September 12, 2005, Northern Today Abridged

NIU reaches out to college students
displaced by Hurricane Katrina

The NIU campus has rallied to aid those affected by Hurricane Katrina.

In the days since the storm roared ashore, devastating large swaths of the Gulf Coast and inundating New Orleans with flood waters, the university has stepped forward with offers to assist displaced students and contributions to relief operations.

“It was impossible not to be touched by the human suffering caused by this disaster, and I am very proud of the way that the entire campus community has pitched in to help,” said NIU President John Peters, who issued a campus-wide plea for faculty and staff to reach out to victims of the storm.

One facet of that assistance was an offer to enroll college students from Illinois who were attending Gulf Coast schools only to have their education put on hold by Katrina.

“We fully realized the headaches that come with last-minute, mid-semester enrollment of students, and the complexities of interstate transfers,” Peters said, “but considering the trauma these students have experienced, it seemed like a small sacrifice to make.”

Around 20 to 30 students contacted the university, and to date six undergraduates and two graduate students have enrolled. By marshalling a wide array of resources, the university has been able to ensure those students have no out-of-pocket expenses for tuition or fees.

Vice Provost Gip Seaver, who was the point person coordinating efforts between colleges, financial aid, the bursar's office and others on campus, said that an extraordinary level of cooperation and compassion made that process move smoothly.

“People didn't worry about barriers; they worried about finding solutions for these students,” Seaver said, adding that offers of help came from all directions.

“I had calls from faculty members offering to house students for free, a local Realtor called and offered free apartments and I had offers of help from local churches. That kind of support from the community is one of the great things about NIU.”

Dana Gautcher, NIU's scholarship coordinator and financial retention advocate, worked directly with many of the displaced students. Most, she said, were spared the worst of the hurricane and its aftermath, getting out before it hit. However, they are still dealing with a myriad of issues.

“Many had family members or friends who were in the Superdome, or who were trapped in their houses. Many don't know if family and friends are alive and, if so, where,” Gautcher said.

“It is amazing to see their determination in the face of all of that, and it was wonderful how so many offices on campus worked quickly, efficiently and effectively to assist these students,” she added. “There is so much in their lives that is in a shambles, and will remain so for a very long time, so it was nice that we were able to help them return to some small semblance of normalcy in one area of their lives.”

Many NIU employees who did not work directly with displaced students offered assistance by donating money toward relief efforts. Many chose to make their donation through the state's State and University Combined Appeal (SECA) program.

Contributions will be accepted through Friday, Sept. 16.

“In the face of such a massive disaster, it is easy to feel helpless,” Peters said. “I am extremely proud that so many here at NIU have found ways to reach out to the victims of Katrina, and hope that we will all continue to do so in the months ahead.”

NIU teams up with Burpee Museum to bring
world's top dinosaur hunters to Rockford

NIU and Burpee Museum of Natural History in Rockford are gathering together some of the world's most famous dinosaur experts to discuss one of the most enigmatic creatures ever to roam the planet, the tyrannosaurus.

The scientific symposium, the first ever on the life and times of the fiercest predatory dinosaur, will be held over the weekend of Sept. 16-18 at the Burpee Museum and Clock Tower Resort in Rockford. Presentations and discussions will be open to the public. (Ticket information is below.)

Dinosaur-hunting stars making the trek to Rockford will include Philip Currie, one of the world's top experts on tyrannosaurs, as well as a leading proponent of the dinosaur-bird link; Robert Bakker, who popularized the idea that dinosaurs might have been warm-blooded animals; Gregory Erickson, an expert on the growth rate of T. rex; Mary Higby Schweitzer, whose discovery of soft tissue from a Tyrannosaurus rex made world headlines earlier this year; James Farlow, a leading authority on dinosaur footprints and mobility; and Peter Larson, who excavated the Chicago Field Museum's famous T. rex, Sue.

In all, about 30 top scientists from across the United States, Canada, Asia and Europe are scheduled to present findings at the symposium, which will be covered by a reporter from National Geographic Magazine. The proceedings will subsequently be published in book form by Northern Illinois University Press.

“We have an extraordinary lineup of experts who will be presenting the latest, cutting-edge research on Tyrannosaurus rex, the largest carnivore ever known to North America,” said Michael Parrish, NIU's chair of biological sciences and resident dinosaur expert.

“An adult T. rex stood 20 feet tall, measured 40 feet in length and weighed about 12,000 pounds,” Parrish added. “It's no wonder the creature has long held the fascination of both scientists and the public alike. The dinosaur has even starred in many movies, from ‘Jurassic Park' to director Peter Jackson's forthcoming ‘King Kong.' But as this conference highlights, there is still much to learn about tyrannosaurs, although new research is making huge strides in our understanding.”

Parrish will be among the symposium presenters, along with NIU Professor William Harrison , Burpee's Collections Manager Scott Williams and Burpee's Curator of Earth Sciences Michael Henderson. It was Henderson, who is working on his Ph.D. at NIU, who led the 2001 expedition to Montana that discovered Jane, the Rockford museum's now world-famous dinosaur.

In June, Burpee Museum unveiled a $1.3 million interactive exhibit hall featuring Jane's skeleton and for the first time announced the dinosaur's pedigree. Some scientists argued that Jane, remarkable in its preservation and skeletal completeness, was the first nearly complete example of Nanotyrannus, a pygmy version of the T. rex. But museum officials, NIU experts and other top scientists have concluded she is indeed a juvenile T. rex, having met an early death at the approximate age of 11.

“Jane has transformed our museum and cemented our relationship with NIU, whose researchers and students were involved in the dinosaur's discovery and classification,” said Lew Crampton, museum president. He noted that NIU's Parrish and Reed Scherer, a professor of geology who specializes in paleo-environments, are now members of the museum's board of trustees.

“This symposium, with scientists worldwide coming to Rockford to present the most advanced research on Jane and on T. rex, is really a validation of the success of the joint research enterprise between the Burpee and NIU,” Crampton added. “This is a relationship that certainly will continue to blossom in the future.”

While Jane is believed to be the best example on the planet of a juvenile T. rex, some debate on her pedigree remains, as will be evident during the symposium. Henderson will kick off a discussion on her classification as a juvenile T. rex, followed by Peter Larson, who will defend the view that the dinosaur might be a different genus altogether. New research findings will be presented on a variety of other topics, including diet, rate of growth, locomotion and evolutionary history of Tyrannosaurus and its close relatives.

“This symposium is a huge step for the Burpee Museum and we are proud to co-host with Northern Illinois University,” Henderson says. “This will be a once in a lifetime opportunity to see these noted paleontologists under one roof.”

