November 10, 2003, Northern Today Abridged

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. And thanks to a $1.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education, they soon will begin to prepare teacher education students and area teachers for such seemingly science fiction to become sensational science reality.

“Teachers need an efficient way to assess and track their students’ achievement,” said Corenna Cummings, NIU’s PT3 project director and an associate professor in the Department of Educational Technology, Research and Assessment.

“ ‘No Child Left Behind’ has inserted a whole new world for us,” Cummings added. “We have annual standardized testing for children in grades 3 through 11, but annually is not a good time to find out your students are not doing well.”

The Integrating Technology, Assessment and Action Research (ITAAR) project, one of only 25 funded nationally and the sole Illinois grant, will gather 10 NIU faculty from the colleges of Education and Liberal Arts and Sciences with five clinical supervisors of NIU education students (pre-service teachers) and five cooperating teachers (mentors) in the DeKalb, Elgin, Geneva, Harlem and Hononegah school districts each summer for the next three years.

By the end of the summer training week, the 20 participants will have experienced and learned a model developed by the colleges’ reading, language arts, science, math, health, assessment, instructional technology, research methodology and special education faculty, clinical supervisors, K-12 cooperating teachers and grant staff that teaches elementary and secondary school pre-service teachers the multiple applications, and best use, of handheld computers in the classroom.

The intense, one-week summer workshop will launch the program in the schools next fall, when the faculty, clinical supervisors and cooperating teachers join forces to demonstrate and instruct the future teachers on the best use of the technology.

Project managers will track the first-year cohort through the second and third years of the program as more faculty, five clinical supervisors and five cooperating teachers are added each year.

Meanwhile, the “ITAAR Model Team” will continue its work to revise the program to implement improvements, include new strategies and keep pace with advances in technology.

A prime focus of the ITAAR project is the use of handheld computers for assessment, evaluation and improvement of instruction. The grant will supply certain NIU faculty and students with handhelds, and offer one-on-one support through the College of Education Office of Instructional Assistance.

With the appropriate training, teachers will be able to employ handhelds for many assessment- and evaluation-related activities, including giving tests, grading homework during class, recording informal observations and scoring group activities.

Teachers might then “sync” with programs and records on their desktop computers and, of course, receive student exam answers automatically.

“Palms are no longer organizers. They’re computers. They’re an untapped resource. Teachers have no idea how powerful they are,” Cummings said. “Handhelds allow teachers to track children on the spot as to how they are meeting standards.”

Another large portion of the grant funding will pay for servers that provide SharePoint technology.

SharePoint allows students to build electronic online portfolios of works in progress and finished products of their pre-service teaching experience – also linked to learning standards, and allowing for peer review and comment – and later assists their colleges in collecting evidence needed for program accreditation.

Economics major named 2004 NIU Student Lincoln Laureate

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.

Bento and fellow Lincoln Laureates were recognized during a Nov. 1 ceremony in the House of Representatives of the Old State Capitol in Springfield. Each of the state’s four-year, degree-granting universities selects one student Lincoln Laureate. The award recognizes excellence in both curricular and extracurricular activities.

After his experience as a high school exchange student, Bento returned to the United States, studying two years at Rock Valley College before transferring to NIU for his junior year. He credits his exchange family, Rockford’s Reuel and Dixie Johnson and their children, and his mentor, Larry Boeke of Rock Valley College, with providing him with years of support.

But those who know Bento say he deserves much of the credit for his own success.

“Roberto is just an amazing guy. He has wonderful enthusiasm, and yet he has a great humility about him, which is just extraordinary given his achievements,” says Michael Martin, director of the University Honors Program. “He’s very active in the honors program and has really developed his leadership abilities. And his academic accomplishments are all the more impressive when you consider that English isn’t his first language.”

At NIU, Bento has won several major scholarship awards. He is vice president of the Honors Student Association, an Honors House leader and chair of the program’s Service Committee.

The list of places where Bento has donated his time reads like a who’s who of social service agencies. He has mentored at-risk children at The House in Rockford, helped raise funds for the YWCA, served food at the Rockford Rescue Mission, worked on toy and clothing drives for such agencies as the Salvation Army, participated as a member of the Rockford Youth Advisory Committee and raised funds for the American Red Cross.

Bento, who will graduate in May, says he chose to study economics because it provides him with a unique perspective on the world around him.

“Economics is a subject that gives you a different way of looking at things, a very good way of looking at things,” he says. “I like monetary and fiscal policy, but also the way economics tries to make things efficient, based on the principle of maximizing benefits and minimizing costs. You look at everything progressively, trying to make every situation better.”

Bento plans to attend graduate school in the United States. He says he will return to Brazil to work in the field of economics.

