University prepares for summer four-day workweeks
Four-day workweeks - a money-saving strategy scheduled for most of the summer - begin June 2.
NIU's campus will fall mostly quiet Fridays, as an estimated 3,500 employees stay home. Only specific essential service and maintenance functions and those that normally operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week, such as Public Safety, will remain in force. Other employees will complete the required 37.5 hours a week by working from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday with abbreviated lunches from noon to 12:40 p.m.
The new schedule remains in effect through Friday, Aug. 8.
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Summer construction projects begin
It happens every year: the weather warms, students leave and construction crews converge on campus. This year will be no exception, with 19 projects underway or poised to start within the next few weeks.
This year's projects range from relatively small undertakings to major construction.
Details of all of those projects can be found online at www.niu.edu/improvements. The list will be updated periodically to track progress of the work.
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Liberace Jazztet earns
third year from Liberace Foundation
 NIU's acclaimed NIU Liberace Jazztet will swing for a third year, thanks to renewed - and boosted - funding from the Liberace Foundation for the Performing and Creative Arts.
Paul Bauer, director of the NIU School of Music, said the jazztet's busy schedule the first two years played a key role in securing the third year of financial support.
"It's very important to the Liberace Foundation that these students in the arts receive public recognition as Liberace Scholars. It's a very natural link to have a performing group that can go out and perform on campus and off campus," Bauer said.
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Zollman elected a director
of international mathematics association
 Alan Zollman, professor and chair of teacher education in the NIU Department of Mathematical Sciences, has been elected as a director of the School Science and Mathematics Association (SSMA).
The international association is one of the oldest mathematics or science organizations in the United States. Chartered in 1901, SSMA is dedicated to improving instruction in and between science and mathematics. Its primary work and publications address the needs of all those involved in science and mathematics teaching and learning.
SSMA's mission focuses on three areas: teacher education and in-service; research in science and mathematics education, and teaching ideas and activities for grades K-12.
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Women's Studies director has new book out
 Amy Levin, director of the NIU Women's Studies Program, has a new book out exploring the influence of West African women's traditions in contemporary literature.
The book, "Africanism and Authenticity in African-American Women's Novels," demonstrates how these influences permeate both theme and imagery in novels by such writers as Toni Morrison, Alice Walker, Jamaica Kincaid and Gloria Naylor. Levin also turns her attention on recent novels about slavery, examining how authors record what happens to West African traditions when they collide with European culture.
For Levin, who also is an NIU English professor, the book culminates 10 years of work.
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Two University Police officers plan retirement party
University Police Sgts. Albert "Swede" Ekstrom and Dave Wickstrom are leaving the force after a combined 50 years on the job.
A party in their honor is scheduled from 1 to 4 p.m. Friday, May 16, at the old farmhouse grounds on Annie Glidden Road just north of Baker's Square. Presentations are at 2:30 p.m. Please park in lots H and D1 on West Campus near the party location.
National Medical Laboratory Week
recognizes professionals for service
Medical laboratory professionals were recognized for their service last week during National Medical Laboratory Week. This year's theme was "Laboratory Professionals: Exceptional People, Exceptional Work."
Laboratory professionals help to prevent disease by detecting unknown health problems and by aiding in the diagnosis and treatment of existing conditions by giving accurate, timely test results.
"We are proud of the work we do," said Christine Ewald, University Health Service laboratory supervisor. "We have to be painstakingly meticulous in performing our jobs to provide dependable answers for our patients' physicians."
In addition to the 31,000 laboratory tests and procedures the staff performed last year, members also took part in training NIU students in clinical laboratory science programs and performed venipunctures, more commonly known as drawing blood, for NIU Wellness Fair participants who requested cholesterol and thyroid blood tests.
College of Law library announces special hours
Hours for the David C. Shapiro Memorial Law Library from today through Tuesday, May 13, are 7:15 a.m. to 2 a.m. Monday through Thursday; 7:15 a.m. to 1 p.m. Fridays; 10 a.m. to 1 a.m. Saturdays, and 10 a.m. to 2 a.m. Sundays.
Hours Wednesday, May 14, are 7:15 a.m. to 6 p.m. Hours Thursday, May 15, through Friday, May 23, are 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday and 1 to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
Memorial Day weekend hours are 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, May 24, and 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday, May 25. The library is closed Memorial Day.
For more information, call 753-0505.
Campus Recreation to host
7th annual Poker Walk
In celebration of National Employee Health and Fitness Day, the Office of Campus Recreation will host the 7th annual Poker Walk beginning at 11:15 a.m. Thursday, May 15.
Participants are invited to walk a course, approximately 1 mile, and pick up playing cards along the way. Volunteers will review the cards at the end of the walk to see what hands were dealt. Depending on the poker hand, great prizes will be won. Poker Walk teams are encouraged from each department.
Participants must pre-register by Friday, May 9, and those interested can get more information and obtain registration forms by contacting Anna Shearer at 753-9421 or sheareranna@hotmail.com. Check in at the Student Recreation Center. Participants may begin walking anytime between 11:15 a.m. and 12:45 p.m.
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Hosmane honored by Indian university
 Narayan Hosmane, a professor in the NIU Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, has been selected to serve as the Jawaharlal Nehru Distinguished Chair of Chemistry for a period of five weeks late this year at the University of Hyderabad, India.
The University of Hyderabad instituted the position to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the birth of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, an eminent scholar, statesman and former prime minister of the Republic of India. The distinguished scientist occupying the chair is expected to enrich a chosen area of research by interacting with faculty members and students and giving formal seminars and lectures.
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NIU honors Goudie as Illinois Journalist of the Year
 The NIU Department of Communication named Chuck Goudie, a veteran investigative reporter and recent war correspondent for WLS-Channel 7 TV in Chicago, as the Illinois Journalist of the Year.
Goudie received his award Friday night during the annual Journalism Banquet at the Holmes Student Center.
"This is quite an honor," Goudie said, "and in a way it's a command performance being here because my wife, Teri, is an NIU graduate."
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Public invited to screening of NIU student documentaries
The NIU Department of Communication will host the screening of student documentary shorts from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Sunday, May 4, at Diversions Lounge in the Holmes Student Center.
The free event is open to the public. The evening will feature documentaries produced by students of Professor Laura Vazquez, who teaches an advanced field production course (COMS 426) and oversees independent study projects. Each semester Vazquez encourages the students to show their work publicly.
"Students select their own subject matter," Vazquez added, "so the films carry a great diversity of content."
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Bilder to retire from School of Art
 Dorothea Bilder, an internationally recognized printmaker and painter, has announced her retirement as Professor of Art in the School of Art at Northern Illinois University. Her retirement will be effective at the end of the current academic year.
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NIU, DeKalb Area Women's Center host art exhibit
Two exhibitions of Venezuelan art - impressive displays of contemporary works by Venezuela-born artists - soon will visit DeKalb.
The NIU Latino Center, home to the University Resources for Latinos and the Center for Latino and Latin American Studies, and the DeKalb Area Women's Center (DAWC) are hosting the shows, organized exclusively for the DeKalb sites. The Venezuelan Consultate has orchestrated the display of this significant cultural exchange on the first anniversary of the group art show held at the DeKalb venue last spring.
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