The symposium is sponsored in part by Community Foundation of Northern Illinois, Atwood Foundation, Gannett Foundation and NIU.

Tickets for the symposium are $79, with a reduced rate of $64 for students. The cost includes admission to all talks and lunch on both Friday and Saturday, plus admission to Burpee Museum on Sunday. Additionally, a buffet mixer will held at Burpee Museum from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 16. Cost is $25 per person.

To register or learn more about the symposium, call (815) 965-3433 or visit the Burpee Museum 's Web site at www.burpee.org.

Krepel steps in as president's assistant

Tom Krepel understands first-hand the demands placed upon a university president in these times of shrinking budgets, rising enrollments and shifting demands.

While serving as president of Chadron State College in Nebraska for seven years, he dealt with those issues on a daily basis. Now, as assistant to the president at NIU, he will help John Peters wrestle with many of the same challenges.

“Dr. Krepel is an ideal fit for this job and, I believe, a very good fit for NIU,” Peters said.

After a year without an assistant, Peters knew that his office needed to fill that vacancy to ensure that important initiatives received the attention they deserved.

“In the current funding climate, we have to ensure that every dollar we spend, every investment we make, is efficient and helps us achieve our educational and research goals,” Peters explained. “Having a person of Dr. Krepel's experience to coordinate activities will allow me to spend more time working directly with vice presidents to see that we meet that goal.”

Peters said he also looks forward to having more time to interact with students and faculty, and more energy to devote to his growing duties as a fundraiser for the university.

For his part, Krepel said he stands ready to do whatever is required to move the president's agenda forward, whether that means applying his skills in benchmarking institutional performance and planning, or simply filling in for the president at events or handling important correspondence.

“I believe it is difficult to appreciate the scope and diversity of demands placed upon a university president unless you have served in that position,” Krepel said. “There are only so many hours in the day for John Peters, and I hope to relieve some of his workload.”

Krepel arrived on campus Aug. 1, and since then has been working to familiarize himself with the operations of the university. What he has found is that, in many respects, NIU and Chadron State College have an awful lot in common.

“When I arrived and started sitting through meetings on the budget, I experienced a sense of déjà vu; I had heard all about these issues before. Essentially, the biggest difference between here and Chadron is one of scale.”

At Chadron (which is located in the northwest corner of Nebraska ) Krepel directed the operation of a 281-acre campus with a faculty of 110 fulltime professors serving nearly 3,000 students. It was a job that Krepel had been preparing for from the time he began pursuing advance degrees in educational administration and leadership at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, where he completed his doctorate in 1983.

After a three-year stint as an assistant professor at the University of New Orleans, Krepel returned to his alma mater in 1986 to serve as an assistant to the chancellor in the area of university relations, specializing in working with legislators. He left that post in 1990 to teach educational administration at St. Cloud State University and, in 1992, was tapped to become the dean of outreach at Texas A&M University.

In 1997, he accepted the position of senior vice president for academic and student affairs at Chadron State, and within a year he was installed as president of that institution.

Chadron had its share of unique challenges, Krepel said.

As the only degree-granting institution in the western half of Nebraska (its service area covers 49,000 square miles), Chadron had to find ways to deliver services to far-flung areas. To overcome that obstacle, Krepel developed the school's capacity to deliver distance learning; during his tenure, Chadron received approval to offer its entire mathematics program, and its MBA program, online.

Krepel also worked hard to develop strong alliances with community colleges, not just within the school's service region, but also in surrounding states. And, on Krepel's watch, the college also earned accreditation for several of its key programs.

Those successes did not go without notice.

In 2001, the Newsweek/Kaplan College Catalog included Chadron on its list of 31 hidden treasures in higher education, and two years later praised the school for providing good value and personal attention for students.

Krepel looks back with pride on his time at Chadron, but when the opportunity to come to NIU arose, he was eager to take the job.

“NIU is not only 10 times larger than Chadron, it also has a strong reputation nationally, a broad portfolio of programs and initiatives and is located in a fast-growing, dynamic area. The opportunity to be part of such an environment offered a great deal of professional advancement and was very attractive,” he said.

In general, he said, the transition from president to assistant has been a smooth one. As he becomes more familiar with NIU, he is increasingly excited at the prospect of helping the university move forward.

Krepel and his wife, Carol, have moved to DeKalb. They have twin sons, age 20, both of whom remain in Nebraska attending college, one at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and the other at Chadron.

NIU's retention efforts help
to ease first weeks of college

by Joe King

After the last golf cart has been unloaded, the Great Huskie Bash is over and the flurry of welcome-back events concludes, new NIU students begin to settle into campus life.

For most, that rush of activity has helped them make friends and get their bearings, setting them on a path that will end four or five years later at graduation.

For some, however, the process is more difficult. Classes are tougher than they anticipated, friends are harder to come by and the pace of life is faster than they were prepared for. Left to their own devices, many of those students would slip away from campus, victims of poor grades or homesickness, often never to return.

“Making the transition to college is not always an easy thing,” says Vice Provost Earl “Gip” Seaver. “How well, or how poorly, those first few weeks and months go can have a huge impact on whether or not a student ultimately graduates from here.”

To ensure that newly arriving students are finding their niche and, when necessary, getting the assistance they need to settle into their new social and academic environment, the provost's office has placed a special emphasis this fall on retention programs aimed specifically at first-year students.

The Academic Advising Center

Efforts to ensure that as many students as possible make it to graduation day now begin the moment that students set foot on campus, thanks to the newly created Academic Advising Center.

“We are the point of first contact for any student who comes to orientation without having specified a major or college affiliation,” says Michael “Brody” Broshears, director of the center.

That is no small task, as nearly 30 percent of any incoming class arrives without selecting a major.

“That is one of the things we help them understand; that it is not uncommon for incoming students to be undecided,” Broshears says. “We stress that sometimes coming to college undecided on a major is an advantage because it forces them to really think about what they want to do and look at all of the academic programs available.”

The Academic Advising Center assists in that process, with advisers helping students assess their interests, skills and abilities and pointing them in appropriate directions.

As they journey through that process with students, counselors also work with them to make sure they continue to progress toward a degree and complete general education requirements and other courses that are widely applicable.

The center offers the same services to the legions of students who change their initial majors which, according to some studies, is something that 65 percent to 85 percent of students who go to college will do at least once.

