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UNIVERSITY OF NORTHERN IOWA CEDAR FALLS, IA THURSDAY, APRIL 5 VOLUME 114, ISSUE 42
CEDAR FALLS, IA
MONDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2022
VOLUME 119, ISSUE 12
OPINION
CAMPUS LIFE
SPORTS
OPINION PAGE 3
CAMPUS LIFE PAGE 4
SPORTS PAGE 6
Nkasa Bolumbu gives an inside look at UNI’s level of accessibility from those impacted the most.
Panthers fall short in Homecoming game against Illinois State Redbirds, 23-21
Majors in Minutes offers an opportunity to learn about UNI’s wide variety of majors on Oct. 18.
dong: New bells cast UNI students compete on Ding during Our Tomorrow ‘American Ninja Warrior’ campaign launch CAROLINE CHRISTENSEN Staff Writer
COURTESY/JON KLIPPENSTEIN
UNI junior Jon Klippenstein competed on season 14 of ‘American Ninja Warrior,’ which aired in June 2022. He advanced onto the second round of the competition due to his fast time before being eliminated.
Two Panthers channel their inner ninja on hit TV show CAROLINE CHRISTENSEN Staff Writer
The hit NBC TV show American Ninja Warrior covers elite athletes as they tackle America’s most challenging obstacle courses. Two UNI students, Jon Klippenstein and Ella Sankey have had the opportunity to compete nationally on these formidable courses in front of a camera and live audience. Klippenstein, a junior majoring in exercise science, has been training for
American Ninja Warrior since he was around twelve years old. “It’s been a very long time in the making for me,” Klippenstein said. “I used to watch it with my brother, so it was definitely a childhood dream of mine.” Sankey, a sophomore majoring in computer science, also grew up watching the show. See NINJA WARRIORS, page 2
Eight new bells were cast under the shadow of the Campanile on the Verdin Bell Company’s bell foundry on wheels Oct. 6 and 7. Tim Verdin, CEO of the Verdin Company based in Cincinnati, Ohio noted the historical saga of UNI’s connection with the Verdin Company. “We are a very old company. We were started in 1842 by my great-great-great grandfather,” Verdin said. “We had a relationship with the bell foundry that cast the original 15 bells installed in 1926.” The Verdin Company also installed clock movements on the Campanile in the 1940s and expanded the original 15 chime bells into a carillon in 1968. The company’s most recent work on the Campanile included the casting of eight bells to successfully establish a full octave carillon utilizing their bell foundry on wheels. “We load the furnaces, assemble all the sand molds, melt the bronze, and cast the bells on site,” Verdin said. “They cool down and then use sledgehammers and other equipment to essentially break the mold from the bells and then we polish them getting ready for the public to view.” Verdin continued, “It’s a spectacle you can learn from. It
TANNER RAINE
Onlookers watched the pouring of eight new bells the night of Oct. 6.
shows how you can essentially start from nothing, which in our case are these bronze ingots we load into the furnace, and with a little bit of hard work and some time you can turn them into something as beautiful as a bell.” The significance of bells was emphasized by Verdin, and how it can create a sense of community while bringing back fond memories. “A bell has a special meaning,” Verdin said. “The sound of a bell can kind of bring back memories of what it used to be like.” Verdin continued, “To my knowledge, this is the first time that a carillon bell has ever been cast on a mobile bell foundry in this country. They are pretty unique.” The Verdin Company will also work on existing bells in the carillon, which is set to be up and running again by next Homecoming.
Rod Library program strives to make course materials accessible BAILEY KLINKHAMMER Staff Writer
EMILY EAVES
Rod Library is offering mini-grants that professors can apply for by Oct. 12. The grants aim to help faculty transition their classes into using existing free materials to lower the cost of textbooks for students.
According to a UNI student survey, over half of UNI students cannot or do not purchase required course materials because they simply cannot afford it. Rod Library’s Textbook Equity Program aims to change that statistic. While the program was founded in 2016, Rod Library continues to strive to make course materials more accessible for all students. Anne Marie Gruber serves as Rod Library’s liaison and
textbook equity librarian, and she sat down with the Northern Iowan to talk about all things Textbook Equity at UNI. “Accessing textbooks is not equal for everyone. Some struggle more than others to purchase books. Those that struggle with the most basic of needs find it even harder to access course materials,” she said. UNI students are not alone in this struggle. It’s no secret that textbooks are incredibly expensive, and prices only continue to climb. Paying for tuition, housing, food and
course materials can be a lot for college students. This is why the Textbook Equity Program was created. Because it’s an equity program, there are many different ways students and professors alike can access free course materials. Faculty are able to fill out a form through Rod Library and submit their syllabi, and a faculty librarian will work with the professor to find free and affordable course materials for students. See
TEXTBOOK
EQUITY, page 4