With hopes high, nerves up and ambitions running wild, this year’s bunch of NIU freshmen say they are ready for the upcoming year - away from home and familiar faces.

While moving into the residence halls last Thursday, many students expressed excitement as well as uncertainty.

"I’m looking forward to meeting new people, and I’m excited for classes to start," freshman accounting major Elizabeth Nikolic said.

Many agreed the location of NIU is appealing, based on the fact that it’s far enough away from home to feel independent, yet close enough that going home always is an option.

But staying in their residence halls or going home won’t be the only option faced.

Some freshmen come into to school holding uncertainties about their major. Jessica Montana is one of those students.

"Yeah, that’s undecided," Montana said of her major.

New plans for the expansion of Kishwaukee Community Hospital could be announced in the next few months.

Kishwaukee has been the DeKalb-Sycamore area’s leading healthcare provider for the past 28 years, but it is now looking to improve on the needs of the entire DeKalb County health system.

Kevin Poorten, Kishwaukee Health System president and CEO, along with the Kishwaukee Board of Trustees, has been gathering data, analyzing market studies and looking at growth trends in an effort to come up with a "strategic master plan" to deal with the future needs of the health system.

"We’re doing research to see what the community will look like 20 to 30 years from now and try to understand the needs given community growth, access and central location in the market," Poorten said.

"[Kishwaukee] is taking a risk based on the needs of the community. Planning is the very best way to make the best judgment," said Jim Ciesla, NIU public heathcare administration professor.

Not only is Kishwaukee looking to provide for the needs of their primary market, which includes DeKalb, Sycamore and Cortland, but it also is looking to expand its reach to fulfill the needs of its secondary market, which includes all communities outside the primary audience in DeKalb County.

Population growth and access from the entire DeKalb community are key issues that are to be looked at, Poorten said.

Departments such as the outpatient center, radiology and laboratory are starting to get to their capacity, Poorten said. Outpatient care is rapidly becoming the most desirable and affordable use of the health care system for people to use, Ciesla said.

There are five main options that are being considered for possible expansion plans.

The first option would be the "minimum investment." This means that there would be no changes to the current facility at all.

The second option is to remodel the current facility on Bethany Road with very little to be expanded.

The third option is to expand and remodel the current facility. This may include building a patient tower with more beds and renovating the current departments within the hospital.

The fourth option is to replace the current facility with a new facility at the same location on Bethany Road. The fifth option is to replace the current facility with a new facility on a new site. Possible sites have not yet been named.

The options that are being given the most serious consideration are options three, four and five. Future community needs seem to be great enough for the Board of Trustees to lean toward eliminating options one and two, Poorten said.

Kishwaukee plans to hold meetings on Thursday and Friday to discuss the needs of the community and the five main options.

Kishwaukee invited community leaders from DeKalb County and local doctors and physicians to participate in focus groups at the meetings. Plans are expected to be released by the end of the year.

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.

In a potential move that could affect both DeKalb residents and students alike, the city council will take the first step in voting on revisions to both the municipal motor fuel tax and the city sales tax.

The municipal motor fuel tax would call for an ordinance that would create a two-cent-per-gallon gasoline tax to be used specifically for road construction and other maintenance projects.

If this were approved, anyone purchasing gasoline at any outlet throughout the city of DeKalb would contribute to the tax.

Secondly, the city sales tax proposal calls for an increase of the DeKalb home rules sales tax increasing from its current 3/4 percent to 1percent.

Another aspect of the proposed municipal code calls for the reduction of taxes applied to single purchases from $3,333 to $2,500. Therefore, the maximum one would pay for a single purchase would be $25.

Both proposals are only first votes, which means a finalized vote and subsequent execution of both wouldn’t take place until the Sept. 8 meeting. Both also are being proposed to help strengthen the city’s budget.

Another first vote the council will discuss is the prohibition of parking on newly renovated Miller Avenue between Linden Place and Wooley Avenue. Parking, for the most part, would be restricted along the north side of Miller Ave. in an effort to appease residents and promote safe driving on the street.

The restriction of parking on the north side of Miller Avenue would be installed from 1 a.m. to 7 p.m., the same it was before construction. Administrative Services Director Linda Wiggins suggested students also should take this potential restriction into affect as parking citations have been issued before with classes within a close proximity to Miller Avenue.

The DeKalb City Council meeting will take place 7 p.m. today at the Council Chambers, 200 S. Fourth St.

Last Monday, two Internet viruses infected NIU servers, slowing down bandwidth and computer processing.

Mike Pastore, Northern Star systems manager, said that "SOBIG," the more well-known virus, created a great deal of confusion and chaos. In addition, the virus ate up a great deal of bandwidth, slowing down computer processing.