“We want students to be successful. Our goal is to give deciding students the support they need to make an informed decision,” says Broshears, who is quick to point out that his office is no substitute for regular counselors within the colleges. “We are here to deal with a very specific population. Once a student chooses a major, we hand them off to counselors in the appropriate college who are better equipped to meet their needs at that time.”

REACH (Retention Efforts for All inComing Huskies)

College can be a scary, lonely place for some freshmen who are far from home with few friends. Identifying those students and providing them with a helping hand is the goal of the First-Year Connections program.

When launched as a pilot program in 2003, REACH was aimed directly at students who did not have some sort of built-in support system, such as membership on an athletic team or being part of ROTC, a Focused Interest Group or a UNIV 101 class. The program was dormant last year, but after review was revived and expanded this year to reach out to as many freshmen as possible.

At the heart of REACH is a group of upperclass students who start calling new students during the third week of the semester to see how they are faring. Callers ask newcomers a series of questions intended to assess how they are doing academically and socially, whether they are experiencing any problems or having difficulty dealing with stress and whether they have visited with an academic adviser.

“The calls are designed to help us learn if these students have connected with the university,” says Scott Peska, who leads the program. “If we find a student who appears to be having difficulty, the REACH caller will ask more questions to see what areas he or she needs help with and then share a list of potential resources.”

If callers identify students who are not thriving academically, they will make them aware of campus resources, such as the tutoring labs and the Writing Center . For those having trouble fitting in, callers will share their experiences with different clubs and organizations and let them know about counseling and other resources available through the Division of Student Affairs to help them adjust.

Follow-up calls to those students who needed assistance are made around the eighth week of the semester.

Peska also is soliciting input from faculty members who identify students who might benefit from this service.

“Our hope is that we can help these students establish a personal connection with the campus to help them persevere through their first few months,” he says.

The Tutoring Center

Many students arrive on campus unprepared for the rigors of college academics. The workload, the pace, a lack of direct supervision and myriad other factors can leave students drowning in their course work.

For them, ACCESS (Access to Courses and Careers through Educational Support Services) provides three tutoring centers, including the new Tutoring Center in Grant South, which is geared particularly for students who have just a few questions or only require short term help with a course.

The large, bright modern facility in the basement of Grant South replaces two smaller centers previously housed in the Grant Tower complex. The tutoring center offers assistance primarily in mathematics and a variety of general education courses.

The center has a staff of qualified peer tutors to help those in need better understand the course material they are struggling with. However, their assistance goes beyond just getting them through the next test.

“We try to step back and look at their general study habits. We talk to them about things such as reading strategies, note-taking, test preparation – a whole range of things that sound fundamental, but which are very important parts of academic success,” says Shevawn Eaton, director of ACCESS.

Providing students with academic assistance and skills can often prove vital to getting them on the path to graduation, Eaton says. “If students can master things academically, it feeds into their positive experience at Northern.”

The fact that they receive that assistance from other students is another key aspect of the program, she says.

“Retaining students requires two levels of integration: academic and social,” she says. “We contribute on both levels, helping them attain academic success and by connecting them with upperclassmen who can act as academic mentors.”

Schubert helped pioneer field of biopolitics

NIU political scientist James Schubert, a pioneer in the field of biopolitics whose innovative research won both newspaper headlines and international recognition, died Monday, Sept. 5, at his home in upstate New York. He was 58.

“One of his favorite sayings was ‘sui generis,' which means one of a kind,” said colleague Margaret Curran.

“Nothing fits Jim better. He was a mentor, teacher and scholar. For those of us who worked with him, he was first and foremost a friend.”

Schubert's natural curiosity led to a wide variety of studies in biopolitics, a field that examines the intersection of politics with the life sciences. One series of Schubert studies, conducted jointly with Curran, found links between the physical appearances of political candidates and voter behavior. The findings were cited in prominent articles in such newspapers as the Wall Street Journal and the Chicago Tribune.

Curran, a visiting assistant professor who will teach Schubert's courses this semester, began working with him on research projects while she was a graduate student at NIU 11 years ago. He later directed her Ph.D. dissertation.

“Research requires creativity,” she said, “and Jim had an amazing mind that would recognize connections that others didn't see.”

In other studies, Schubert explored the relationship between nutrition and civic involvement in democratic societies; demonstrated how the age of a mayor influences political leadership style; evaluated the impact of state policy responses on the spread of AIDS; showed how the outcome of Supreme Court cases could be predicted by justices' behavior during oral arguments; and found that smaller communities are more likely to be more charitable.

His work attracted more than $750,000 in research grants and led to his service as executive director of the international Association of Politics and Life Sciences, a post he held from 1991 to 1996. The organization later presented him with its “Founders' Award.”

Among NIU faculty, Schubert likely had the longest commute to work. He spent weekends with his wife of 38 years, Gloria Beach Schubert, at their small ranch, complete with horses, in New York.

Colleagues said he was diagnosed with glioblastoma multiforme, a type of brain tumor, in January of 2004. Despite the illness and several surgeries, he continued to conduct research, attend conferences and teach at NIU.

“He approached this illness with the same determination that characterized all his life endeavors,” said NIU Presidential Research Professor Andrea Bonnicksen, who also specializes in biopolitics. “Jim was very dedicated to his students and his work, and he was determined to be here at NIU, even when recovering from surgery. When he could not be on campus, he worked with students through e-mails and calls.”

Born in Syracuse, N.Y., Schubert earned a bachelor's degree from Michigan State University and a master's degree and Ph.D. in political science from the University of Hawaii.

He served as a research associate at NIU in the early 1980s, later taught political science at Alfred University in New York and returned to DeKalb in 1991 as a professor and director of the Center for Biopolitical Research, a post that he held for five years. He taught a wide variety of undergraduate and graduate courses and served as director of graduate studies from 1999 to 2001.

“Graduate students loved to work with him,” said Daniel Kempton, political science chair. “He was one of the most sought-after dissertation directors in the department because of his natural gift for research methodology and for helping people develop and sharpen their hypotheses.”

In addition to biopolitics, Schubert was an expert in political psychology, public policy and international relations.

“If we needed a course taught, Jim was always the first to step in and teach it,” Kempton added. “Because of his broad interests, he was willing to tackle just about anything. He also had an irrepressible sense of humor and was always looking at the funny side of everything. He would often disarm heated discussions with a well-timed quip or joke.”

In addition to his wife, Schubert is survived by his daughter, Lisa Marie (Christopher) Wood of Rochester, N.Y., and son, Erik James (Layla) Schubert of Portland, Ore. Funeral services and burial were held last week in New York.

A memorial will be held in DeKalb at a later date.