Ultimately, he hopes to get involved in politics.

“Many Brazilian students who study abroad end up living abroad. I don’t want to be one of those students. I have the idealistic view that I have something to give back to Brazil,” Bento says. “It’s something that, after I’m settled with my career, I want to do.”

NIU percussion quartet to play international convention

Cheap Trick’s Bun E. Carlos will be there. So will Jimmy Chamberlin, who drummed for the late Smashing Pumpkins. So will Steve Smith, whose reverb-drenched tom-tom fills punctuated Journey’s biggest hits in the 1980s.

And so will the Base4 Percussion Quartet, a group from the NIU School of Music invited to 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.

“It’s pretty competitive,” said Rich Holly, associate dean of the College of Visual and Performing Arts and a professor of percussion. “This is the only international competition of its kind, and groups from all over the world apply for this.”

“We’re really excited,” Bliss said. “We got the notification in June, and we were all on the phone with each other, screaming our heads off.”

The group’s audition tape, recorded on campus, consisted of four songs: “Ogoun Badagris,” “The Persistence of Past Chemistries,” “The Whole Toy Laid Down” and a selection of traditional Ugandan xylophone and drumming.

For their concert, they will play three of their competition submissions along with “Omphalo Centric Lecture,” “Bowing-Bowing” and Ravel’s “String Quartet, Movement II.”

NIU audiences can enjoy a sneak peak at 7 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 15, in the Boutell Memorial Concert Hall of the Music Building – possibly the penultimate performance by the group, whose members already are scattered.

The quartet came together about 18 months ago, when the four members realized they always were helping the others with required recitals.

“We just started putting together a group,” Bliss said. “Our first goal was to develop ensemble rehearsal techniques, working with the same guys and developing those communication skills. Our second goal was to further our percussion repertoire.”

“They got together pretty much on their own, using me and (fellow professor) Robert Chappell as coaches only occasionally. They did most of the rehearsing completely on their own, maybe some weeks of 10 to 12 hours a week,” Holly said. “Now, getting ready for the convention, they’re rehearsing Friday night, all day Saturday and all day Sunday. These guys are totally dedicated and extremely excited.”

Base4 originally practiced twice a week, two hours at a time, and played a concert on campus early last spring.

They recorded their PASIC audition tape with no expectations. Earning top honors has meant unforeseen obstacles since August, when only Bliss and Schleker returned to campus.

Lundin, still a graduate student, has moved to New York for work and now flies back to Illinois every weekend. Pobojewski, now a graduate student, has moved to Elgin and taken a design job in Chicago.

Bliss and Schleker, both of whom will complete their bachelor’s degrees in the spring, are making plans for graduate school. Neither knows yet where that might take them.

“It’s a big opportunity,” Bliss said of PASIC, “but, unfortunately, because of the geographical situation right now, we’re not sure how much further we’re going to be able to go. We have tentative plans to see where things are and see if we can’t get back together.”

The six pieces feature several textures – “The Persistence of Past Chemistries” involves only wood instruments, including marimba, xylophone, wood blocks and log drums, and on other pieces the drummers play with their hands and feet to boost the layers of sound – and are “pretty energetic, pretty loud and exciting.”

Pobojewski, the designer, also has created multimedia visuals to back the performance. Audiences will see slides of Uganda and the Ugandan amadinda while hearing it played, and the interactive video shown during “Ogoun Badagris” is cued to match the music in an “MTV meets percussion ensemble” style.

NIU Veterans Club plans Nov. 11 Veterans Day ceremony

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.

The NIU ROTC will provide the color guard and honor guard. NIU School of Music student Eric Rauch will play “Taps.”

All are welcome.

Veterans and their supporters also will gather at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at the northeast corner of First Street and Lincoln Highway for a reading of the names of American service personnel who have died since Sept. 11, 2001.

At 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 12, music fraternity Phi Alpha Mu and the NIU Veterans Club will co-sponsor a Veterans Appreciation Recital in the Recital Hall of the Music Building.

Club members will collect donations for “Dear Soldier” holiday care packages at the door of the concert or in drop-off boxes available Monday, Nov. 10, and Tuesday, Nov. 11, in the Holmes Student Center Bookstore.

Items sought include books, magazines, stamps, powdered Kool-Aid or Gatorade mix, and non-perishable food items. Financial donations also are welcome at the concert or by contacting Webster at (815) 758-2324.

International Week celebrates diversity among NIU community

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.

Major events scheduled for International Week include a panel discussion among faculty who received the Lillian Cobb Travel Grant this past year. The panel discussion will be held from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 17, in the Sky Room of the Holmes Student Center. The discussion topic is “Bringing Your International Experiences into the Classroom.”

