Ronald Reagan was president. A man who would later occupy the California governor’s office Reagan once held – fellow movie star Arnold Schwarzenegger – was not yet a U.S. citizen.
Chicken McNuggets and compact discs were brand new. Michael Jackson and the Police ruled the radio. “Star Wars” was not only the year’s top-grossing film (for the trilogy-ending “Return of the Jedi”) but the nickname given to Reagan’s recent proposal to develop technology to intercept enemy missiles.
At NIU – on April 8, 1983, to be exact – an impressive and robust report on baccalaureate education was submitted to the Council of Instruction. Its wisdom, carefully crafted by 11 faculty members from the five colleges with undergraduate programs as well as a student and the associate provost, would guide NIU well.
But times change. And, a quarter-century later, that document created on an electric typewriter remains the most-recent examination of NIU’s undergraduate program.
Until now.
“It’s good for any institution to periodically review what it believes – what it thinks is important – and to make sure that the curriculum supports those beliefs. The last time we did that here at NIU was 25 years ago,” said Greg Long, a professor in the Department of Allied Health and Communicative Disorders.
“Before we can enact any kind of general education reform, we need consensus on baccalaureate goals to drive whatever approaches we take and efforts we make regarding curricular changes,” Long added. “The first step in getting that information is soliciting opinions from all the major constituencies related to the university.”
Long chairs the baccalaureate review steering committee, which next month will launch a series of focus group meetings and an online survey expected to bring the opinions and ideas that will define and reflect NIU’s culture and mold the university’s future.
Spawned by the university’s strategic planning process, Long’s group has met since late last summer to construct a framework for the gathering of input. The steering committee also will oversee about 30 members of a special task force who will lead the focus group sessions.
Their curiosities: What do we want our students to know? What do we want them to be able to do? What kind of citizens – what kind of people – do we want them to be?
Committee members will spend the summer sifting through the eventual reams of data to create a report and, come the fall, present recommendations to administrators and campus leaders.
“Clearly it’s time for us, based on the strategic plan, to re-evaluate what an NIU degree means,” said Vice Provost Earl “Gip” Seaver, who has facilitated the steering committee planning. “It’s important for a university to continue to think about what students will know and what skills and abilities they will have once they earn their degrees.”
Identified focus groups include students, faculty, administrators, staff and parents.
Steering committee members also are interested in the opinions of the community – school districts and community colleges – as well as employers, program accreditation associations and governmental agencies such as the Illinois Board of Higher Education.
Each forum will last about an hour, Long said, and will include quiet times for participants to ponder the questions and write their ideas on paper.
“A serious undertaking of this process necessitates input from all key stakeholders,” said Carolinda Douglass, a member of the committee who also chaired the strategic planning task force on student success. “As the process moves forward, it offers all members of the NIU community an opportunity to be involved in a development and collaborative process that will shape the future of NIU baccalaureate graduates and of NIU itself.”
“I’m pleased that they’re attempting to engage the entire campus community. The framework is excellent and consistent with our shared governance,” Seaver said. “Every single person will have the opportunity to talk about what an NIU degree should mean, and it will remind us of the importance of the university and the students. We all have to keep in mind that we’re here because of the students.”
Members of the steering committee also include David Changnon, Jes Cisneros, Elisa Fredericks, Omar Ghrayeb, Jeff Kowalksi, Paul Stoddard and Lucy Townsend.
Do you have an image of hope? What does recovery look like?
Rhonda Robinson discovered her vision last summer.
“It was a fallen tree in a forest, with all the new growth coming out of the base of it,” says Robinson, a Distinguished Teaching Professor in the NIU College of Education’s Department of Educational Technology, Research and Assessment. “I found it a symbol of hope: That tree will live again.”
Her photograph of that tree, along with photographs submitted by anyone in the NIU community, will become part of a public art project she and Media Services, Outreach and the Office of Support and Advocacy are organizing for “NIU Remembers: A Day of Reflection,” scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 14. Visitors to the exhibition in the Holmes Student Center that day should find encouragement, hope and renewal in the electronic display and the dozen or so prints hanging on the walls.
All members of the university community are invited to submit photographs that they believe could address questions such as these: What does recovery look like? What do you “see” when you think of hope?
“People are moved by imagery. People can express themselves through photography,” Robinson says.
“Maybe there’s a place they go for solace – a classroom, a place in the residence hall, a hopeful place. Maybe it’s playing with a dog in the backyard. Maybe it’s a poster they’ve seen,” she adds. “We have no expectation that submissions be poetic or professional, just that it’s something that for the person represents hope.”