NIU mourns death of Gustaaf Van Cromphout

Gustaaf Van Cromphout of DeKalb, a beloved 37-year veteran English professor at Northern Illinois University, died Thursday, Sept. 1, at OSF Saint Anthony Medical Center in Rockford. The 67-year-old professor had been hospitalized since Aug. 27 after suffering a brain hemorrhage.

Friends, colleagues and students described him as a brilliant educator who spoke or read about a dozen languages and was supremely versed in literature. Above all he was friendly, always greeting even casual acquaintances with his deep voice, still thick with the accent of his native Belgium.

“There are few among us who profoundly touch the lives of all they meet,” NIU Department of English Chair Deborah Holdstein wrote in a message posted on the English department's Web site. “Gustaaf was such a person.”

After earning his bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Ghent in Belgium, Van Cromphout came to the United States on a Fulbright scholarship. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota, where he met his eventual wife, Luz.

In the fall of 1968, he began teaching at NIU.

“He was a kid during the German occupation of Belgium and always remembered when the American troops liberated the country,” English Professor James Giles said. “Because of that experience, he really loved the United States.”

At NIU, Van Cromphout was a scholar's scholar who specialized in comparative literature with a particular expertise in American transcendentalism. He penned two highly regarded books on Ralph Waldo Emerson and also wrote on Henry David Thoreau, Herman Melville, Henry James and other well-known authors.

“He was a brilliant teacher, outstanding scholar and just the best colleague you could possibly have in every way,” Giles said, adding that his friend's death devastated the English department, especially because Van Cromphout appeared to be in such excellent health. He walked from his DeKalb home to and from campus each day and was an avid cyclist.

Colleagues and students said Van Cromphout's possessed a true passion for teaching. In 1979, he was awarded the university's Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching Award. He also mentored many graduate students, once learning Portuguese to serve on the dissertation committee of a student who was working on a Portuguese translation of Richard Wright's “Native Son.”

“He believed in you,” said Andy Sidle, a graduate assistant who took four classes taught by Van Cromphout. The professor also was directing Sidle's dissertation. “It's because of him I became interested in the American romantics, and he gave me the confidence and encouraged me to tackle Emerson for my dissertation.

“Most people who took his classes felt he was the best professor they ever had,” Sidle added. “My friends and I wanted to bring a tape recorder into class with us because we didn't want to miss one word he said.”

NIU Ph.D. student and graduate assistant Caresse John said that although Van Cromphout was unmatched in his knowledge, he treated students as peers. “He never passed me in the hall with just a ‘hi,' ” she said. “There was always a conversation that invariably ended in a compliment. That's how he treated everybody.

“As a teacher, he was unbelievably smart,” she added. “People talk about how their jaws would drop in his class, but it was true. He could quote long passages from memory in their original languages and in English. At the same time, you never felt inferior to him. He always made sure to treat you as an intellectual peer.”

In addition to his devotion to teaching and scholarship, Van Cromphout was highly involved in service to NIU at the department, college and university levels.

“We all know the old saw about shoes that are impossible to fill,” English Chair Holdstein said. “In this case, it's true.”

In addition to his wife Luz, Van Cromphout is survived by two daughters, Beatriz (Evan) Dillman of Aurora and Jana (Thomas) Cuggino of Wheaton, and by three grandchildren. Funeral services were held Sept. 7, with burial at Fairview Park Cemetery in DeKalb.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made toward a scholarship fund being established in the memory of Gustaaf Van Cromphout. For more information, call (815) 753-0612.

Teague, Alexis share honors, dream big about steelpan

Music Professor Liam Teague is speaking in his third-floor office of the NIU School of Music building when a hearty bellow comes from the hallway, piercing the closed door: “Teague!”

“That's Cliff,” Teague says, rising to turn the knob for Cliff Alexis.

Alexis enters, clutching a plaque he received in June during the World Steelband Music Festival for his “outstanding contribution to the development of the steelpan in the U.S.A.”

“Oh,” Teague asks with a grin, “come to show off?”

Such congenial kidding is expected between these two countrymen, who both hail from the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, where the steel pan was invented and remains the national instrument.

Yet Teague, one of the world's steel pan virtuosos, and Alexis, regarded internationally for his craftsmanship at building and tuning steel pans, are profoundly serious and passionate about their mission here: to provide their native instrument with global legitimacy in the music world.

“I never wanted to be a teacher. My dream when I came here was to be the greatest musician ever, as a performer. Everything I do now goes way beyond myself,” says Teague, whose appointment to the NIU School of Music faculty was announced June 29.

“As individuals, we want to achieve success, but for me it's also to help other people, especially because this instrument is so young and it's the national instrument of my country. We're opening up doorways. Not enough people worldwide understand the potential, or have even been exposed to it.”

“There are people not on the educational side of things who think differently,” Alexis adds, “but what we do here is much more beneficial to this instrument. How much are they doing to further the instrument? In the end, all pannists will benefit from what NIU is doing here. The pan is taking its rightful place in the musical sphere.”

What NIU is doing – what retired NIU Steel Band founder Al O'Connor began in 1973 and, with Alexis, nurtured into a steelpan major some 14 years later – lured Teague and Alexis from their shared homeland to DeKalb.

Teague came to NIU in 1993 as an 18-year-old student chasing dreams and broadening his musical horizons. Alexis came seven years earlier, a road-seasoned musician and educator sharing a vision and pursuing a mission.

Here, students tackle an eclectic selection of music, from the traditional calypso to classical literature to rhythm and blues to new compositions. Here, students can watch and assist Alexis, one of the world's foremost builders and tuners of steel pans who also is a composer and arranger for and player with the NIU Steel Band.

Here, Teague is proud to say, is the school of choice for a dozen steel pan majors who hail from Aruba, Canada, Denmark, Japan, Trinidad and elsewhere, including other places in the Caribbean.

“That really says something about the program,” says Teague, the most prominent alum of the world's only institution to offer bachelor's and master's degrees in steel pan.

“One of my main goals is to do my part toward educating steel pan players and promoting musical literacy for steel pan players, especially from Trinidad,” he adds. “The band itself can only go so far because, year to year, we have players graduating. My main focus, along with Cliff, is to keep the level of musicianship at a certain standard and not letting that drop.”

Alexis gives a fatherly nod in Teague's direction.

“Liam didn't know in his life he'd be in a position to teach this instrument,” he says quietly. “Whatever he does, what direction he wants this to go, I say, ‘Follow him.' He is 31 years old now. He is the person who is looking at the vision. My vision is past. The degree program is entrenched. It's his baby. It's his baby. I will give him whatever support he needs.”