According to Symantec.com, an Internet security site, the virus operates and spreads by sending messages to and from the e-mail addresses in an infected address book. A newly released variant of the SOBIG virus may even collect passwords from the infected computer.

SOBIG is said to terminate itself Sept. 10, according to a number of sources. However, sources confirm the spreading of the virus will get worse before it gets better.

The worm only can infect a computer if an e-mail attachment containing the virus is opened.

The SOBIG virus only affects Windows 95, 98, 2000, Me, NT and XP. The virus does not effect Linux, Macintosh, OS/2 or UNIX operating systems.

MS BLASTER, the second and lesser-known virus, started a week before SOBIG did, about Aug. 6 or 7, Pastore said.

It is said to be transmitted through exploits in the computer’s operating system.

If MS BLASTER has infected a computer, the virus makes itself known by crashing the system 60 seconds after booting.

A variant of the MS BLASTER, Welchia, aka the "good" worm, also is active and spreading. After entering through the computer’s network through a "hole," the virus fixes the hole originally used to infect the computer.

Both the viruses and their variants can be terminated by accessing Symantec.com and running a removal tool. However, the tool will not fix existing holes in an operating system.

Mike Riley, a systems analyst for Electronic Data Systems Corporation (EDS), said the author and origin of the viruses are unknown, but they both have been transmitted through many companies and campuses.

Riley and others say downloading updates for a system’s virus definitions and Windows operating system is a good way to help prevent viruses.

However, nothing can prevent them 100 percent.

"I’m almost convinced that you can’t completely stop them (viruses)," said Riley, but updates are the best thing anyone can do.

To download updates that will fix the exploits, visit Microsoft.com, Pastore said.

Freshman computer science major Kwadwo Aning moved to NIU last Thursday, but instead of moving into a residence hall, he moved into the Holmes Student Center Hotel.

For the last few years, some new students have been assigned temporary homes such as the Holmes Student Center Hotel, the Lincoln and Douglas Hall lounges and University Plaza.

As of Friday, about 130 students were in temporary housing.

Aning thinks the hotel is the best form of temporary housing, but there are a few drawbacks.

"I do not have a fridge and a microwave like they promised I would have," he said. "Also, my floor is all men. I would have preferred a co-ed floor, but the hotel is nice for a temporary place to stay."

Other incoming freshmen had few objections to living in the hotel. In fact, some prefer to live in the hotel rather than the residence halls.

Freshman undecided major Phillip Moore thinks the hotel is more accommodating than the residence halls.

"My application was not on time and I was afraid of where I was going to end up," Moore said. "I am pleased with the hotel. My roommate and I have our own bathroom, and our room is huge."

Like Moore and Aning, the vast majority of incoming freshmen and transfer students are assigned to temporary housing because of late housing applications.

Michael Coakley, executive director of Student Housing and Dining Services, said the problem surfaces from overbooking students in permanent housing.

"NIU has about 6,200 beds on campus. We then have to occupy them," Coakley said. "New students send us housing applications, and while we should accept only about 3,000 of them, we actually admit more than 3,300 students."

Coakley said NIU overbooks the residence halls for economic reasons.

"We overbook a little because there is a certain cost for the highest occupancy," Coakley said. "We know there are going to be many no-shows, but by overbooking, we can just move other students into their spots without the risk of running out of students and paying for rooms that are unoccupied."

Students usually stay in temporary housing from several days to weeks.

With dozens of golf carts making their way through the streets, anyone traveling through DeKalb on Thursday may have mistaken NIU for Pebble Beach.

The golf carts, along with the volunteers driving them, were there to assist new and returning students move into the residence halls.

"We definitely need them," said Phyllis Jones, staff secretary to Michael Coakley. "[Volunteers] think it’s fun and the parents are in awe."

Mike Stang of Student Housing and Dining Services (SHDS) said about 3,700 students checked in on Thursday. In order to make the move-in and check-in process go smoothly, more than 300 current NIU students and faculty volunteered their services in the 90-degree heat, starting at 7 a.m.

"We drove around golf carts and handed out water to parents and students welcoming them to NIU," said LaShonda Tennin of Lincoln Hall dining.

Every year around April and May, SHDS gears up for move-in day by sending out notices to faculty and staff about volunteer opportunities. In order to attract more volunteers, SHDS offers incentives to students who apply to be NI Guides, such as early move-in and free tickets to the Huskie Bash.

Other volunteers helped students and parents move their belongings while others gave directions to places from the bookstores to Wal-Mart.

Reasons for working move-in day varied among the volunteers. Because they had to decline tips, money was not one of them.

"I volunteer every year because I feel it is instrumental for incoming freshmen to form relationships with current NIU students," said Karega Harris, SA director of Academic Affairs.

Some students helped to repay a favor.

