Project MY VOICE aims to improve future
for youths with developmental disabilities
 A three-year project between NIU and Indian Prairie School District 204 aims to empower youths with disabilities to become their own advocates toward “happy and self-sufficient lives.”
Toni Van Laarhoven and Sarah Johnston-Rodriguez, professors in the Department of Teaching and Learning, and Traci Van Laarhoven-Myers, a special education teacher in the school district, are co-directors of Project MY VOICE.
Funding comes from a $340,000 grant from the Illinois Council on Developmental Disabilities.
“Because of the fact that these students have cognitive impairments, people just automatically assume, ‘Well, we know what’s best for you,’ and then they kind of carve out their future for them,” said Van Laarhoven, who joined the NIU College of Education in 2001.
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 In the science fiction film classic, “2001: A Space Odyssey,” a perfectly brilliant computer becomes an unemotional killer. Ah, the stuff of science fiction, right?
A new book by NIU Communication Professor David Gunkel might make you think otherwise.
The book is in fact titled, “Thinking Otherwise.” In it, Gunkel, who holds a Ph.D. in philosophy, investigates the ethical challenges, complications and responsibilities that arise from our interactions with increasingly more sophisticated forms of artificial intelligence, from computers to robots.
Ethics is typically understood as being concerned with questions of responsibility for and in the face of an “other,” presumably another person. But Gunkel notes that this cornerstone of modern ethical thought has been significantly challenged.
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 Judy Santacaterina, an adviser in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and longtime coach of the NIU forensics team, appears in a new documentary tracing 150 years of the Italian-American experience in Chicago.
WTTW Channel 11 will air “And They Came To Chicago: The Italian American Legacy,” narrated by actor Joe Mantegna, at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, June 5, and at 5:30 p.m. Sunday, June 10.
The documentary, which premiered on NBC Channel 5 in late May, examines how the distinct regional customs and traditions of early settlers laid the foundation for burgeoning Italian enclaves in Chicago and helped steer the course of the city’s history.
Executive producer Gia Marie Amella spent two hours interviewing Santacaterina about her grandmother, Amabile Santacaterina, a popular Italian-language broadcaster in Chicago from the 1930s to the 1960s.
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 NIU geologist Mark Frank is a member of an international team of scientists who recently published findings in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that will assist researchers for years to come in their study of our planet’s internal structure and composition.
“Researchers don’t really know that much about the interior of Earth, or any planetary body for that matter,” Frank said.
“One way scientists learn about Earth’s inner composition is by studying large earthquakes, which release significant quantities of energy that are transmitted away from the quake’s focus by seismic waves,” he added. “As they pass through the interior, the waves experience changes in velocity, which indicate changes in density of material or composition.”
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 As the old saying goes, Illinois has only two seasons: winter and construction. The latter is upon us.
This summer, roadwork will close various streets on and around campus for extended periods of time. A map outlining those projects can be found on the university’s Web site.
Roadwork that might send faculty, staff students and visitors scrambling for a detour on campus includes:
- College Avenue reconstruction and bridge repairs through Aug. 15. After four decades of patchwork repairs, College Avenue will be completely rebuilt with a new base, asphalt, sidewalks, lighting and more. The road will be closed from Castle Drive east to Woodley Road throughout the project. The bridge over the Kishwaukee River also will be resurfaced and remodeled as part of the project.
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 Summer Fridays are not always about sneaking off to the zoo, the ballgame or the cottage in Wisconsin.
For two dozen college students, teachers, sculptors, book illustrators, glass blowers and artists of all sorts, summer Fridays are special for another reason. Those are days spent at the Field Museum with pencils, paint brushes and possibilities.
For nearly 30 years, NIU art professor Yale Factor has taught a summer course in painting, drawing and illustration with the Field serving as his classroom.
