streak. The Panthers were able to do this, as they defeated the Redbirds 3-0.

UNI was able to get a couple shots on goal in the early going, but neither of them were able to make their way past Illinois State

goalkeeper Audrey Brown. The third time did prove to be the charm, as UNI’s Ashley Harrington put one through on an assist by Olivia Knoepfle in the 28th minute.

The rest of the first period was relatively quiet, as UNI’s defense was dominant. They held the Redbirds to just three shots in the first period, with none of them being on goal. The Panthers would go into the half up 1-0.

The second half got under way, and UNI hoped to extend on their lead

early. Illinois State threat ened in the early going, putting up three shots in the first five minutes of the second period. Fortunately for UNI, none of these shots made it to UNI goalkeeper Caitlin Richards. Now, the Panthers decided to make some noise. They scored two goals within a minute of each other, when Lauren Heinsch put one through on an assist from Harrington in the 54th minute, and Caroline Hazen scored in the 55th minute.

Both of those goals put UNI ahead 3-0, and now

the Panthers just needed to hold on to this lead to leave Normal with a victo ry. The goalies kept busy following the two goals by UNI, as both teams put two shots on goal in the span of about two minutes. Neither team was able to put either of their two shots through, and the score would remain 3-0. The rest of the game was quiet, as neither goal ie saw any action, and by game’s end, the Panthers left Illinois State with a 3-0 victory, and snapped a four game losing streak.

UNI also had a match

against Missouri State on Sunday, failing to score and falling 2-0. The Bears received goals from Joey Fosnow in the fourth min ute, as well as a goal from Iraia Arrue in the 34th min ute. After splitting a pair of matches, the Panthers sit at 4-5-1 on the season, 1-2 in Missouri Valley Conference play. The Panthers will be back in action on Thursday, hitting the road to take on the Evansville Purple Aces. UNI will stay in Indiana, taking on Indiana State in Terre Haute on Sunday.

Courtesy Photo/UNI Athletics

Woo Governor (32) makes a tackle during UNI’s 52-17 win over Western Illinois on Saturday. Governor returned two interceptions for a touchdown.

Courtesy Photo/UNI Athletics

Dom Williams (7) runs with the football during UNI’s 52-17 victory over Western Illinois on Saturday. Williams carried the ball 14 times for 69 yards and a touchdown.

Panthers take down unbeaten Valpo, UIC

CADEN SHEA Sports Writer

The Panthers had a busy weekend as they took to the road to face both Valparaiso and the University of IllinoisChicago in volleyball action. The Panthers headed into these games with a record of 7-6 on the year. They would go on to improve that record as they defeated both teams to have an undefeated week end.

The Panthers started off in Valparaiso, Ind. as they looked to take down the unde feated Valparaiso Beacons. The Beacons entered into this game with their best opening

record in the school’s histo ry with 12-0. The Beacons started off hot against the Panthers with a 25-14 vic tory in the opening set. The Panthers quickly rebounded with a set that featured grit ty performances from both teams with multiple ties and lead changes throughout. The Panthers ultimately won the second set with a hard earned score of 25-22.

During the third set, the two teams battled it out constantly looking for the win. They would trade runs which ultimately ended with Valparaiso victorious with a score of 25-18 to take a 2-1 lead going into the fourth

set. The fourth set was a high stakes one as the Beacons looked to have the set sealed with a score of 23-19. The Beacons put on the gas, lead ing UNI by a total of seven points at one point in the set. The Panthers were not going down without a fight and climbed back to a score of 24-23. The two teams traded points for the win which was won by the Panthers 27-25. It all came down to the final set where the Panthers put on the gas and never looked back. They won the set 15-9 and broke the undefeated record of the Beacons while going the distance. Kira Fallert led the team with a season-high 18 kills while Tayler Alden obtained a double-double

with 51 assists and 14 digs.

Valparaiso was not the only team UNI faced on the road this weekend. The team trav eled to Chicago, Ill. to take on the UIC Flames on their home court. The Panthers got the ball rolling with a 25-22 win in the first set. UNI kept their rhythm up with anoth er triumph over the Flames in the second set. Emily Holterhaus’ five kills helped give the Panthers the 25-18 edge. This made way for an intense third set in which the Panthers would look to ensure their victory over the Flames. Unfortunately, UIC rallied back and won 25-22 after a tense finish. The final battle saw Olivia Tjernagel help aid the Panthers with

four consecutive points that kept the Flames at bay for the remainder of the game and give them the decisive victo ry over UIC. This gave UNI an overall record of 9-6 on the 2022 season and an unde feated record of 2-0 in the Missouri Valley Conference. Tjernagel and Fallert both tallied 15 kills in this game while Sydney Petersen led the team with 12 digs.

The Panthers big week end gives them a momentum boost that they will ride into even more upcoming road games against Missouri State on Sept. 30 at 6 p.m. and the Southern Illinois Salukis on Oct. 1 at 5 p.m. to conclude their four game road stretch.

