NIU celebrates EIGERlab dedication

The little things that will be made at EIGERlab created big news in Rockford last week when the facility officially was opened and dedicated.

The lab is a research and development center devoted to advanced manufacturing. Experts from NIU and other universities, including the University of Illinois and Northwestern University, will work with local companies on one of the center’s primary goals – transforming manufacturing – moving from machines that are massive in scale to those that are micro.

Officials of NIU and the Dellora A. Norris Cultural Arts Center announced plans Thursday, May 27, for a “College in Residence” series of events to be included as part of the Norris’ 2004-2005 season schedule.

Events will include concerts by the NIU Philharmonic orchestra, the Concert Choir and the Steel Band, a children’s theater production by NIU’s Theater Department, a faculty art exhibit and an “Art Escape” workshop presented by members of the NIU art faculty.

Each event will include opportunities for students of area schools to participate in educational outreach efforts provided by the visiting NIU faculty and student musicians, and visual and theatrical artists.

“We started last year building an alliance between the Norris and NIU, and we’re very pleased and excited to announce an expansion of that relationship for the coming season,” said James L. Collins, chairman of the board for the Norris.

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NIU anthropologist Giovanni Bennardo is spending a month in exotic Tonga in an effort to see what the peaceful island monarchy can tell us about democracy.

A specialist in linguistic and cognitive anthropology, Bennardo arrived in the southern Pacific nation last week to begin his research, funded by a $50,000 grant from the National Science Foundation. He is examining how culturally informed ways of thinking might slow down democratic movements in Tonga.

“I want to find out whether Tongans think of democracy as a solution to the problems connected with the country’s non-industrialized status,” Bennardo said. “I hypothesize that many Tongans see no need for democracy. Because of their cultural history, their preferred way of organizing knowledge mentally, and the way they conceptualize social relationships, they find the monarchy agreeable.”

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“One Room One People,” a half-hour documentary on the history of one-room schools in DeKalb County, will be screened during a June 11 banquet to raise money in support of NIU’s One-Room Schoolhouse.

Resource Bank funded the documentary, which attracted 1,200 people to the Egyptian Theatre last December for its public premiere, as a gift to the communities of DeKalb County. Sycamore-based Morning Star Media Group produced the film.

“The inspiration for the documentary was a need to be able to present to our bank and trust clients, and people in the area, something that would honor those people who built DeKalb County, and that's really what this documentary does,” said Mary Keys, director of marketing for Resource Bank.

“We're a strong economy, and a strong county as a group of people, and how did that happen? It's because of that focus on the need for education,” Keys added, “and that focus began early in the mid-1800s, when the county was being settled, and all the way into the 1950s, with the one-room schoolhouse.”

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Friends of NIU’s One-Room Schoolhouse will honor the DeKalb County Farm Bureau for its longstanding commitment to education during a June 11 banquet.

Guests at the fundraiser in support of the One-Room Schoolhouse also can view some or all of a photo exhibit honoring farm women, which permanently hangs in the farm bureau’s headquarters along Peace Road in Sycamore.

During their century of existence in DeKalb County from the mid-1800s to the late 1950s, one-room schools enjoyed a close bond with farms. Many of the students lived on farms, and it was not uncommon for boys to miss school during the planting and harvest seasons.

Now, nearly half a century after the last one-room school closed its doors, farmers must take the responsibility of keeping agriculture in the lesson plans in local classrooms.

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NIU’s B.S. program in public health was chosen as a model program by the Association of Schools of Public Health’s Task Force on Undergraduate Education.

Along with similar programs at Brown University, the University of Southern California and Temple University, NIU’s program has been invited to be a formal member of the task force.

“I think being chosen for the ASPH task force is tacit recognition of the standing of our program” said Jim Ciesla, associate professor and coordinator of the program in the School of Allied Health Professions, part of the NIU College of Health and Human Sciences.

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Arthur Young, dean of University Libraries, delivered the keynote address at the May meeting of the Caxton Club of Chicago, a 109-year-old organization whose members share a common interest in the art of book production.

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Registration has begun
for Community School

Registration has begun for the summer at the NIU Community School of the Arts.

The community school is offering a variety of classes and private lessons in art, music, and theatre for students ages 1 through adult. Classes vary from world music and dance to steel band to beginning hand weaving. For a registration booklet or more information, call Renee Page at (815) 753-1450 or visit online at www.niu.edu/extprograms.

Three Elderhostel available
in June, July, August

NIU and the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences will offer three one week Elderhostels this summer for people 55 and older: Contemporary Issues, Understanding Textiles and the Mississippi River.

