NIU is aiming for a late spring groundbreaking on its planned world-class proton therapy cancer treatment and research center.
Toward that end, the NIU Board of Trustees last week approved a series of resolutions enabling the plan to move forward on several fronts.
The $160 million state-of-the-art center is earmarked for 13 acres at the DuPage National Technology Park in West Chicago.
Proton therapy is an advanced, highly effective form of radiation treatment, utilizing proton beams to treat cancer. Non-invasive, painless and precise, it is a preferred treatment in certain adult and pediatric cancers. Although the treatment is covered by numerous insurance plans, proton therapy is currently unavailable in Illinois.
“Illinois needs a world-class, university-based proton therapy facility,” said Cherilyn G. Murer, a health care executive who also serves as chair of the NIU Board of Trustees.
Murer noted that, in addition to treating patients, the Northern Illinois Proton Treatment & Research Center will be a national leader in particle-therapy cancer research and in the training of the next generation of proton-therapy health care professionals.
Currently, proton therapy is offered at only five centers nationwide, though several new centers are under construction or in the planning stages.
“NIU intends to become the university in the U.S. that trains people to staff future proton therapy facilities,” Murer said. “NIU will build curricula that provide university education and training for medical physics, oncology nursing, related allied health fields, engineering and accelerator physics, as well as programming in radiation therapy and dosimetry and residency and fellowship opportunities for physicians, all in proton therapy.”
The non-profit center is targeted to open in 2010. It will treat as many as 1,500 patients a year.
The NIU Board of Trustees urged the Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board to act expeditiously on the proton center’s pending application.
Further, trustees recommended that the Northern Illinois Proton Treatment & Research Center, LLC, the business unit responsible for the proton therapy project:
Proceed with the development of an integrated academic and clinical proton cancer therapy and research center.
Enter into a land development agreement with CenterPoint Properties, the master developer of the DuPage National Technology Park, to construct the facilities that will house the proton therapy center.
Establish an affiliation with a health care provider to deliver quality clinical care. NIU representatives are involved in conversations with several nationally known medical centers.
Enter into detailed negotiations with two European providers of specialized equipment for the delivery of proton therapy. The board asked for completion of a final contract with one of those providers by the end of April.
“I don’t think I’m overstating the issue when I say this is one of the most important endeavors the university has ever undertaken,” NIU President John Peters said.
“Our actions demonstrate the university’s historic commitment to service and outreach in the northern Illinois region,” he added. “Proton therapy will provide hope to cancer patients in Illinois and beyond. It is a proven, effective treatment that will save thousands of lives and improve the quality of life for countless others.”
Proton therapy is recognized as the most precise and advanced form of radiation treatment available today, according to the National Association for Proton Therapy (NAPT).
Conventional radiation often radiates healthy tissue in its path and surrounding the tumor site. Proton therapy more efficiently and precisely targets the tumor.
The proton beam has a low entrance dose into the human body, a high dose designed to cover the entire tumor, and no exit dose exposure beyond the tumor. Consequently, healthy tissue and organs are left intact.
The NIU center will deliver proton therapy for the treatment of pediatric, prostate and head/neck cancers, as well as for treatment of patients suffering from certain ophthalmologic disorders.
The university has financing plans for center construction and has received a total of $7.3 million in federal funding for planning and development of curricula for education and training programs designed for health care professionals working in proton facilities.
The center’s location in the DuPage National Technology Park, part of a 35- to 40-acre site available for a health care campus, in some ways brings the proton therapy technology full circle.
The park is contiguous to the northern boundary of Fermilab, which in the mid-1980s assisted in building and assembling the country’s first hospital-based proton treatment system for Loma Linda University Medical Center in California.
With Fermilab and Argonne National Laboratory, Illinois has continued to be a world leader in the development of accelerator technologies, and NIU has relied on the expertise of scientists at both laboratories in planning for the new proton center.
“It’s time to bring proton therapy home to Illinois,” Murer said.
“We have the physics and engineering expertise to not only excel in the clinical operation of a proton cyclotron accelerator, but also the technical knowledge to grow the field of accelerator research to the next generation of clinical machines involved in proton treatment and delivery,” she added.
The Northern Illinois Proton Treatment & Research Center, LLC, has already begun research into the development of a CT scanning device utilizing proton beams, said John Lewis, project director and associate vice president at NIU for Administration and Outreach. The hope is that the device would lessen patient exposure to radiation and provide higher quality CT images.
“One of the things that makes this project so exciting is that, from its very inception, we are planning the next generation of this treatment,” Lewis said. “Our intent is to make Chicagoland the center of cutting-edge proton therapy and academic programs.”
For more information on NIU’s proton therapy center, see www.niu.edu/protontherapy.
by Joe King
Marc Falkoff, a professor in the NIU College of Law, co-authored a brief argued Wednesday, Dec. 5, before the United States Supreme Court, asserting that prisoners being held at Guantanamo Bay should have the right to challenge their detentions in federal court.