Robinson brought “Voices of Children: Exploring Childhood and Culture through Visual Literacy” to NIU in the fall of 2006. The exhibition’s simple premise – elementary school children, some from Illinois and others from far-away lands overseas, were given cameras and asked to “show us your world” – is always on her mind.
A trip last semester to a visual literacy conference at Virginia Tech, where employees from NIU and VT created a joint exhibition of photographs of recovery, convinced her and others to make “Images of Hope” a part of the Feb. 14 activities.
Scott Peska, director of the Office of Support and Advocacy, agreed and has worked with others on campus to make it a reality.
“Because ‘A Day of Reflection’ is a public event, a memorial day, I want people to know that NIU is, at least in part, recovering. We are moving forward. We do see hope. We can be optimistic for the future,” Robinson says. “That’s what we believe the victims and their families want – for us to try to succeed and do even better as a result of this event.”
Those encouraged to submit photos include survivors and their families, students, student groups, faculty, staff, members of the community and alumni. Organizers hope to create an archive of all images and encourage all all NIU community members to submit photographs in the next two weeks.
Images can have been created during any time period, not necessarily those taken during or immediately after last year’s tragedy. Photographs must be submitted by Wednesday, Jan. 28.
Guidelines:
Here’s a lesson from the Great Depression: Don’t psyche yourself out.
Market psychology and consumer confidence were among the most critical factors that sent a sagging American economy spiraling into the depths of the Great Depression, says David Kyvig, a Distinguished Research Professor at NIU.
Kyvig is an award-winning historian and author of “Daily Life in the United States, 1920-1940.” He says lessons from the past provide a roadmap for the future and are already helping the country deal with its current economic crisis.
“We’ve learned a lot from the Great Depression, including lessons about the value of government regulation in building confidence in the economy,” Kyvig says. “That was one of the great contributions of the New Deal. As soon as government imposed oversight on banking and stock exchanges, confidence in those institutions began to grow immediately.
“In recent years,” he adds, “we had lost sight of the fact that government supervision is necessary for a healthy economy.”
In the 1920s, as in the years preceding the current economic recession, Americans had come to rely on consumer credit. Only a small percentage of people held stock, but with the advent of radio, Americans paid close attention to the ups and downs of the market. They knew fortunes were being made.
They also were well aware when it all came crashing down Oct. 29, 1929.
“As long as people were confident the economy would grow, they didn’t mind having consumer debt. But when they thought bad times were ahead, they retreated,” Kyvig says.
The transition from a time of prosperity to an era of paucity didn’t happen overnight. Like tumbling dominoes, however, the 1929 market crash triggered a series of economic collapses that occurred over months and even years, according to Kyvig.
Fearful consumers stopped consuming. In turn, manufacturers cut production and laid off workers. Meanwhile, as many as a half-million highly leveraged market investors were unable to repay bank loans. Small banks collapsed first, and then larger ones. These events only fed public anxiety.
Kyvig says Americans finally received a glimmer of hope in March of 1933. That’s when Franklin D. Roosevelt delivered his inaugural address and one of the most recognizable quotes of the 20th century.
“When Roosevelt comes in and says, ‘The only thing we have to fear is fear itself,’ that has a profound impact,” Kyvig says. “But it doesn’t immediately kick start the economy.
“The psychology starts to improve, but it takes a lot of government regulation and spending to get the private economy moving again, and it won’t be until the beginning of war spending (in 1940) that we get up to the level of production that produces a full-employment economy.
“We’ve learned from the past,” he adds. “I think that’s why there’s such concern currently to turn around the psychology by demonstrating strong government support for economic recovery. We didn’t see that sort of response from (President) Hoover. His administration did a number of things, but it was cautious about committing the sort of resources that would make a difference. They counted very heavily on private efforts.”
The Great Depression didn’t mean hard times for everyone. At least half of Americans held on to their jobs. And some businesses actually thrived, including the tobacco, oil and Hollywood film industries.
But the Depression’s ugly side was unprecedented. It reached its depths during the winter of 1932-33. Unemployment rates soared to at least 25 percent, and actually might have been as high as 30 percent. Everyone knew someone who was out of work. Those who had jobs often found their hours curtailed. Employees in a few steel plants, for example, worked as little one day a week.