Teague most recently ran the program and led the band as a steelpan research associate.

He learned of his appointment to the faculty last fall; his memories of the meeting with Harold Kafer, dean of the College of Visual and Performing Arts, are bittersweet. Teague's father, Russell, had died the day before.

“Dean Kafer gives me the great news,” Teague recalls, “and one of the most important people in my life wasn't around to share that moment, and he would've been so proud. I broke down in tears.”

But the mission remains, and Teague is eager about his first semester as an official member of the faculty.

He and Alexis are looking forward to the band's Sunday, Nov. 6, concert. Both also hope 2007 will bring the World Steelband Music Festival to Chicago; NIU took an unprecedented second place in the competition in 2000, a year it was held in Trinidad.

Robert Chappell, a professor in the NIU School of Music and a longtime collaborator with Teague, says the students soon will share Teague's enthusiasm.

“Liam, along with being whom I consider to be the finest steel pannist in the world, is also one who is totally dedicated to the instrument and the expansion of the instrument,” Chappell says.

“These students at NIU are going to get not only his expertise and technique and musicality, but they're also going to get that burning passion for the instrument and the almost missionary zeal, if you will, about spreading the word of the steel pan. You might not get that from someone else who might be a fine player. That's an intangible Liam brings.”

Pat and Manny Sanchez give $100,000 boost
to Barsema Alumni and Visitors Center

Manny Sanchez is a man who wears his heart on his sleeve. So picture him, if you will, in an NIU jersey.

“I never have and never will forget where I came from,” he says. “I appreciate the valuable role Northern Illinois University has played in my life. I can't forget and won't.”

Sanchez, who grew up in a tough melting-pot neighborhood on Chicago 's west side, was a first-generation college student at NIU. He later earned his Juris Doctorate from the University of Pennsylvania, where he was class president, and went on to found Sanchez & Daniels, the second largest minority-owned law firm in the nation.

Today, at the top of his profession, he sits on numerous corporate and civic boards.

But he still devotes both considerable time and talents to his alma mater. Sanchez was appointed in 1996 by then-Gov. Jim Edgar as one of the founding members of the NIU Board of Trustees. When he was named chair in 2001, he earned the distinction of becoming the first Latino in Illinois and second in the nation to head up a public university board. Working with NIU, he also has taken a leadership role statewide in helping to increase college enrollment among minority students.

Now Sanchez is aiding his alma mater on yet another front. He and his wife, Pat Pulido Sanchez, are contributing $100,000 toward construction of the Barsema Alumni and Visitors Center.

“We've been looking for the right opportunity to make a statement about the love affair that I have with my alma mater,” Manny Sanchez says. “I just think it's high time that the hundreds of thousands of NIU alumni have a center that they can truly call their own.”

Adds Pat Pulido Sanchez: “We both recognize the importance of the NIU relationship with its alumni, and we realize that alumni also have a responsibility to help cultivate future generations of college students. Manny has so much passion and love around his alma mater, how could I not support him in this?”

While not an NIU alum, Pulido Sanchez is, like her husband, a first-generation college graduate who blazed her own trail in the corporate world.

After spending a decade at Anheuser-Busch Companies Inc., where she managed governmental affairs in a seven-state region, Pulido Sanchez was named vice president of external affairs for Chicago operations of Commonwealth Edison, an Exelon Company, becoming the energy provider's first Latina V.P. Last year, she launched her own strategic communications business, Pulido Sanchez Communications, LLC.

“I've been a beneficiary of higher education, and I recognize its importance, especially in the Latino community,” Pulido Sanchez says. “My husband and I are proud to be supporting the creation of a new front door to the NIU campus, a place that hopefully will inspire generations of diverse students, faculty and alumni.”

The Barsema Alumni and Visitors Center will be a gathering point for the NIU community.

Ground was broken last fall on the two-and-a-half story building, which is expected to be open for this fall's Homecoming (Oct. 15). Located on the southwest corner of Annie Glidden Road and Stadium Drive, the building will boast state-of-the-art meeting and conference facilities and office space for the NIU Alumni Association, the NIU Student Alumni Association and representatives from the admissions and orientation offices.

The facility's centerpiece will be the Great Hall, featuring plaques, displays and exhibits highlighting the history of NIU and the accomplishments of the university's alumni.

“The absolutely wonderful aspect of the gift from Manny and Pat is how outspoken and emotional Manny has always been regarding his love of NIU and what it meant to him as he grew into adulthood,” says Michael P. Malone, vice president for University Advancement. “That a kid from the Chicago streets could rise to a position of wealth and influence as Manny has is a great story. That he then remembers his alma mater with a leadership gift is a true testament to his character.”

The Sanchez gift earns the couple special recognition and honor in the Circle of the Seal. The university's seal will be carved into stone measuring 8 feet across at the center of the Great Hall. Surrounding the seal will be tiles engraved with the names of alumni and friends who stepped forward to make the dream of an alumni and visitors center a reality.

“President John Peters and his leadership team at NIU have done a fabulous job over the past five years enhancing the esprit de corps among alumni,” Manny Sanchez says. “Clearly, the additions of such facilities as Barsema Hall and the Convocation Center have enhanced the reputation of NIU's educational experience. This is another step in the continuum. It shows how much the university values its alumni.”

Manny Sanchez isn't the only NIU alum in his family.

As a board trustee, he had the honor this past spring of awarding his daughter, Annette Valente, with her second master's degree, this one in educational administration. (She also holds a bachelor's degree from NIU.) Her husband, Tony Valente, is an NIU alum as well. Sanchez says he's looking forward to bringing his three grandchildren to the Barsema Alumni and Visitors Center, where he'll “tout grandpa's alma mater.”

“The center will be a place where we alumni can bring our children or relatives who are interested in attending the university, where we can gather when we return to campus for football and basketball games, and where we can reflect upon our own NIU experiences and memories,” Sanchez says. “It's going to be a great draw and rallying point for the university.”

Alumni fund re-creation of Atlgeld's historic mosaic seal 

Like most longtime alums, Mike and Louise McSweeney were delighted with the newly remodeled Altgeld Hall.

In many respects, the building is much nicer than it was during their days on campus in the late 1950s and early '60s. However, something was missing. Gone from the main entryway was the old mosaic bearing the name of Northern Illinois State Normal School.

“We toured the building shortly before it opened and we were rather disappointed that the seal was gone,” said Louise, who graduated in 1960 with a degree in elementary education.

“The building felt incomplete,” added Mike, who graduated in 1961 with a degree in economics.