Former Panther standouts competing in the NFL

BEN LAHART Sports Writer

As an FCS program, UNI may not seem like the best pipeline for players to make it to the NFL. However, they have more players in the

league than some may think. The Panthers currently have two players on active ros ters, two players on injured reserve, one player on a practice squad and a few players that are free agents waiting to join a team.

Offensive tackle Spencer Brown is currently the starting right tackle for the Buffalo Bills. Brown was taken with the 93rd pick in the third round of the 2021 NFL Draft. In Brown’s first season with the Bills last

year, he played in 13 of the 17 games and has started every game he has played in since week four of that season. Elijah Campbell is the other former Panther currently on a roster. The defensive back went undrafted in the 2018 draft before signing with the Cleveland Browns. He now plays for the Miami Dolphins and has been mostly used as a special teams player but has started to see more defensive snaps and even had an interception return touchdown in the pre season.

There are two former UNI players that would be on active rosters if not for injuries. The first example is Elerson Smith, a defen sive end for the New York Giants. Smith was drafted in 2021 with the 116th pick in the fourth round. He played in eight games last season finishing with eight tackles and forcing one fumble. The other player on the injured reserve is also the most recent Panther. Offensive tackle Trevor Penning was taken with the 19th pick in the 2022 NFL Draft by the New Orleans Saints mak

ing him the highest draft ed Panther ever. After a stellar senior season and a slightly rocky training camp, Penning suffered a torn ligament in his foot and was placed on the injured reserve on Sept. 1. After his surgery on his foot, there is a chance he could return to the team sometime in early November.

Daurice Fountain, a for mer UNI wide receiver, is currently a part of the Kansas City Chiefs prac tice squad. He was drafted in 2018 by the Indianapolis Colts with the 159th pick in the fifth round. He has become more of a special teams player in years past with the Chiefs playing 76 percent of special teams snaps last year. He will be in contention for some playing time this year as he looks to be called up from the prac tice squad.

These former Panthers are enjoying careers play ing the sport they love and hopefully we can watch them continue to succeed in the coming years.

Courtesy Photo/UNI Athletics

Tayler Alden (6) finished with a double-double on Friday’s 3-2 win over Valparaiso. Alden compiled 52 assists and 14 digs in the victory.

Courtesy Photo/UNI Athletics

Olivia Tjernagel (4) had a standout game on Saturday against UIC. Tjernagel finished with a career-best 15 kills.

Courtesy Photo/UNI Athletics

Trevor Penning (70) during UNI’s 13-6 loss to Missouri State on March 20, 2021. Penning was selected 19th overall in the 2022 NFL Draft by the New Orleans Saints. Penning is currently on the injured reserve.

Across

1 Braying beast

4 "Diamonds & Rust" folk

singer Joan

8 Hop, skip and jump

14 Where lowers lie

15 Ready and willing partner

16 "Booksmart" director Wilde

17 Psychedelic decorative light

19 Beaus

20 Savory taste

21 Board game gadget

23 University of Nevada city

24 Not even a little high

27 Set up

29 Chinese "way"

30 Aqua in Aquitaine

31 Whoopi's Oscar role in

"Ghost"

34 Palm fruit

35 New York waterway

38 Leaning 40 OTC antacid brand

41 Possess

42 Notable time span

44 EPA mandates, taken together

48 Structure renamed for a president in 1947

52 Arp contemporary

53 Behind

54 Type, as data

55 Develop a liking for

57 Simon & Garfunkel hit, and hint to the starts of 17-, 24-, 48- ... and 35-Across, too!

59 Gobsmacked

60 Story of life after death?

61 Quaint "Tsk!"

62 Zealous crusades

63 Letters on Broadwaybound letters

64 Craze

Down

1 Magnetism

2 Ship captains, e.g.

3 Eminent scholar

4 Lingerie brand

5 Justice league?: Abbr.

6 Nightmare loc. of film

7 Youngest Marx brother

8 Eye part

9 Mets slugger Pete who won the 2019 Home Run Derby

10 Video-sharing site

11 Dominate

12 Brazilian vacay destination

13 Prof's helpers

18 Kissy-kissy

22 Doctor in training

24 Places for scrubs and wraps

25 "Mangia!"

26 Poe's "The Murders in the __ Morgue"

28 Do the math

32 "Amadeus" subject

33 Actress Gasteyer

34 Unscrambling device

35 Jewish Festival of Lights

36 Checkout counter unit

37 Shark or Dyson, briefly

38 Short cut

39 __ Jima

42 Worked on text

43 Repairs, as infield grass

45 Fire

46 Pianist de Larrocha

47 Signaled slyly 49 Gibbons of TV talk

50 __ Sanders, only athlete to play in both the Super Bowl and World Series

51 Sheikdom of song

54 "Roar" singer Perry

55 __ Mahal

56 Mate, across the Channel 58 60 secs.

Let’s tackle Chlamydia

Kick off this fall by making a game plan to get tested for STIs

Chlamydia is a common & curable sexually transmitted infection (STI). Many people experience no symptoms. If you are sexually active, make STI testing part of your regular health routine.

Find a testing location near you: gettested.cdc.gov