Pass: Campus Wi-Fi trying to go to city

The university is taking steps to expand its Wi-Fi.

Areas around Huskie Stadium and downtown DeKalb may get Wi-Fi if CIO Brett Coryell’s ideas come to fruition.

If NIU doesn’t extend its Internet, DeKalb could remain as a “dead zone,” leaving students — or their families, who often pay for data — to rely on costly data plans from cell phone companies.

If NIU gets its way, the expanded Internet will also improve communication between teachers and students living around DeKalb.

Students living around DeKalb who don’t have their own Wi-Fi won’t have to stay in computer labs until late. Instead, students can comfortably check e-mails and work on projects without risking their safety by traveling to and from the library or other university buildings.

This plan could also increase future enrollment because students might see the free Wi-Fi as a perk and it could be the conclusive factor in them deciding to apply to NIU.

Some students come into school with so little. It would be reassuring to know they won’t be paying companies with terrible customer service for over-priced Internet and other technological necessities for students.

Fail: Fair offers little hope for fine arts

The Internship Fair is a magnificent idea for helping students establish connections and build resumes, but the options for student internships were quite limited — just like last year.

Tuseday’s Internship Fair was the same as the Internship Fair held last year because unless you’re a business, communication or engineering major of some kind, the fair isn’t very helpful.

Out of the 107 employers attending the fair there was only one that was specifically seeking theater or dance students. There weren’t a lot of options for people so the organizers really should’ve just advertised the Internship Fair for specific majors rather than making it seem like everyone could find opportunities.

Universities are helpful in providing training, professional experiences and academic connections for letters of recommendations, but doing things like writing for a corporation website, making YouTube videos for businesses or being a production assistant for a theater company while still a student is even more helpful for fine arts majors.

If NIU was to have a more representatives from companies looking for art and theater students, it could raise the success rate of internship offers and have a higher hiring rate after graduation.