Animation is a hip-hop dance group doing its part at NIU to stop segregation. The group promotes racial harmony by being a very ethnically diverse organization. The group originated under the Philippine Student Association. The group was founded by students...

I awoke Wednesday with an odd combination of relief and dread. Despite all hopes, I can’t turn on my television and readily witness someone being called an illiterate flip-flopper with the intent to pack the Supreme Court with Nazis, inject the flu...

A critic can always tell when a biographical film is a success. They always find themselves reviewing the title character more than the film itself. I thought about this before seeing “Ray,” the new film from director Taylor Hackford about the life...

Reggae. Giant bat costumes. Spooky drums and bass. Countless Catholic school girls. Zombie dance parties are not for the closed-minded. On Halloween, more than 100 freaks and ghouls finally got their chance to cut a rug at Otto’s, 118 E. Lincoln Highway,...

R. Kelly and Jay-Z are back ... again, with their collaborative album, “Unfinished Business.” In 2002, the pair made their first joint attempt, “The Best of Both Worlds,” which flopped - and the tour was canceled. R. Kelly faced rape charges that...

Editor’s Note: From time to time, Sweeps will be introducing you to the vibrant personalities that embody the 60115. These people are truly DeKalb characters ... Tired of “Hail to the Chief” and “Still the One”? Well, consider Playback your...

Bob Pritchard, R-Hinckley and Democratic challenger Bob Brown will learn of their political destinies tonight, but what have we, the voter, learned about them as regular people? Sure, the two distinguished candidates for the 70th District state representative...

The Freshman Bench, also known as the “Kissing Bench,” has been on campus for more than a century but still sees action today. Located behind Davis Hall, the multi-stoned bench was the premier hook-up site for past NIU students. The Freshman Bench...

Ball State University better be prepared to roll out the red carpet 4 p.m. Saturday in Muncie, Ind. because No. 26 in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches’ poll is coming to town to clip the Cardinals’ wings. NIU is coming off of a big win against Western Michigan...

For lighting students in the School of Theatre and Dance, this week has been one of the most important of their academic lives. Recently, the department formed an alliance with Upstaging Inc., one of the largest suppliers of digital lighting equipment...

Stop me if you’ve heard this before: A priest, a street cop and a drunken Irish vampire walk into a church … Never mind, I’m just going to stop myself. For this week’s Trading expedition, I decided to join the theater world to hang out with NIU’s...

Oh, you don’t want to rock? Ted Leo doesn’t care. On “Shake the Sheets,” Leo grabs you in a headlock and rarely lets up in the album’s 40 minutes. More stripped-down than his previous releases, Leo gets back to the raw basics with less complex...