NIU’s School of Music invited five high school orchestras to perform and be critiqued by School of Music faculty Wednesday. "This is the first year NIU is sponsoring the event," said Deborah Booth, director of external programs for the College of Visual...

This Spring Break, a captured Kodak moment could mean (C-list) fame and (a very weak) fortune for one lucky NIU student. Buoyed by the success of our search for NIU’s Godfather, Sweeps is pleased to release the details of a new and exciting contest...

Am I alone in thinking the latest NIU controversy would make a compelling movie … trailer? Cue cliche movie trailer voice guy: "From the school that brought you charging for tailgating … in conjunction with the $35.8 million student-funded arena that...

The NIU College of Education’s Office of External Programs will host its 25th annual Children’s Literature Conference "We Are Family" March 18 and 19 at the Holmes Student Center. Tickets run from $69 for Friday’s events to $110 for both days, with...

The other day I bought a box of Minute Maid Coolers. Those are the juice pouches that Minute Maid proudly puts its name on. I have no problems with the juice. In fact, it is quite delicious. However, there is something interesting with the design. At...

Mike Pospeshil’s band is currently searching for a new name and a new singer, but doesn’t need to look far when it comes to naming his 10 favorite rockers of all time. Pospeshil, a junior general studies major and bass player for the band formerly...

"Human ashtray" isn’t a widely known job skill, but bouncer Jason Parada can proudly tout that experience on his next resume. Parada, a junior sociology major, has dealt with fake IDs and drunken combatants since 2001, when he was hired by Molly’s...

What could Pat Kaiser, a freshman marketing and psychology double major, possibly have in common with world-famous movie stars Harrison Ford and Michael Douglas? Besides breathing oxygen, the trio all date younger women, although the gap isn’t nearly...

Every two weeks, Sweeps will take a look back at NIU decade by decade. This is in no way a rip-off of that VH1 series we’ve never seen and certainly never bought the DVDs of. Television in the 1990s was all about "Beverly Hills: 90120," while college...

From the outside, the DeKalb Area Women’s Center, 1021 State St., resembles what you might imagine a house constructed in 1917 would look like: unappealing to the eye. The inside, however, is alive with ideas and spirit. Functioning as a meeting and...

Weekender Art & Theater Reporter In the theater before the show, a midwestern ambience emanates from every corner of the sparsely furnished Stevens Building Players Theatre, an atmospheric device conceived by Carl Myers, sound designer for "Far Away."...

An exhibit chronicling the life and career of a local resident, "Sights and Sounds: Photographs by Arthur Montzka," premiered March 1 at the Nehring Center Gallery, located on the second floor of the Nehring Center for Culture and Tourism for the DeKalb...