Unable to pay their rent or meet mortgage payments, many Americans moved in with relatives. A large number of people had no place to go. Shantytowns, sardonically known as Hoovervilles, sprung up and were highly visible near major cities. Young unemployed men took to hopping freight trains, traveling in search of work. Kyvig says a zoo in Toledo actually slaughtered its animals to provide food for the needy.
During the 1920s, government had reduced its size. Kyvig says that also had an adverse effect when hard times hit.
“Government, particularly at the local level, can be an important stabilizer in the economy just by being a substantial employer,” he says. “By the end of the 1920s, government was at a low point in terms of its size and impact on the economy. I think that is a parallel to today, in some respects. We’ve heard so much since the dawn of the Reagan age about how less government and lower taxes are better. We’ve lost sight of having that stabilizer in the American economy.”
Not all New Deal programs were successful, according to the NIU historian. But most did work to jumpstart the economy and calm public fears. The creation of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation reassured people about the security of their bank accounts, and the Securities and Exchange Commission provided needed regulation to the stock market.
The Social Security system was established in 1935. And a number of public works programs were launched, the biggest of which was the Works Progress Administration, which put people to work on public infrastructure projects. The National Youth Administration provided part-time work for high school and college students, helping to keep them in school and keeping them from competing for jobs in the full-time workforce. In the long run, it led to a better educated populace.
“Indeed, some of the mechanisms created by FDR are still in place and have even helped to rein in the current economic downturn,” Kyvig says.
NIU head women’s basketball coach Carol Owens, who led the 2008 USA Basketball Women’s U18 National Team to a gold medal at the FIBAAmericas Championship for Women, was selected as USA Basketball's 2008 Developmental Coach of the Year by USA Basketball’s Board of Directors.
“I am truly honored to be named USA Basketball’s Coach of the Year,” Owens said. “To be able to represent our country through coaching basketball is an honor in itself. The reason I coach is to impact young women. USA basketball is a wonderful opportunity to do that.”
“This is a tremendous national honor for Carol, and I know the entire Northern Illinois University community joins me in offering her congratulations,” NIU Associate Vice President/Director of Athletics Jeff Compher said. “Her passion for basketball is matched only by her love for our country. As an NIU alumnus, she has been a great ambassador of our university and the United States of America. Her stock continues to rise in USA Basketball, and I continue to see it grow in years to come.”
Owens led Team USA to a 5-0 mark in the tournament, held in Buenos Aires, Argentina, capping its run to the gold with an 81-37 triumph over host Argentina. The team’s first-place finish qualified the USA for the 2009 FIBA U19 World Championship in Bangkok, Thailand.
This is Owens’ third straight gold medal, and her first as head coach of a U.S. National Team. She was an assistant on Team USA’s U18 squad that captured gold at the 2006 FIBA Americas U18 Championship and was also on the bench as an assistant when USA Basketball’s U19 team took home the gold at the 2007 FIBA U19 World Championship for Women.
“Carol demonstrated a special ability to lead and inspire young athletes to play together and at the top of their game this past summer with a dominating performance in Argentina,” said USA Basketball Executive Director Jim Tooley. “Not only did she put together a team in just a few weeks that played with heart and camaraderie, she secured the USA’s entrance into the 2009 FIBA U19 World Championship, which is crucial to the future of our youth programs.”
Owens, a 1990 graduate of NIU, is in her fourth season leading the Huskie women’s basketball program.
During that time, she has led the Huskies to success on the court and in the classroom. In her second season, she led NIU to its first winning season in five years when the Huskies finished 19-12 and advanced to the semifinals of the 2007 MAC Women’s Basketball Tournament. Owens made NIU history, becoming the first Huskie head coach to have a player drafted by the WNBA when Stephanie Raymond was selected by the Chicago Sky with the 20th overall selection in the 2007 WNBA Draft.
The Huskies have also excelled in the classroom the last four years. Under Owens, NIU has had two Academic All-MAC honorees, most recently Shari’ Welton, who was named to last year’s Academic All-MAC Team. NIU’s women’s basketball team (85 percent) ranked above the national average for women’s basketball teams in the latest Graduation Success Rate reports released by the NCAA.
— NIU Sports Information
NIU’s campus in DeKalb will be a bit safer in the future thanks to a gift from the local Lowe’s hardware store.
Employees of the DeKalb Lowe’s store chose the NIU Department of Public Safety as the recipient of their Heroes Award. Sponsored by the Lowe’s Corp., but voted on by employees at each store, the Heroes Award is intended to honor a local agency that has contributed to the welfare and safety of the community.
The selection of the NIU Department of Public Safety was made, in part, to recognize the department for its work in the hours, days and months following the Feb. 14 shootings at NIU.
