September 15, 2003, Northern Today Abridged

Save the Date

NIU President John Peters will deliver his annual State of the University Address at 3 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 2, in the Carl Sandburg Auditorium of the Holmes Student Center. A reception will follow.

Bose wants team chemistry to propel NIU research

Ever the chemist, Rathindra Bose plans to mix things up.

The man newly appointed to oversee NIU research efforts is searching for just the right chemistry among faculty members to propel the university to new heights.

A renowned researcher in his own right and former administrator in charge of Kent State’s research agenda, Bose arrived in July with a formidable goal to double NIU’s external funding – to $100 million in five years.

To do this, he says, faculty must work across disciplines, combining resources to form new, innovative research groups that will take aim at some of society’s most pressing and complex problems.

“There are two ways we could attempt to double our funding,” explains Bose, who was hired as NIU’s first “vice president for research” and dually serves as dean of the Graduate School.

“We could write twice as many grant proposals,” he says, “or we could craft proposals targeted toward areas that will produce bigger grants. Funding trends demand that we take the latter route, and it requires an interdisciplinary approach to research.”

Bose will encourage faculty members to aim high, and when required he will advocate the hiring of new researchers needed to round out areas of strength.

The strategy is proven, Bose says.

Leveraging its interdisciplinary research approach, Clemson University doubled external funding to more than $100 million in five years. Kent State also has long championed the interdisciplinary model. Its Liquid Crystal Institute, for example, boasts a staff of some 50 scientists from various fields.

“My success at NIU is going to depend on collaboration with the deans and faculty,” Bose says. “I can only outline the goals and give some directions. The key decisions and execution will come at the level of the departments, the deans and the provost’s office.”

“He’s the right fit,” Peters says. “At all levels of higher education – from classroom instruction and laboratory research to department chair and high-level administration – Rathindra has excelled. We’re fortunate to have him.”

At Kent State, Bose wore a variety of hats over 16 years.

As a chemistry professor, he won numerous honors for teaching, including a nomination for the Carnegie Professor of the Year Award. He served as chair of the chemistry department for five years before being appointed as Kent State’s vice president for research and dean of graduate studies.

Minorities finding success in NIU doctoral ranks

NIU awarded more doctoral degrees in education to African-Americans than any other public university in the nation, according to a recent survey in Black Issues in Higher Education.

The magazine annually publishes its listings of “Top 100 Degree Producers,” a national survey of degrees awarded to minority students. The survey was based on U.S. Department of Education data for 2001-2002.

The rankings show that NIU – led by its College of Education – is graduating minority students with doctorates at an impressive clip. Among the highlights:

• NIU’s College of Education awarded doctorates to 19 African-Americans. That total led the nation’s public universities in education doctorates. Only four private institutions had higher tallies.
• In all disciplines combined, NIU awarded 20 doctorates to African-Americans for a national ranking of 24th in Black Issues. Among peer institutions (non-minority, state-supported), NIU’s rank rises to 15th*.
• African-American doctorates represented 16 percent of all NIU doctorate degrees conferred. That percentage is the fifth highest in the nation among peer institutions.
• In all disciplines combined, NIU awarded 27 minority doctorates for a rank of 67th nationally in Black Issues. Among peer institutions, NIU’s rank rises to 10th.

While NIU has been well represented in previous years in the “Top 100” survey, this year’s strong showing is believed to be its best at the doctoral ranks.

“The university is succeeding in graduating minorities with advanced degrees, enabling them to go on to leadership positions in their fields,” NIU President John Peters said. “I’m proud of our graduates, who serve as role models for generations to come. I’m also proud of the accomplishments of our administrators, faculty and staff.”

The rankings demonstrate the university’s commitment to diversity, Provost Ivan Legg added.

“The effort to produce more minority doctorates is an important part of NIU’s mission to serve the region, because the region is increasingly diverse,” he said. “While NIU has developed a warm environment for minorities, our work isn’t done. We must continue to diversify not only our student body but also our faculty.”

NIU now offers several minority fellowship programs, most notably the Rhoten A. Smith Assistantship Program, which provides graduate assistantships to 75 minority students. Additionally, the university provides 30 to 35 tuition-waiver scholarships to minority students pursuing doctoral degrees.

One key factor behind the College of Education’s top ranking is the doctoral-degree program in Adult and Higher Education.