“The first day, I take them for a tour behind the scenes in areas that are not open to the general public. Only 2 percent of the displays are open to the general public,” Factor says. “I introduce them to the collections managers and curators, and then they can paint or draw at any place in the museum that is open to the general public. I wander around and help them.”
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 NIU’s Faculty Development and Instructional Design Center and Graduate School have honored four graduate teaching assistants for outstanding work in the classroom.
The four are Jason Jividen, Jennifer Ann Lichamer, Rachel Moreno and Kelley Wezner.
The Graduate School held a reception in April at the Holmes Student Center Regency Room to recognize the recipients of all graduate student awards including outstanding TAs. Each outstanding graduate teaching assistant was presented with a certificate by Provost Raymond Alden and a plaque by Murali Krishnamurthi, director of Faculty Development.
Faculty Development established the awards for TAs in 2004.
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 As fiscal year 2007 comes to a close, some purchase orders might need to be rolled forward to fiscal year 2008.
Following are the parameters that Procurement Services and the General Accounting office will use to decide which purchase orders will be rolled forward and which will be closed out.
If there are any purchase orders that do not meet these parameters and need to be rolled forward, the General Accounting office needs to receive a list by Thursday, July 12, to roll them forward. After that date, and without any other directions from your department, the decisions to roll forward or close orders will be made by Procurement Services and the General Accounting staff.
All purchase orders that are rolled forward will be paid out of FY08 funds.
PARAMETERS FOR ROLL FORWARD
 Read good news about – and send congratulations to – Gaylen Kapperman and Michel van Veenendaal.
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To provide a world-class experience for NIU’s student-athletes and members of the faculty and staff, the NIU Athletic Board is asking for participation in a brief online survey.
Click on this survey link and answer the questions as they pertain to your interests in NIU intercollegiate athletics. The survey should take only two or three minutes to complete.
This summer, in the spirit of the “Museum without Walls,” the NIU Art Museum offers its prominent location to assist other non-profit arts organizations and museums in making more public their own programming and accomplishments.
Eight organizations will be represented in “Community Windows” by posters in the NIU Art Museum’s Hall Case Gallery in Altgeld Hall through Saturday, Aug. 11.
The DeKalb County Community Foundation has generously funded the creation of a professionally designed poster display stemming from a grant proposal authored by the NIU Art Museum. NIU’s Media Services Imaging Production Studio worked with each organization to design a poster with the option to augment their displays with small objects. -- MORE
The NIU Art Museum will partner with the DeKalb Public Library to offer two children’s pop-up book and card workshops as part of this summer’s DeKalb County Passport to Adventure program.
NIU Art Museum Education Coordinator Jess Witte will conduct the approximately one-hour workshops in the library’s conference room.
The first workshop will be offered at 3 p.m. Tuesday, June 12, for children ages 6 to10. Children younger than 8 must be accompanied by an adult. The second workshop will run at 3 p.m. Tuesday, June 26, for ages 8 to 15.
Space is limited, so registration at the library’s youth desk is required at (815) 756-9568. -- MORE
A reception to honor Barbara Koca, who is retiring from NIU after 30 years of service, is scheduled for 1 to 3:30 p.m. Monday, June 18.
The reception takes place at the Illinois ASBO/NIU Professional Development Center in the Henry Yankow Board Room.
Young voices fill the air this summer in a new day camp offered by the NIU Community School of the Arts.
The CSA Choral Camp is for children ages 8 to 13 and meets the week of June 18. The camp is scheduled for 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and concludes with a final concert for family and friends in the Concert Hall of the Music Building. Campers bring a packed lunch each day and receive a T-shirt.
Campers are assigned to choirs by age and rehearse with their choir twice each day. In addition, they attend classes in singing, drumming, movement, reading music and playing the piano. Each day, a guest performer will share his or her talents with the group. -- MORE
The Nehring Gallery, a facility of the DeKalb Park District, will host “Civil Rights: Making and Remembering History” throughout the month of June.
The exhibition aims to call attention to the individuals, groups and especially students who have affected change in working toward advocating and protecting civil rights.
