Nov. 15, 2004, Northern Today Abridged

Five medical professionals from the Congo
training in HIV-AIDS prevention at NIU

NIU is hosting five medical professionals from the Democratic Republic of the Congo who hope their time spent in DeKalb can lessen the devastating blow of HIV and AIDS to their countrymen.

An estimated 1.3 million people have the HIV infection while AIDS has killed 120,000, according to the Centers for Disease Control, which accounts for a prevalence rate of nearly 5 percent. The prevalence of HIV and AIDS in the United States is less than 1 percent.

Ngoyi K. Zacharie Bukonda, an associate professor in the School of Allied Health Professions in the NIU College of Health and Human Sciences who counts family and friends among the dead, received a grant for $100,000 from the United States Agency for International Development to support the project.

The group from the Congo – Bukonda’s country of origin – arrived Saturday to begin two weeks of training primarily to develop an infection control education program they will implement in their country to improve the attitudes, knowledge and skills of health care professionals in the area of HIV infection control.

“I am very concerned about the plight of the African population in this era of HIV and AIDS,” Bukonda said. “I’ve had the chance to visit many hospitals there. Everywhere I went, I saw HIV killing people. I can make a difference, and I know NIU can make a difference.”

“This is a very significant activity. HIV and AIDS are really at epidemic proportions, particularly in developing countries. Africa is going to lose a whole generation,” said Sherilynn Spear, chair of the School of Allied Health Professions. “Ngoyi is very dedicated to this. He speaks five languages, including English and French, and communicates and understands the African health care systems in ways that are culturally sensitive.”

The team coming to NIU includes Audry Mulumba Wa Kamba, the provincial medical officer who oversees the delivery of health care to the 5.5 million inhabitants of the Eastern Kasai province.

Also in the delegation are two faculty members from the Université de Mbuji Mayi – Ghislain Disashi Tumba, dean of the medical school there, and Alain Kabeya Mukonu Batumika, a lecturer – and Crispin Lumbala Wa Mbuyi and Augustin Kazadi Mpoyi Kataku, two medical officers who manage respectively the health zones of Dibindi and Ngandajika. These are two of the 29 health zones in the Eastern Kasai province. The country counts about 500 health zones, each of which includes about 150,000 people.

The challenge they face is monumental.

War has ravaged the country, Bukonda said, spreading HIV and AIDS as soldiers rape women while some of the widows of men killed in the fighting become sex workers to support their families. Without any other meaningful prospect, a number of war orphans also are turning to prostitution for money, he said. Those who are selling sex do not use protection if it would violate the wishes of the clients.

Poverty plays another role. The cost for a year’s supply of medicine to treat HIV and AIDS – about $600 in United States money – is twice the average annual income of most citizens. Meanwhile, Bukonda said, those who can afford treatment sometimes find none is available or perhaps fall victim to unsafe delivery of medicine and procedures of care.

Attitudes of denial and sometimes fear among their countrymen regarding HIV and AIDS also work against the reduction of the disease, he said. Many refuse to acknowledge HIV and AIDS as a critical health issue, he said. Many women are not open to talking about their sexual activity. Others refuse to accept the science behind how HIV and AIDS are transmitted, and family members of the dead rarely reveal to others what killed their relatives.

Even Bukonda, who lost his sister, his nephew and countless friends to the disease, found the cause of his sister’s death in tiny print in a letter he received informing him of her passing.

“It’s ‘business as usual,’ and that needs to change. Without the courage to face up to it, people will continue to die, to suffer. It’s not necessary for people to die,” he said. “We still have a long way to go. Basic knowledge to protect oneself is needed, and it is unfortunate that most people don’t get that knowledge.”

NIU’s pilot project will help to create a model for HIV infection training, something Bukonda hopes will impact at least 60 to 75 percent of health care professionals in the two health zones targeted by the project. The next two weeks also will help the five health care leaders to develop plans for forming, deploying and coaching quality improvement teams who will monitor the quality of care in their zones to lower the rates of infections caused by unsafe medical practices.

The African visitors will hear lectures and watch demonstrations given by Bukonda and others from the College of Health and Human Sciences and elsewhere, including Musau Wakabongo, clinical associate professor of microbiology at Des Moines University; Kishwaukee Community Hospital; Cook County Hospital; and the Joint Commission Resource, a subsidiary of the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Health Care Organizations.