The broad field encompasses everything from higher education and corporate training to community development and social movements. Program graduates have gone on to work for universities, community colleges, the military, non-profit organizations and the criminal justice system.

“The College of Education has minority students in just about all of our advanced-degree programs, but our recruitment and retention efforts in Adult and Higher Education have been particularly successful,” said Christine Sorensen, College of Education dean. “The program recruits African-Americans in Chicago, and faculty deliver up to half of the courses needed for the doctoral degree at Malcolm X College.”

* Excludes private universities and historically black colleges and universities.

Former NIU President Rhoten Smith remembered
for strong connection with students, commitment to opportunity

Former NIU President Rhoten A. Smith, who presided over the university during a period of rapid expansion and student unrest, has died in Colorado at the age of 82.

Smith served as NIU’s sixth president from 1967 to 1971, presiding over a tumultuous period of rapid campus growth and Vietnam-era protests. The first NIU president to come from a non-teachers-college background, Smith brought a vision for a new, comprehensive university with high academic standards and full integration of teaching, research and public service missions. Among longtime NIU staff and DeKalb-area residents, Smith also is remembered as the president who stopped a campus riot by joining a student sit-in on the Lincoln Highway bridge.

“He was the right person for the times,” said long-time presidential secretary Sally Stevens. “He established a rapport with the students, and they trusted him.”

Former NIU President Bill Monat concurred, adding that Smith’s tenure was “a watershed in the university’s evolution.”

“Rhoten had tremendous vision – he said NIU was going to be a model for ‘the new university’ of the late 20th and early 21st centuries, and he was right,” Monat said. “He was also a person of remarkable integrity and high standards, and a fierce supporter of students.”

A political scientist by training, Smith championed the rights of students to govern themselves. To that end, Smith decentralized numerous campus operations to eliminate red tape and increase student flexibility. He established a campus ombudsman to help students with personal problems, and often met with students in dining halls and other informal locales.

Smith’s inherent belief in students was sorely tested during a four-day period in May, 1970, when thousands participated in loud and sometimes violent protests following the student deaths at Kent State. Smith balanced support for no-nonsense police intervention with eloquent appeals for understanding and respect for the rights of students to express their grief and outrage.

Smith’s own college career had been interrupted by a three-year stint in the Air Force during World War II. Smith piloted a B-17 bomber through some 35 missions over France and Germany, learning firsthand about the devastation and personal loss of war.

Smith was a native of Fort Worth, Texas. He studied at Texas Wesleyan College and the University of Texas prior to his military service, finally completing his bachelor’s degree at the University of Kansas after the war. He went on to earn a master’s degree at Kansas as well, and then a Ph.D. in political science from the University of California at Berkeley.

Smith taught at the University of Kansas and later at New York University, then assumed the deanship of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Temple University, where he remained until coming to NIU in 1967.

President John Peters expressed his sympathies to the family, and remarked that one of the first notes he received upon arriving at NIU was from Smith.

“Even though he had been gone from here for many years, he took the time to send a handwritten note, congratulating me and wishing me well,” Peters said. “From what I have come to know about the man, I understand that this was an example of his graciousness and character. He left that mark on this university as well.”

Rhoten Smith is survived by his wife of 60 years, Barbara, their two children, Susan and Tyler, and numerous grandchildren, nieces and nephews. Expressions of condolence may be sent to the Smith family at 3707 W. 16th Street, Greeley, Colo., 80634.

Pritchard named associate dean in HHS

Late in the afternoon of Sept. 4, Mary Pritchard turned in her keys to three buildings where the School of Family, Consumer and Nutrition Sciences has office and laboratories.

Pritchard, who chaired the school for 11 years and joined its faculty in 1984, is now associate dean of the College of Health and Human Sciences.

And with the change in office and job, she spent the first couple weeks of the semester moving the contents of her office and gradually making the break from her longtime home.

“I knew that job well,” she said of Family, Consumer and Nutrition Sciences, “and I thought moving on was a healthy thing. We always talk about lifelong learning – we want our students to be lifelong learners – and I saw this as an opportunity for lifelong learning.”

Pritchard, like other chairs in her college, got a taste of the associate dean’s work last year when the workload was spread among them. The chance to improve things for all students, through looking at and tinkering with institutional policies, sparked an interest.

