In Brief

Flu shots cancelled

Employee Assistance and Wellness Program regrets to announce that the flu shots scheduled at NIU for Wednesday, Nov. 3, and Wednesday, Nov. 10, are cancelled.

This Public Service Announcement issued by the DeKalb County Health Department explains the reasons for the decision to cancel all community flu clinics and identifies who is eligible to receive the limited flu vaccine available. Stay healthy: remember to get sufficient rest, eat healthy, drink plenty of water and take your Vitamin C.

NIU to celebrate
Deaf Awareness Week

These events are scheduled as a part of NIU’s celebration of Deaf Awareness Week:

7 p.m. Monday, Nov. 1
Guiding Hands: The Illinois Deaf and Hard of Hearing Commission
Carl Sandburg, Holmes Student Center

Follow the hands as John Miller, executive director of the Illinois Deaf and Hard of Hearing Commission (IDHHC), guides the audience through the actions of IDHHC. Miller will help unravel the great web that seems to surround services and resources within the Deaf Community. Come join Miller as he guides us through the complex and diverse live experiences for anyone who faces issues regarding deafness.

7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 2
The Days of our Deaf Lives: Deaftown
Regency Room, Holmes Student Center

Like the hands in the air, so true are the days of our deaf lives … Once you arrive in Deaftown, you are guaranteed to experience the everyday lives of individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing. You will leave Deaftown with a better awareness of deaf culture and realize the importance of diverse communication modes in the days of our deaf lives.

7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 3
All My Deafies: Reality Show
Carl Sandburg Auditorium, Holmes Student Center

Stay tuned to All My Deafies to find out the latest happenings in the town of “Deaf” Valley. Through the eyes of individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing, get an exclusive look at various episodes that portray the reality of their lives in the deaf community. You are guaranteed to get the scoop about what you always wanted to know about deaf culture.

9 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 4
The Bold & The Signing: Sign Sync
Carl Sandburg Auditorium, Holmes Student Center

Come see the glamorous side of the NIU Deaf Community during the bold and beautiful signing performances. Sit back and appreciate the song interpretations via sign language performed by NIU students, faculty, and staff, Program for Hearing Impaired students and staff, and individuals from the DeKalb area community.

7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 5
One CODA Life to Live: The Abababa Tour
Carl Sandburg Auditorium, Holmes Student Center

After more than 30 years, One CODA Life to Live tells us that some things DO get better with age. Alan "Abababa" Abarbanell and his family characters are at the center of this comedic performance showing us his actions, activities, friends and family engaging in family misunderstandings and developing the strongest bonds a family unit can.

Sponsors are Affirmative Action & Diversity Resources, Center for Access-Ability Resources, Department of Communicative Disorders, DeafPRIDE, Illinois Deaf and Hard of Hearing Commission, Illinois Teachers of Hard of Hearing/Deaf Individuals (Areas 5 & 6), Presidential Commission on Persons with Disabilities, Program for Hearing Impaired, and Unity in Diversity Steering Committee.

For more information, call 753-6527 V/TTY or 753-1694 V/TTY or E-mail: mcormier@niu.edu or jmontag@niu.edu. Sign Language/Voice Interpreters provided. To request other accommodations, please contact the Center for Access-Ability Resources at 753-1694 V/TTY.

All events are free and open to all.

NIU Community School
to perform four concerts

The NIU Community School of the Arts is going on the road.

On Saturday, Nov. 20, performers from the program will take the stage at the Barnes and Noble Store in DeKalb. The concert is part of a fundraising book sale the store is holding on behalf of the community school. The store will donate a percentage of all purchases made from Nov. 19 to 21 by people who use a special voucher. Call 753-1450 for a voucher. All proceeds will go toward the program’s scholarship fund.

Other free concerts this month:

• at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 3, the CSA Sinfonia, a regional youth orchestra, performs under the direction of Linc Smelser in the Concert Hall of the NIU Music Building.
• at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, November 7, the CSJazz Band performs under the director of Johan Eriksson in the Concert Hall of the NIU Music Building.