"I feel it is my obligation as a student to help, because someone helped me," said DuJuan Smith, SA director of Organization and Development.

Others were on hand to help recruitment of their own organizations.

"I volunteered in order to get girls interested in formal recruiting and for community service hours," said Ashley Kent, a junior biology major and Alpha Delta Pi member.

While many of the volunteers were tired from the heat and the work, they enjoyed the experience.

"It seems awful in the beginning, but in the end, it’s not so bad," Kent said.

With nearly 4,000 students moving into NIU’s residence halls on Thursday, local officials implemented a new plan to ease traffic.

Instead of diverting all traffic from the south to Annie Glidden Road, the university planned a new route toward the west end of campus.

About 3,700 students moved into the residence halls Thursday, which did not include parents or additional traffic, University Police Lt. Matt Kiederlen said.

Elizabeth Davis has dealt with the move-in day crowd for the past three years while helping her daughter move in. Davis felt this was the best year so far.

"This is nice the way they had it set up," she said.

Students headed for the residence halls were instructed to go west on Fairview Drive rather than continue on Annie Glidden Road.

After about two miles on Fairview Drive, cars were directed to go north on Nelson Road until they arrived at the Convocation Center parking lot.

There, electronic signs and officers pointed them to where they needed to go based on which residence hall they would be moving into.

Many of those who took the Fairview Drive route were also pleased.

"As soon as we got off [the highway], we were here lickety split," said Joe Rivera, father of freshman engineering major Bryan Rivera.

Some people did experience a wait at the arena parking lot, however.

"[The wait] was a little bit long, but it wasn’t bad," said Vicki Wilson. Others appreciated the police presence and the color-coded parking tags that represented the different residence halls.

"I like how the police were standing there to give us the tags to put in the window; very helpful," said Markeita Yeargain, a freshman early childhood education major.

"It moved pretty fast ... I thought it was going to take longer, but it didn’t," she said.

Kiederlen said officers came on duty at 2 a.m. Thursday and many did not leave until 6:30 p.m.

"Overall, this thing just went really well," he said. "It was because of the effort that everyone put forth."

LSD, peyote and ergot all may be psychedelic drugs, but they usually don’t end up in a class conversation.

"Psychedelic Mindview will be a class where we will discuss four basic aspects of psychedelics," education professor Thomas Roberts said. "They will be the exploration of your unconscious, the social and political views of psychedelics in the ’60s, the religious use of drugs and the history of psychedelics."

The course will explore many topics, such as the possibility of ergot infecting people during the Salem Witch Trials, the unconscious memory of birth and the way the unconscious mind affects every angle of life.

"If you’re looking for a course with clean-cut answers, this is not for you," Roberts said. "But if you’re looking for a course that offers many interesting questions, this is a class you will really enjoy."

Psychedelic Mindview has been offered in the past here at NIU, but only to honors students.

The course has many possibilities of emphasis, and Roberts allows his students to pick their own preferences. There are more than 1,000 possible books to choose from for your self-directed project.

"I have never heard of anything like this on campus," said Brian Mulhearn, a sophomore secondary education major. "It sounds like a course that could serve you more than just credit. It sounds like an awesome conversation starter."

The class is offered from 6 to 8:40 p.m. Mondays at Graham Hall, Room 336. Undergraduates should use reference number 6693, while graduates should use 4309 to sign up for the class.

DeKalb firefighters rescued a quadriplegic man Thursday morning from his burning third-floor apartment.

Noel Henderson was trapped in his bedroom at about 7:30 a.m. when either an overturned box fan or the attached extension cord caught fire.

Henderson dialed 911 and remained on the line with the dispatcher until firefighters entered his apartment.

DeKalb’s ladder truck was the first to arrive, and with the help of the dispatcher speaking to Henderson, firefighters were able to immediately raise a 35-foot ladder to Henderson’s bedroom window.

Firefighters Jason Pavlack, Joe Cahill and Lt. Paul Campbell scaled the ladder and pulled Henderson through the window and carried him down the ladder to safety.

"I’m very proud of the people that handled the situation and the cooperation between them," DeKalb Fire Chief Lanson Russell said. "The actions that they took undoubtedly saved that man’s life."

Firefighters extinguished the blaze in 10 to 20 minutes, which was before the fire could enter other apartments or engage structural elements of the building.

Residents of the Hillcrest Place Apartments 6000 building at 220 E. Hillcrest were evacuated.

Thirty-two firefighters responded to the scene, including an engine from Sycamore. Cortland firefighters manned the station for the roughly two-and-a-half hours that firefighters battled the fire and cleaned up afterward.

"It was a relatively small fire, but it did a lot of damage because there was a lot of thick, acrid smoke," Russell said.

Damage from the fire is estimated at $60,000.