The seal in question was part of Altgeld Hall almost from its origins, but its history is a bit vague.

According to the few sketchy records that exist, the mosaic was not in place when the building opened, but it appeared within a few years. And, while it bore the school's acronym, the seal itself was never adopted by NISNS for official use. Nevertheless, it quickly became a prominent icon on campus, and at some point students – particularly those in fraternities and sororities – adopted the tradition of never treading upon the seal.

That tradition was still in place while Mike and Louise McSweeney were students.

For them, the seal had an especially important place in their hearts. Just a few steps away, standing under the portico of the main entrance to Altgeld Hall, they had sealed their engagement.

The couple felt strongly that the emblem should be returned to its rightful place of honor. The only problem, however, was that the seal had been removed in 1968, and installed in the lobby of Founders Library in 1976. With the original in use, the McSweeneys offered to pay for a re-creation to be installed in the Altgeld foyer. While there was some discussion of updating the piece in the image of the university's current official seal, the McSweeneys were adamant that the new piece should remain true to the original.

With that detail worked out, the university began looking for someone willing to take the commission, a search which ultimately led them to Chicago artist Youlia Tkatchouk-Bobel.

Born and educated in Ukraine, she had received training in many classical art forms. Since arriving in Chicago, she had done a number of high-profile pieces around the state, including an installation for NBC affiliate WMAQ in Chicago and a massive 140-square-foot mosaic at a theater in Quincy.

After inspecting the original seal, Tkatchouk-Bobel set about recreating the piece, with a few embellishments.

First, she decided that the old seal, which was 5 feet in diameter, would be lost in the new Altgeld Hall entryway with its soaring ceiling and dual staircases. So, she increased it to 6 feet in diameter.

Second, the first piece was a bit too plain for such a spectacular space. To remedy that, she proposed subtle embellishments such as braiding in the stone work around the outer perimeter, and inlaying a few gold tiles to pick up the color of the brass stair rails. She also suggested softening the piece a bit by incorporating some subtle grays and dark greens to augment the stark black-and-white of the original. All of the suggestions were immediately embraced.

Working in her studio, Tkatchouk-Bobel assembled the mosaic from 6,500 pieces of stone, each about a half-inch square, carefully gluing them to a mesh backing. The process took about a month before the final product could be moved to campus and cemented into place in August.

The McSweeneys, who visited while the piece was being installed, were delighted. “We love the way it turned out, and we're very pleased with the slight changes she made,” Mike said.

For the McSweeneys, the seal is the latest milestone on a long trip back to NIU.

The couple married in 1960 and remained in DeKalb for a year while Mike finished his degree and Louise taught elementary school. From there it was off to Freeport, Ill., as Mike began his job as an industrial engineer for MicroSwitch. His career path eventually led him into production management, and eventually into the arena of direct marketing.

Ultimately, he became president of the mail-order giant Harry and David, which specializes in gourmet foods.

Mike's various jobs took the couple around the country and to Canada, but when their son, Mark, was looking for a college, he chose NIU. He was the third generation of the family to attend NIU, as Mike's mother had also earned a degree here when the school was still a teachers college. A bench at the new Barsema Alumni and Visitors Center will bear the names of all five members of the family (including a nephew) who graduated from NIU.

The couple reconnected with NIU again in 1997, when the Direct Marketing Education Foundation donated a library of resource materials to the NIU College of Business in Mike's name, to honor him for his work in the field. Soon after, he and Louise endowed a scholarship for students studying direct marketing.

Now retired, they split their time between nearby Huntley and Palm Springs, Calif.

As proud as they are of all those contributions, the McSweeneys are most excited at having restored a bit of history to the university.

“It's something that will be here forever,” Mike said. “It will make a nice legacy.”

NIU conference aims to introduce
female high school students to college, careers

Female high school students searching for college and career guidance are invited to attend the 2005 Conference for Young Women, hosted by NIU from 8:15 a.m. to 1:45 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 19, at Holmes Student Center.

The ninth annual conference is geared for young women in their sophomore through senior years of high school and aims to introduce the students to a variety of career areas, including professions where women are historically underrepresented, such as math and engineering.

“This conference offers an exciting chance for female high school students to explore the academic side of college life,” said Amy Levin, director of the NIU Women's Studies Program. Levin will serve as moderator during the conference, which will include participation from faculty members from across the university. Panel discussions on career opportunities for women will focus on fields ranging from poetry to political science.

Conference participants also will tour Barsema Hall, NIU's state-of-the-art College of Business building, or the university's television center.

The conference is sponsored by the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and the NIU Women's Studies Program. To register, call 1-800-345-9472. For additional information, call (815) 753-1038 or visit www.niu.edu/clasep/Young_womens/. The registration fee is $33 before Thursday, Oct. 13, with a $5 additional late charge after that date. Limited scholarships are available.

Kudos

Norman A. Stahl, professor and chair of NIU's Department of Literacy Education, has been elected president of the National Reading Conference.

Stahl will serve one year as vice president, one year as president-elect and one year as president of the NRC, which is dedicated to promoting literacy research, theory and best practice with membership worldwide.

He takes office in December.

Stahl, who came to NIU in 1986, said “it is a great honor to be elected to such a post by the research community in the field of literacy.”

“Never before has there been greater need for scholarly discourse and action focused on literacy theory and research in the United States and in the other countries with members in the NRC. I look forward to working with colleagues from across the nation and around the world in promoting the goals of the NRC as the field's research organization,” he said.

“The National Reading Conference has been my professional home for my entire career,” he added. “I have had the privilege of serving on numerous committees, been the chair of the Policies and Legislative Committee, served as the NRC historian and been a member of the Board of Directors.”

Stahl also was president of the College Reading Association and chair of the Board of Directors of the American Reading Forum, and he has served on numerous committees of the International Reading Association and other professional organizations. He has given more than 200 presentations and workshops for professional organizations, postsecondary institutions, and school systems across the country.

He has more than 100 publications focusing primarily on postsecondary reading and the history of reading instruction including the recent text, “Teaching Developmental Reading,” from Bedford/St. Martin's Press.

In addition, he has been the recipient of the Distinguished Research Award from the College Reading and Learning Association, the Outstanding Publication Award from the National Association of Developmental Education and the award for Outstanding Writing in the Field of College Reading and Study Skills from the College Reading Improvement Special Interest Group of the International Reading Association.

# # #

A higher education journal has a new home at NIU, with Denise L. Rode, NIU's director of Orientation, as its editor.

