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.

A well-known program in Madison, Wis., has found its way to NIU and seeks to alleviate the stress caused by taking long walks and crowded buses to class.

Mary Crocker, NIU director of recycling programs and operations, began the program, "Bike Me," in February when Robert Albanese, associate vice president of finance and facilities, suggested how successful the program had been at the University of Wisconsin.

Beginning today, 25 bikes will be distributed throughout campus as an alternative to the typical transportation options that cause congestion on university streets.

"Someone in Stevenson could go downstairs, see one of the red bikes, and bang, take it to Barsema," Crocker said. "Although our primary objective is the students, this is also available to faculty and staff."

Albanese, who recently spent some time in the Madison area, observed a bike program organized by a bike shop owner Roger Charlie who spent a great deal of time compiling old and used bikes from around town, dipping them in a red paint and distributing them throughout Madison primarily for the use of students in order to have another viable option of getting from point A to point B.

The program exposed little theft with the bikes and, for the most part, is considered an enormous success.

"Mr. Albanese came to me in February and said, ‘Why can’t we do it?’" Crocker said.

From that point on, the "Bike Me" program took shape. Albanese was able to provide Crocker with $1,500 to fund the program with the money mainly allocated for repairs, painting and in some cases the purchasing of old bikes.

Crocker said most bikes, however, are ones found in dumpsters or those donated from people throughout the city. She felt community involvement at this early stage in "Bike Me" bodes well in making this a citywide program.

"We’ve been looking for people in the community to call and say, ‘Hey I have this old bike, could you use it,’" Crocker said. "People from the community are really coming forth on this. At some point we would like to have enough bikes to place perhaps in the downtown area."

"Bike Me" is entirely free to students and faculty and more importantly, Crocker said, is based on an old-fashioned honor system.

"These bikes are relatively unattractive and will be highly detectable on campus," Crocker said. "They’re not particularly attractive for anyone to rip off. The honor system with this is important. If we begin to see lots of bikes being stolen, then we may reconsider the program."

The process is simple, Crocker said. A student who finds a red bike near their class or residence hall can ride it to wherever they need to go, leave it there for someone else or take it back where they found it. There is no signing up or collateral a student needs to provide.

Students then could take the bike from one area of the campus to the other, leaving it in plain sight when finished for the next student.

While this program is only in its infancy, Crocker already has laid the groundwork for plans that would expand the program.

She’s considering speaking to University Police regarding the purchasing or donation of lost bikes that are never claimed or having students themselves come to her with old bikes they no longer need.

Crocker said she would continue to pursue grants to help fund the program while continuing her excellent relationship with Bluemoon Bikes Cycle and Fitness Center in Sycamore and the DeKalb Cyclery.

"I’m not going to be naïve and see we won’t lose bikes," Crocker said. "But this program really has potential I think. And anyone who has any other ideas about how to make this program work are more than welcome to contact me."

If anyone has an idea, would like to donate the bike or volunteer in helping with the "Bike Me" program, call Mary Crocker at 753-1590 or Alex Dreyer, student coordinator with recycling and senior engineering major, at 753-0352.

NIU’s student organizations welcomed the NIU community back to campus last Friday at the 25th annual Friday Fest, held at the King Memorial Commons.

The event, which began in 1979, encourages new students to become involved early, said Denise Rode, director of orientation at NIU.

"It’s really open to anybody, but our primary audience is really going to be new students, freshman and transfers," she said.

Participating organization members set up at tables circling the MLK Commons, as many handed out candy and fliers in an attempt to attract attention.

"We had the equipment and the desire to get heat stroke," joked fencing club member Courtney Wells. "We just want to show people the kind of style you can learn."

About 120 tables and 116 organizations participated in the event, said Chris Porterfield, assistant director of orientation at NIU.

Andrea Baker, New Student Welcome Days coordinator, was pleased with the variety of organizations.

"I’m glad we have so many diverse organizations out here, representing the academic, social, recreational aspects of NIU," Baker said.

Dan Teefey, graduate assistant for Students’ Legal Assistance, said their goal was to inform students of the types of assistance the department offers.

"It’s honestly a matter of making students aware," he said.

The Vietnamese Student Association (VSA) also promoted awareness at the event.

VSA representative Melvin Nguyen said the club is one of the smallest on campus because few know that anyone can join.

Other organizations had recruiting in mind at Friday Fest.

"We’re hoping to recruit a bunch of members, [and] spread the word about trying to end poverty housing," said Tom Merrion of Habitat for Humanity.