Well you’ve made the plunge and decided to achieve your degree of higher education at Northern Illinois University in the city of DeKalb.

Many of you are from bigger cities or suburbs which are closer to metropolitan areas so this will be a big—no I mean a BIG—change. On the other hand, many of you also have come from smaller close knit communities and this will be a big change for you too.

What is probably the biggest problem for freshmen or people who just move to a new place is to find things to do away from studying or going to parties. Despite what one might hear from a cynical fifth-year senior, there is more to do in DeKalb than drink and study.

If you are interested in local history there is the Ellwood House Museum and Park. It is located close to campus on 509 First St. and is where the famous inventor of barbed wire lived. And before you go knocking barbed wire let me tell you now that it was a major contribution in its time and even now—just talk to cattle ranchers anywhere. Plus it is a beautiful house and will be worth the price of admission.

If you ever get sick of the NIU library, which you will I assure you, you can visit the Haish Memorial Library. This lovely building was built in 1929 and can be found in the National Register of Historial Places. Another bonus about this place is that you won’t find an abundance of annoying people who are there simply to hit on each other.

If you like to be entertained, the Egyptian Theatre might be your place. It is located on Second Street and always has something interesting playing from the Hubbard Street Dance Company to the readings of Martin Luther King, Jr. and Langston Huges by Danny Glover and Felix Justice. Definitely watch out for the fall schedule and pick something to go to—you won’t regret it.

If you are into food, there are many places to go lose yourself. First and foremost is Ollies Frozen Custard. Try this place the next time you have a craving for ice cream and you might never go back. Then there is always the world famous DeKalb’s only BEER NUGGETS! Now there is great debate over which place has the best beer nuggets that have ever been, so the only logical thing for new students to do is try them all and decide for yourself.

A person looking for a nice place to take a date might consider the Hillside restaurant. It is very nice inside, the food is good and the prices are not the kind that will make you cry.

Outside the general DeKalb attractions, there are also NIU related events and places which offer solace to the person with nothing to do.

When looking for something to do, the first place to stop is the Holmes Student Center. Downstairs in the Huskie Den there are bowling lanes, which can be very entertaining if you haven’t bowled in a while, and pool tables. There are also video games and dart boards for those of us who are not geometrical enough to be good at pool.

Upstairs in the Sandburg Auditorium one could go to a movie on the weekends for a $1.50 or the Student Association holds speakers and events there throughout the semester.

So you see, there are a lot of things that one has to do to fight boredom and avoid homework while spending their time in DeKalb.