Later that same day, William Schiller, a Chicago attorney who specializes in international law, will discuss “Employment Options for Non-Citizens Beyond F-1.” His lecture will begin at 3 p.m. in Room 405 of Holmes Student Center.

The annual International Recognition Reception will be held at 11:30 a.m. Thursday, Nov. 20, in the Sky Room of the Holmes Student Center.

The reception honors NIU faculty and students whose work has promoted international and cross-border understanding. At the International Recognition Reception, the Outstanding International Educator Award will be presented to an NIU faculty member who has contributed significantly to international education through his or her teaching, research, public service and student service.

The Center for Southeast Asian Studies Brown Bag Lecture Series will host a lecture by Professor Tayudin Osman at noon Friday, Nov. 21, in Room 110 of the Campus Life Building. Professor Osman, a faculty member with the College of Islamic Studies at Prince of Songkla University, will lecture on the topic, “Islamic Education in Southern Thailand.”

Other International Week activities include an international film series sponsored by the Division of International Programs and University Programming and Activities, library displays at NIU’s Founders Memorial Library and the DeKalb Public Library, international menus featured at the Holmes Student Center and residence halls, and bulletin board displays with an international theme in the residence halls.

For more information on the events, contact International Programs at 753-9526.

NIU Chemistry Club will hold glassblowing demonstration, sale

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.

In his spare time, Edwards also creates art pieces (such as Christmas tree ornaments and small sculptures) and the famous “beaker mugs.” The Chemistry Club sells the pieces each fall to raise money for its activities on behalf of chemistry majors and interested chemistry students.

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.

“This is an opportunity to see a master of the art at work,” said Michael Spires, coordinator for recruitment and public relations in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry.

“It’s fascinating to watch as Dan turns an ordinary glass rod into a sparkling icicle, or a hummingbird perched on a stylized tree. It’s great fun for the whole family. All the items Dan makes throughout the year will be sold at this event. They make great gifts, the prices are reasonable and all the proceeds go to support our students.”

Parking for the event will be available after 7 p.m. in the NIU Parking Garage on Normal Road; visitors should avoid the reserved spaces on the first level. The parking facility is located across the street from Faraday Hall West.

For more information on the demonstration, contact Spires at 753-1133.

NIU School of Theatre and Dance hosts seminar on stage flight

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. First held in Canada in 1997, it moved in 2001 to NIU, now drawing attendants from all over the United States and Canada as well as some from overseas.

Creating safe mechanisms for flight, testing new systems and training people in the use of these systems are the goals of the seminar.

“Flying is important to talk about. This seminar ensures continuity of knowledge, and builds on what has come before. This knowledge is interdisciplinary, and the workshop is a collaboration,” Nunnally said.

“Some people who attend know nothing. They are from grassroots theater companies with elementary knowledge,” he added. “Most of the people who come are people in the industry working to develop new and better systems.”

This year, Nunnally and his team tested a new system of flight tracking.

“We improved a tracking system that used 20 different pulleys for lifting,” he said. “We had researched and developed a system that used only six different pulleys that did the exact same thing.”

Tracking systems permit actors in flight to move from one side of the stage to the other and allow for more directed movement.

In a two-point suspension system, actors fly from the hips and are able to use their arms and hands more freely for expression. This system is different from the single-point suspension systems that call for precise movement from the actors and uses all their dance training.

“It’s the difference between a fairy in ‘Midsummer’s Night Dream’ and Peter Pan and the lost boys,” he said. “With a fairy, you can make expansive gestures, lean down and throw flowers. Peter Pan has to be dynamic, fly quickly, play up there.”

To fly like Peter Pan, actors must exert tight control over their own bodies. Because Peter Pan uses a single point suspension, the entire body has to be involved in the flight.

The flight stance is deceptively simple, Nunnally said: “Actors appear effortless up there, but Peter Pan is a very physical stance.”

An actor playing Peter Pan lifts one leg and crooks it at the knee, points the other at the floor, directs the head and one arm in the flight direction and crooks the other arm jauntily at the waist.

“This prevents the actor from spinning from his or her single point suspension wire,” Nunnally said.

“Peter Pan” often takes longer to master without dance training because it entails total awareness of the body. The actor is a pendulum; he or she must switch position quickly to fly in the opposite direction, but the actor has little control over the flight. He or she must respond to the wire and manual operator.

If the actor doesn’t swivel fast enough, he or she will fly backward. Then, it is up to the actor to appear “cool” in reverse, as if it were intentional.

“A fairy-like character flies by a two-point suspension. His or her balance is shifted to the waist, arms freed for those slow, graceful movements the audience expects,” he said. “Above the actor is a frame that distributes their weight, and allows them to bend forward, forming a plane parallel to the stage.”

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.

11-10-03