All are eager for knowledge, Bukonda said, as are the health care providers in the Congo who will benefit after the team’s return.

“We need people to learn, and to be exposed to updated technology. They want to learn, to be exposed. You cannot give something you don’t have yourself,” he said. “They’re very interested in what our university has to offer, and they want our support.”

CEET partners with Falex Corp.

The Northern Illinois University College of Engineering and Engineering Technology has been invited to participate in the creation of a new research center to test ultra-hard coatings for materials.

The Center for Tribology and Coatings will be operated as a not-for-profit entity by Falex Corp., which has asked CEET to be partner in the project. CTC is in line for a grant from the Department of Defense to create the center, but is awaiting final approval of the appropriation.

“We are very excited at the opportunity to partner with Falex, which has literally set the international standards for test methods and equipment in this important field,” said CEET Dean Promod Vohra, who sits on the board of directors of the center.

“This center will provide research opportunities for our faculty, particularly in mechanical engineering, and it will create research and internship opportunities for students,” Vohra said. “We are always mindful of serving the needs of our region, and coatings are fast becoming of critical importance to manufacturers. Participation in the CTC will help us to become a leader in this field.”

Falex considers NIU an important participant in the CTC, said Andrew Faville, president and CEO of Falex Corp. The university is expected to provide researchers, important facilities and leadership in establishing educational offerings that will play a central role in disseminating the center’s accomplishments.

“We sought out NIU as a partner in this project not only because of its outstanding facilities and faculty, but also because of the attitude that Dean Vohra and the university bring to a project. The college is an ambitious and agile organization that shares our view that when opportunities arise you must seize the day,” Faville said. “We work with universities all over the world. The attitude of NIU’s engineering school when it comes to embracing technology and change creates a wonderful working relationship. We look at NIU as a key long-term partner.”

Tribology is the science of the mechanisms of friction, lubrication and wear of interacting surfaces that are in relative motion.

Sugar Grove, Ill.-based Falex is considered the world’s leading company providing test equipment and research in the field, having created the machinery and tests and developed the standards of measurement most commonly used in this area of study.

The center will focus primarily on creating tests to evaluate new coatings designed to reduce wear and friction of materials. In some cases, such coatings have been found to extend the life of parts by 4 to 10 times.

However, the coatings are often so hard that no fast and economical means of testing them has been devised to evaluate their effectiveness, slowing their acceptance in the broader marketplace. Researchers at the center will work to overcome that barrier by creating new testing protocols and machinery to conduct tests and create standards.

The center also will devise ways to test the behavior of coatings in micro-electromechanical systems and in the nano-scale devices that are coming into use in defense and commercial aerospace, ground warfare vehicles, helicopters, space vehicles, medical devices and many other applications. Coatings are of particular importance in these applications because the machinery is so miniscule that lubricants often lose their lubricating properties at such small scales.

The center will initially be based at Falex headquarters but ultimately will operate at the DuPage Research Park, putting it near coating developers such as Argonne National Laboratory and commercial manufacturing companies that will apply the technology to products rapidly.

NIU Art Museum displays ‘hidden treasures’ of Burma

Dating from the 7th through 20th centuries, some of the most stunning sculptures, tapestries and manuscripts from the NIU collection of Burmese Buddhist artworks are on display at the Art Museum in Altgeld Hall.

The exhibition will continue through June of 2005.

“It’s wonderful to see the hidden treasures of the Burmese arts,” says Catherine Raymond, curator of the exhibition titled, “The World of Burmese Buddhism.”

Raymond, a historian of Asian art and native of France, came to NIU two years ago to serve as director of the NIU Center for Burma Studies.

“I was teaching in Paris, but I came here for this collection, because it is so extraordinary,” Raymond says. “It’s hard to single out any items because we have many rare artifacts. NIU boasts one of the largest collections of Burmese art in the United States. We have over 1,000 pieces, with 60 to 70 of the most exquisite items on display in this exhibition.”