To register or for more information, call (815) 753-5200, e-mail LASEP@niu.edu or go online at http://www.niu.edu/CLASEP. Elderhostellers can choose to stay on campus in NIU’s Holmes Student Center hotel guest rooms or register as commuters.

Contemporary Issues, June 6-11. Treat yourself to a week of discussing the scientific, practical and philosophical issues surrounding medicine and biotechnology. Learn the advances in biological research/medical technology, discuss the definition of life’s beginning and end and public policy issues on reproductive biotechnology. In the “Virtue and Vice” class, discuss how moral character affects love and friendship. Special focus on “Mansfield Park” and film adaptations of Jane Austen’s work.

Understanding Textiles: Types, Uses and Conservation, July 18-23. The service Elderhostel is a participatory work project and a learning experience. NIU’s experts in weaving techniques and symbolic meaning in design elements share their knowledge. Participants are trained to adhere to good conservation and curatorial standards, and
assist in recoding textiles and their conditions in the collection of the NIU’s Anthropology Museum.

The Mississippi River, Aug. 1-6. Join NIU’s most popular Elderhostel on a Mississippi full-day cruise and explore the river’s exciting and transforming history. Experience the geological and the cultural aspects of the Mississippi River Valley. Study the physical aspects of the river from prehistoric to modern times. Feel the vibes of the valley through the music that originated there, from jazz to blues to rock. Rediscover Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn.

Art show to grace
courthouse lawn

The annual Northern Illinois Art Show will be held at the DeKalb County Courthouse Lawn in Sycamore. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, June 5, and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, June 6.

The Art Attack School of Art of Sycamore will have fun again at the annual Kishwaukee Valley Art League’s art show with many fine arts and craft projects for the kids (and kids at heart), including their signature face painting. For more information, contact Susan Edwards at (815) 899-9440 or visit online at www.sycamoreartattack.com.

NIU plans trip to Vienna
over New Year’s Eve

Imagine yourself in Vienna – the “city of dreams” – this New Year’s Eve.

Join the “NIU Travel with a Professor” group leaving Dec. 27 and returning Jan. 5 in its third repeat of this popular trip to historic Vienna. An information session is scheduled for 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday, June 6, at the Holmes Student Center.

NIU Professor Elaine Spencer, Department of History, is preparing a reading list for all participants. Please sign up early as space is limited. To register, call NIU at (815) 753-5200 or send e-mail to LASEP@niu.edu, or visit the Web site at www.niu.edu/CLASEP for more information. -- MORE

‘Sophisticated Ladies’
returns for encore

The “Sophisticated Ladies of Song” are back at 6:30 p.m. Sunday, June 13, with a benefit big band show for the rebuilding project for St. Johns Lutheran Church of Sycamore. Denny Ferrell hosts the big band show at the Egyptian Theatre.

John Smith and the Shananigan’s Swing Band will play big band favorites. Barb McCaskey, Cecelia Kafer and Nancy Killeen will grace the stage of the Egyptian Theatre for an encore presentation of the “Sophisticated Ladies of Song.”

Tickets are $20 per person with net proceeds going directly to St. Johns Lutheran Church. For more information please contact John Smith at (815) 758-1093 or send e-mail to jdmusicpros@webtv.net.

Tickets also are available through Joe Bussone at (815) 895-3064, the Hillside Restaurant of DeKalb, and through the St. Johns Lutheran Church of Sycamore.

Kishwaukee Symphony
hosts golf outing

The Kishwaukee Symphony Orchestra’s sixth annual benefit golf outing is scheduled for Friday, July 16, 2004 at the Sycamore Golf Club, 940 E. State St.

All proceeds raised from this annual event, which also features dinner, a silent auction, raffle prizes and more, benefit the Kishwaukee Symphony Orchestra. For more information, contact Denny Pickett at (815) 758-2777 or via e-mail at DekPickett@niu.edu.

NIU sponsors trip
to Stratford Festival

NIU and the Department of English will sponsor its annual trip to the Stratford Festival, July 26-30.

This popular trip has been an annual event since 1987. This year the group enjoys productions of “Timon of Athens,” “Cymbeline,” “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” and “The Triumph of Love,” plus optional selections of “Guys and Dolls” and “Anything Goes."

A pre-trip orientation takes place Saturday, July 17, in the Holmes Student Center.

The group size is limited to 50, and a few spots remain. Make reservations by calling NIU at (815) 753-5200 or by e-mail at LASEP@niu.edu. -- MORE

FY04 cut-off dates

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