Most of the 30-odd detainees in question were captured by Pakistani forces at the Afghan border, before being turned over to the U.S. military. They have been held at the U.S. Naval base in Cuba for as long as six years without formal charges or being informed of the evidence against them.
Such treatment, say Falkoff and the other authors of the brief, is a violation of the writ of habeas corpus (the right to challenge detention) guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution. The administration of President George W. Bush and the Pentagon argue the detainees are entitled to no such right because they are not being held on U.S. soil.
The two sides have been clashing over the issue for several years, and the court has on two previous occasions ruled that the prisoners have a right to habeas corpus. In each instance, Congress passed laws that the administration claims legitimized the practice. The constitutionality of the second such law is at question in the latest case, and Falkoff is confident the court will strike it down.
“The gist of the case is that, as the Supreme Court has already ruled, Guantanamo is under the complete control and jurisdiction of the United States, and the only law that applies there is U.S. law; and therefore, these prisoners have a right to habeas corpus,” Falkoff says. “If my clients were being held in Kansas, no one would even dispute that claim.”
Falkoff expects that he Supreme Court will take several months to rule on the case.
Falkoff’s involvement in the case stems from his representation of 12 Yemeni men who have been held at Guantanamo Bay for about six years.
“The average person looking at the evidence against my clients would be shocked that we have kept people in prison for six years based upon it,” he says. “We’re not talking about technicalities; we’re talking about people being held on triple or quadruple hearsay, being imprisoned because someone heard a first name over a walkie-talkie.”
Earlier this year, Falkoff compiled and edited a book of poetry written by prisoners at the facility. “Poems from Guantanamo: The Detainees Speak” spent 15 weeks on the list of best-selling poetry anthologies.
by Joe King
Those wishing to smoke on campus soon will have to walk a bit further to do so.
A statewide law that takes effect Jan. 1 bans smoking within 15 feet of any entrance, air intake or operable window on any public building, which would include all buildings on the NIU campus.
The law, which also prohibits smoking in or near bars, restaurants and other public workplaces, is intended to reduce exposure to secondhand smoke, which proponents of the law estimate is a contributing factor in about 2,900 deaths each year in Illinois.
To ease compliance with the law, employees of the Building Maintenance and Grounds departments have begun moving the large ash urns found outside of most campus buildings to locations at least 15 feet from entryways.
“Essentially, if you are standing near one of the ash urns anywhere on campus, you can be confident that you are in compliance with the law,” said Debra Bryant, chair of the Campus Safety and Environmental Quality Committee. “It is recognized that this policy revision will be successful when people cooperate and live within the spirit of the policy. While there are procedures available for enforcement, good will and respect for the rights of others are the keystones of the successful implementation of this policy.”
The law stipulates that violators can be ticketed by local police or the public health department, and could be subjected to fines of between $100 and $250. Employees or students who violate the rule on campus also could face disciplinary actions through Human Resources Services or the Judicial Affairs Office, respectively, just as they might for violating any other state law while on campus.
Should any smokers decide that the latest restrictions on smoking provide an impetus for giving up the habit, NIU Employee Wellness can organize a class based on the American Cancer Society’s Freshstart Stop Smoking Class. A minimum of six people are required for a class. Groups of friends or co-workers interested in taking the class can pick the days and times they wish to attend.
Freshstart consists of four one-hour, small-group sessions, and is designed to provide the tools and information needed to make the smoking cessation experience positive and successful.
For more information, contact Employee Wellness and Assistance at (815) 753-6000 or via e-mail at HRSTraining@niu.edu.
by Tom Parisi
NIU journalism student Ilona Meagher, who has become a leading voice for veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and earlier this year published a book on the topic, will testify Wednesday, Dec. 12, before a congressional committee.
Meagher is scheduled to testify on Capitol Hill before the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs at a hearing to examine current mental health care available to our nation’s veterans.
The hearing will focus on two recent reports: a National Alliance to End Homelessness study indicating that one out of four homeless are veterans and a CBS News report that found the rate of suicide among veterans is double that of the general population.
The issue of veterans’ difficulties upon reentering civilian life is close to the heart of Meagher, a 41-year-old former flight attendant turned advocate. In 2005, after being moved by a news account of veterans of Iraq who had committed suicide, Meagher began collecting media reports of combat-related PTSD incidents.
Eventually her work developed into the “PTSD Timeline” that is now maintained online by ePluribus Media, a citizen-journalism initiative. It was the first public collection of possible, probable and confirmed reports of post-combat reintegration difficulties. The timeline has been accessed by dozens of media outlets and government offices.
Meagher also launched an online blog, “PTSD Combat: Winning the War Within.”