The job entails issues of curriculum, grants, oversight of academic advising, committee service and class scheduling, both on campus and off. Pritchard also becomes an ambassador of sorts and a jack of all trades, charged with general college support, promotion and outreach.

“This college has some spectacular programs and a really competent and dedicated faculty. I look forward to working with them, and we’re doing some exciting work,” Pritchard said. “We have a great opportunity for service in this region, with health care needs and gerontology issues. We have a convergence of needs and people who can take care of those needs.”

NIU receives $25,000 grant from EPA
to train educators in environmental management

NIU is among six organizations in the state recently awarded grants from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for proposing innovative environmental education programs.

NIU will receive $24,726 to fund the design, development and distribution of a Web-based training program (and subsequent day-long workshops) for high school and college teachers to learn concepts of pollution prevention through environmental management systems.

EMS entails creative approaches to preventing pollution before it happens in the home, community and business rather than cleaning up after the fact.

“You look ahead to the issues and design the environmental system in such a way that reduces pollution so you don’t have to deal it with later,” said Murali Krishnamurthi, director of the NIU Faculty Development and Instructional Design Center and associate professor of industrial engineering.

“The EPA wants people to develop materials to train school teachers these concepts in a simple way so those teachers can teach their students, starting with students early on in high school so they become more socially conscious and understand environmental issues,” he added. “We hope to wrap the project up by next spring, and begin inviting teachers for workshops.”

Twenty organizations from the EPA’s Region 5, which includes Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin, are splitting $198,700. More than $71,000 of that is shared by the Illinois groups. More than 100 proposals were received from the six states.

Federal grant enables NIU to hire
four new officers for community policing

The NIU Department of Public Safety’s commitment to “community-oriented policing” paid off earlier this month when the department received $300,000 from the Department of Justice to hire four new officers.

“Most departments do community-oriented policing as a program with just a handful of people involved,” says NIU Chief of Police Don Grady. “Here, it is a department-wide endeavor. It’s what we do all day every day. This will allow us to better meet our goal of being the safest college campus in the state. This grant is a tremendous opportunity for the university.”

Grady hopes to have the new officers hired by January and working in the Community Safety Centers by March.

He says the five centers, located in residence halls, are vital to the successful community-policing effort on campus because they allow officers to become deeply involved in the community and work proactively with residents to address issues before they become problems.

“Assigning police officers to a specific building allows them to become a part of that community. They eat with the students in the cafeteria, they talk to them in the lobby and they pass them all the time in the hallways and stairwells,” Grady says. “As students begin to feel comfortable with officers, they start telling them about problems around the hall. In the meantime, those who may be prone to causing problems think twice before doing so.”

Established last year, the Community Safety Centers are credited with helping to bring about a 59 percent reduction in reported criminal incidents in residence halls during the fall term of 2002 compared to 2001.

Center for Governmental Studies director
sees research goldmine in western suburbs

When Robert Gleeson talks about loving his new workspace, he doesn’t mean his new office.

That office is nice enough, but what the new director of the Center for Governmental Studies is truly excited about is working in the western suburbs of Chicago.

“NIU finds itself in the fortunate position of being the premier public institution in one of the great American developing spaces. Places like this are where 21st century America is being defined,” said Gleeson, who joined the center July 1.

He comes to NIU after five years at Duquesne University, in his hometown of Pittsburgh, where he worked in the Graduate Center for Social and Public Policy and taught graduate-level courses in social science research methods, market dynamics, strategic planning for nonprofit organizations and honors sections of core courses in social, political and economic systems.

The state of the economy in his hometown is quite different than what is going on in the Chicago region, he said.

“Pittsburgh has been experiencing long-term fundamental economic restructuring that, to date, has resulted in fewer jobs and a declining population. By contrast, the western suburbs of Chicago are a cauldron of capitalism. It is one of just a few areas in the country – the world, actually – where there is a lot of population growth and a lot of new wealth being created,” he said.

“These areas are so unique that we don’t even have a name for them. They aren’t 19th century cities, they aren’t 20th century suburbs, and they aren’t ‘edge cities’ or rural areas. History tells us that these areas are unique, something different. It’s exciting to have that at your fingertips.”

Gleeson and his wife Denise, have two children and plan to live outside of St. Charles in Kane County.

NIU Dialogue on Race seeks to foster appreciation of diversity

NIU’s fourth Dialogue on Race will offer 40 students the chance to talk about themselves, learn about others and spread the message of understanding diversity.