Those artworks include:

• A 7th century, finger-sized, bronze Buddha statue from the first Burmese civilization, known as the Pyu.
• Votive tablets, offered up by Buddhist pilgrims of the Pyu (7th to 9th centuries) and Pagan (11th to 13th centuries) periods.
• A variety of Buddha images from the 16th to the 19th centuries in bronze, silver and gilded wood.
• A pair of monumental kinnari and kinnara figures, mythological half-human, half-bird creatures that once graced the Court of Mandalay, the seat of Burmese royalty in the 18th and 19th centuries.
• Sculptures of the fierce Bilu spirits from the Court of Mandalay.
• A teakwood chest used for storage of ancient manuscripts and adorned with intricate engravings depicting the life of Buddha.

The Burmese artworks were carefully preserved in storage over the past five years, while Altgeld Hall was under renovation and the NIU Art Museum was without a permanent home.

The public was able to view some of the artworks during a traveling exhibit several years ago, but many new acquisitions have never been displayed in the United States.

NIU was selected as the national Center for Burma Studies in 1986. It is the only center devoted exclusively to Burma studies worldwide. Under the direction of Raymond’s predecessor, Professor Emeritus Richard Cooler, the center amassed its impressive collection of Burmese artworks, often donated by diplomats and scholars who lived in Burma. The country became known as Myanmar in 1989.

Myanmar today has a population of 43 million people and is among the most impoverished countries of Southeast Asia. The country borders India, China, Laos and Thailand, while its coastline runs along the Andaman Sea and the Bay of Bengal. Tropical jungles, including valuable teak forests, at one time covered about half of the nation’s territory.

For most of the past millennium, monarchies ruled in Burma, although the country fell under British rule during the 19th century. British colonialism ended shortly after World War II, and since that time, the country has experienced a state of political unrest.

The great majority of the people of Myanmar remain Buddhists, and Buddhism is reflected in nearly all Burmese artworks. Most of the items on display at the NIU Art Museum are teak carvings and sculptures, finished in lacquer and covered in gold leaf.

The exhibit is divided into seven sections exploring the diversity and complexity of the art of Burmese Buddhism.

“Our hope is that this exhibit will be widely viewed,” Raymond says. “It’s so unique, and it makes for a wonderful teaching tool to convey a better understanding of international art. NIU has taken excellent care of this collection for the past 18 years. For me, it’s an honor to be responsible for putting this show together.”

Each week the NIU Art Museum is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday, from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Thursday, and from noon to 4 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. Community and school groups are encouraged to visit as well.

Group visits can be arranged by calling the Center for Burma Studies at (815) 753-0512. See www.grad.niu.edu/burma/ for more information on the Burmese collections.

CEET gets grant to study environmentally conscious manufacturing

The manufacturing Systems Research Group at NIU’s College of Engineering and Engineering Technology has received a $100,000 grant from Illinois Department of Natural Resources to focus on environmentally conscious manufacturing.

Nourredine Boubekri, a professor of industrial engineering and director of manufacturing research, innovation and training at CEET, secured the grant and is principle investigator on the project with Behrooz Fallahi from the Department of Mechanical Engineering. Their aim is to investigate the effectiveness of mico lubrication in machining and the resulting environmental and health effects.

Specifically, their work will focus on reducing the amount of cutting fluid used in machining operations.

More than 100 million gallons of metal working fluids are used in the United States each year, exposing about 1.2 million employees to potential health hazards. According to the Occupational Health and Safety Administration, such exposure can result in a variety of respiratory disorders, including asthma and hypersensitivity pneumonitis, and also might cause conditions such as dermatitis and cancer.

The research is of particular importance in Illinois, where metal-cutting industries account for about 37 percent of the state’s manufacturing sector, but also could have implications to the metal-cutting industry worldwide.

“There is a definite need to lead research efforts in this area in our college and at NIU,” Boubekri said. “This is a truly multidisciplinary field of research that encompasses machining science, environmental issues and health research issues.”

Because of the wide range of issues involved, Boubekri six months ago formed a group of faculty and students from the College of Engineering and Engineering Technology, and the mathematics and physics departments to collaborate on a number of competitive proposals in this arena. The grant from the Waste Management Research Center is the result of the first proposal submitted by that group.

The long-term plan of the group is to collaborate with faculty from departments across NIU in order to establish this as a multidisciplinary area of research excellence that can be sustained. To achieve that goal, the group is focusing its efforts on securing competitive funding and collaborating with a number of companies and laboratories including Ingersoll Inc., Caterpillar Corp., and the EIGERlab in Rockford.

