 NIU's campus will spring back to life this week.
Move-In Day is Thursday. As in past years, an army of volunteers will drive golf carts loaded with student belongings from the family car to the residence hall. Student volunteers will help move students' possessions inside to their residence hall rooms.
The 10th annual Great Huskie Bash takes place from 4 to 7 p.m. at Central Park. Friday Fest is scheduled from noon to 2 p.m. the next day at the Convocation Center.
Huskies Helping Huskies volunteers will be stationed at kiosks across campus Monday, Aug. 28, or Tuesday, Aug. 29, to answer students' questions or direct them to a particular destination on campus.
House Calls volunteers will greet first-year students at assigned residence hall floors the evening of Tuesday, Aug. 29. Volunteers will welcome these students to campus and answer any questions. Because college is the first time many students are away from home, these house calls serve to calm any lingering fears these students might have.
WELCOME DAYS WEB SITE
 A new book by NIU political scientist Matthew Streb is bound to stir debate on campuses across America.
Newly released this month, “Academic Freedom at the Dawn of a New Century” (Stanford University Press) is a collection of original essays exploring the post-9/11 state of academic freedom in the United States and abroad.
Leading experts examine the impact of the war on terrorism on free speech, access to information, government funding of the sciences and other cornerstones of freedom of inquiry at American universities.
Streb and co-editor Evan Gerstmann of Loyola Marymount University assembled the essays and also contribute to the collection.
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 NIU’s College of Education has a serious commitment to collecting and analyzing assessment-related data.
First, however, the college’s first coordinator of assessment must find it all.
David Walker, who also is as associate professor in the Department of Educational Technology, Research and Assessment, took the job in July.
“We’ve always done assessment. Our College of Education has been very good about doing assessment,” Walker said. But “we have data all over the university. I’m trying to collect the data and get it all into one central spot.”
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 The National Science Foundation is showing keen interest in the research of NIU chemist Petr Vanýsek and University of Illinois at Chicago physicist Mark Schlossman. The two scientists are breaking new ground in understanding why liquids, such as oil and water, don’t mix.
NSF has awarded $535,000 over three years to the researchers for their continued study of the molecular boundary between immiscible (unmixable) liquids. NIU’s portion of the grant is about $98,000, Vanýsek said.
Gaining a better understanding of why immiscible liquids won’t mix could lead to numerous applications, from improving oil-spill cleanups to providing superior delivery of drugs through the oil-like human cell membranes.
Scientists have known that two immiscible solvents must somehow communicate to each other that they should not mix. But until recently researchers have never known for sure what goes on at the molecular boundary between two immiscible liquids.
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 While the eyes of the golf world were focused on Chicago last week for the PGA Championship, students at NIU are looking further down the road to the 2009 Solheim Cup.
NIU business students have been invited to help promote the tournament, considered the premier team event in women’s professional golf. The event, which matches the best women golfers from the U.S. against the best from Europe, will be played at Rich Harvest Farms in Sugar Grove. The private course is owned and operated by NIU alumnus Jerry Rich.
“The Solheim Cup is one of the most prestigious events in golf, and Rich Harvest Farms is one of the most highly regarded private courses in the nation, so it is an honor to be associated with this event,” said Denise Schoenbachler, dean of the NIU College of Business.
“This is the first time that the LPGA has allowed a university to help promote a tournament, and we are confident that our students will do a tremendous job, opening the door for others down the road.”
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 An estimated three babies per 1,000 births are born with permanent hearing loss.
Meanwhile, there has been a rapid increase over the past five years in the number of newborns being screened for hearing at birth, leading to a need for training to ensure this infant population receives appropriate and timely diagnosis and services.
Audiologists from across the United States participated last week in a five-day pediatric audiology workshop hosted by the NIU Speech-Language-Hearing Clinic, housed in the College of Health and Human Sciences Department of Communicative Disorders.
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 The names John Cage and Buckminster Fuller are not often heard in the same sentence.
Cage, the experimental composer, made chance the center of his musical practice, reflecting his deeply held Zen Buddhist beliefs. Fuller, the creator of the Geodesic Dome, among many other inventions, and known widely and affectionately as Bucky, was equally convinced of the power of technology to promote social change.