“We know what you faced because we faced it with you,” store manager Celeste Cullivan told a room full of NIU police officers in mid-December, explaining that nearly half of the store’s employees have a direct connection to the university whether as students, alumni, staff or parents of students. “We have a great investment with the NIU faculty and student body, and when it came time to choose a grant recipient, the employees wanted to help NIU.”
The $1,200 grant will be used to purchase large “jobsite” boxes to store emergency medical equipment at strategic locations across campus. The department already has eight of the boxes located across campus and now can add five more.
The corporate grant did not quite cover the cost of the boxes, so local Lowe’s employees took up a collection to cover the difference. They also volunteered to come to campus and install the boxes – chaining them in place – at no cost.
“We are extremely grateful to the employees of our local Lowe’s store and the Lowe’s Corp. for selecting us for this honor,” NIU Chief of Police Don Grady said.“These boxes will be a tremendous help in our ongoing efforts to make the NIU campus an ever-safer place.”
NIU’s Department of Geology and Environmental Geosciences is gearing up this semester to host the annual meeting of the North-Central Section of the Geological Society of America, an event expected to attract as many as 600 scientists and students.
The April 2-3 conference will be held at NIU-Rockford, with a welcoming reception at Burpee Museum of Natural History. Conference sessions will be student-friendly and dedicated to the presentation of cutting-edge research.
All college students and K-12 teachers will receive a discount on conference registration fees. Online registration and more detailed session and field-trip information can be found at www.niu.edu/geology/gsa/index.html. (Early registration closes March 2.)
“As hosts, this conference provides us with an opportunity to showcase our programs and research in the Department of Geology and Environmental Geosciences,” said NIU Geologist Gene Perry, conference chair. He and Professor Melissa Lenczewski are the event’s lead organizers.
Perry underscored the importance of promoting the geosciences. According to the American Geological Institute, the number of younger geoscientists is about half the number of those nearing retirement age.
“The impact of geologic processes and resources on society has probably never been greater than it is today, and those of us who work in the geosciences have never before been asked to undertake such a wide variety of tasks,” Perry said. “Yet, as a group, we are getting older. The need to prepare a new generation of geoscientists is obvious, and regional meetings such as this can help.”
Many NIU students will benefit directly from the conference. Four NIU undergraduates and 27 graduate students will present research, along with seven faculty members.
In addition, a large number of graduate students will serve as volunteer workers during the event. In return, they receive free registration and the chance to attend a wide variety of sessions, exposing them to both the latest research in the field and to scientists and students from other universities. The conference frequently attracts international participation.
More than 100 students at NIU are working toward bachelor’s degrees in geology and environmental geosciences. Geology majors have the choice of specializing in one of three emphases: geology, environmental geoscience and earth science education. Another 40 NIU students are working toward master’s-level or doctoral degrees.
Established in 1888, the Geological Society of America unites thousands of earth scientists from every corner of the globe in a common purpose to study the mysteries of our planet and share scientific findings.
The North Central Section of the GSA includes the states of Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio and Wisconsin, as well as the Province of Manitoba and the western portion of the Province of Ontario in Canada.
Redd Griffin, a founding director and past chair of the Ernest Hemingway Foundation of Oak Park, will present a lecture Thursday, Jan. 15, in conjunction with the “Picturing Hemingway” traveling exhibit now at NIU’s Founders Memorial Library.
The presentation will be held at 7:30 p.m. in the Rare Books and Special Collections Department on the library’s fourth floor (402A). The event is free and open to the public.
The Picturing Hemingway traveling exhibit, developed by the Ernest Hemingway Foundation and the Smithsonian Institution’s National Portrait Gallery, features dozens of images that chronicle the life of the American literary master. The exhibit is on display on the first floor of Founders Memorial Library through the end of January.
Griffin will talk about the development of the exhibit, which focuses on the history and influence of popular images of Ernest Hemingway. Griffin also will discuss how Hemingway’s experience as a journalist helped hone his ability to communicate with a worldwide audience and how the author developed his own gift for “picturing” through narrative descriptions that conveyed compelling images to readers.
The lecture is sponsored by Friends of Northern Illinois University Libraries, a non-profit organization dedicated to advancing the educational mission of the university through development of library resources.
For more information, call (815) 753-9838 or e-mail libraryfriend@niu.edu.
Health Services has begun posting a monthly newsletter to its Web site. The first issue, released late in the fall semester, covers cold and flu, flu shots, hand-washing and norovirus.
