N.E.R.D.'s latest effort is total liquid sex — a party album that still will rock your Casbah when you wake up hungover the next morning. -"Fly or Die," N.E.R.D's (No One Ever Really Dies) sophomore release, is what happens to a high school band geek...

In the age of tell-all books and gossip tabloids, revealing skeletons in the closet is the best way to get publicity. -Usher did this with his latest album, "Confessions." Collaborations with the Neptunes and Lil Jon add hype to the album. The album sometimes...

The difference between civil unions and marriage was one of the major topics at Wednesday’s panel discussion, "Gays of Our Lives: LGBT people in the media, at the altar and on the campus." About 40 people came to hear the question-and-answer session...

Bart Simpson is leaving Springfield and making a stop at NIU. Nancy Cartwright, the voice of the popular animated character, will speak at 7 p.m. today at the Holmes Student Center’s Carl Sandburg Auditorium. The event is sponsored by the Campus Activities...

An earlier deadline for new student applications - Nov. 15 for 2005 - and the incorporation of a $30 application fee for students starting in fall 2005 were discussed at the Faculty Senate meeting Wednesday. Vice Provost Earl "Gip" Seaver said the changes...

The clash between night and day will find its battleground at NIU this weekend. The NIU Opera Workshop, which is the NIU opera ensemble, will perform Mozart's "The Magic Flute" at 8 p.m. Friday at the Music Building's Boutell Memorial Concert Hall. -Peter...

A Douglas Hall community adviser has been removed from his position after a sophisticated sting by his floormates caught him stealing money from another resident. Floor residents became suspicious after items began disappearing from people’s rooms on...

I have a friend whose uncle is an Army Ranger. Growing up, this uncle used to come into town once a year. All the neighborhood kids would flock to the house to play the annual game of hide-and-seek. -The Ranger would sit on the couch and instruct the...

Starting today, 34 Filipino activists will be at NIU for a monthlong training institute to promote peace, tolerance and hope for the future. Titled "Bridging the Gap," the program advocates inter-ethnic dialogue and conflict resolution to a balanced group...

As a world-renowned beer-pong champion and a world-renowned beer-drinking champion, I felt that the NIU Ping-Pong Club stood no fighting chance. It was cooked. Shish kabobs. Beef jerky. Smoked ham on rye. Three hours and four to five losses later, I was...

Painted on what once was a blank wall, brown and white cracked hands now cradle the earth. They are the international hands that touch our world. Where the white walls once were in the Douglas B Wing is now senior art education major Jeff Brubaker’s...

Following 2002's "Highly Evolved," The Vines were wrongfully tagged as followers of recent "The Band" trends — alongside right-place-right-time acts The Datsuns and The D4. -The Strokes and The White Stripes both released follow-up albums in 2003, but...