Polymaths in production, the two have more commonly been seen as representative of competing schemes of historical understanding. Yet in life they became fast friends after meeting first in 1948 at the progressive Black Mountain College in Asheville, N.C., and remained so until Fuller’s death in 1983 at the age of 87.
NIU’s School of Art presents “Geodesic Mathematics and Random Chaos: John Cage and Buckminster Fuller,” an exhibition, interdisciplinary symposium and gala concert celebrating the work and friendship of this acclaimed pair of 20th century innovators.
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 Read good news about – and send congratulations to – Ellen Anderson, Thomas McCann, Larry Johannessen, Mortar Board, Promod Vohra, Divya Vohra and Romualdas Kasuba.
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Looking for a way to help engage Illinois communities in discussions about Illinois history, literature, architecture or any humanities discipline?
If you would enjoy making connections and exercising minds throughout Illinois, the Illinois Humanities Council (IHC) wants to hear from you. The IHC is seeking scholar-applicants for its “Road Scholars” speakers bureau. Humanities scholars affiliated with Illinois colleges and universities and independent scholars are eligible to apply.
This year, the IHC is particularly interested in speakers who might address the topics of the genetics revolution, American roots music and the life and legacy of Abraham Lincoln.
The deadline for applications is Friday, Sept. 15. Interested scholars should download an application from prairie.org or call (312) 422-5580 to receive an application.
NIU faculty and staff are invited to attend Academic Convocation, the official welcome for all incoming students, at 11 a.m. Friday, Aug. 25, in the Convocation Center.
All NIU faculty and staff with master’s degrees or higher are invited and encouraged to participate in this important retention event as students transition into the NIU community. Faculty/student research and project presentations again will headline this year’s program, and additional interactive pledges and remarks will induct the entering class into the NIU academic community.
The hour-long program will be followed by the annual Friday Fest celebration on the patio of the Convocation Center.
To participate in the procession, please RSVP to Donna Simon as soon as possible at dmsimon@niu.edu. Free parking is reserved for faculty and staff participants at the Convocation Center. Participants meet for robing and assembly at 10:30 a.m. in the lower-level locker rooms.
Classes, lessons, and ensembles in music, theater and art begin in September at the NIU Community School of the Arts.
Programming is designed for children, teens and adults. Private lessons are available on all instruments, as well as in art and theater. Teachers are NIU students and faculty as well as community teachers.
The public is invited to the annual open house at 3 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 30, to learn more about the many arts opportunities available in the NIU Community School of the Arts. The event is held in the lobby of the Concert Hall in NIU Music Building.
Parking for the Open House is available in the lot immediately adjacent to the Music Building on the south side.
Information and registration is held from 3 to 5 p.m. Staff and teachers are available to answer questions about music lessons, classes and ensemble scheduled for fall and spring and to take registrations.
Free 15-minute sample lessons also are available from 3 to 5 p.m. To reserve a slot, call the office at (815) 753-1450 no later than Tuesday, Aug. 29. There is a limit of one free sample lesson per person.
Talks and discussions begin at 4 p.m. Topics include “Get the Most from Your Music Lessons,” “Is Suzuki Right for You?” and “Why Ensembles are Great Skill-Builders.”
Students in the community school will perform solos and in small ensembles at 5:05 p.m.
To receive the fall/spring booklet with information about the NIU Community School of the Arts, contact Renee Page at (815) 753-1450. Visit www.niu.edu/extprograms for more information and a registration form.
Students 18 and younger who want to pursue their study of the arts, but who cannot afford the cost, can apply for financial aid. The NIU Community School of the Arts offers classes, lessons and ensembles in art, music and theater beginning in September.
The deadline to apply for aid is Monday, Aug. 28.
Application forms are available by calling the office at (815) 753-1450 or online at www.niu.edu/extprograms. The NIU Community School of the Arts is located in Room 132 of the NIU Music Building.
Software Licensing (formerly Software Distribution) has moved from Document Services to the ITS HelpDesk in Swen Parson 120.