In the spring of 2006, her work drew the attention of Ig Publishing in New York, which asked her to write a book on the plight of returning veterans. Meagher devoted herself to the project, reading all she could on PTSD and interviewing veterans, their family members, veterans’ advocates and medical experts.
Her book, “Moving a Nation to Care: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and America’s Returning Troops,” was published in May 2007.
Meagher is not only preparing to testify before the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs but also is helping to shape the hearing agenda at the request of Committee Chairman Bob Filner, D-Calif.
“It’s a very humbling experience,” Meagher said. “I see myself representing other concerned Americans who, after hearing of the reintegration difficulties of some of our returning troops and veterans, may find themselves saying, ‘We can do better by them.’ ”
Since becoming an advocate for veterans with PTSD, Meagher has been quoted widely in the media, ranging from The New York Times to Pat Buchanan’s magazine, The American Conservative. In August, she served as a panel member, along with Gen. Wesley Clark, at the annual convention of the popular liberal blog, the Daily Kos. She even received a phone call one morning from presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich, who had read her book.
“Being called to testify is the grand culmination of two years of steady work on this issue for me,” Meagher said. “To have the chance to advocate for our military families and perhaps move the issues that are important to them forward is a great return on the time I’ve invested.”
by Mark McGowan
Two more clinicals and one more class.
That’s all that stood between Michael Coffel and his master’s degree in nursing, something that will elevate the longtime operating room nurse to family nurse practitioner. The NIU student (and 1989 bachelor’s degree alum) grew eager for graduation and the greater job status and extra family time it would afford.
But life in the U.S. Naval Reserves offers no guarantees.
And when the phone rang in October of 2006, deploying Coffel to a year’s tour of duty at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Germany, the commander was determined to not let one commitment derail another.
“I was so close to finishing. I only had two semesters to go,” Coffel says. “I was leaving my family for a year. I was leaving my job. I had to uproot everything. But it’s my job, one that I signed up for. It’s my duty.”
Thanks to the Internet, however, the Naperville man will cross the stage Sunday, Dec. 16, to collect his diploma and realize his dreams on schedule. Commencement exercises begin at 9 a.m. in the NIU Convocation Center for students in the College of Health and Human Sciences.
“I’ve wanted to expand my career – do a little bit more in nursing – and I wanted to get my master’s as a family nurse practitioner so I could practice in the Navy as well,” he says. “I started back to school part-time in 2003, came in as a student-at-large for three semesters and then was accepted into the program. It’s a very good program, very well-structured and definitely challenging.”
“For Michael, it was a real hard year,” adds Diana Mertens, preceptor coordinator in the NIU School of Nursing and Health Studies. “It’s a really intense program, and it’s difficult for all the graduate students in general. Almost without exception, they’re working and they have family responsibilities. Michael ended up getting shipped out. All things considered, he did extraordinarily well.”
As Coffel prepared for active duty at Landstuhl, which cares for wounded troops from the Europe, the Middle East and Africa theaters before sending them home to the United States, he began exploring options to keep his NIU education on track.
He spoke with administrators at the school and at Landstuhl, all of whom agreed to allow him to continue his studies and clinical rotations while in Germany. Coffel consented to log 40-plus hours a week in the operating room and remain on-call during his time off, when he was allowed to treat a minimum of 182 patients in the hospital for his 182-hour clinical requirements.
The hospital provides medical support not only to members of the military but to their spouses, contractors and their spouses working in the theaters of action and retired military personnel and their spouses who live in Europe. It allowed Coffel to complete his women’s health clinical last spring. He finished his adult health clinical over the summer.
To attend class, he harnessed the power of the Web.
“I heard about a program called Skype. It’s kind of like AOL Aim or Yahoo Messenger, except that you can make phone calls with it through the computer. I had a video camera on my laptop, and I talked with my teachers and the administration to work out a way to get Skype on their computers. We set up a Web cam.”
Getting to the virtual classroom wasn’t always easy, he says.
Sometimes Landstuhl’s Internet connection was down, he says, or he would lose reception. The hours posed another headache.
“The first eight months I was out there were a little tough on me,” Coffel says. “Germany is seven hours ahead, so I was online at 11 o’clock at night until 2 o’clock in the morning. Then, I had to get up and P.T. (physical training) at 5 o’clock.”
Coffel joined the Navy in 1992, three years after earning a bachelor’s degree in nursing from NIU. He always had wanted to serve in the military, and had considered joining the Marines out of high school, but was convinced by a friend in the Navy to become a sailor.
As in the civilian world, he served as an operating room nurse in the Operational Health Support Unit based at Great Lakes. The unit has 26 detachments that span seven states.
He has served as officer-in-charge for a couple of the units, providing leadership to the others in his command and maintaining the health and records of the reservists at the center to maintain a ready state for deployment.
