A warm greeting for the new year to all residence hall residents and a special welcome to new students. I am utilizing this occasion provided by The Northern Star to highlight some of the many opportunities available to you to be involved, grow and enjoy in our residence halls and to detail new services, facilities and programs for 1989-90.

Life in NIU’s residence halls will mean much more to you than a room and meals. Residency on campus makes available to you a skilled and caring professional staff in residence (now including a full-time director in each hall), easy access to a wide array of university support services, an award-winning food service, numerous lifestyle choices, on-site microcomputer laboratories (120 work stations), study lounges and quiet hours, academic residential programs, a great variety of social, recreational and educational activities, the convenience of free cable TV/FM and direct dial long distance telephone service and computer-assisted freshman English instruction.

Lincoln Hall is the site of our fifth and newest residence hall personal computer laboratory—a 40-station fully networked MacIntosh laboratory dedicated partially to freshman English instruction. This new laboratory and the four existing ones are open to all residence hall students. The other computer laboratories have IBM-compatible PC’s and are located in Stevenson Towers South, Grant Towers North, Douglas Hall and Neptune Hall North.

The Lincoln Hall dining room has undergone Phase I of a major remodeling and has an exciting new look. The residence hall menu systemwide has received a significant revision with more low-fat (heart healthy) and vegetarian entrees added to previously offered selections. Our TV cable system will continue to be enlarged with a combined French language channel and multi-national, multi-language news channel (SCOLA) added around Thanksgiving. (For the fall semester, due to construction on the Holmes Student Center tower, the CBS and NBC stations on cable will emanate from Rockford and Sportsvision will appear on Channel 5.)

A $350,000 computer-monitored smoke alarm system has been installed in Stevenson Towers North (as part of a several year plan to install such systems in all residence halls.) A similar system was installed earlier in Douglas and Gilbert halls.

As announced last spring, the residence hall alcoholic beverage policy has been restated to emphasize more clearly that persons under 21 years of age may NOT possess or consume alcoholic beverages in NIU’s residence halls. Persons over 21 may only possess alcoholic beverages in the privacy of their residence hall room and may not serve or provide alcoholic beverages to persons under 21 or hold a party irrespective of the age of participants. Violators are subject to a fine of $25 or $50, depending upon the nature and repetitiveness of the offense and other serious disciplinary action. This change, which took effect Aug. 21, has been made to more clearly parallel state law and to enhance the quality of the residence hall environment for living and learning.

Studies show, on the average, students who are actively involved in the life of the campus persist and achieve better in college. Residence halls offer a myriad of opportunities for students to become more involved, to grow and enjoy. Your Resident Assistant, your hall Senior Staff and the Central Housing Office staff are all available to help you to your total experience at NIU the best it can become.

Best wishes for a most successful and fulfilling year!

Donald R. Buckner

Director, Student Housing Services