NIU hopes to acquire 10 more acres of land on the far west side of campus through negotiations with private landowners who currently possess property that surrounds the arena construction site.

The two parcels of land, measuring 3.15 acres and 7.08 acres, are known as the John Deere property and are located to the west and south of the arena site.

The Board of Trustees announced its intentions to acquire the land by means of a negotiated purchase or by declaring eminent domain at its Thursday meeting at the Holmes Student Center’s Clara Sperling Skyroom.

Eddie Williams, executive vice president of Finance and Facilities, has been involved in negotiations for several months.

The land currently is under private ownership. Williams declined to comment on the assessed value of the land.

BOT chair Manuel Sanchez said the purchase was necessary and in the best interest of the university and its plans for expansion.

Sanchez then asked the board to vote on the matter.

Trustee Myron Siegel noted during discussions that this was the first time in his tenure that the board had taken advantage of this power.

The motion was passed unanimously with no further discussion.

Sanchez also swore in Catherine Adduci as the newest trustee, making the board complete. She replaces Jeremiah Joyce, who was appointed to the board in 1999.

Adduci, a 1980 NIU alumna with a bachelor’s degree in marketing, has served as vice president and client relationship executive for Unisys Corporation in Chicago since taking her degree.

She also holds a bachelor’s in economic and international studies from the University of Copenhagen in Denmark and a master’s in finance from Loyola University in Chicago.

Adduci expressed her gratitude and excitement about serving as a trustee for her alma mater and received welcomes from other board members before she joined her peers for regular board business.

She will serve as a member of the academic affairs, student affairs and personnel committee and as a member of the legislation, audit and external affairs committee.

Certain items on the meeting agenda, with a price tag total not to exceed $971,300, were moved to a consent agenda and unanimously passed without discussion. Those items included computer storage systems and software procurement, a capital project for the reconstruction of the visitor pay lot between Founders Memorial Library and Watson Creek and the details of a collective bargaining agreement with the Metropolitan Alliance of Police.

The board then unanimously passed one-by-one motions not to exceed $4.7 million budgeting funds for cabling in Barsema Hall and the arena, communications network equipment for Barsema Hall and fixtures and furniture for the arena.

Student Trustee Alex Alaniz was absent from the meeting and therefore unable to vote.

The full NIU Board of Trustees will meet again March 21, 2002.