Away from the Reserves, Coffel has worked as an operating room nurse “all over Chicagoland” but has spent the last few years as an assistant to an orthopedic surgeon in DuPage County. After he sits for his boards, he hopes to remain in orthopedics but also has other job opportunities available to him.
“I’ll be able to see my own patients, make my own diagnoses, work in conjunction with other family practice doctors – or, in my case, with other orthopedic surgeons – and assist in surgery,” he says. “I like helping people. I’m able to do quite a bit, a little bit different than what the doctors do. They focus in on the patients’ problems, but nurse practitioners also focus in on the patients as a whole. We try to be more in touch with the patients.”
Meanwhile, his career in the Naval Reserves is in the final stretch.
Coffel has five years left before he can “retire at 20,” but it likely will seem easy after the labors of the last five years. His wife, an occupational therapist who works for the same medical group as Coffel, along with his 13-year-old son and his 9-year-old daughter, remember well his 12- to 14-hour days followed by his trips to the basement for study.
“I’ve just had a will to get this thing done,” Coffel says. “I’ve put so much time into it while being away from my family.”
by Joe King
As far as Christmas carols go, 1857 was a banner year in American history.
That fall, one composer in New York and another from Boston penned two of the most beloved American Christmas carols ever – “Jingle Bells” and “We Three Kings of Orient Are.” In honor of the 150th anniversary of those songs, noted Christmas carol expert William Studwell has named them the Co-Christmas Carols of the Year.
Aside from sharing the same year of birth, however, the two songs couldn’t be much more different, says Studwell, the nation’s recognized expert in Christmas carols, who has written numerous books on the topic. This is the 22nd year of his Carol of the Year series.
“Artistically, the two songs have nothing in common except the use of the English language and the Christmas holiday,” says Studwell, who served as chief cataloguer for the campus library at Northern Illinois University until his retirement in 2000.
“Jingle Bells,” Studwell says, was probably the first secular carol of consequence produced in the United States. A couple of other popular carols (“Up on the House Top” and “Jolly Old Saint Nicholas”) are of the same vintage, but cannot be definitively proven older.
The song, both words and music, was penned by James S. Pierpont, who was, by trade, an expert in reading and recitation. He wrote the song around Thanksgiving Day 1857 for use in a Sunday School program. Originally titled “One Horse Open Sleigh,” the piece quickly caught the public’s fancy and grew into arguably the most performed and most influential secular American Christmas song. In fact “Jingle Bells” might be the most popular of all non-sacred Christmas songs in the world, says Studwell.
“Anyone singing it, or listening to it, can be swept up in the sensation of riding in a one-horse open sleigh,” he says.
As an aside, Studwell notes that while Pierpont grew up in Boston and came from a family of abolitionists, he wrote several songs that were supportive of the Confederacy during the Civil War. Also, while his greatest fame came from a song that painted an iconic winter scene, the author retired to Sarasota, Fla., decades before that became a common destination for retirees.
Studwell places “Jingle Bells” at No. 9 on his personal list of the top 25 Christmas carols ever.
This year’s second honoree, “We Three Kings of Orient Are,” stands in marked contrast to its counterpart in almost every way.
“ ‘We Three Kings’ is smooth in style, oriental in atmosphere, biblical in content and religious in purpose,” asserts Studwell.
The religious nature of the song is hardly an accident. The author was John Henry Hopkins Jr., the son of a long-time Episcopal bishop of Vermont. He himself was a clergyman, as well as an author, journalist, book illustrator and designer of stained glass windows and other ecclesiastical objects. When he wrote the song in 1857 as a Christmas gift to his nieces and nephews Hopkins was working as editor of the Church Journal in New York City.
With such a background, Hopkins probably should have known better than to refer to the visitors from the East as kings rather than wise men or astronomers. His portrayal of the Magi so angered purists (who were upset that the lyric reinforced the misperception of the visitors as royalty) that the song was excluded from many hymnals for years.
That slight did nothing to harm the popularity of the piece, however. Evidence exists that the carol might have been published as early as 1859, and by 1865 it had worked its way into two carol collections, including one published in 1863 by Hopkins himself.
“That rapid sequence of publication no doubt reflected the quickly spreading fame of Hopkins’ carol, which ultimately became one of the most famous of all Christmas pieces,” says Studwell, who is a bit bemused by its popularity because he considers the lyrics grammatically questionable and clumsy in poetic flow. Taken as a whole, however, he considers the song “a very effective piece.”
“Although it’s not a truly outstanding tune, it is attractive and accessible, smooth and rhythmic,” he says. “It has an appropriate coating of mysticism and oriental flavoring. Despite its artistic and theological deficiencies, it has fulfilled its mission to relate the story of the visitors to the manger, from the Book of Matthew, better than any other work of music ever has.”
He places it 15th on his list of the top 25 Christmas Carols.
