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The Student News Site of Northern Illinois University

Northern Star
The Student News Site of Northern Illinois University

Northern Star

Master of Old School Entertainment

By Casey Toner | December 4, 2003

To anyone without a driver's license, a fresh sheet of snow and a car is like a blanket of paradise.

Among Santa Claus and other winter icons, snow means sledding, which means flying down steep hills at dangerously high speeds on flimsy pieces of plastic that most likely were forged in your basement 15 minutes prior to walking to the sledding hill.

Oh, sledding! Just the word alone conjures up images of 20 mph face-plants into piles of fresh powder and fingers that froze up and went numb no matter how many pairs of gloves we wore.

Or that two-man sled Dad bought 20 years ago that grew brittle over time and literally exploded into tiny shards under the crushing weight of our young bodies.

Sledding is fun and dangerous. You might fly down the hill and you also might flip out and break an arm. In a way, sledding is like an extreme sport — for kids.

For anyone over 12, sledding becomes less a sport and more a deathtrap — the quicker the speed, the higher the risk of injury.

And as I — and my poor forehead — can attest to, kids are virtually indestructible. They are built for sledding much like a jockey is built to ride a horse. I've seen kids and friends flip out, flip over, fall off, get run over, jump off, run off, surf down and tumble over without a scratch or bruise.

The exception, of course, was my friend who flipped over and broke his arm. In that case, he told his parents (and a skeptical doctor) that he tripped down the stairs. No harm came of the fib other than a cast, which at 12 is more like a trophy or a Purple Heart medal than an awkward hunk of plaster.

Some sleds, like a standard inner tube, can shield the user from broken limbs, bleeding cuts and Purple Heart medals.

An inner tube is the perfect shock absorber and it takes bumps and bruises like no other sled, barring the occasional puncturing shard of glass.

But depending on the size of the rider, a snowbound inner tube can slow to a snail's crawl, although the air pressure gives the rider's rear end an uncanny, almost heavenly sledding experience.

For the speed junkies, freaks who live and die by the blur of uncertainty, salvation lies in the weakest, flimsiest, slickest piece of plastic on the market.

Like a raincoat or a glorified sheet of wax paper. Well, not that extreme, but any 13-year-old speed jockey knows what I'm talking about.

And I'm talking about snow, winter fun and flying down a silver mountain with nothing but steel nerve and a shoddy piece of plastic that you're proud to call a sled.

‘Pomp and Circumstance’

By Mike Morig | December 4, 2003

The day some students couldn’t wait for, and others hoped never would come, is almost here for many NIU seniors. On Dec. 14, NIU will hold commencement ceremonies for those graduating from the university. There will be two ceremonies, both to be held...

Man of the House

By Cory Ohlendorf | December 4, 2003

Matthew Clark sinks deep into the plush green booth near the back of The House, 263 E. Lincoln Highway. Appropriately, a fresh mug of coffee sits in front of him. Clark is the establishment's general manager, though he doesn't really care for that title....

The 10 albums of 2003

By Derek Wright | December 4, 2003

The last year has been tarnished by record company lawsuits and the deaths of several legendary musicians. Amidst the musician/actress dating and the download-divide, a slew of quality releases hit the airwaves. The year saw the further evolution of Swedish...

Missy Elliot: This is Not a Test

By Casey Toner | December 4, 2003

Missy Elliot is on a roll. First, she stole the Adidas look from the kings of rap, and now she's stealing Lil' Kim's patented G-string. And to think, last year around this time, Missy Elliot was prancing around as the fourth undiscovered member of Run-DMC....

Study: Kids raise heart risk

By Megan Rodriguez | December 3, 2003

Grandparents have big hearts when it comes to their grandchildren, but how much is too much? Grandparents who take care of their grandchildren at least nine hours a week have a 50 percent increased risk of heart attack, according to a new study from the...

Book it

By Dan Patterson | December 3, 2003

Looking forward to some extra cash from selling back your books? So are thieves. At the end of every semester, NIU students suffer an increase in the number of stolen textbooks, University Police Lt. Matt Kiederlen said. “It’s always the same thing,”...

NIU flushes copper

By Dan Patterson | December 3, 2003

The copper content in NIU’s water is under control with temporary fixes, and permanent solutions are being studied, said Bob Albanese, director of NIU’s physical plant. Albanese met with DeKalb public works personnel and a consulting firm Monday morning...

Peters holds annual luncheon

By Nick Swedberg | December 3, 2003

In the warmly lit Duke Ellington Ballroom at the Holmes Student Center, NIU faculty, staff, students and other members of the community dined, talked and mingled with President John Peters and his wife Barbara on Tuesday afternoon. Peters held his annual...

Organization gathers to play several dozen role-playing games

By Mike Neumann | December 3, 2003

Three years ago, NIU student David Healy hatched an idea to bring together people interested in gaming. He approached his friend, Matt Duncan, a technical support coordinator at NIU, to start an NIU gamers club. “Before I even moved to DeKalb, I knew...

Cut the fat

By Janelle Morrow | December 3, 2003

Fast food restaurants recently have been advertising new “healthy” salads, but some experts argue consumers might as well eat a Big Mac. Marion Burros, a New York Times food columnist, has been doing research about the so-called “healthy options”...

PRSSA and NS*Radio to hold winter clothing drive

By Nick Swedberg | December 2, 2003

Christmas is a time for giving, and NS*Radio and the Public Relations Student Society of America are no exceptions to that spirit. The two organizations are holding a winter-apparel drive that started Monday and will continue until Friday. This is PRSSA’s...

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