Manzullo: NIU will get funding to work
with Rockford museum on dinosaur

Congressman Don Manzullo (R-Egan) is helping NIU strengthen its ties to the Burpee Museum of Natural History in Rockford, home of the celebrated 65-million-year-old dinosaur fossil known as Jane.

Frederick Kitterle, dean of the NIU College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, was on hand this morning in Rockford as Manzullo announced that he has secured $1 million to advance plans for the Burpee Museum campus and research center.

That figure includes $100,000 for NIU to bolster its collaboration with the museum on the dinosaur project. Manzullo said the House and Senate are expected to vote on the funding in the next few weeks before sending it to the president for his signature.

FULL STORY

More than 200 alumni and friends of NIU cheered plans for a new Alumni and Visitors Center announced during ceremonies prior to the Oct. 18 homecoming football game.

Drawings unveiled at the event showed a two-and-a-half story, 37,000-square-foot building of brick, stone, glass and steel to be built on the southwest corner of Annie Glidden Road and Stadium Drive.

The building will include a faculty library, state-of-the-art meeting and conference facilities and office space for the NIU Alumni Association, the NIU Student Alumni Association and other university departments. Its centerpiece will be the Great Hall featuring plaques, displays and exhibits highlighting the history of NIU and the accomplishments of the university’s alumni.

FULL STORY

It is said that a rising tide lifts all boats, and that has proven to be the case this football season, as the sudden national fame of the Huskie football team has brought unprecedented levels of attention to NIU as a whole.

The team’s status as media darlings has rubbed off in many ways, from alumni reconnecting with the university and robust sales of licensed merchandise, to people across the country suddenly perking up at the mention of NIU.

“The tremendous success of Coach Joe Novak, his staff and the team have given us the chance to tell the NIU story to a new, much-larger audience, and we have jumped at every opportunity,” President John Peters said.

Those opportunities began before the nationally televised opening night kick-off, when running back Michael Turner was featured on the front page of the USA Today sports section. By the next morning, the Huskies’ win over 15th-ranked Maryland was trumpeted in sports pages across the nation, and the Huskie media juggernaut was rolling.

FULL STORY

NIU and the Illinois State Board of Education last week began recognition of 26 public schools that have achieved high academic performance in an environment in which a majority of students come from low-income families.

The “Spotlight Schools” are Illinois public schools where a majority of students come from low-income families, and in which 60 percent or more of students passed rigorous state tests in 2003. These schools also met the “Adequate Yearly Progress” standards imposed by the federal No Child Left Behind initiative as well as the state’s accountability system.

The accomplishments of these schools demonstrate that high-poverty schools can bridge the well-documented “achievement gap” between high-income and low-income students, and between students of color and their white and other peers.

FULL STORY

For the third consecutive year, the National Science Foundation has given a major boost to NIU’s geology program with funding for cutting-edge technology that will vastly enhance faculty and student research capabilities.

NSF is providing the Department of Geology and Environmental Geosciences with $206,000 for the purchase of an isotope ratio mass spectrometer. The research tool could arrive as soon as February. It is a particular boon to NIU’s blossoming research specialties in global climate change and environmental studies.

The funding comes through NSF’s highly competitive Major Research Instrumentation Program (MRI), designed to improve the condition of scientific equipment for research and training in U.S. academic institutions.

FULL STORY

The Northern Illinois Center for Accelerator and Detector Development (NICADD) has received a congressional appropriation of nearly $2 million to continue its development of next generation particle accelerators and detectors.

NICADD was established two years ago with what was then the university’s largest federal grant ever. The laboratory supports experimental physics being developed at Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in Batavia.

“The latest grant will allow us to solidify our research and development of accelerator techniques and detectors,” said NIU Physics Professor Gerald Blazey, NICADD co-director. “The center is now on sound footing, and we can look forward to a successful future.”

FULL STORY

Music lovers in the Tri-Cities of Kane County can enjoy the sounds of Northern Illinois University this year.

The NIU School of Music will stage three concerts this season at the Norris Cultural Arts Center in St. Charles. The NIU Philharmonic offers a Halloween “treat” Friday, Oct. 31, the NIU Steel Band plays Saturday, Jan. 31, and the NIU Jazz Ensemble plays Friday, April 2.

“It is a good opportunity for NIU to get some more exposure in the western suburbs,” said Paul Bauer, director of the School of Music. “The venue will allow us to further develop the partnership with Norris, including possible performances by the School of Theatre and Dance and exhibitions in the gallery space by the School of Art and/or the Art Museum.”

FULL STORY

Spring registration
begins next month
Registration for Spring 2004 courses will begin Nov. 10 for graduate students and students-at-large and Nov. 11 for postgraduates and undergraduate students.

The Spring 2004 Schedule of Classes is available on the Web through Registration and Records at http://www.reg.niu.edu/regrec/
schedbkinstr/spring/spring_2004.pdf. Schedule books will be made available as usual before registration begins.

