The University of Northern Iowa Police Division, along with 325 other Iowa agencies, increased enforcement on drunk driving beginning Aug. 24 and will continue through Sept. 6. This added awareness toward drunk driving is part of the national “Drunk Driving ‘Over the Limit – Under Arrest’” campaign. The added precautions were scheduled in conjunction with Labor Day.

With demand for smaller wind and solar energy systems rising, the University of Northern Iowa’s Center for Energy and Environmental Education has partnered with the National Center for Appropriate Technology, the Iowa Renewable Energy Association and Alliant Energy in sponsoring a summit for installers of these systems. This event will take place Friday, Sept. 24, at the Joe Rosenfield Center, room 101, at Grinnell College.

University of Northern Iowa students are once again bringing national attention to campus. A group of 22 student interns proved that athletics aren’t the only thing that UNI is known for after taking the top spot in Northwestern Mutual’s national intern college team competition.

    Team Northern Iowa beat out 435 colleges and 3,000 interns.  Judging took place during the fiscal year of May 2009-May 2010 and is determined on a point scale.

On Tuesday, Aug. 24 Governor Culver announced a one-time food assistance program for Iowa residents living in areas affected by the recent storms and floods. Individuals must apply for assistance during the time of Aug. 25-30. Applicants must live in a flood or storm affected area, which includes the following counties: Black Hawk, Cherokee, Clayton, Decatur, Delaware, Dubuque, Fayette, Franklin, Hamilton, Howard, Humboldt, Ida, Jackson, Jasper, Jones, Kossuth, Lee, Lucas, Lyon, Mahaska, Marion, O’Brien, Osceola, Polk, Ringgold, Sioux, Story, Taylor, Union, Warren, Webster and Wright.

The University of Northern Iowa is becoming increasingly more eco-friendly and green. This year, recycling efforts in the dorms on campus were expanded to include in-room recycling and recycling center in the residence halls. The massive increase of indoor recycling has increased desire for outdoor recycling as well.  So far six three -unit recycling bins have been purchased. According to Eric O’Brien, UNI Sustainability Coordinator, one of these units has been placed by the west entrance to the Wellness and Recreation Center. Others will be installed at the Schindler Education Center plaza, the McLeod Center and at the Maucker Union plaza.

The College Hill Partnership is looking for nominations intended for the name of the Dry Run Creek Plaza that was built as part of the Streetscape Project on College Street.

    The College Hill Partnership is looking to dedicate the plaza to someone who has made significant contributions to the College Hill area, or a name with historical sinficance to the area.

The University of Northern Iowa is at the top of the rankings again this year, and this time it’s not only for basketball. UNI was ranked third in the “Best Regional Universities (Midwest)” category for public universities, according to U.S. News and World Report’s 2011 “America’s Best Colleges” guidebook.