Begin 2009 the right way: A Recreation Services membership provides many opportunities for NIU faculty and staff to improve their personal health and fitness.
Enjoy full access to the Student Recreation Center and Chick Evans Field House. Participate in recreation programs including open recreation, intramurals, personal training, group fitness, massage therapy and acupressure. Pool passes for Gabel and Anderson pools also are available.
Take advantage of early morning and late night hours of operation. Memberships also are available for a spouse, significant other and dependent(s).
Find out more at http://www.recservices.niu.edu or by calling the Membership Services Counter at (815) 753-0231.
The David C. Shapiro Memorial Law Library has announced hours for the spring semester.
Hours through Friday, April 24, are 7:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 7:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Fridays, 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturdays and noon to 11:30 p.m. Sundays. The library is open from 1 to 10 p.m. Monday, Jan. 19.
Hours during Spring Break are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday, March 19, through Friday, March 13. The library is open from 1 to 5 p.m. Saturday, March 7, Sunday, March 8, and Saturday, March 14. Hours Sunday, March 15, are noon to 11:30 p.m.
Call (815) 753-0505 for more information.
After students and instructors in 10 sections of UNIV 101 and 201 courses agreed last semester to participate in a pilot program for the “Common Reading Experience,” most found the integration of “The Last Lecture” by Randy Pausch and Jeffrey Zaslow as a positive one.
Now Orientation and First-Year Experience is convening faculty, staff and students to discuss the Common Reading Experience program.
A meeting will take place at 9 a.m. Wednesday, Jan. 14, in Room 406 of the Holmes Student Center. Participants will review evaluation results, discuss plans for a 2009 CRE book and find collaborative opportunities to support a common reading experience.
Contact Danielle Kuglin Seago at (815) 753-1933 or dkuglin@niu.edu for more information.
Faculty and staff are invited to attend “Words of Inspiration with Nikki Giovanni” at 2 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 14, in the Carl Sandberg Auditorium of the Holmes Student Center. Giovanni also will speak at 7:00 p.m. to the entire campus in the center’s Duke Ellington Ballroom.
Giovanni has been named one of Oprah Winfrey’s 25 “living legends” for her continuous efforts to fight for civil rights and equality. She is the author of more than 30 books for both adults and children, and she was the first recipient of the Rosa L. Parks Woman of Courage Award.
For more information about Giovanni, visit www.nikki-giovanni.com. For more information about these events, contact Megan Gerken, Office of Support & Advocacy, at mgerken@niu.edu or (815) 753-0940.
The Ally Program is a campus-wide program designed to foster a welcoming and supportive campus environment for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender students, faculty and staff by creating a visible network of allies.
NIU employees and students interested in volunteering for the Ally Program can learn more and register online beginning Wednesday, Jan. 14. The online form provides the specific workshop dates and times and allows registrants to indicate first, second and third choices.
Training is divided into two two-hour workshops (Part I and Part II). Volunteers must attend both Part I and Part II. Space is limited, and advance registration is required. Multiple dates are available.
Part I:
Thursday, Jan. 29: 2 to 4 p.m.
Wednesday, Feb. 4: 2 to 4 p.m.
Monday, Feb. 9: 9 to 11 a.m.
Part II:
Tuesday, Feb. 17: 2 to 4 p.m.
Wednesday, Feb. 25: 2 to 4 p.m.
Monday, March 2: 9 to 11 a.m.
The Ally Program is sponsored by the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Resource Center, Division of Student Affairs.
A flurry of activities will swirl around the last two weeks of the Nehring Gallery exhibit in downtown DeKalb.
WWI and WWII movie posters will be on display Wednesday, Jan. 14, through Saturday, Jan. 24. Free viewing hours are from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesdays, from 1 to 5 p.m. Saturdays when there is an exhibit in place, and by appointment at (815) 758-6363.
The first guest speaker, Dale Cozort, is a local author and World War II history specialist who is scheduled from noon to 1 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 14. Saturday, Jan. 17, will feature Don Shoo, WWII veteran at 1 p.m., followed by John S. Wright, owner of the movie poster collection and Wright’s Jewelry on Lincoln Highway, at 2 p.m.
Jeffrey Chown, professor of communication at NIU, will present clips and lead an audience discussion of rarely seen Hollywood WWII films from noon to 1 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 21. The vintage movie posters in Wright’s collection all reference black-and-white films made in the 1940s.