Studwell, 71, began researching Christmas carols in 1972 when he created a pamphlet about “Oh, Holy Night” as a gift for a family member. Since then, he has researched and written about hundreds of carols and has conducted nearly 500 media interviews on the topic for newspapers, radio and television. He also has served as an adviser to several projects compiling recordings and lyrics of carols.
He estimates that he has devoted more than 6,000 hours of his life to studying and writing about Christmas carols. At the height of his research, he had a room full of tables stacked high with more than 400 reference volumes from around the globe and immersed himself in collections at libraries across the country.
He also is a champion of several other musical genres that he believes are under-appreciated and has written extensively on college fight songs, state songs, patriotic music and circus music, becoming a nationally recognized expert in each of those fields. He has written 40 books in all.
Studwell now resides in Bloomington, Ind.
Alan Zollman, a professor of mathematical sciences, is the new president-elect of the international School Science and Mathematics Association (SSMA).
Zollman was installed as president-elect at the association’s annual convention in November. He will begin his two-year term as president next year at the 2008 Convention in Raleigh, N.C.
Founded in 1901, SSMA is dedicated to improving instruction at all levels in and between science and mathematics. Its primary work and publications address the needs of all of those involved in the science and mathematics teaching and learning processes.
“It’s one of the oldest mathematics or science organizations in the country, and I think this appointment speaks to the respect the mathematics community has for NIU’s work in the area of mathematics education,” Zollman said.
The SSMA focuses on three areas: teacher education and in-service; research in science and mathematics education; and teaching ideas and activities for grades K-12.
SSMA’s main activities include conducting national conferences; funding innovative classroom projects through its Endowment Grant Program; and publication of its newsletter, “Mathematics-Science Connector” and its journal, “School Science and Mathematics.”
A professor in the Department of Mathematical Sciences since 1993, Zollman has given dozens of national presentations and published numerous articles on mathematics education. As a national speaker for Staff Development Resources of Torrance, Calif., he also has given more than 70 national workshops on methods of teaching mathematics in 30 states for about 15,000 middle school teachers and administrators.
In 2005, he was awarded NIU’s Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching Award.
Additionally, Zollman is a past-vice president of publications for the “Research Council of Mathematics Learning” and hasserved on the Illinois Teacher Certification Standards Committee, the Illinois Prairie State Achievement Examination Standards Committee and the editorial board for “Focus on Learning Problems in Mathematics.”
Professor of Accountancy Chih-Chen Lee has been selected as the first-ever Michael and Patricia Strachan Professor of Accountancy.
The professorship was created by Michael Strachan, a 1976 graduate of the NIU Accountancy program, and his wife, Patricia, who have been generous supporters of the college for several years. They also established an endowed scholarship fund in 2003.
Professor of Accountancy Rebecca Shortridge has been selected as the first-ever Gaylen and Joanne Larson Professor of Accountancy.
The professorship was created by Gaylen Larson, a 1962 graduate of the NIU Accountancy program, who was selected as the department’s outstanding alumnus in 1988.
The NIU Libraries has posted hours for Finals Week and the winter break.
Extended Hours for Finals
Through Thursday, Dec. 13: 7:30 a.m. to 2 a.m.
Friday, Dec. 14: 7:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.
Saturday, Dec. 15: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Interim Session (Sunday, Dec. 16, through Sunday, Jan. 13)
Monday through Friday: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Saturdays and Sundays: 1 to 5 p.m.
Winter Break Hours (Saturday, Dec. 22, through Wednesday, Jan. 2)
Friday, Jan. 28, and Monday, Dec. 31: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Saturdays and Sundays: 1 to 5 p.m.
Monday, Dec. 24, through Thursday, Dec. 27: CLOSED
Tuesday, Jan. 1: CLOSED
Wednesday, Jan. 2: Interim session hours resume.
NIU’s Civic Leadership Academy offers this “guided tour” of the practical techniques and fundamental principles of the strategic planning process from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 13. The workshop focuses on developing skills and understanding the power of analyzing current organizational situations, laying out long- and short-range objectives, developing implementation plans and building an effective follow-up policy decision framework for an organizational strategic plan.
Topics will include environmental scanning, problem identification, SWOT analyses, strategy formulation, implementation planning and various sub-elements of the process such as the construction of scenarios.
Registration and more information about the CLA and its upcoming workshop are available online.
Starting Jan. 1, the NIU Libraries will begin sending patron’s library notices (overdue, recall, item availability) to official NIU e-mail accounts. Contact the Library Circulation Desk at (815) 753-9844 with questions.
Media Services will offer training on the use of the audiovisual equipment in Provost-sponsored
SMART classrooms.
A new hardware keypad for equipment control is being added over winter break. Instructors either can continue using the podium control icon on the computer desktop or press buttons on the hardware keypad.
Both new and returning instructors should benefit from these brief seminars:
These seminars are open-ended and run continually. A complete demonstration with hands-on practice could take 30 minutes.
