Kudos

NIU art professor Charlotte Rollman is the featured artist at the first juried invitational exhibition of the Bowery Gallery’s 2007 season.

Rollman’s show, called “Offerings for Mother Nature,” is on display from June 19 through July 7 at the New York City gallery. It features about 20 works on paper showcasing the landscape and the seasons’ varying elements.

The central theme of Rollman’s work focuses on the ever-changing elements of nature: earth, air, fire and water. As a plein art painter for several years, Rollman expresses her devotion to nature by using a rich palette of color and active mark-making influenced by her study of Eastern paintings and writing.

The opening reception, which coincides with the summer solstice, is from 5 to 8 p.m. Thursday, June 21. The Bowery Gallery is located at 530 West 25th Street, 4th Floor, in New York’s Chelsea Art District.

More information is available online at www.bowerygallery.org.

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Student and professional staff members of NIU’s First-Year Experience and Orientation office swept several major awards at the National Orientation Directors Association Region V conference earlier this month in Waterloo, Iowa.

Abbey Wolfman, an assistant director completing her second year of service at NIU, was honored as Region V’s Outstanding New Professional. Wolfman also was elected to a three-year term as coordinator of the region, which includes Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wisconsin and the Canadian province of Manitoba.

Senior marketing major Amanda Scott Born, a native of Freeport, Ill., was selected as the Outstanding Student Leader for the region. She also garnered an award for best communication skills in the conference’s Case Study competition.

Scott Born and Artice Weston Jr. presented a conference program titled “Professor Parsons Has Written on Your Wall: Inspiring Self-Awareness for Online Community Profiles.” Their presentation was voted by conference participants as one of the top five conference sessions. Weston is a senior speech-language pathology/audiology major from DeKalb.

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NIU senior Viqar “Vic” Mohammad of DeKalb recently placed ninth overall in the 135th Interstate Oratory Contest, held this year in Santa Fe, N.M.

The Interstate Oratory Contest is the nation’s oldest speech tournament. Past participants have included the likes of William Jennings Bryan, Jane Addams and George McGovern.

Mohammad, a nursing major who has competed for the NIU forensics team for the last four years, qualified for the tournament by being named state champion in the open division of the Illinois Forensics Association State Tournament, held in March. 

At the national competition, he delivered his speech on the topic of ovarian cancer awareness.

“We were very pleased to see Vic make it to the semifinal round,” said NIU Forensics Team Coach Judy Santacaterina. “He did a fine job representing the State of Illinois.”

5-7-07