On the final day of the World War Movie Poster exhibition, the Egyptian Theatre, one block north of the Nehring Gallery, will screen “The Great Escape” at 12:30, 4 and 7:30 p.m. The film, starring Steve McQueen, James Garner, Charles Bronson, James Coburn and Richard Attenborough, is a 1963 release set in the European theatre of WWII. General admission is $5 per adult or $4 for students and seniors.
Saturday, Jan. 24, is the last day for participation in the Nehring Gallery drawing for an approximately 9-inch-by-12-inch poster printed by the U.S government in 1945 which Wright has donated. Proceeds are used for gallery expenses.
The 2008-2009 gallery season is partially supported by the Illinois Arts Council and Castle Bank. Friend of Nehring Gallery is currently open for contributions from individuals and businesses. Brochures are available immediately outside of the second floor gallery or by mail if requested at (815) 758-6363.
The Nehring Gallery, housed in the historic First National Bank building and cooperatively operated by the DeKalb Park District and the NIU College of Visual and Performing Arts Outreach Program, is free and open to the public. Parking is available on-street and in adjacent city lots. The accessible entrance is under the awning at 111 South Second Street in the Nehring Center for Culture and Tourism.
New classes, fun ensembles and lessons on all instruments begin this month and next at the NIU Community School of the Arts. People of all ages looking for new hobbies or ways to hone their skills will find many choices.
All classes, ensembles and private lessons are taught on campus. The more than 80 teachers in the program are NIU students majoring in the area in which they teach, as well as NIU faculty and community artists. Private weekly lessons are available on all instruments, as well as in art and theater.
FOR TEENS AND ADULTS
FOR CHILDREN
Discounts are available for those who are enrolled in two or more activities and for those families that have two or more members enrolled.
More information about all the classes, the scholarship application form and registration form are available online at www.niu.edu/extprograms. The office is located in Room 132 of the Music Building. The phone number is (815) 753-1450.
The Community Dance School at NIU begins its spring 12-week session Monday, Jan. 19, and meets weekly through Friday, May 1, with a recital Saturday, May 2.
The school is sponsored by the Department of Kinesiology and Physical Education and is directed by Diane Rimmer.
Classes begin at age 4 and continue through teen and adult. Classes offered include creative movement, ballet, lyrical, tap, Irish step dancing, Scottish Highland dancing, breakdancing, jazz/hip-hop, modern as well as ballroom, Latin and swing. Students are taught by NIU faculty and instructors who hold degrees in dance education, have danced professionally or are currently dance performance majors at NIU.
New this semester are breakdancing classes taught by Sherwin Manila, director of Groundhogs dance company. Meredith Lutz, a former Scottish Highland dancing competitor, will teach Scottish Highland dancing and Barbara Heimerdinger, an NIU faculty member, will teach ballroom, Latin and swing.
Registration will be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 17, in Anderson Hall, Studio 130. For more information, call (815) 753-0277 or (815) 756-4092.
The Paideia Projects, a not-for-profit educational organization, will present its sixth DVD documentary premiere at 6 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 17, at Meridian Banquet and Conference Center, 1701 Algonquin Road in Rolling Meadows.
George Kourvetaris, professor emeritus of sociology and social thought, is executive producer of the project.
This year’s theme is “Ancient Games and Celebrations.” It examines the history, religion, culture and politics of ancient Olympics and other Panhellenic games. This DVD contrasts and compares how the ancient games were conducted versus modern Olympics.
Donation is $65 per person and $45 for students. It includes open bar, a buffet dinner with more than 20 different dishes and appetizers, a harpist playing classical and ancient melodies, a book exhibit and an art exhibition.
Call (815) 758-4088 or e-mail ykourvet@comcast.net for tickets. For more information, visit www.paideiaprojects.com.
NIU’s University Writing Center, in collaboration with Founders Memorial Library, will open a satellite site Tuesday, Jan. 20, in Founders 302.
The site will be open from 6 to 8:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday. Appointments will be walk-in only on a first come-first serve basis.
Headquartered on the lower level of Stevenson Towers South, the University Writing Center is a place for all writers at NIU – undergraduates, graduates, staff and even faculty – to talk one-on-one about their writing with trained consultants. Visitors can:
NIU’s Presidential Commission on the Status of Women is accepting nominations for the 2009 NIU Outstanding Women Student Awards.
The deadline for nominations is Friday, Jan. 23.
This recognition program was created in 1980 and is held annually to encourage the full participation of women students in all facets of the university experience and in their communities; to support their development of corresponding strengths, both cooperative and competitive; and to celebrate their achievements and contributions, including those not usually recognized by other award programs.