Sick Leave Bank sign-up
continues through Nov. 28
Sign-up for the Sick Leave Bank for temporary faculty collective bargaining unit and temporary faculty is in October and November, with a Nov. 28 deadline to join. Donations will be taken from the non-accumulative sick leave.

For more information, or to join, call Veris Hawkins-Smith, Human Resource Services, at 753-6044 or via e-mail at vhawkins@niu.edu.

Child Care to host
annual book fair
The NIU Campus Child Care Center will host its annual Children’s Book Fair during the week of Oct. 27.

The book fair is held at the center on Annie Glidden Road west of Gabel Hall. Hours are from 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday and from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday.

Come browse a wide selection with multiple copies of books, early readers, parent resource materials, calendars and much more. At least 15 tables are set up with about 1,800 books and other items available for purchase.

Flu shots offered
The university will offer free flu shots to any faculty or staff with insurance coverage through the State of Illinois Central Management Services (CMS).

Flu shots will be available from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 29, in the HSC Regency Room, and again from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 20. -- MORE

School of Art to welcome speaker on ’80s New York artists
Barry Blinderman, director of the University Galleries at Illinois State University, will present a slide presentation and discussion titled “Robert Longo & Keith Haring: Power & Myth in New York in the ’80s.” Blinderman will speak at 8 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 29, in the School of Art Room 100.

Blinderman has produced and curated, as well as contributed critical essays to, the catalogs of Wojnarowicz, Tasset, Haring and Scharf. A recent effort, “Ready for War,” exhibited earlier this year.

For more information, call 753-1474.

School of Theatre & Dance
ready to scare audiences
“Children of the Corn II,” the second annual NIU School of Theatre and Dance Halloween show, is a collection of your favorite scenes from the most popular classic and contemporary scary movies.

Show times are 8:30 and 11:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 30, and Friday, Oct. 31. Tickets are $5 and are available at the door of Players Theatre. This show might be inappropriate for children younger than 14.

The production first was performed last year as a fundraiser for graduating performance majors. The funds are used for a Chicago showcase that will take place in April.

Deaf Awareness Week activities scheduled for Nov. 3 through 7
Five days of “priceless” activities are planned for Deaf Awareness Week, which begins Nov. 3. All on-campus events are free and open to the public. --MORE

Employee Relations & Training
to offer four courses
Employee Relations & Training will offer four courses next month. To register, or for more information, call 753-6039. -- MORE

Community School of the Arts
presents gala teachers’ recital
Classical music on the tenor pan, a percussion/violin duet, piano, voice and flute are only a few of the instruments to be heard at the annual Gala Teachers’ Recital at 7 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 6, in the Recital Hall of the NIU Music Building.

The recital is sponsored by the NIU Community School of the Arts and is a fundraising event for the scholarship programs. Both need and talent scholarships are available through the community school and more than $4,000 a semester is awarded to students as scholarship support. --MORE

HRS schedules fall open house
In appreciation of campus community support, Human Resource Services invites all faculty, Supportive Professional Staff and Operating Staff to attend the second Autumn Fall Open House from 1:30 to 4 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 11.

Refreshments will be provided and are compliments of the HRS staff.

Please plan to attend this exciting event and enjoy door prizes, music and food as the 2003/2004 holiday season approaches. For more information, call 753-6000 or visit http://www.hr.niu.edu/ on the Web.

Nominations sought for
Outstanding International Educator
NIU’s Division of International Programs is accepting nominations for the 2003 Outstanding International Educator award.

The award recognizes NIU faculty or staff members who have made significant and sustained contributions toward international education at the university. The deadline for nominations is Friday, October 31. Criteria for the award and the nomination form are available at www.niu.edu/intl_prgms/IntlEd03.htm. --MORE

--CLICK HERE

Although one might expect divine intervention is always at work inside DeKalb’s St. Mary School, Principal Pat Weis is grateful when it comes to life.

This fall, the angels are actually 20 art education majors from the NIU College of Visual and Performing Arts who teach the parochial school’s fourth- through eighth-graders each Wednesday morning.

Prior to the first week of October, when the program began, St. Mary had no art curriculum whatsoever. An unexpected phone call from Deborah Smith-Shank, professor of art and education in the School of Art, struck like a bolt of lightning.

“When the professor called, I was just ecstatic. This was just like a prayer from heaven answered,” Weis said.

FULL STORY

The NIU Foundation presented its annual awards earlier this month in Naperville at the Foundation Donor Annual Recognition Dinner.

Joseph Locke won the award for volunteer service, Earl and Margaret Hoffmann and J. Patrick White won awards for individual philanthropy and Caterpillar received the award for corporate philanthropy.

“What wonderful donors and volunteers we have,” said Mallory M. Simpson, chief development officer for NIU and president of the NIU Foundation. “One of the great privileges of being associated with the NIU Foundation is this opportunity we take each year to recognize those who have contributed so significantly to advance excellence at NIU and the Foundation.”

FULL STORY

NIU meteorologist Gilbert Sebenste received a $4,500 grant from UNIDATA.

FULL STORY