Scheduled for Oct. 24 and 25, the weekend retreat gathers students from varying racial backgrounds to engage in dialogue about the role that race plays in their lives.

Those chosen are asked for a “strong commitment to improve the current racial climate at NIU” as well as “a willingness to explore their own racial prejudices.” They also should come with “a willingness to listen and help others explore their prejudices in a safe and supportive manner.”

“We provide a forum for students from varying ethnic groups to participate in activities that we hope will help them learn and develop and appreciation for each other’s differences,” said Kathy Hotelling, director of Counseling and Student Development. “Specifically, we hope also that they will be leaders in transmitting that understanding to others on campus so there’s sort of a ripple effect.”

Guided by NIU faculty and staff of diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds, the students will confront a number of “realities.”

• Race and racial identity always have been and continue to be significant and visible parts of American life.
• Racial barriers continue to influence social, political and economic realities despite decades of progress in understanding our common humanity.
• White privilege is often easy to overlook; discussing diversity highlights internalized assumptions.
• Developing the skills in talking about and celebrating racial differences can become a springboard to dialogue about other aspects of diversity.

For more information, call 753-1206 or visit www.niu.edu/csdc.

Northern Star finds its voice in online radio

The Northern Star, the university’s award-winning student newspaper, is launching an online radio station.

The student-run NS Radio will debut early next month. Listeners will log onto the Star’s Web site at www.northernstar.info and click on the NS Radio link in the top left corner of the home page.

The 24-hour Webcast will feature local bands and an eclectic mix of alternative, hip-hop and Top-40 music. NS Radio also will phase in live student broadcasters and deejays to provide evening news, sports and talk radio.

“There are lots of Webcast student stations,” says Jim Killam, Northern Star adviser. “What’s unique about NS Radio is that it’s being launched by the newspaper and will be completely integrated with the Star’s Web site. To my knowledge, there isn’t another student newspaper doing this. Some schools put multiple student media under one umbrella, but I think we’ll be the only one where the radio station is completely driven by the newspaper.”

WKDI, a student-run Webcast station, shut down last year, leaving a void in the market.

“With no student radio right now, there is a need for this,” Killam says. “We have many students interested in working for a radio station, and we believe there is a demand for local radio geared toward student listeners. We thought this was a natural extension of the Star.”

This past spring, Northern Star Online Editor Jeremy Norman piloted NS Radio on the Star’s Web site. “The student feedback was phenomenal,” says Norman, a senior from Frankfort who is majoring in computerized design. “We got enough response to push for a permanent station this fall.”

Tri-County director honored for leadership

Winners of SAGE recognition – Significant Advisor, Guide and Enlightener – from the University of Illinois-Chicago’s College of Nursing are mentors of today’s leaders of nursing.

Eligible candidates are “a nurse administrator, educator, researcher or expert clinician who has impacted the lives and spirits of many nurses” – qualities the selection committee found in Mary Uscian, longtime director of the Tri-County Community Health Center, who will receive the honor Oct. 17.

“No more deserving a person exists,” said Donna Plonczynski, a faculty member in the NIU School of Nursing and one of nearly 20 people who wrote letters of support.

“I can tell you what people have said about her: selfless, thoughtful, dynamic, tireless, honest, compassionate, expert, funny, impressive, enthusiastic, necessary,” Plonczynski said. “Mary epitomizes caring in nursing. She mentors every person who comes into Tri-County, as a student or staff, and she exudes kindness and competence to every patient. Despite all her other responsibilities, she makes sure to contact everyone who comes into that clinic to make sure they know she is there for them.”

Uscian will receive her award during the Power of Nursing Leadership Celebration in Chicago.

“I’m tickled to death,” Uscian said. “There is no recognition like the recognition one gets from one’s peers. If your peers think you’re doing a good job, that to me feels like the highest recognition you can get.”

She is one of the three founders of Tri-County, a joint effort between the NIU School of Nursing and the Kishwaukee Community College nursing program to provide affordable health care to low-income residents of DeKalb, Ogle and Lee counties.

The mission: to increase access to health care for community residents and to educate nursing students in primary care.

About 15,000 different people of all ages have sought treatment at the bilingual clinic since it opened in 1994. Ninety-nine percent are classified as low-income; one of three is a minority. No one is turned away for an inability to pay.

