In Brief

Student art exhibit ongoing

ars nova, a juried student gallery exhibit juried by Ed Paschke, is open through Friday, April 11, in the Jack Olson Gallery in the NIU Visual Arts Building.

For more information, visit www.sa.niu.edu/arsnova.

Lecturer at NIU to address
'cult of thinness,' body image

Sharlene Hesse-Biber, author and professor of sociology at Boston College, is coming to Northern Illinois University to discuss the factors sustaining "the cult of thinness" that has taken over the lives of so many.

This program at 6 p.m. Wednesday, April 2, in the Wirtz Hall auditorium on the NIU campus, will explain how societal factors influence the development of body image and how a distorted body image can lead to disordered eating. In addition, it will challenge the notion that thinness equals contentment.

Hesse-Biber's latest book, "Am I Thin Enough Yet? The Cult of Thinness and the Commercialization of Identity," will provide the basis for this free lecture. All are welcome.

This program is sponsored by the School of Family, Consumer and Nutrition Sciences (FCNS), and will help mark the beginning of a new FCNS program: the Certificate of Graduate Study in Eating Disorders and Obesity. This lecture also is co-sponsored by Student Housing and Dining Services, the School of Allied Health, the Department of Communicative Disorders, the School of Nursing and Women's Studies.

For more information on this lecture, please call the School of Family, Consumer and Nutrition Sciences at 753-1543.

Noted new author to visit campus Wednesday

Author Elizabeth Crane, whose new book has won widespread critical acclaim, will visit NIU for a free public reading and book signing Wednesday, April 2.

Crane will read from her newly published book of short stories, "When the Messenger Is Hot," beginning at 8 p.m. in the Chandelier Room of Adams Hall. She also will field questions from the audience before the book signing.

"I've heard Elizabeth read, and her stories are imaginative, offbeat and whimsical - and at the same time very moving," said NIU English professor Keith Gandal, who arranged the visit. Crane also will visit with students in Gandal's advanced creative writing class Thursday, April 3.

"We're very pleased to have Elizabeth on campus," Gandal said. "Because she's a writer who has just published her first book of stories, I think this event will be particularly interesting and inspiring to students."

The Washington Post calls Crane's new book "a boldly original collection" of short stories, and a January feature on the author in the Chicago Tribune carried the headline, "When the Writer Is Hot."

According to the New York Times Book Review, "Crane has a distinctive and eccentric voice that is consistent and riveting from the first story to the last."

More information about the author is available at her Web site, www.elizabethcrane.com.

Concert to celebrate life of Donald Walker

The Northern Illinois University School of Music will present a concert celebrating the life and work of Donald Walker, professor of piano at NIU from 1967 through 2002. Walker, a renowned and beloved performer, teacher, colleague and friend to countless members of the NIU community and the international music world, passed away in September of 2002.

The free concert will take place at 2 p.m. Saturday, April 5, in the Boutell Memorial Concert Hall in the Music Building located on Lucinda Avenue. It is open to the public.

Performing on the program will be School of Music faculty artists William Goldenberg and the Vermeer Quartet as well as former students of Donald Walker. There will be readings by Alan Chesler and Carolyn Ashley, and recorded excerpts from Donald Walker's solo piano recitals.

For additional information, please call Bill Koehler at 753-8746, Diane Ragains at 753-1865 or the NIU School of Music office at 753-1551.

Art lecture, seminar scheduled for April 9

John Malcolm Steers, of the United Kingdom's National Society for Education in Art and Design, will visit NIU Wednesday, April 9, for a seminar and lecture.

His seminar, "International Trends in Art Schools," begins at 9:30 a.m. in Art Building room 211. Malcolm's lecture - "International Conversations through Art: Is Globalizing a Matter of Choice?" - is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. in Art Building room 102.

Malcolm's visit is co-sponsored by the School of Art. For more information, call 753-1473.

Distinguished Teaching Professor seminar
to study 'learning organization'

John Niemi, Distinguished Teaching Professor in the Department of Counseling, Adult and Health Education, will deliver the spring Distinguished Teaching Professor seminar on the learning organization.

In this seminar, the learning organization will be explored as a concept designed to enhance individual, team and organizational learning. Niemi has more than 30 years' experience in distance learning technology, human resources development, strategic human resources development, the learning organization, graduate adult education and international adult education. Niemi has received many honors, including the Insignia of the Commander of the Order of the Lion of Finland, 2001, Michigan Outstanding Alumnus of the year, 1999, and Honorary Professor, Shanghai Second Institute of Education, 1998. Sponsored by the Office of the Provost. No registration required.

His seminar is scheduled for noon Tuesday, April 15, in Holmes Student Center room 305. Refreshments will be served from 11:30 a.m. to noon. The seminar is sponsored by the Office of the Provost. No registration is required.

Geology and Environmental Geosciences
announces spring 2003 colloquia

The Department of Geology and Environmental Geosciences has revised the schedule of spring 2003 colloquia.

All talks are held at 4 p.m. in Davis Hall 308. For more information, call Jim Walker at 753-7936 or via e-mail at jim@geol.niu.edu. Updates to the schedule are available online at http://jove.geol.niu.edu. 

Monday, April 14: Bernadette Scheller, NIU, "The Volcanic Rocks of Leatherwood Creek Shut-Ins, St. Francois Mountains, Missouri."

Friday, April 18: Neil Humphrey, University of Wyoming, "Glacial Hydrology: the Controlling Role of Water in the Dynamics of the Glacial System."

Monday, April 21: Guadalupe Velazquez-Oliman, NIU, "Geochemical Characterization and Aspects of the Hydrodynamics of the Aquifer System in Puebla Valley, Mexico."

Tuesday, April 22: Mark Evans, University of Pittsburgh, "Paleo Fluid Flow in the Central Appalachian Foreland During the Alleghanian Orogeny."

Monday, April 28: M. Scott Wilkerson, DePauw University, "Geometry and Evolution of Fault-Related Fold Terminations."

Wednesday, April 30: Larry McKay, University of Tennessee, "Controls of Hydraulic Conductivity in Soil and Saprolite Derived from Sedimentary Rock."

3-31-2003