Details about eligibility and nomination forms are available online and by calling (815) 753-0320.
NIU Prism, the student-led LGBT and Ally social group, will begin an experimental book discussion group on the fourth Monday of each month in the LGBT Resource Center. The center is located on the seventh floor of the Holmes Student Center.
The first meeting of the semester is from 6 to 8 p.m. Monday, Jan. 26. Books selected are Lambda Award-winning works that address the issues of the LGBT community.
NIU’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Studies Program is currently accepting nominations for new faculty associates and program affiliates. The program offers undergraduate and graduate certificates of study and serves students in a number of colleges and disciplines across campus.
Faculty associates typically teach and/or research some aspect of LGBT studies whereas program affiliates are employees of the university who support the program but are not necessarily involved in related research or teaching. This visible link with the program hopes to facilitate collaborative programming, instigate grant proposals and foster other research and teaching activities.
To nominate yourself or someone else, contact Diana Swanson at dswanson@niu.edu. The nomination deadline is Friday, Jan. 30.
Art Express, offered by the NIU Community School of the Arts, returns Saturday, Jan. 31. Children ages 4 to 12 have the chance to work on innovative and fun art projects for five weeks.
This class has a long history of sharing the skills of art education students at the university with children in the community. The children are divided into classrooms and work on projects around a theme. Every semester, the theme and projects are different. The class meets from 1 to 3 p.m.
Children of NIU staff, faculty and students receive free tuition for the class and are only asked to pay the $15 program registration fee. The office is located on campus in Room 132 of the Music Building. For more information, call (815) 753-1450 or visit www.niu.edu/extprograms.
The colorful and whimsical collages and acrylic paintings of Northern Illinois University alumna Nancy Legner are on display during January at a solo showing at the DeKalb Area Women’s Center.
Legner, who continues to live in northern Illinois after her decision to leave her classroom for a full-time career as an exhibiting artist, recently returned to DeKalb from an exhibit at the Ceres Gallery in the Chelsea Art District of New York City.
She earned a master of fine arts degree from the NIU School of Art in 1983, taught elementary art in the Batavia Public School District 101 and is an award-winning member of the Illinois Art Education Association.
Her hometown has provided inspiration for a mixed-media painting in the exhibit. “Greetings from Sandwich, Illinois” was created as a zany greeting card – a visual reaction to all those years of people kidding her about the town’s name.
Prominent in this collage are a colorized photo of a cattle lot, a cow wearing Barbie sunglasses with a pin-cushion hat and, of course, a sandwich. Diagonal placement of paper dolls and pointing fingers are used to create movement. In this activity-filled fantasy landscape, the artist is represented as a little girl holding her artist palette observing the town’s antics. The turbulent composition is tied together with strands of cascading vintage necklaces and bracelets.
Text narratives accompany the visuals to continue the fantastic journey.
Paintings and prints are available for viewing and for sale. Individuals and groups are welcome to visit the art exhibit from 7 to 9 p.m. Fridays in January, or by appointment. The closing reception will be held Friday, Jan. 30.
The DAWC is located at 1021 State Street in DeKalb. Parking is available in the paved lot off of Eleventh Street, one-half block south of the building. The handicapped-accessible lift can be reached from the alley north of the building. For further information, or to arrange a group showing, call Anna Marie Coveny, gallery director, at (815) 758-1351 or (815) 761-1735.
The NIU Operating Staff Dependent Scholarship is intended to provide financial assistance to children of NIU Operating Staff (civil service) employees while attending NIU. This award is made possible through funds presented by the NIU Civil Service employees’ fundraising activities.
Eligibility requirements:
The maximum amount that will be awarded to any individual is $2,500 over five academic years.
The award of $250 per semester will be awarded for both fall and spring or for just an individual semester. All scholarship and award requests must be made payable to NIU. This scholarship will be routed through the Office of Student Financial Aid and applied directly to the students’ bursar accounts.
The application deadline is Sunday, Feb. 1, or the first business day thereafter. Send completed applications to Jay Monteiro, president, Operating Staff Council, Human Resources, NIU, DeKalb, Ill., 60115.
Student Involvement & Leadership Development will provide a new alternative for students looking for Spring Break plans: The Alternative Spring Break (ASB) program offers students the opportunity to use their time to complete volunteer work and explore a significant social issue in another part of the country.