If you cannot attend one of the above sessions, call a SMART classroom trainer to arrange a more convenient time. Please note that it is difficult to schedule a weekday training session once the semester begins because these rooms are in almost constant use.
The computer monitors in all 106 Provost-sponsored general purpose SMART classrooms throughout campus have been replaced with SMART interactive monitors. These touch screens can activate software by using a stylus instead of a computer mouse. The stylus also can be used to annotate and highlight over anything displayed on the computer monitor in a variety of ways.
Media Services will offer an introductory training on the use of these interactive displays from 1 to 2 p.m. Friday, Jan. 11, in Cole Hall 101. SMART Technologies representatives will demonstrate the hardware and introduce the accompanying software.
NIU will host the Northern Illinois Bridal Expo from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 13, at the Holmes Student Center Duke Ellington Ballroom. The expo will feature more than 40 exhibitors, a groom’s room, a bridal fashion show and taste testing. Admission is free and includes a complimentary buffet. Parking is available at the visitors’ lot on Carroll Avenue, just south of the Student Center. For more information, visit www.niu.edu/hsc.
Here are the Top 5 reasons to travel to Costa Rica with the Alumni Association:
1) Have an adventure instead of scraping more snow off of your windshield.
Ever seen howler monkeys in the wild? Looked into the crater of a volcano? Flirted with a blue morpho butterfly? Bought a hand-painted oxcart? Relaxed in natural hot springs? Heard a three-wattled bellbird? While all these activities are impossible to do in Illinois, they can be part of your Costa Rican adventure.
2) There is something for everyone.
This weeklong excursion provides lots of variety, from nature hikes and beaches to shopping and museums. Travelers will see two volcanoes, waterfalls, cloud forests and hummingbird gardens. Despite its small size, Costa Rica has more biodiversity than the entire Midwest. If you have already visited Costa Rica, this itinerary allows you to discover something new and revisit old favorites.
3) Take time to smell the tropical flowers and admire the iguanas.
While the trip packs in lots of variety, it is designed to give you time to savor the experience as well. Rather than racing from one point to the next, the trip will focus on three major centers: San Jose and the Central Valley, Los Angeles reserve/Arenal Volcano and the Pacific Coast at Papagayo. Our final departure from Liberia gives us more time at the beach and less time in transit to the airport.
4) Your dollar still goes a long way in Costa Rica.
Costa Rica remains a very reasonably priced destination, especially because the dollar has retained a favorable exchange rate with the Costa Rican colón. As a result, travelers still can enjoy handcrafts shopping sprees without the guilt and avoid exorbitant prices for such little extras as a coffee or a soft drink.
5) Friendly people and a congenial atmosphere.
In terms of people, Costa Rica and NIU truly offer the best of both worlds. In addition to sharing the experience with your NIU alumni family, Costa Ricans are noted for their friendliness and hospitality. Another bonus to help make the trip run smoothly is a well-established tourism infrastructure and knowledgeable, well-trained guides who complete several years of study to be approved by the Ministry of Tourism.
More information about this alumni travel program is available online.
The David C. Shapiro Memorial Law Library has announced its hours through Jan. 13.
The law library will extend its hours for reading period and final exams, ending Thursday, Dec. 20. Hours are 7:30 a.m. to 2 a.m. Monday through Thursday, 7:30 a.m. to 1 a.m. Fridays, 10 a.m. to 1 a.m. Saturdays and 10 a.m. to 2 a.m. Sundays.
The library is open 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday, Dec. 21. The library is closed Saturday, Dec. 22, through Tuesday, Jan. 1.
Hours in the first part of January are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and 1 to 5 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. Regular hours resume Monday, Jan. 14.
Call (815) 753-0505 for more information.
The time has come to begin the nomination process for the 2008 awards for excellence in undergraduate teaching and instruction.
Nomination guidelines and forms are available online.
The Committee for the Improvement of Undergraduate Education is administering four different types of grants to support research in and projects for the improvement of instruction in undergraduate courses.
Multiple copies of the guidelines for these grants have been sent to each college and department office and are available online. Please use the current forms and not previous forms you might have retained.
All proposals must be submitted to the committee by Tuesday, Jan. 22. Projects must be accompanied by approval from the department chair and college dean.
All expenditures apart from salary must be made by June 1. Normally, salary associated with projects will be paid May 16 through June 15 regardless of when the work is actually completed.
In addition to holiday music heard throughout the season, Classical WNIU is pleased to offer the following specials:
9 a.m. Monday, Dec. 17: Concordia College Christmas Concert
For 80 years, the small Lutheran Evangelical school out on the prairie, Concordia College, has had anything but a small vision when it comes to celebrating music. With a choir and orchestra of more than 400, the Concordia College Christmas concert attracts capacity crowds from all faiths to celebrate the season and the promise it holds. For this Christmas, listen to nationally-renowned conductor René Clausen as he leads the pure, youthful voices in a concert called “On Our Way Rejoicing,” a potpourri of familiar and traditional works intertwined with music that brings new sounds and meaning to the season.