Meanwhile, teachers in the NIU Community School of the Arts are featured in the Gala Teachers’ Recital at NIU at 8 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 11, in the Recital Hall of the NIU Music Building.

The annual recital showcases the talented teachers of this local arts organization. Performing on viola is director of the Suzuki violin program and NIU violin instructor Ann Montzka-Smelser. She will be joined in a duet by cellist Linc Smelser, conductor of the community school’s two youth orchestras, as well as the Kishwaukee Symphony Orchestra and NIU cello instructor.

Other performers are flutist Cheryl Haines, who is the principal flutist with the Rockford Symphony Orchestra, and pianist Jodeen Coulter, DeKalb public school music teacher and early education teacher with the community school.

World musicians Anny Hsu and Jui-Ching Wang will perform a piano duet. Singing a duet are voice teachers Erin Smith and Christopher Truesdell, performing a violin duet are Kara Eubanks and Jay Gemkow, playing Bach on the steel pan is Malika Green, and performing on piano are Fabiola de Pinheiro and Barbara Bochenek.

This recital is a scholarship fundraising event. The community school awards more than $5,000 in talent and need scholarships to young people each year. Tickets may be purchased in advance or at the door and cost $6 for adults, $3 for children under 12, and $12 for families.

The NIU Community School of the Arts is sponsored by the College of Visual and Performing Arts. Classes and lessons are year-round and are offered in music, art, and theatre for children and adults.

For more information, call Renee Page, NIU Community School of the Arts, at 753-1450.

Visiting scholar will lecture
on Islam, international relations

Visiting scholar Muddathir Abdel-Rahim will present a public lecture titled, “Islam and International Relations: Peace, Conflict and Diplomacy,” from 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 4, in the Heritage Room of Holmes Student Center.

Abdel-Rahim is a professor of political science and Islamic studies at the International Institute of Islamic Thought and Civilization in Malaysia. He joins NIU’s Center for Southeast Asian Studies through funding from the American University of Beirut program, “Understanding Contemporary Islam.”

“Diplomacy in the Arab and Muslim world is rooted in Islam, a word that means peace,” Abdel-Rahim said.

“My lecture will examine the principles on which international relations were conceived and evolved in Islamic civilization, going back to the rise of Islam in the 7th century. In the Muslim world view, peace remains the highest priority.”

Abdel-Rahim is visiting NIU for the fall semester, presenting lectures in various political science and anthropology courses. Originally from the Sudan, he at one time served as a Sudanese ambassador to the Nordic countries.

He also has worked for the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization and has taught at universities in Africa, England, the United States and the Arab world. He has been teaching in Malaysia for the past decade.

Black Studies hosts
sixth Kuumba Festival

The Center for Black Studies in conjunction with several co-sponsors are proud to announce the sixth annual Kuumba Festival at 7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 5, in the Duke Ellington Ballroom of the Holmes Student Center.

The purpose of the Kuumba Festival must begin with the definition of Kuumba. The term Kuumba is derived from the Swahili language meaning creativity. Kuumba is also the sixth principal of the Nguso Saba, part of the Kwanza celebration, beginning Dec. 26 and ending Jan. 1.

The theme for this year’s celebration is “Hip-Hop Meets Jazz,” incorporating creative expression through music and dance in the hopes of celebrating and beginning to restore the community to its original greatness.

Call 753-5960 for more information.

PCSW hosts luncheon
on women in literature

Lynne M. Thomas, curator of rare books and special collections at Founders Memorial Library, will speak at 11:30 a.m. Friday, Nov. 19, at a network luncheon in Chandelier Room B of Adams Hall.

Thomas will speak on “Heroines, Harlots and Homebodies: Women in Popular Literature Special Collections at NIU.” Tickets are $7.50 per person ($6.50 for students). Reservations are required by Friday, Nov. 12. Call 753-6351 or e-mail juxl@niu.edu.

The luncheon is co-sponsored by the NIU Presidential Commission on the Status of Women and University Resources for Women. Call 753-9614 for more information.

11-1-04