College of Law welcomes scholar-in-residence

William Benjamin Gould IV will be a 2003-2004 Scholar-in-Residence at the NIU College of Law Wednesday, Oct. 1, and Thursday, Oct. 2.

Gould is the Charles A. Beardsley Emeritus Professor of Law at Stanford Law School, where he has been professor of law since 1972, and the William M. Ramsey Distinguished Professor of Law at Willamette University College of Law.

He is also the former chairman of the National Labor Relations Board, a position he held from 1994 to 1998, and served on the Commission of the Future of Worker-Management Relations in 1993.

In academe, he was professor of law at Wayne State Law School from 1968 to 1971, visiting professor of law at Harvard Law School from 1971 to 1972 and visiting professor of law at Howard Law School in 1989.

He is the author of more than 50 law journal articles and numerous newspaper articles. He is also the author of eight books, the most recent of which is “Diary of a Contraband: The Civil War Passage of a Black Sailor” (Stanford University Press, 2002).

Glenn seminar tackles meaning of ‘liberal education’

NIU political scientist Gary Glenn will deliver the fall Presidential Teaching Professor seminar.

The seminar – titled “On the Future Possibility of Liberal Education at Northern Illinois University” – will be held from noon to 1 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 24, in the Heritage Room of the Holmes Student Center. Refreshments will be served at 11:30 a.m., and the public is welcome.

Glenn, a 37-year veteran of NIU, was awarded the Presidential Teaching Professorship in 2000. It is the university’s highest teaching honor.

The seminar will examine the definition of a liberal education, obstacles in its path and what it requires of both students and teachers.

“A liberal education will continue to depend on students who have the capacity to think and who love to think,” Glenn says. “It will depend on students who seek to understand how human beings can best live together.”

NIU-based Panoramic to play Chicago World Music Festival

Panoramic, featuring world-renowned steelpan virtuoso Liam Teague, will perform Thursday, Sept. 18, at World Music Festival: Chicago 2003.

The group, formed by Teague and Robert Chappell, both of whom are members of the percussion/steelpan faculty in the Northern Illinois University School of Music, takes the stage at 6:45 p.m. at the Randolph Café of the Chicago Cultural Center, 78 E. Washington St. The concert is free.

Panoramic takes a wide-angle view of music, combining intricate original compositions and intense improvisations with calypso, Afro-Cuban, Brazilian and even Indian rhythms.

With Teague on steelpan, Chappell on piano, marimba and tabla, fellow faculty member Orlando Cotto on congas, NIU alum Doug Stone on saxophones, NIU student Phil Beale on drum set and fellow student Josh Ramos on bass, Panoramic pays tribute to its Caribbean heritage while seamlessly integrating the band’s musical experiences in jazz, classical and world genres into a unified whole.

The fifth annual World Music Festival: Chicago 2003, organized by the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and scheduled for Sept. 17 through 21, showcases traditional and contemporary music from many of the world’s diverse cultures. Festival events include a mix of free and ticketed concerts, live radio broadcasts and educational workshops presented in museums, parks, cultural centers, theaters, clubs and other venues throughout Chicago.

For more information, visit http://www.ci.chi.il.us/WorldMusic/ on the Internet.

NIU Study Abroad Fair set for Sept. 25

Students interested in studying overseas can get more information on available opportunities at the 11th annual Study Abroad Fair from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 25, in the Regency Room of the Holmes Student Center.

The theme of this year’s fair is “Explore More.” The fair will feature informational booths on study abroad programs in 65 countries. Students can meet with faculty and program representatives who coordinate NIU study abroad programs to Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe and Latin America.

Academic advisers and representatives from international study abroad institutions will be on hand as well.

One section of the fair titled, “Countries of the World,” will offer travel and cultural information provided by consulates and embassies. NIU Student Financial Aid staff members will be present to offer information on financial aid for study abroad. In most cases, financial aid and scholarships are available. Participants will receive free goodie bags, enjoy international entertainment and have a chance to win door prizes.

“The fair encourages participants to investigate and experience the positive effects of study abroad,” said Anne Seitzinger, assistant director of the Study Abroad Office. “As students of the 21st century preparing to meet personal and academic goals, NIU students must also be prepared to achieve in an ever-changing and increasingly global society.”