9 a.m. Tuesday, Dec. 18: Welcome Christmas!
The annual Christmas concert from VocalEssence, recognized internationally as one of America’s premier choral groups.
9 a.m. Wednesday, Dec. 19: Chanticleer Christmas
A Chanticleer Christmas celebrates the mystery and wonder of Christmas with an elegant blend of traditional carols, medieval and Renaissance sacred works, and moving spirituals.
9 a.m. Thursday, Dec. 20: St. Olaf Christmas Festival
The St. Olaf Christmas Festival is one of the oldest and most cherished celebrations of the holidays in the United States. Begun in 1912, the festival is a worship service of hymns, carols, choral works and orchestral selections that celebrate the birth of Christ. Featuring more than 550 student musicians, it takes place on the St. Olaf campus in Northfield, Minn.
8 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 20: Tchaikovsky’s “Nutcracker” Suite
Enjoy the entire ballet, performed by The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, under the direction of Vladimir Ashkenazy.
9 a.m. Friday, Dec. 21: Echoes of Christmas
Over the years, the Dale Warland Singers have provided magical performances for this season to listeners across the country. Drawing upon the archive of those live performances, Warland and host Brian Newhouse bring old and new treasures to listeners looking for Christmas inspiration.
8 p.m. Friday, Dec. 21: Handel’s “Messiah”
From the stunning solos, to the majestic and powerful effects in the Hallelujah Chorus, this performance steeped in tradition is guaranteed to set the Christmas mood.
8 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 22: Christmas Storytime
Sit back, pour the hot chocolate and let your inner child emerge this holiday season. Steve Blatt features a special program of enchanting music and beloved stories narrated by popular artists. Enduring classics accompanied by legendary orchestras will evoke memories of Christmas past, and set the stage for a blissful holiday. Highlights will include: “Twas the Night Before Christmas,” performed by the Boston Pops, John Williams conducting with actor/comedian Robin Williams narrating; Brother Heinrich’s “Christmas” by John Rutter, performed by the City of London Sinfonia & Cambridge Singers, John Rutter conducting and Brian Kay narrating; and Tchaikovsky’s “Nutcracker Suite” performed by the New York City Ballet Orchestra, David Zinman conducting and actor Kevin Kline narrating. Rebroadcast at 8 p.m. Monday, Dec. 24.
9 a.m. Monday, Dec. 24: A Festival of Nine Lessons & Carols
From the chapel of King’s College in Cambridge, England, the legendary Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols service (Biblical readings and music) as performed by the 30-voice King’s College Choir.
10 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 1: New Year’s Day from Vienna
Direct from the Golden Hall of the Musikverein in Vienna, the most popular classical music concert in the world: the Vienna Philharmonic New Year’s Day concert. The conductor this year is Georges Prętre.
Visit www.wniu.org for more information. WNIU is the classical music station of Northern Public Radio, the broadcast service of NIU.
89.5 WNIJ is pleased to offer the following seasonal specials in its program lineup:
6 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 16: J.R. Sullivan’s Home for the Holidays
Re-visit the first WNIJ Christmas special produced with Jim Sullivan and friends from 1994. Join us for an hour of holiday music and seasonal stories, presented by some of Rockford’s favorite performers, past and present.
8 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 20: A Paul Winter Solstice Concert
From the cathedral of St. John the Divine in New York City, Paul Winter, one of the original world musicians, is back again with a unique exploration of the solstice tradition in cultures near and far. Hosted by John Schaefer.
1 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 23: J.R. Sullivan’s Hometown Holiday
Rockford native J.R. Sullivan returns home for his 14th annual holiday celebration, recorded live on stage in Rockford. This year’s show reunites the remarkable talents of Stephen Vrtol III, Linda Abronski, Shawn Wallace, Megon McDonough, Randy Sabien and, making her debut with the Hometown Holiday cast, Holland Zander.
6 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 23: Jonathan Winters’ “A Christmas Carol”
A public radio tradition hosted by NPR’s Lisa Simeone. Master comedian Jonathan Winters presents a distinctive reading of Dickens’ holiday classic, with a special performing edition prepared by Dickens for his own presentations.
10 p.m. Monday, Dec. 24: Echoes Sonic Seasonings
This year’s Sonic Seasonings takes listeners through a winter landscape drawn from Norwegian fjords, Irish dales and Northeastern mountains and foothills. It’s not just carols, but original music evoking the season’s time-stopping silences and chilled landscapes. Host John Diliberto dusts the snow off his boots and pulls up a chair with the musicians, drawing out revealing tales and Christmas memories to enhance the intimate concert setting.
