New PT3 grant to promote
handheld technology in classrooms

Imagine a classroom where children find a quiet corner, read a story, listen to an interview of the author and take a comprehension test, all on a handheld computer.

Next, they beam their results to the teacher’s handheld computer for instant analysis of how well they are meeting learning standards.

Sounds like “Star Trek?”

Not to leaders of NIU’s newest project to Prepare Tomorrow’s Teachers to Use Technology (PT3), who say that day is actually at hand.

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NIU economics major Roberto Bento is himself a model of efficiency.

He maintains a 4.0 grade point average in the University Honors Program, works 20 hours a week as a tutor and serves in several student leadership posts. Yet, he still makes time for countless volunteer activities, from helping children learn to read to serving up meals to the needy.

All the hard work is paying big dividends for the native of Brazil, who first came to this country as an exchange student at Rockford Guilford High School. Bento has been named NIU’s 2004 Student Lincoln Laureate, an honor reserved for the university’s top senior.

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The Base4 Percussion Quartet, a group from the NIU School of Music, will perform Saturday, Nov. 22, at the annual Percussive Arts Society International Convention in Louisville, Ky.

Members of the quartet – graduate student Steve Lundin and seniors Andy Bliss, John Pobojewski and Patrick Schleker – won the collegiate division of the international percussion ensemble competition.

They will play before 7,000 fellow percussionists from every corner of the globe.

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Members of the NIU community can honor veterans Tuesday, Nov. 11, during the annual Veterans Day ceremony at the flagpole near Lowden Hall.

Scheduled for 11 a.m. – the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month – the NIU Veterans Club-sponsored event is one of three opportunities to pay tribute to men and women who have served, or are serving, in the military.

Featured speakers are Dr. John Dirk Wassner, a surgeon from Sycamore who recently spent nine months in Afghanistan providing medical care to troops involved in Operation: Enduring Freedom; Lt. Col. Stephen D. Payne, chair of NIU’s Department of Military Science; and Jon Lehuta, faculty adviser to the NIU Veterans Club and a retired U.S. Navy lieutenant.

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NIU is preparing for the fifth annual International Week, held Nov. 17-21.

The week will feature an array of activities designed to enhance awareness and appreciation of the diverse cultures represented within the NIU and DeKalb communities and to provide greater awareness of international education programs at NIU.

All events are free and open to the public.

“This year, for the first time, we have scheduled International Week at NIU to coincide with the national celebration of International Education Week, co-sponsored by the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Department of Education,” said Deborah Pierce, executive director of NIU’s Division of International Programs.

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The Chemistry Club will hold its annual glassblowing demonstration and sale at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 18, in Faraday Hall 143.

Master glassblower Dan Edwards of the NIU Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry will lead the demonstration. Edwards designs, manufactures and repairs much of the scientific glassware used by the department for its instructional and research work.

Items created during the demonstration, and others prepared in advance, will be on sale immediately following the demonstration outside the auditorium. Remaining items will be sold Wednesday, Nov. 19, in the main lobby of Faraday Hall West.

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Tracy Nunnally, technical director for NIU’s School of Theatre and Dance, deals in mechanics – and magic.

Nunnally is an internationally renowned expert on stage flight who devotes much of his time to designing and testing the systems that help actors soar above the stage.

“Flying,” Nunnally said, “is lifting a performer above the stage via a system or several systems of mechanized or manually operated rigging. But it’s magic, too. Flying on stage is exciting to everyone. There is a perceived element of danger, though it’s not actually dangerous.”

Nunnally hosted a seminar on stage flight earlier this fall.

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Eight-character passwords
to be enforced today
In an effort to improve security, ITS today will begin enforcing an eight-character password for login authentication to NIU’s network, including Windows, Novell, Unix, NT and MVS systems. It is recommended passwords be an alphanumeric combination of eight characters.

Please see the ITS documentation about creating secure passwords and learn how to change your password online by using WebFoyer.

NIU School of Art hosts
high school invitational exhibit
The NIU School of Art is hosting the 2003 High School Invitational Exhibition currently in the Jack Olson Art Gallery in Room 200 of Jack Arends Hall (the Visual Arts Building). The exhibit is open for viewing weekdays from 9 a.m. to noon and from 1 to 4 p.m., with a closing reception and awards presentation scheduled for 3 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 16.