The exhibition is comprised of an introduction to the Chicano Movement, documents from the NIU Libraries’ African-American Special Collection and the sixth annual Martin Luther King Jr. Community Celebration Traveling Gallery. -- MORE
Junior and senior high school brass players are invited this summer to learn from some of the best brass teachers in the region. Brass Boot Camp is scheduled for the week of July 8.
Professor Tom Bough, director of the camp, also is director of the Huskie Marching Band and the University Band at NIU. Assisting as teachers during the week are NIU brass faculty, including Mark Ponzo, Paul Bauer and John Fairfield, as well as NIU music students.
Throughout the week, players of tuba, French horn, trumpet, trombone and euphonium (baritone) receive personal attention on improvement of technique, increased lip flexibility and endurance, production of a professional tone, solutions to intonation problems, the acquisition of fluency in all key signatures and expansion of playing range.
Campers sleep and eat in residence halls on campus and enjoy the music facilities in the NIU Music Building. The camp is open to those who have graduated from grades 8 to 12. -- MORE
The Regency Room of the Holmes Student Center is the site of a preventative health screening for faculty, staff, their families and friends Tuesday, Aug. 14.
Life Line Screening screens the carotid arteries in the neck to determine if you are at risk for stroke. Up to 75 percent of all strokes are linked to carotid artery blockage. Screenings of the arteries of the legs are offered to check for peripheral artery disease, which is linked to heart disease.
A third test is performed for aneurysms in the aortic vessel of the abdomen. Life Line also offers a bone density screening to test for early detection of osteoporosis.
These non-invasive and completely painless ultrasound screenings take about 10 minutes each. Each of the three vascular tests is offered for $45. The osteoporosis test is $35. A complete vascular screening (three tests) costs $109; all four are $129.
New blood tests now are available as well: glucose (blood sugar to test for diabetes) and a complete lipid panel (LDL, HDL and triglycerides). All are conducted with a finger-stick blood test. Results are available in 10 minutes. The glucose costs $25 and the complete lipid panel is $45. Call for package pricing with vascular screenings.
Pre-registration is required. Call (800) 324-1851 for appointments and more information.
Recreation Services is offering eight one-week summer sessions designed especially for youth ages 6 to 12.
A variety of activities such as art, crafts, sports, team building, outdoor activities, swimming and special field trips will broaden a child’s experience and enhance lifelong wellness.
More information and registration is available online or by calling (815) 753-0231.
Selected artworks from the NIU Art Museum’s permanent collection will be available for rental and display in university offices.
Stop by the Altgeld Gallery (first floor, west end) on weekdays through Wednesday, June 13, to select from the artwork on exhibit. A museum staff member will be available for consultation and to offer additional information about the artwork.
As in previous years, works will be assigned by lottery based on your preferred selections. Keep in mind it is helpful to know the number of pieces you will want for your office prior to viewing the exhibition. -- MORE
NIU Huskie Athletics is offering summer camps focusing on a variety of sports, including athletic training, baseball, basketball, football, golf, soccer, softball, volleyball and wrestling. The camps are designed for youth of various ages.
Detailed information and registration are online.
Registration for the summer FIT Program will take place from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Tuesday, June 12, through Thursday, June 14, in Anderson Hall 127.
All current and new members should attend one of the days to update paperwork and have their blood pressure taken. E-mail fit@niu.edu for any questions or information regarding the FIT program.
First-Year Connections is looking for NIU faculty and SPS interested in volunteering their time to mentor new students during their transition to NIU.
The Student-Faculty Links mentorship program is a component of Orientation and First-Year Experience. Each Student-Faculty Links mentor is asked to fill out a short survey to match him or her with a new student who expresses similar interests or is in a related academic department.
Mentors and protégées then are notified in early August with each other’s contact information and are invited to an informal reception hosted by the FYC staff on Friday, Aug. 24. -- MORE
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