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WEDNESDAY, MARCH 4, 2026
VOLUME 122, ISSUE 22
UNI Planetarium offers campus community a glimpse of the stars
Courtesy Photo The UNI Planetarium hosts shows from January to March on Thursdays at 6 p.m. and 7 p.m.
By Sam O’Hair Staff Writer
The weeks leading up to spring break can often feel like a grind to UNI students. Outside, the early March sky is gray and gloomy. With the depressing weather present and academic stress in full throttle, students need a place to escape. Inside the UNI Planetarium, many students choose to journey through planets, galaxies and constellations — transporting themselves far beyond campus. The planetarium and
its iterations have long served UNI students and many more. “I do know that the planetarium was built into one of the rooms in our building, Latham Hall, when they remodeled it,” said Dr. Siobahn Morgan, a leader of the planetarium facilities. “Before that, the planetarium was either an inflated or artificially created dome that somebody had set up, and you’d crawl into it,” Morgan added. The legacy of the plan-
etarium lives on today. Every Thursday evening, groups of 25 students, staff and community members alike pile into the planetarium to enjoy a public show. As the lights dim and the ceiling above reveals stars, the planetarium offers more than a night out of the dorm. Instead, it offers an engaging educational opportunity while remaining low-stakes and completely free. A show at the planetarium can be personalized to
the group visiting as well. “It can evolve around certain things. Maybe something the audience would like to know is, like, where is this constellation? Or I heard about the star and where things are. And so I can give them first a brief introduction of what’s out there tonight,” said Morgan. This semester, shows will conclude in March. Students can request a private showing as a group at a scheduled time later in the semester..
Morgan hopes the experience encourages students to slow down and reconnect with the night sky. “Maybe take a little bit of time to look up at the sky and not look through your cell phone all the time,” said Morgan. The next showings are on Thursday, March 5, at 6 p.m. and 7 p.m. in Latham Hall. For more information, visit https://chas.uni.edu/ ees/teacher-resources/facilities.
Class project turns into Cedar Falls’ latest pop-punk band By Lily Munnik News Editor
On Aug. 23, 2025, in a packed basement near the University of Northern Iowa campus, “Party Grrrl and The Dawgs” played their first show together. It wasn’t flawless, and it wasn’t elaborate — but it was loud, energetic and filled with friends who showed up to support them. The band’s origin traces back to UNI’s Mod Band class, where Paige Guthrie, a senior majoring in digital media production, was paired with Logan Stoll, a computer science major who graduated in 2025. The assignment was to write and perform an original song. Guthrie wrote “Party Grrrl,” a high-energy track inspired by the Riot Grrrl genre and when the class ended, the collaboration continued. “We just didn’t want to stop playing,” said Guthrie. They began rehearsing Courtesy Photo Guitarist Jesse Sheehan playing at a show with “Party Grrrl and The Dawgs.”
outside of class and recruited their musically inclined friends: guitarist Jesse Sheehan, a senior double majoring in music education and percussion performance, bassist Mac Brandt, a senior studying instrumental music education and drummer Regan Wilke, described by the group as “too cool for school.” Most of them had already spent years playing together in the UNI Marching Band, making the transition from football field performances to basement stages natural. “It was easy to get together because we were already friends,” the band said. “The hardest part was just finding time.” Between projects, student-teaching hours and weekend commutes — Stoll now lives in Des Moines and drives back for rehearsals — coordinating schedules has
been their biggest challenge. “Party Grrrl and The Dawgs” primarily play poppunk, performing a mix of covers and original music. While much of their current setlist consists of covers, they continue writing new songs. What sets them apart is Guthrie’s vocal range. A mezzo with a lower register, she brings a different tone to songs originally performed by male-fronted bands. The group frequently covers artists such as “My Chemical Romance,” “The All-American Rejects” and “Green Day” — but with their own twist. Their name stems from their first original song. After performing “Party Grrrl” live several times, the title began to stick. “The Dawgs,” they joke, comes from Guthrie’s tendency to say “men are dogs.” See BAND, page 3