Kudos

Cliff Alexis, co-director of the NIU Steel Band, is among the 2006 Arts-in-Education awardees of the Cultural Academy for Excellence, Inc.

The Maryland-based organization, which provides “an innovative approach to education through the performing arts,” ensures that its students are prepared academically, mentally and spiritually to become the leaders of tomorrow.

CAFE’s Positive Vibrations Youth Steel Orchestra is a highly acclaimed orchestra comprised of the students who attend its Saturday Academy. Students are prepared to sit for the theory exams given by an associate body of the Associated Board of the Royal School of Music of Edinburgh, England. They also sit for the practical examination given by the University of the West Indies at St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago.

* * *

The honors keep rolling in for NIU senior Samie Chaudhry, who is pursuing a double major in political science and geography.

Chaudhry learned earlier this month that he had been selected as NIU’s Student Lincoln Laureate, an annual honor reserved for the top senior from each of the state’s public and private four-year colleges and universities.

Each year, one laureate is selected to speak on behalf of all the winners at the statewide ceremony in Springfield. John Simon, chancellor of the Lincoln Academy of Illinois, informed NIU President John Peters last week that Chaudhry had been selected to deliver the address.

The ceremony was held Saturday in the House of Representatives of the Old State Capitol.

* * *

NIU’s Refrigeration Department has been honored by software maker Environmental Support Solutions for its innovative use of one of the company’s products.

The Heating Plant uses software intended to track the use of refrigerants to also keep detailed maintenance records on all cooling equipment. Doing so has helped the department save tens of thousands of dollars a year by spotting recurring problems and looking for deeper causes. In one instance last year, the software helped officials spot a problem that could have destroyed a $90,000 piece of machinery.

10-30-06