ASB 2009, held the week of March 7, will take students to the Houston/Galveston area to help with the continuing relief efforts from Hurricane Ike. Airfare, meals on-site and lodging for participants are included in the $550 fee. Fundraising opportunities are available.
The Alternative Spring Break program is the latest addition to the events and services provided by the Student Involvement & Leadership Development office. Students can use SILD’s resources to explore community service opportunities in the surrounding communities as well as participate in events such as Huskie Paws for a Cause and NIU Cares Day.
SILD administrators hope that the ASB program will grow into an annual event, with participants assisting in locations across the country and learning about a variety of social issues, including homelessness, poverty and literacy.
An application and $150 deposit are required to secure a spot on this year’s ASB trip. The deadline is Friday, February 6. Registration information is available at the Student Involvement & Leadership Development web site, located by clicking on the Volunteerism link at http://www.niu.edu/studentinvolvement.
Interested individuals can contact Becky Harlow, ASB adviser, at rharlow@niu.edu or join the “Alternative Spring Break 2009” group on Facebook.
The Parents’ Association staff welcomes all Huskie fathers and mothers back to NIU this spring to participate in special traditions: Dad’s Weekend and Moms’ Weekend.
Scheduled for Feb. 27 through March 1 (fathers) and March 27 to 29 (mothers), the weekends allow students and their family members the opportunity to enjoy an array of events, both on the campus as well as in the DeKalb community.
Included are Huskie sporting events, theater productions, a Casino Night for dads and exhibitions for moms.
The Parents’ Association also has coordinated several special events especially for Dads’ Weekend participants, including a welcome reception and unlimited bowling and billiards in the Huskies Den. Moms’ Weekend participants can enjoy a jewelry-making session and a “Taste of DeKalb” progressive lunch, allowing students and family to experience a selection of DeKalb’s local restaurants.
First-year students and their parents and families “appreciate the opportunity to spend time with their students in their home away from home,” said Becky Harlow, adviser to the Parents’ Association. “Events like these allow an opportunity for students to ‘show and tell’ about their experiences as NIU students.”
Event and registration information are available at the Parents’ Association Web site, located by clicking on the Parents’ Association link at http://www.niu.edu/studentinvolvement. Registration is due Friday, Feb. 13, for Dads’ Weekend and Friday, March 13, for Moms’ Weekend.
Interested individuals can contact Harlow at www.parents.niu.edu.
NIU’s Presidential Commission on the Status of Women is seeking nominations for three staff awards: the Wilma D. Stricklin Award for Enhancement of the Climate for Women on Campus, the Outstanding Mentor Award and the Women Who Make a Difference Award.
Criteria and nomination information on these three awards is available online or by calling (815) 753-0320. The nomination deadline is Monday, March 2.
NIU’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences External Programming will offer two review courses during the spring semester for those intending to take the GRE, GMAT and LSAT. Sessions begin in January and in April and take place from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturdays in Swen Parson Hall. Sessions include a lunch break.
Register online at www.niu.edu/clasep, by phone at (815) 753-0277 or at the Monat Building, 148 N. Third St., Room 152.
The Lifelong Learning Institute will offer the following study groups beginning Tuesday, Jan. 20. Classes meet over a four-week period unless otherwise noted; visit the Web site for specific dates and register online.
LLI also will host the Winter Notables Lecture Series. Presentations are held from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesdays in the Holmes Student Center, Room 505. The lectures are free and open to the public. Topics are subject to change; confirmation is recommended.
Join NIU and the University of Chicago in a Friday, Feb. 6, exploration of the Yerkes Observatory at Williams Bay, Wis.
Established in 1897, the observatory housed the University of Chicago’s Astronomy and Astrophysics Department. The historic building, located on the 77-acre park-like site, houses the world’s biggest lens-type telescope and continues to provide laboratory space and access to telescopes for research and instruction. The observatory was constructed outside the hustle, bustle and smog of Chicago to provide the clearest possible air for observations.
The facility includes a library and museum with displays featuring astronomers who had a profound impact on the scientific and local communities within the last century, as well as information on comets, galaxies, nebulae and the death of stars. Participants will learn about the observatory’s history, important discoveries and ongoing research in astronomy and astrophysics.
Depart at 2:45 p.m. from the Holmes Student Center, Normal Road entrance; return approximately 7:30 p.m. Cost is $35 and includes entrance fees, guide, snack and transportation.
To register, call (815) 753-0277 and reference Event #10121 or to register online, visit www.niu.edu/clasep and click on Special Events. For more information, contact LA&S External Programming at (815) 753-5200 or lasep@niu.edu.