“It is my goal to collaborate with all in order to help establish similar successes in the College of Engineering and Engineering Technology, and I invite all interested in these research areas to join our group,” Boubekri said.

Before joining NIU as department chair two years ago, Boubekri founded and co-directed the University of Miami Industrial Assessment Center in Florida, funded through a competitive $1.2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy. He also founded and directed the current Manufacturing Research Center at the University of Miami, funded through an industry consortium.

Northern Star earns national awards

NIU’s student-run newspaper, The Northern Star, has earned headlines of its own.

The paper’s Wednesday, Nov. 3, issue – the morning after Election Day, it featured coverage only a few hours old when it hit the streets – won “Best of Show” honors for four-year daily tabloids at the National College Media Convention held the weekend of Nov. 5 in Nashville.

NSRadio’s coverage of a Huskie football game captured second-place honors in a category where the rivals consisted of solely college radio stations rather than an online broadcast operated by a student newspaper.

Finally, the Star’s nationally lauded Web site – www.northernstar.info – was among a dozen schools that collected Online Pacemaker awards, the collegiate equivalent of a Pulitzer Prize.

“Our staff is really excited,” said managing editor Kristin Cavarretta, who will succeed longtime editor Mark Bieganski next semester. “Each person could feel like they contributed to that (Nov. 3) product. We worked really hard.”

“These awards are a testament to the everyday effort everyone puts in here,” Bieganski said. “There were lots of smiles and lots of ‘Are you serious?’ – we’ve all been in a really good mood the last few days.”

Adding to their pride is the caliber of the competition, including Northwestern University, home of the celebrated Medill School of Journalism. The Daily Northwestern took third place, behind the Arizona Daily Wildcat of the University of Arizona. Eastern Illinois University and Duke University rounded out the top five.

“It’s always tough competing against those schools with well-known schools of journalism, where the rankings are based on their school, not their product,” Cavarretta said. “It always feels good to be recognized, especially at a national convention.”

“Other school newspapers have advantages that Northern doesn’t have when it comes to journalism. It’s the far more prestigious schools that typically win national awards,” Star adviser Jim Killam added. “For us to compete in that realm says a lot about how hard our students work and how dedicated they are to this. I’m just proud for them.”

Student employees across all the news operations, including reporters, photographers, copy editors, page designers and managers, worked until 5:30 a.m. on the Nov. 3 issue before sending it press.

Bieganksi, Cavarretta and their team of editors also spent plenty of time preparing for Election Day, planning stories in advance, training reporters with no election-coverage experience, dispatching staff across the county and as far away as St. Charles and budgeting a late deadline for 15 stories.

“It was a huge success,” Bieganski said. “An election like this only comes every four years, and this was their time to shine.”

The radio’s award, coming only a year after broadcasting began, also is considered a major accomplishment.

“We’re sort of competing in foreign territory,” Killam said. “To have a student radio station generated by the newspaper, as far as I know, is unique.”

Of course, the award merely confirms that NSRadio is doing something right: Huskie fans overloaded the online server during the broadcast of the season opener in Maryland, Killam said.

Meanwhile, the Star’s Web presence has become a major task this year. Jeremy Norman, who created, maintained and constantly enhanced the frequently awarded site, graduated last spring. A team of students now is employed to manage the homepage.

“Jeremy left some huge shoes to fill,” Cavarretta said. “Everyone said he was a machine.”

Yet the Web site continues to attract thousands of visitors each day and remains highly versatile, she said, featuring virtual reams of content not found in the print edition.

“We’re one of the few newspapers doing online-only, and that’s something we’re proud of,” she said.

“A lot of other schools are looking at it. Professional papers are looking at it. We hear from them, so we know they are,” Killam said. “Alumni are looking at it, too.”

A similar challenge awaits the news staff. Fifteen of the Star’s editors, Bieganski and Cavarretta included, graduate in the spring.

“Training will become our big focus,” Bieganski said, “so we can carry the same caliber into next year’s paper.”

Chemistry Club to sponsor glassblowing demonstration, sale

The NIU Chemistry Club will sponsor its annual glassblowing demonstration and sale at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 16, in Faraday Hall 143.

Slated to last an hour, the demonstration will be conducted by master glassblower Dan Edwards of the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. Edwards designs, manufactures and repairs much of the scientific glassware used by the department for instruction and research.