10 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 25: An Echoes Christmas
Just when you thought you were sick of Christmas carols, find new ways of hearing some ancient sounds for the day with recent music by Andreas Vollenweider, Al Petteway and Amy White, Banshee in the Kitchen and more.
Noon Saturday, Dec. 29: The Capitol Steps New Year’s Edition of “Politics Takes a Holiday!”
The Capitol Steps’ annual awards ceremony roasts all of 2007 to a tasty crisp. Join Don Imus, Al Gore, the guy who had TB but still got on an airplane, Rudy Giuliani, Vladimir Putin, Hillary Clinton and many more as the Capitol Steps bring the year in review. You should look forward to 2008, but not before you make fun of 2007 first.
6 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 30: WNIJ’s 2007 Year-In-Review Special
The WNIJ Newsroom looks back at some of the significant local stories of 2007, including the summer floods, the closing of Cavel International in DeKalb and the resignation of U.S. Rep. Dennis Hastert.
10 p.m. Monday, Dec. 31: An Echoes Techno-Tribal New Year’s Stomp
Echoes kicks out the jams for a New Year’s Eve Techno-Tribal celebration, forming a seamless path into the new year, with music that dances in your head. John Diliberto matches beats and mixes atmospheres, riding the pulse of some of the newest ambient, lounge and techno-tribal music, creating the ultimate New Year’s Eve chill-out room.
Visit www.wnij.org for a complete program schedule, plus information on other news and events heard on 89.5 FM. WNIJ is the NPR News/Talk station of Northern Public Radio, the broadcast service of NIU.
NIU’s Presidential Commission on the Status of Women is accepting nominations for the 2008 NIU Outstanding Women Student Awards. This recognition process, begun in 1980 as the Women’s Student Leadership Awards, is intended to foster the development of leadership among women students, both graduate and undergraduate.
The nomination deadline is Monday, Dec. 17.
For details regarding eligibility, criteria and the nomination procedure, visit http://www.niu.edu/women/pcsw/osa.shtml or call (815) 753-0320.
To access the nomination form, visit http://www.niu.edu/women/pcsw/nonform.shtml.
NIU’s Faculty Development and Instructional Design Center will host the Spring 2008 Teaching Effectiveness Institute from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 10, in the Capitol Room of the Holmes Student Center.
The theme is “Promoting Active Learning Through Blended Courses.” Presenters are Alan Aycock, Amy Mangrich and Tanya Joosten, all from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s Learning Technology Center. Aycock is associate director; Mangrich and Joosten are instructional design consultants.
A blended/hybrid course uses a blend of face-to-face as well as online teaching and learning activities. Successful teaching of blended courses requires rethinking and redesigning face-to-face courses, creating new learning activities and effective integration of online and face-to-face components.
This transformation requires learning new skills necessary to manage online interaction successfully, incorporating methods of assessment and effective use of the interactive and organizational tools found in Web course management systems.
The workshop is open only to NIU faculty and staff. Advanced registration is required and available online. The deadline to register is Friday, Dec. 21. Please contact the center if you do not receive a response or an e-mail confirmation of your registration within two working days.
Registered participants will receive workshop materials, lunch, refreshments and certificates of participation. Those who register and are unable to attend should inform the center by Monday, Jan. 7, so that those on the waiting list might have the opportunity to attend.
Call (815) 753-1085 for more information.
Students ages 18 and younger who want to pursue their study of the arts, but who cannot afford the full cost, are invited to apply for financial aid for the spring semester.
The NIU Community School of the Arts offers a wide variety of art, music and theater classes, including private music lessons and ensembles. The deadline for financial aid applications is Monday, Jan. 7.
All classes and lessons are taught on the NIU campus in DeKalb.
The NIU Community School of the Arts is sponsored by the College of Visual and Performing Arts. Approximately 80 teachers offer lessons on most musical instruments as well as in art and theater. More than 600 community people from nearly 50 towns and cities travel to DeKalb each semester for lessons and classes.
Application forms are available at (815) 753-1450 or online at www.niu.edu/extprograms. The NIU Community School of the Arts is located in Room 132 of NIU’s Music Building.
The NIU Foundation, which looks forward to supporting faculty and staff in the pursuit of excellence in research, teaching, and outreach to the larger community, invites applications for the 2008 Venture Grants.
All proposals must be received in the Foundation Office (Altgeld 135) by Friday, Feb. 1, 2008. Awards will be announced no later than the first week of April.
Foundation officials anticipate awarding two to four grants at a minimum level of $5,000 and up to $25,000, with a total amount available of $55,000. All faculty and staff from units within the Division of Academic and Student Affairs, the Division of Administration and University Outreach and Intercollegiate Athletics are eligible to apply.
For complete information about the grants, as well as application information and forms, visit the NIU Foundation Web page. Contact the Foundation with questions at (815) 753-7539.