Jurors for the exhibition were Mark Arctander, a member of the art faculty at McHenry County College, and Lindsay Obermeyer, of the School of the Chicago Art Institute and a visiting professor at NIU.

The School of Art created the annual High School Invitational Exhibition to recognize and celebrate the creative and technical excellence evident in the artwork produced by northern Illinois high school students and their teachers. This year’s exhibit features 100 individual works representing 37 regional high schools.

Eileen Dubin to speak
on ‘town-gown’ in DeKalb
Eileen Dubin will speak at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 12, to the DeKalb County Historical-Genealogical Society about “town-gown” relations in DeKalb. The meeting will be held in the Little Theater at Oak Crest Retirement Center.

Dubin represents District 8 on the DeKalb County Board and is chair of the DeKalb County Democratic Party. She previously was employed by NIU Libraries. In the 1970s, she was president of the DeKalb County Historical Society, which later merged with the Genealogical Society.

In 1980-81, she organized an oral history project, “Town-Gown Relations in DeKalb, Illinois, 1955-1980,” and served as project director. The project was a study of the symbiotic relationship of NIU and the community of DeKalb during a period of rapid growth and development in the 1960s and 1970s. Dubin will summarize the project, the four basic areas of study and the changes that have occurred in the community in more recent years.

All are welcome. Refreshments will be served. For more information, call Henry Leonard at (815) 758-4831.

United Way to hold
fundraiser Nov. 13
DeKalb United Way will hold its annual fall fundraiser from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 13, at South Pointe Centre, 200 Gurler Road. This year’s event, Taste of the Vine, features a wine tasting, silent auction and raffle auction. Ticket are $20 per person and are available for purchase by calling 756-7522 or at the door on the evening of the event.

This event allows the DeKalb United Way to better support its 23 partner agencies, providing funding for programs involving children, teens, seniors and the disabled in DeKalb County.

MCTI sponsors Nov. 20 panel
on 10-year anniversary
A panel of past participants of NIU’s Multicultural Curriculum Transformation Institute, and members of the sponsoring Provost’s Task Force on Multicultural Curriculum Transformation, will discuss 10 years of successful institutes and their contribution to diversity and multicultural curricular transformation at NIU.

The discussion is scheduled for noon Thursday, Nov. 20, in the Heritage Room of the Holmes Student Center.

Panel members will discuss the transformation of their individual courses and their outcomes, as well as the impact of the institute on their curricula and other aspects of their programs.

This session is open to all faculty, staff and students. No registration is necessary. There will be light refreshments and door prizes. For more information, contact mcti@niu.edu or call 753-8557.

Travel funds available
for LGBT conferences
NIU’s Presidential Commission on Sexual Orientation has travel funds available to help support faculty, staff and graduate students who wish to attend conferences, workshops or seminars for the purpose of learning about or presenting scholarship on lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender topics.

Individuals requesting funds will be asked to submit a PCSO Request for Travel Support form, including a breakdown of costs and other sources of funding support. All travel must take place in the current fiscal year (July 1, 2003 to June 30, 2004).

To apply for funds or for more information, contact Tara Dirst at 753-1004 or by e-mail at tdirst@niu.edu.

NIU Student Mediation Services
provides help resolving conflicts
The Student Mediation Services Office provides NIU students with free mediation services to assist in resolving personal disputes and conflicts.

Mediation helps students develop important life skills such as anger management, dispute resolution, and effective communication skills. Mediation is a confidential process in which an impartial third party facilitates communication between people to promote reconciliation, settlement, or an understanding between parties. Mediation is voluntary, confidential, empowering, and a win-win opportunity.

The Student Mediation Services Office has mediators available to assist with such situations as dispute between members of organizations, roommate problems, minor harassment, noise and disruptive behavior, ethnic and lifestyle tensions, minor incidents of violence, and relationship problems. The process facilitates communication and all services are confidential.

The Student Mediation Services Office encourages referrals from all NIU departments, faculty and staff, and accepts self-referrals from students.

The Student Mediation Services Office is located in Grant Hall, Tower A, on the second floor. To learn more about mediation services provided, or to provide a referral for the mediation program, please contact Heather Wier, mediation coordinator, at 753-4799 or via e-mail at hwier@niu.edu.

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