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

Items created during the demonstration, and others prepared in advance, will be on sale before and after the demonstration outside the auditorium.

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

“It’s fascinating to watch as Dan turns an ordinary glass rod into a sparkling icicle, or a hummingbird perched on a stylized tree,” Spires added. “It’s great fun for the whole family. 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.”

Visitors planning to attend the demonstration can park after 7 p.m. in the campus parking garage on Normal Road but should avoid the first-level reserved spaces.

Remaining items will be sold from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 17, or until all items have been sold, in the main lobby of Faraday Hall West.

Second phase of canned spam begins Nov. 22

GroupWise users soon will notice something different about their in-boxes.

Spam is a problem for all organizations, not just NIU. Conservative estimates are that the average user in a business environment receives 10 spam messages every day, accounting for 28 percent of their incoming mail. Based on NIU’s student, faculty and staff population, and using this estimate, NIU would have 300,000 pieces of spam e-mail wasting bandwidth, storage space and precious time.

Many recipients of spam are offended by the content of the subject lines or graphic content of the messages. Often, spam messages host Trojan-type viruses that could infect the systems of users who unwittingly open them. Creators of spam are growing increasingly clever to trick recipients into opening their messages.

CanIT-Pro Software Solution

In March, Information Technology Services began to test an affordable spam software solution called CanIT-Pro, by Roaring Penguin Enterprises, a company dedicated to spam science. CanIT-Pro not only allows broad administrative control over known spam, it allows end-users to further customize their own black and white lists as an added protective measure.

Phase I — Everyone opted “OUT” (volunteers opted “IN”)

Since March, more than 150 administrative and support members of the NIU community have volunteered to use CanIT-Pro on a test basis. To date, more than 1 million attachments and 600,000 virus-infected files have been blocked. Because of the successful trial, ITS has decided to move ahead Tuesday, Nov. 22, with Phase II.

Phase II — Everyone Automatically Opted “IN”

Phase II involves scanning all e-mail sent to an alias@niu.edu address.

The product tags suspected spam mail before it arrives in a mailbox. By default all NIU recipients will be opted “IN.” The scanning takes place at the edge of our network before messages are delivered to a mail server. It doesn’t matter what client is used to read mail (whether GroupWise, Corn, Netscape, AOL, etc). Suspicious mail will continue to be delivered as usual with one minor change. Messages that have characteristics typical of spam will be identified with a new subject line that looks like:

[Spam: ***SpamScore]…

The number of asterisks will vary and is based on the number of spam-type properties found in the message. The artificial intelligence within CanIT-Pro compares each message against a list of properties commonly associated with spam. For each item found, the score reflects another asterisk in the spam score. Items found to have a score of more than 20 will be administratively rejected. The sender will always receive notification that their message was not delivered.

Phase III — Spam Not Delivered

Phase III is scheduled to begin during the first quarter of 2005. At that time, messages that have been identified as spam will not be delivered.

Your help is needed

Spam scanning is not perfect. Legitimate messages may be misidentified as spam, and spam messages can pass through undetected. Establishing personal blacklists and/or whitelists will be required to counteract repeated messages that are incorrectly tagged. This effort will ensure that our lists are properly informed, which means less hassle for everyone once we launch Phase III.

As space allows, faculty and staff are welcome to attend the Nov. 18 “Let’s Talk Can Spam” session. To register call the ITS Customer Support Center at 753-8100. For more information about CanIT-Pro including step-by-step instructions on how to customize your black and white lists, visit the ITS Web site: www.its.niu.edu >e-mail >can spam.

2005 calendars available

Poster-size calendars for 2005 will be available soon from NIUTEL.

These calendars are marked with academic dates and holiday and administrative closures. Quantities are limited, so please e-mail NIUTEL via GroupWise to reserve calendars for your office soon. You will be notified when they are ready for pick-up.

Ethics training deadline looms Wednesday

All university faculty, staff, graduate assistants and student workers (full-time, part-time, regular and temporary) are reminded that they must complete mandatory ethics training under the Illinois State Officials and Employees Ethics Act by Wednesday, Nov. 17. Employees who have not yet completed this online training are reminded that the law requires that this training be completed during the established training period. Penalties and fines could result from failure to complete the training.

