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VOLUME 114, ISSUE 42
VOLUME 115, ISSUE 41 ‘Greta’ film review 4 NFL combine review 6
Panthers outscore Salukis, 76-67 FRANK WALSH
Sports Writer
The UNI women’s basketball team ventured out to Carbondale, Ill., to take on the Southern Illinois Salukis on Sunday, March 3. The game was heated, with hardfought competition between these two conference rivals. The Panthers ultimately outscored the Salukis 76-67. This was a game of defense, as both teams put up 14 points of turnovers. The Panthers also scored 20 points from the paint. So far, the Panthers have a winning record of 18-10 and are sitting at third in the Missouri Valley Conference with a record of 11-5. For UNI, Karli Rucker stands at 5 feet 6 inches tall, but towered over the competition by putting up 28 points. The next leading scorer for either team was
GABRIELLE LEITNER/Northern Iowan
Abby Brockmeyer of SIU with 17. Rucker also grabbed three boards and snatched two steals from the Salukis. Her ability to shoot from downtown was also a difference maker, as she went 6-9 from the three-point line. Senior Taylor Hagen also played an impressive game with a total of 13 points. Her toughness stood out as she grabbed four boards to help the Panthers moving forward. Mikaela Morgan was also able to put up double digits with 10 points, eight of which came from the free throw line. The Panthers will return home this week to take on the Braves of Bradley University on Thursday, March 7, and the Redbirds of Illinois State on Saturday, March 9 for their final regular season contests of the 2019 season.
Grad student challenges hypocrisy in play COLBY WEBER Staff Writer
Communication studies graduate student James Keane is performing research in order to obtain his degree, but it is not the kind of research one would typically expect. Instead of writing a paper, Keane has made a fictionalized recollection of his past experiences through the play “Ezra and Me.” “Ezra is an acronym that stands for Evangelical Zealotry and Reasonable Accountability,” said Keane, who is 56 years old. “It’s a futuristic thing. The play is set on a sound stage where they’re filming a dystopian game show.” Keane noted that he has a strong Catholic background but has been an atheist for 25 years. “I don’t know what the exact quote is from Gandhi, but somebody asked him what he thought about Christians,” Keane said. “He
said, ‘I think Christianity’s a wonderful tradition, I’ve just never met anyone that practices it.’ That’s kind of the premise of the play — these very public Christian f igures who have been openly hypocritical are kidnapped, brought onto this game show, and asked ‘what would Jesus do’ questions.” Keane was inspired to create this play through discussions he has had regarding how Christianity interacts with the United States’ political actions. “Just for an example, how do you reconcile the idea that this is a Christian country that spends $700 billion dollars a year on war and professes to believe in a god that said ‘love your enemies?’” Keane asked. By asking questions such as these, Keane has been able to come up with ideas for his play. Overall, Keane has found the production of “Ezra and Me” to be stressful. In addition to writing and produc-
COURTESY PHOTO/James Keane
ing the show, he will also be acting in the produciton. Even though he has encountered challenges along the way, he has been impressed
by the young people who are getting involved and having discussions about the topics in his show. By going through a process of trial
and error, he believes that he has gotten closer to the vision in his head. See EZRA, page 5