Welcome to another amazing edition of the one-and-only Playback. This week’s dream compilation comes from Dan Nikolov, a junior mechanical engineering major. The Batavia native says his best concert experience was when he saw his two favorite bands...

A matchup for the ages will be transmitted on ESPN2 at 6:35 p.m. today from Huskie Stadium. The contest between the NIU Huskies and the Toledo Rockets is a huge event, with the MAC West conference title belonging to NIU if it wins. The Rockets have won...

From MTV to NIU, Cribs is in the house ... well, residence hall. Throughout the semester, Sweeps will delve into the dopest domiciles NIU students inhabit. This week, we visit the the oh-so-eclectic pad of two NIU students. What do the Chicago Bears,...

It is your hope of hopes, your dream of dreams. It is the job you have been salivating over ever since “Career Day” in kindergarten. It is your dream job. From time to time, Sweeps will delve into what it takes to be an astronaut, fashion model, CIA...

Christine LoFaso doesn’t want you to stereotype the fibers discipline. Fibers, an emphasis for B.F.A. majors in the School of Art, includes papermaking, book arts, fabric painting, printing, dyeing and textile construction. LoFaso, the program’s head,...

This is not a test. “We tell our students from day one this is not a drill; everything you do goes out to the community,” said Allen May, general broadcast manager of the Northern Television Center. NTC News Tonight is a program run by students enrolled...

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...

The Sahara Hotnights are what The Go-Go’s would have sounded like if they had rocked as hard as they partied. Not that the four Hotnights are nymphomaniacal drug addicts. They just know how to write catchy pop gems while playing the role of femme fatales...