New academic programs, outreaches to other schools and new translation courses are in store for the Center for Southeast Asian Studies.

With the help of the U.S. Department of Education, the Center for Southeast Asian Studies received a $1.4 million grant to expand its programs.

The grant is a 47 percent increase from a similar grant received in 2000. The grants are awarded every three years to support efforts to increase the number of trained specialists in world languages and cultures.

Of seven National Resource Centers for Southeast Asian Studies, NIU received the largest grant. Some of the institutions included Cornell University, University of Michigan and the University of California at Berkeley.

NIU offers a minor and a graduate concentration in Southeast Asian Studies. Courses are offered in the region’s history, religion, languages, literature, anthropology, geography, music, art history and government.

"These grants are awarded in three-year cycles," said Julia S. Lamb, outreach coordinator for the center. "[Our main goal] is to let the NIU community know about Southeast Asia, as well as be more visible on campus, in the local community and the larger community."

One of the important things the center is trying to establish is to create partnerships at different levels, with different groups.

"After Sept. 11, 2001, Congress, as well as the president, approved new money for national education because not enough people were available to be hired who were fluent in these key areas," said Susan Russell, director of the Center for Southeast Asian Studies. "The priority areas were south Asia, central Asia and northeast Asia. Security concerns related to southeast Asia hit the radar after these funds were approved."

The increasing cost of textbooks has left NIU students scrambling to find used books in order to save a little money.

It is not unusual for a full-time student to spend up to and more than $400 on a semester’s worth of books, said Roxie Nance, a senior OMIS major and employee at the University Bookstore.

Nance said it’s common for business or science students to spend $500 to $600 on books, while other majors such as English tend to be lower, at around $300.

"People complain, but they have to get them," Nance said.

Despite not seeing as big of a difference between the cost of books for different majors, John Silletti, a junior business major and employee at the Village Commons Bookstore, 901 Lucinda Ave., agreed.

"A lot of people look for the used ones," Silletti said. "I’ve had one person today complain on the prices."

Silletti said textbooks are an expense students simply cannot avoid, but also do not have extra money for.

Freshman accounting major William Scott was upset at the cost of his new books. Scott said he expected to pay nearly $400.

"I’m a little surprised at the price," he said. "I’m having trouble finding used books."

The cost of textbooks seemed to come as a shock, especially to freshmen.

"It’s a lot more than I thought it would be," freshman engineering major Andrew Miller said. "I’m glad to get it out of the way."

Others had anticipated the high cost.

Richard Armour, a freshman computer science major, came in expecting to pay about $650 for textbooks.

The heat was on at the District 428 School Board meeting Monday night as the board heard arguments to adopt an excessive heat policy.

The board was presented with facts and ideas by two women at Monday’s meeting in the stifling South Commons at DeKalb High School, 1515 S. Fourth St.

While no one argued air conditioning as a viable option for the school district, the women pointed out that many classrooms do not have fans and brought forth temperature readings taken by teachers.

In the basement of Huntley Middle School, considered the cooler of the two floors, the temperature registered 96 degrees. The temperature taken by a window in the shade last week at Lincoln Elementary School reached 106 degrees.

"This is a lawsuit waiting to happen," said Melissa Butts, of Huntley Middle School, about the high classroom temperatures.

Lincoln School representative Mary Bauling presented the board members with a print-out charting the excessively high heat indexes, pointing out the detrimental effects once the index reaches into the orange and red danger zones that begin at 95 degrees. Bauling said multiple parents have reported signs of heat exhaustion in their students.

She recommended the schools provide information for parents regarding the effects of heat and also recommended creating a standard to follow when extreme temperatures strike the area since the district already has a plan in place for early dismissals.

"I just don’t think it’s a safe or productive learning environment," Bauling said. "I know it’s not convenient for working parents, but it’s the health of our kids."

Also taken care of in this first school board meeting of the school year was an introduction of the new teaching staff in the district, a summary of the summer school programs and preliminary enrollment numbers. Enrollment is up about 15 to 20 students, reaching 5,378 students as of Friday.

Linell Lasswell, assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction, said that there is generally an influx of students when NIU begins classes, so the enrollment numbers will continue to shift for about the first 10 days.

Lasswell also said that the district has been able to accommodate the new students so far by shifting the overflow to other schools but that there is also a waiting list for the pre-kindergarten and early childhood classes in the district.

Another item tackled in Monday’s meeting involved the approval for the Huskie Stadium agreement. The single disapproving vote came from board member Mike Griesbaum who was disappointed with the lack of alternate facilities for the high school sports programs.

"We get hosed on this deal," Griesbaum said, adding he has yet to see the cost-effectiveness of using the NIU facilities for sporting events.