“The Journal of College Orientation and Transition” focuses on the trends, practices, research, and development of programs, policies, and activities related to the matriculation, orientation, transition, and retention of college students.

The Journal, published twice a year by the National Orientation Directors Association, has a circulation of 1,500. NODA members receive the Journal as a benefit of membership.

Rode is assisted by a team of associate editors located on campuses such as the University of Minnesota Twin Cities, the University of Missouri-Columbia, George Mason University and Clemson University .

Sheena C. Williams, graduate assistant with the NIU Orientation Office, serves as managing editor for The Journal. Williams is a 2004 graduate of Western Illinois University with a degree in English. She currently is pursuing a master of arts degree in English at NIU.

Rode has directed orientation programs at Northern since 1987 and earned bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees at the university. She has served on the NODA Board of Directors, has co-hosted a national NODA conference, and has previously been senior associate editor of The Journal of College Orientation and Transition.

In 2002, she was named NODA's outstanding orientation professional. In July, she completed a two-year term as president of Mortar Board National Senior Honor Society, which has more than 200 chapters at colleges and universities across the country.

Passages

Mazood Razvi, a former instructor in the Department of Technology in the College of Engineering and Engineering Technology, in the area of plastics, died Monday, Aug. 22. He was 63. His wife and daughters survive.

Women's Resource Center announces fall programs

The Women's Resource Center and the Employee Assistance & Wellness Program have announced their 2005 fall programming schedule.

Sessions will be held on topics including Native American crafts (suggested pre-registration so adequate crafting supplies will be available), study skills and anger issues. Support groups available at this time are: Bi-Polar (Thursday evenings), I Am Beautiful – Body Image (Monday evenings) and Workplace Support (noon Wednesday).

College Parents Support Group also will meet every other Thursday from 6 to 7 p.m. at the Women's Resource Center. The next meeting is Thursday, Sept. 15. For more information on this group, contact Shameka Hill at (815) 753-1142.

For complete information, visit www.niu.edu/women/urw and check out “what's happening” or call (815) 753-0320.

University Women's Club hosts annual fall reception

Plans are under way for the annual Fall Reception hosted by the University Women's Club. The event is scheduled for 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 15, at the home of NIU President John Peters, 901 Woodland Drive.

Barbara Peters and members of the board of the University Women's Club will meet and greet women of the NIU community as the new academic year begins.

This year's reception is 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 who have not already joined.

Membership in the University Women's Club 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.

The first is to support philanthropic and educational activities within the university and the community. The second is to create opportunities for social contact among members in a spirit of fellowship.

There are many social activities throughout the year, and various interest groups are provided for members.

For more information, contact membership co-chairs Nancy Norris at (815) 756-3292 or Sally Stevens at (815) 756-2343.

Nehring Center Gallery hosts exhibition of Oscar Romero

The Nehring Center Gallery will exhibit work by famed Mexican-American artist Oscar Romero, whose paintings are among those gracing the walls of Eduardo's restaurant.

Roermo will attend an opening reception from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 15. Meanwhile, Conexion Communidad will preview its annual fiesta with food and dancing by Ballet Solazteca in the parking lot in the rear of the center.

Nehring Center Gallery is located on the second floor of the Nehring Center at the corner of Lincoln Highway and Second Street in downtown DeKalb. Gallery hours are 4 to 6 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays, 1 to 5 p.m. Saturdays and 3 to 5 p.m. Sundays. The gallery is ADA compliant.

Geology schedules Fall 2005 Colloquia

The Department of Geology and Environmental Geosciences has announced the schedule for its Fall 2005 Colloquia.

All talks are held at 4 p.m. in Davis Hall 308 and are co-sponsored by the Graduate Colloquium Committee of NIU. For more information, call (815) 753-1943 or click here. http://jove.geol.niu.edu

Friday, Sept. 16: David B. Rowley, University of Chicago, “Paleo-elevation history of Tibet : Implications for the tectonics of continent-continent collisions.”

Friday, Oct. 14: William Di Paolo, consultant, “Remote sensing data and interpretation in international exploration.”

Friday, Oct. 21: James Van Orman, Case Western Reserve University, “Chemical exchange across the core-mantle boundary.”

Friday, Nov. 4: Sara E. Tindall, Kutztown University of Pennsylvania, “Do deformation bands compartmentalize petroleum reservoirs?”

Monday, Nov. 14: Karen G. Havholm, University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, “Why can't they learn what I teach?”

Friday, Dec. 2: Harold J. Tobin, New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, “Getting inside the plate boundary: drilling and instrumenting subduction zone megathrusts.”

Convo Center hosts 3 Doors Down Oct. 19

The Convocation Center will welcome hard rock bands 3 Doors Down, Shinedown and Alter Bridge for a 7:30 p.m. concert Wednesday, Oct. 19. 3 Doors Down is promoting its third release, “Seventeen Days.”

Tickets for this reserved-seating event go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday, Sept. 16. Tickets are $37.50 for the general public and $32 for NIU students (limit two). Tickets are available at the Convocation Center box office, all Ticketmaster outlets, www.ticketmaster.com, or charge by phone at (312) 559-1212. For more information, visit www.niuconvo.com or call (815) 752-6800.

Jack Olson Memorial Gallery hosts ‘Bushwick Farms Presents …'

The Jack Olson Memorial Gallery will present “Bushwick Farms Presents … the Traveling Variety Show” from Thursday, Sept. 22, through Wednesday, Oct. 12.

Special events include a lecture at 5 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 21, in Room 100 of the Visual Arts Building and an opening reception from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 22.

The show is the creation of Sara Cuthbert and Stuart Solzberg, a husband-and-wife team obsessed with actualizing the history and genealogy of a fictitious traveling variety show they named Bushwick Farms. Blending fact and fiction, they have been traveling the country for the last four years, incorporating slide shows, tent shows and live performances.

For more information, call (815) 753-4521.

Finance and Facilities offers training to complete forms

Have your job responsibilities changed? Are you looking for training on how to use the financial forms for completing check requests, travel vouchers and purchase requisitions? Are you trying to figure out how to read monthly financials reports?

Finance and Facilities has the classes you need.

Please refer to the Accounting office home page, then click on FMS Training; to see a listing of available classes or call Cindy Kozumplik in Finance and Facilities to register for these classes.

Founders lobby exhibition marks Hispanic Heritage Month

An exhibition honoring Hispanic Heritage Month is in the lobby of Founders Memorial Library through Friday, Sept. 30. Call (815) 753-9896 for more information.

Operating Staff Council offers award for dependents

The deadline to apply for the Operating Staff Council Dependent Award is Friday, Sept. 30.

