Northern Star

 

Advertisement

 

 
Northern Star

Northern Illinois University’s student news organization since 1899

 

Ensure student journalism survives. Donate today.

The Student News Site of Northern Illinois University

Northern Star

The Student News Site of Northern Illinois University

Northern Star

Movie review: Perfect Stranger

By David Rauch | April 19, 2007

Grade: D | If "Perfect Stranger" had centered itself around the danger and guilt of voyeurism, it might have offered a coherent story or message. However, because it was more interested in making sweet love to the image of Halle Berry and following bad...

Movie review: Disturbia

By Stacie Wieland | April 19, 2007

Grade: A- | After assaulting his Spanish teacher, Kale (Shia LaBeouf) is sentenced to three months' house arrest. At first, he accepts his fate and takes to pigging out on junk food and daytime television, but his mother (Carrie-Anne Moss) quickly puts...

Movie Review: Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theaters

By Christopher Schimmel | April 19, 2007

Grade: D | "Aqua Teen Hunger Force" broke out of the college realm and into the eyes of America after a guerilla ad campaign put Boston authorities on high alert. The ad campaign consisted of Lite-Brite boards in the shape of Ignignokt, a character from...

The dangers of having children

By Jenna Andriano | April 18, 2007

I don't feel funny this week. What I feel is uneasy. Every so often the cosmos conspire to remind us that although we live oceans away from war zones and persecution, cities away from gang wars and terrorism targets, snuggly nestled in the comfort of...

Storytellers Theatre starts 10th season this Thursday

By Herminia Irizarry | April 18, 2007

Thursday through Sunday, the Stevens Building Corner Theater will host a myriad of folk, fairy, ghost and personal tales as told by NIU theater majors and minors. Directed by Patricia Ridge, professor in the School of Theatre and Dance, the 10th annual...

Review: Henry Rollins

By Derek Wright | April 17, 2007

Grade: C- | Henry Rollins has always been funny. The problem is, until recently, he's never tried to be. Whether it was fronting the seminal L.A. punk band Black Flag or fronting the less punk and certainly less seminal Rollins Band, and as a published...

Review: Christopher Titus

By Mat Warrenfeltz | April 17, 2007

Grade: B+ | It's really, incredibly hard to describe one's style of comedy, and to think critically about what makes it good and funny or what makes it just plain bad. Because that's what comedy is - either good or bad. Titus seemingly managed to combine...

Review: Joe Rogan

By Keith Beebe | April 17, 2007

Grade: B | When he's not hosting "Fear Factor," outing Carlos Mencia's stand-up routine or humiliating arrogant teenagers with MySpace messages, Joe Rogan is a comedian - and he's actually pretty funny. Recorded in San Francisco in September 2006, "Shiny...

‘Street Knowledge’ on display at NIU

By Herminia Irizarry | April 16, 2007

DeKALB | Friday night, about 600 people filled the Campus Recreation Center's courts 7 and 8. No, they weren't there to play basketball; they were there to see the latest up-and-coming and student-designed fashions. Presented by Street Knowledge Design...

‘Tracers’ paints picture of horrors of war

By David Rauch | April 16, 2007

DeKALB | There were many realities in the daily life of a Vietnam soldier that would stand in the face of the NIU Standard of Acceptable Behavior. Activities like killing, drug-use, prostitution, napalm bombing and drunken-brawling are all strictly prohibited...

NIU students spread fashion

By Herminia Irizarry | April 13, 2007

Courts 7 and 8 at the Campus Recreation Center will be transformed into a fashion expose, showcasing student-run and student-created clothing lines tonight at 8 p.m. Kyle McGhee, a junior textile apparel and merchandising major, heads the second annual...

Remembering Vonnegut

By Keith Cameron | April 13, 2007

In his life, Kurt Vonnegut embodied the notion of beauty found in irony. His literary works reflect his unique feelings of society and his belief in humanism is revealed through his lifestyle. His death marks the end to a period of our culture and history.

When I heard of Vonnegut's death, I remembered an interview he gave where he announced plans to sue the manufacturers of Pall Mall cigarettes for not being able to kill the chain smoker. He could find the irony in his own life and he acknowledged the awkwardness of existence.

I remember, in my junior year of high school, a friend casually passed on a copy of Vonnegut's "Slaughterhouse Five." Some people hear great speeches which inspire them, some people fall in love with idealistic leaders, and some people devote their lives to a cause; I started reading Kurt Vonnegut books and found comfort with the fact that someone could laugh at the world's problems and still find a simple beauty in people.

You may think it odd that I feel strongly about the death of a person I never met, but Vonnegut was the last of a generation who spoke against the glories of false promises and encouraged an admiration for the individual. His devotion to being humane and his mindful nature of the best and worst accomplishments of society are qualities I hope will continue with future authors.

I fear that, with his passing, the world may move on from laughing at itself, but as Vonnegut pointed out in his last book ("A Man Without A Country"), when Pandora released all the evil onto the world, she also released hope.