New looks in the Star

If you haven’t looked at pages four and five of this paper, then stop reading this editorial and check them out. After you’ve read those pages, then you can finish reading this editorial.

The Northern Star has implemented a new Northern Life section which will run every Wednesday. The section stems from our continued effort to present the NIU community with a complete picture of what this university has to offer.

The Northern Life section will contain stories every week about various organizations, students and faculty on campus.

Too many students graduate without ever becoming involved in campus activities or really knowing what kinds of things this university has to offer. By not taking an interest in organizations and events on campus, students are not taking full advantage of their tuition money. Hopefully, the Star’s new section will help these students get their money’s worth.

The section will highlight organizations that have contributed to the cultural value of this university. The stories will not only inform the university about various events on campus, but also tell the university about the history of the organizations that sponsor these events. Profiles of members of these organizations including faculty and students also will be presented in this section.

We welcome any students or faculty members involved with activities on campus to let us know about any organizations or events at this university. We cannot guarantee these topics will be covered in the paper, but we do encourage your involvement.

We also encourage involvement from organizations on campus through a new initiative which we have called “Editor for a Day.” We have invited student leaders of organizations on campus to come spend a day at the Star. Those who participate in the program will be able to observe the way in which the paper comes together each day. The visitors will spend the day in the newsroom and participate in discussions of the news.

At the end of the day, the visitor then will write a guest column about any topic he or she wants. The column will be edited by an editor who will discuss any changes made.

These are just a few more steps the Star has taken to improve the quality of the paper. With the input of our readers, we will serve our purpose – to keep you informed.