Its purpose is to award financial assistance to children of NIU Operating Staff (Civil Service) employees while attending NIU. This award is made possible through dollars presented by the NIU Civil Service Employees' fund-raising activities.

To be eligible, applicants must be the children of NIU Operating Staff employees or Operating Staff retirees; full-time students pursuing an undergraduate, graduate, or professional degree at NIU; meet all admission requirements of college, department or program in which they plan to pursue degrees; and have an overall 3.0 GPA.

The award of $250 per semester will be awarded for both fall 2005 and spring 2006. Previous award recipients may reapply. The maximum that will be awarded to any individual is $2,500.

For an application and more information, click here to visit the OSC Web site. http://www.niu.edu/osc/depaward_info.html

Fall internship, job fairs scheduled for Sept. 28, Oct. 5

Employers will descend on campus this month to start recruiting for their spring hiring needs at the annual Fall Job Fair, scheduled for 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesday, September 28, in the Convocation Center.

Meanwhile, students looking for a major related career experience prior to graduation are encouraged to attend the Internship Fair from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 5, in the Convocation Center.

There is no fee to attend these premier events, two of the few opportunities to meet face-to-face with a wide array of employers. Students are required to provide their resume at the registration table for admittance to the fairs.

A convenient shuttle service will be available both days. The shuttle will run from the corner of Normal Road and Lucinda Avenue to the Convocation Center.

The fairs are student-centered learning events where employer representatives provide students insight into their hiring trends, job and internship openings, how to apply for jobs and internships and what students can expect from the interview process.

Besides learning about employers, the fairs provide students the experience to approach employers and present themselves as prospective employees in their chosen fields. Students should bring plenty of resumes to leave with the employers they meet. Dress for the day is business casual.

Students are encouraged to research attending employers before the Internship Fair either online or at the Career Resource Center. Information about the Internship Fair, finding an internship, writing a resume or preparing for an interview can be found at the NIU Career Services Web site, www.niu.edu/careerservices. Students can schedule an appointment with a career counselor by calling (815) 753-1642.

The Career Resource Center in the Campus Life Building 235 has computers for accessing Victor eRecruiting to research employers and apply for jobs online. Walk-in, 10-minute student resume critiques are available at the Career Resource Center. Career Services is a Division of Student Affairs and is located in Campus Life Building 220.

Nominations sought for Presidential Teaching Professors

All letters of nomination for the 2006 Presidential Teaching Professorships should be submitted to Vice Provost Earl Seaver in Altgeld Hall 215 no later than Monday, Oct. 10.

Following receipt of a letter of nomination, the Selection Committee will invite each nominated faculty member to prepare materials in accordance with the published procedure. Only full professors with tenure and at least six years service at NIU are eligible for the award.

The procedure calls for a rigorous and thorough portfolio review including contacting former students. The 2006 recipients will be announced next spring.

NIU's Presidential Teaching Professorships were established in 1990 to recognize those outstanding teachers who:

• have demonstrated over time that they instill and develop in students an intensity of inter­est in, and an apprecia­tion for, the value of the subject;
• apply rigorous standards to student performance, in­spire students to become the best that they can be, and stimulate student growth; command respect and esteem as a teacher rather than merely being popular;
• demonstrate extraordinary commitment to students and their welfare, not only that the nominee is knowledge­able and prepared for class but is available to them outside of class for help with materials, for advising them, for listening to their concerns, and for assist­ing them with extra-class projects or activities;
• explore and develop effective instructional methods and technologies;
• work actively with students, faculty, and administra­tors to improve under­gradu­ate and/or graduate education at NIU, and other activities directed toward the im­provement of instruction.

Call (815) 753-8381 for more information.

NIUAA membership can guard future retirement benefits

There is a cost-effective way for current NIU employees to help in the effort to maintain all future retirement benefits: Consider joining the NIU Annuitants Association.

The NIUAA's membership of 1,300 is made up of current NIU employees, including President John and Mrs. Barbara Peters, as well as retired colleagues and their spouses.

Members of the NIU Annuitants Association also are members of the umbrella organization, the State University Annuitants Association (SUAA), which speaks and lobbies for more than 13,000 members in Springfield .

Dues are $24 per year, and current employees may now pay through payroll deduction at the rate of a dollar per pay period. Of the $24-per-year dues, $21 are transferred to SUAA to support their intensive lobbying activities on our behalf, and $3 are retained for local administrative activities including a newsletter, a holiday luncheon and the dinner hosted by the university president.

To join, click the membership forms link online at http://www.niu.edu/annuitants/, print it and send it to Lee Ann Henry, at University Advancement, or call her at (815) 753-7406 to receive a form directly.

For further information, call Henry; NIUAA President Bob Rosemier at (815) 758-7317, Treasurer Larry Sallberg and (815) 753-6061 or membership chair Don Buckner at (815) 756-4044.

NIU Community School needs Performathon donations

The NIU Community School of the Arts needs used sheet music, music books, old tapes, CDs and records. Clean out your piano bench, attics, and basements and donate to a great cause. The used music items will be sold Feb. 25 at the music swap of the Performathon.

Held every two years, the Performathon is the major fund-raising event of the community school. The funds raised are used for the scholarship programs which enable children unable to afford the full cost of arts education to take music lessons, join music ensembles or take classes in music, art or theater.

Since the program began in 1993, nearly $40,000 in scholarship support has been awarded to local youngsters.

Please bring your items to Room 132 Music Building from 8 a.m. to noon and from 1 to 4:30 p.m. If you are unable to do so, contact the office at (815) 753-1450 to arrange for pickup of the items.

Mobile driver services facility announces 2005-06 dates

The Illinois Secretary of State's mobile driver services facility will return to Diversions in the lower level of the Holmes Student Center from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on the following dates: Oct. 24, Nov. 7, Dec. 5, Jan. 23, Feb. 20, April 10 and May 8.

Visitors can renew or replace driver's licenses or state IDs and renew vehicle stickers. Information about the Organ & Tissue Donor Program also is available.

Convo Center to welcome Ciara, Twista for Homecoming

The third annual NIU Homecoming Jam will bring the Ciara, Twista and special guests to be announced.

The show is scheduled for 8 p.m. Friday, Oct. 14. Tickets are $29.50 for students (limit two) and $35.50 for the general public. Tickets are available at the NIU Convocation Center box office, all Ticketmaster outlets, by calling (312) 559-1212 or visiting www.ticketmaster.com. For more information, visit www.niuconvo.com or call (815) 752-6800.

9-12-05