The fair is free and open to the public. For more information, visit http://www3.niu.edu/niuabroad/fair02.htm or call (815) 753-0304.

No classes to be held day before Thanksgiving

By vote of the University Council, and notice to the Board of Trustees, Thanksgiving break has been approved to extend over the entire day before Thanksgiving. As listed in the NIU Fall 2003 schedule book, beginning with the 2003-2004 academic year, no classes will be held the day before Thanksgiving.

It is important to note, however, that this policy pertains to academic classes only. It is not a closure day for NIU offices or non-instructional employees. Supervisors are encouraged to exercise leniency with respect to employees who wish to take vacation time on that day.

Speaker to address conditions in Iraq

Kathy Kelly, founder of Voices in the Wilderness, will report on her time in Iraq, “before,” “during” and “after” the recent war. She will speak at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 25, in the Heritage Room of the Holmes Student Center.

Kelly has been twice nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, and received the 1998 Pax Christi Teacher of Peace Award, as well as the Newberry Library Free Speech Award.

Her DeKalb appearance is sponsored by the DeKalb Interfaith Network for Peace & Justice and NIU’s Northern Coalition for Peace & Justice. There is no admission fee.

For further information, call Cele Meyer at 758-0796.

Program unvieled to lower students’ risks from alcohol

The college experience is sometimes better known for drinking escapades than for a valuable education, et the truth is that most students behave responsibly and have their eye on that degree around the corner.

NIU wants to decrease the risk of alcohol-related problems for students who put themselves and others in harm’s way when using alcohol precariously.

With the start of fall semester, the Student Affairs Division of NIU is introducing MyStudentBody.com, an online alcohol education program tailored specifically for college students. This program offers confidential, anonymous and customized information for students about their own personal use of alcohol and the associated risks.

Students can use MyStudentBody.com to calculate their blood alcohol levels, calorie intake, STD risk, drug effects and even monthly expenses related to alcohol. They also can hear personal stories of other students’ experiences related to alcohol.

MyStudentBody.com will be managed by Health Enhancement Services at the University Health Service. It will be one of a variety of health promotion and risk reduction efforts available to students on campus.

MyStudentBody.com is accessible to all NIU students at www.mystudentbody.com
Call 753-7702 for more information.

Lincoln Laureate nominees sought

An outstanding senior from each of the four-year, degree-granting institutions of higher learning in Illinois is chosen annually to receive the Lincoln Academy Student Laureate Award. The University Scholarships Committee asks your assistance in identifying the student, graduating during 2004, who will be NIU’s recipient of this year’s award.

Lincoln Student Laureates are honored for their overall excellence in both curricular and co-curricular activities. The NIU Student Laureate should have a grade point average of 3.5 or higher and should have demonstrated leadership in extra-curricular activities.

The person selected will represent the university at one of the most distinguished gatherings in the state, a special ceremony held Nov. 1 in the House of Representatives of the Illinois State Capitol. Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich, president of the Academy, will present each Student Laureate with a Lincoln Academy Medallion and a check for $150.

The ceremony will be followed by a luncheon in the Executive Mansion. Nominator(s) of the recipient will be asked to represent the university at this event.

The person selected from NIU to receive this award should be our most outstanding senior student. Please be selective in your nomination. Nomination forms and supplementary pages should be returned to the Office of the Scholarship Coordinator, c/o Retention Programs, by noon Friday, Sept. 26, for the nomination to be considered by the selection committee. If you care to hand-deliver nomination forms, please submit them to 402 Adams Hall.

University Women’s Club to host fall reception

Plans are under way for the University Women’s Club’s annual fall reception. This event is scheduled from 4 to 7 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 30, at the president’s residence, 901 Woodlawn Drive in DeKalb.

Barbara Peters and members of the board of the University Women’s Club are looking forward to greeting and meeting women of the university community as the new academic year begins. This year, the reception will be a wine and cheese event with an opportunity for newcomers to meet women with an NIU connection.

Current members are encouraged to invite women who are eligible but perhaps have not already joined. Membership is open to women who are employed at the university, the spouse of an employee, retirees or the spouse of a retiree.

The purpose of the organization is two-fold: to support philanthropic and educational activities within the university and the community, and to create opportunities for friendly social contact among its members in a spirit of fellowship.

For more information, call Nancy Norris at 756-3292 or Sally Stevens at 756-2343.

9-15-03