To date, more than 6,000 employees have completed the training. The remaining employees will be contacted by the supervisor, dean or vice president. The university administration acknowledges all the employees who have worked to keep Northern in compliance with this law. If you have questions about how to complete ethics training, call 753-6039, or email EthicsTraining@niu.edu. Complete information is available on the Human Resource Services website, and further information is available through Information Technology Services at 753-8100.

Speaker on Middle East to visit campus Wednesday

Solving the conflict between Palestine and Israel is often called the linchpin to peace in the Middle East.

Was that conflict the major reason for our attack on Iraq, as some Middle East scholars maintain? How will Yassar Arafat’s death affect the chances for peace with Israel? Will Sharon’s proposal for withdrawal from Jewish settlements in Gaza lead only to more settlements and increased violence in the West Bank?

Ali Abinimah, a prominent Chicago writer and commentator on Middle East affairs, will address these and other issues at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 17, in the Lincoln Room of Holmes Student Center. His address will include recommendations for ending the seemingly intractable violence between the Israelis and the Palestinians.

Abinimah was born in the United States and grew up in Europe. His parents are originally from Palestine. He received his bachelor’s degree from Princeton University and his master’s degree from the University of Chicago, where he is a full-time researcher at the Children’s Policy Research Center.

The public is invited to Abinamah’s presentation, sponsored by the DeKalb Interfaith Network for Peace & Justice and the Northern Coalition for Peace and Justice. For information, call Cele Meyer (815) 758-0796 or 753-6408.

NIU Campus Child Care has pre-school openings

The NIU Campus Child Care Center has openings for preschool-age children (ages 3 to 5) for the upcoming spring semester. The program has been accredited through the National Academy of Early Childhood Programs since 1992.

The center employs teachers with degrees in early childhood education and maintain high quality group sizes and teacher/child ratios. Teachers help children learn the skills they need to be successful in school. Call 753-0125 to receive a preschool program brochure or visit www.ccc.niu.edu for detailed information about the overall program.

Applications for the spring semester can be picked up at the center or mailed out as of Friday, Nov. 19.

Graduate School seeks nominees for honorary degrees

NIU’s Graduate School has issued its annual call for nominations for honorary doctoral degrees. Nominations are due Friday, Dec. 17, to Rathindra N. Bose, vice president for research and dean of the Graduate School.

Past recipients include Speaker of the House J. Dennis Hastert, distinguished historian Arthur Schlessinger Jr., the late U.S. Sen. Paul Simon, the late astronomer Carl Sagan, the late poet Gwendolyn Brooks and the late U.S. Supreme Court Justice Harry A. Blackmun.

Awarding an honorary degree is an opportunity to recognize someone especially outstanding in a field of interest to the university. It is necessary, though not sufficient, for a nominee to be accomplished or renowned in his or her field; an honorary degree recipient should be clearly exceptional among other outstanding persons in that field.

While a connection to NIU or to the State of Illinois is not a requirement for nomination, any such relationships should be noted and will be considered during the selection process.

A nomination must be accompanied by a supporting narrative that clearly indicated the nominee’s distinction, one or more standard biographical statements from appropriate reference sources and current mailing address.

Any person affiliated with NIU may submit a nomination, indicating the nominator’s identify and connection with the university. The Honorary Degree Committee encourages nominations by groups as well as individuals. Nominators should alert all university departments and divisions related to the area of the nominee’s accomplishments and invite those units to provide the committee with input regarding the merits of the nomination.

As the university does not intend to award more than two honorary degrees in a year, the selection process is stringent. Furthermore, as the committee’s recommendations subsequently pass through several other approval steps, the process is lengthy.

Alumni Association seeks nominees for awards

The Alumni Association is seeking nominations for its 2005 Alumni Association Awards Program.

The program recognizes graduates who have achieved national, regional or statewide prominence either in their professional fields or through their involvement in civic, cultural, or charitable activities. The nomination deadline is Dec. 10, and all awards will be presented April 21, 2005.

Nomination forms are available online from www.myniu.com or by contacting the Alumni Association at alums@niu.edu or at 753-1452.

Individuals can be nominated for the following awards:

The Distinguished Alumni Award
The NIU Alumni Association’s most prestigious award, the Distinguished Alumni Award is presented to a member of NIU’s alumni body regardless of the college they graduated from, who has achieved outstanding success or recognition.