The ITS HelpDesk is now the primary point of contact for software licensing information. The software licensing phone number will be redirected to the HelpDesk at (815) 753-8100.
Visit Software Licensing online at www.helpdesk.niu.edu and select Software in the left navigation area for a list of available software and for ordering information.
Customers now can pick up and return requested software at the new, conveniently located central campus site. ITS courier services remains an option.
Billed as one of the biggest and best festivals of its kind, the 23rd annual On the Waterfront celebration returns to downtown Rockford this Labor Day weekend.
This family-friendly event from Friday, Sept. 1, through Sunday, Sept. 3, features a variety of food, drink, amusement rides, live music and entertainment on eight stages located throughout 30 city blocks. Once again, WNIJ is a proud sponsor of the Left Bank Stage (near Wyman and Chestnut streets), featuring headliners Ronnie Baker Brooks (Friday), former Stray Cats bassist Lee Rocker (Saturday) and John Lee Hooker Jr. (Sunday).
As an On the Waterfront stage sponsor, WNIJ is also an official sales outlet for festival admission buttons. Buttons, which are good for all three days of the festival, are $12 each when purchased in advance. Daily wristbands are $14 at the gate. Children 8 and younger are admitted free.
Buttons are on sale from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. weekdays through Wednesday, Aug. 30, at WNIJ’s DeKalb office, 801 N. First Street (just south of Hillcrest). Cash or checks payable to On the Waterfront are accepted.
For more information about button sales, show times and other festival events, visit www.wnij.org.
Tickets to the Saturday, Sept. 2, Huskie opener against Ohio State are sold out, but fans still can take part in the action by attending the Alumni Association pre-game reception.
Join the NIU marching band, cheerleaders and Alumni Association in celebrating the Huskies with a private tailgate reception two-and-a-half hours prior to kickoff. The pre-game reception will be held at the Holiday Inn: On the Lane, located one block from the stadium, and will include a seated buffet as well as non-alcoholic and alcoholic beverages.
Register at www.myniu.com or call (815) 753-1452.
NIU staff, faculty and students are invited to send their children to Art Express for free.
This class begins Saturday, Sept. 9, and runs for five weeks from 1 to 3 p.m. This innovative class encourages creative thinking through fun hands-on art projects and is for children ages 4 to 12. Teachers are students in an advanced art education class working under School of Art faculty supervision.
The registration form is available online at www.niu.edu/extprograms or call (815) 753-1450. Indicate at the top of the form that you are a student or employee of NIU. The form and a $15 program registration fee – the class cost $30 for non-NIU children – should be sent to the NIU Community School of the Arts in Room 132 of the Music Building.
Children’s classes in music and theatre begin at the NIU Community School of the Arts in early September.
Kinetic Energy (Section 1 is for ages 6 to 9 and Section 2 is for ages 10 to 15) is taught Saturday mornings beginning Sept. 16. This six-week class is taught in Stevens Building.
Prelude (ages 1 to 2), Gavotte (ages 3 to 4) and Development (ages 4 to 6) teach the basics in movement, music and rhythm. All are taught Saturday mornings beginning Sept. 9. These 12-week classes are taught in the Music Building.
Piano Players (Section 1 is for ages 5 to 6 and Section 2 is for ages 7 to 8) is a group piano class that teaches piano and much more. Four students is the maximum in each section. This 12-week class meets Monday afternoons beginning Sept. 11.
String Sprites is a string ensemble for beginners. Other classical music ensembles in the community school are CSA Symphonette for intermediate string players and the CSA Sinfonia, a full orchestra open by audition only.
CSA Jazz Combo and Jazz Theory for Kids (ages 12 to 17) and for Adults (ages 13 to adult) are scheduled for Sunday afternoons beginning Sept. 17.
CSJazz Band (ages 14 to 20) begins rehearsals Sept. 17. Auditions for the 2006-2007 year are from 6 to 8 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 10. Call (815) 753-1450 for a time assignment.
For more information, call Renee Page at (815) 753-1450 or consult the Web site at www.niu.edu/extprograms.
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