Long gone are the days of sitting in Reavis Hall on a hot, sticky August day waiting for your professor to say, “That’s it. See you all Monday.”

Now students will be able to control the temperature of the class by simply — gasp — opening a window.

With 1,472 new windows and outside doors being replaced between Reavis, Watson and Zulauf halls, the Northern Star commends NIU for finally allowing us to breathe easily during class.

The new windows will not only open, they will lock better and control the flow of air conditioning and heat, thus leading to keeping the costs of running the three buildings down.

Zulauf was completed in 1967 and the 10-story structure has had little done to it since. With new windows, professors will now be able to breathe a sigh of relief after a long lecture or a day of dealing with students.

Students will no longer have to sit through boiling temperatures in Reavis, built in 1957, and Watson, built in 1968, in both summer and winter months.

With a cost of $3.1 million, the windows will add a new touch of class and dignity to the aging buildings.

While the majority of the construction will be completed during the summer months, a few windows and doors will be replaced as late as October.

The only major concern raised is to whether the work will interfere with summer classes on campus.

So kudos to NIU for allowing its students to breathe fresh air during those hot months and keeping us warm during the bitter DeKalb winters.