F.R. Geigle Service Award
The F.R. Geigle Service Award is presented to an individual who has demonstrated outstanding service and commitment to the best interests of NIU. This service may have been given in the classroom, in other university activities, or in the wider community. This award may be given to non-alumni of Northern.

Outstanding College Alumni Awards
Seven Outstanding College Alumni are selected to represent the university's seven colleges, highlighting the diverse disciplines of a comprehensive university.

Outstanding Alumni Award
The Outstanding Alumni Award is given to a graduate, regardless of NIU college affiliation, who has received an undergraduate degree from NIU within the past 10 years and has shown outstanding promise and success.

Awards available for student leaders

The Office of University Programming and Activities is giving out rewards for student leaders.

Each year Programming & Activities offers Leadership Awards for students who have shown outstanding participation and leadership in student organizations, thereby significantly enhancing the quality of campus life. The awards recognize the initiative, hard work, and dedication that students put into their activities outside of class. The awards bestow honor and recognition, and in some cases, money.

Leadership Awards are available for freshman, sophomore, junior, senior, and graduate students. There is also a category for outstanding student organization.

In addition, the Division of Student Services annually awards institutional tuition waivers to talented and special students based on their campus involvement, contributions to the quality of campus life, and potential for future achievement. Students also can nominate faculty and staff for the Outstanding Faculty Advisor award.

Students can apply for the awards by filling out an application form available at the Programming & Activities Office, Campus Life Building 150. Forms can also be downloaded from the Programming and Activities here www.stuaff.niu.edu/upa/lead.htm. Applications must be supported by two letters of recommendation.

The application deadline is 2 p.m. Friday, Feb. 7. Students will be notified of results in March, and awards will be presented April 18 at the annual Campus Leadership Awards Ceremony.

Law Library announces end-of-semester hours

The David C. Shapiro Memorial Law Library has announced its hours for the end of the semester and the beginning of the new year.

The library is closed Thursday, Nov. 25, through Saturday, Nov. 27, for the Thanksgiving recess. The library also is closed from Friday, Dec. 24, through Sunday, Jan. 2, for winter break.

Hours Wednesday, Nov. 24, are 7:15 a.m. to 5 p.m., and hours Sunday, Nov. 28 are noon to 11:30 p.m. Hours from Saturday, Dec. 4, to Tuesday, Dec. 21, are 7:15 a.m. to 2 a.m. Monday through Thursday, 7:15 a.m. to 1 a.m. Fridays, 10 a.m. to 1 a.m. Saturdays and 10 a.m. to 2 a.m. Sundays.

Hours for Wednesday, Dec. 22, are 7:15 a.m. to 5 p.m. Hours for Thursday, Dec. 23, are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Hours for Monday, Jan. 3, through Sunday, Jan. 16, are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, 1 to 5 p.m. Saturdays and 1 to 5 p.m. Sundays. The library is open from 1 to 10 p.m. Monday, Jan. 17.

For more information, call 753-0507.

Convo Center welcomes Larry the Cable Guy

“Blue-collar” comedian Larry the Cable Guy will visit the NIU Convocation Center at 8 p.m. Friday, Jan. 21.

Tickets are $33.25 for NIU students with an ID (limit two) and $38.25 for the general public. Tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday, Nov. 19. Tickets are available at the Convocation Center box office, all Ticketmaster outlets, by calling (312) 559-1212, or visiting www.ticketmaster.com.

NIU Lifelong Learning Institute sponsors
New York Theatre Weekend Jan. 15-17

NIU's Lifelong Learning Institute, along with the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and the Department of English, are sponosring a New York Theater Weekend from Jan. 15 to 17. Diane L. Swanson, an associate professor in the English Department, and Steven Johnson, director of External Program in the college, are the guides.

The cost is $845 per person (or $745 before Dec. 1). The price includes accommodations in a great mid-town Manhattan hotel, two Broadway shows and two tours: one of Manhattan and one of the Museum of Modern Art. The group also will enjoy a special private welcome dinner at Sardi's.

Travelers can attend a 'dress rehearsal' just prior to the trip (the date will be announced later) to become more familiar with the itinerary, faculty, and the city itself. Call 753-5200 for more information.

11-15-04