Rock 'n' roll bands performed Thursday night at Otto's Niteclub in an effort to bring organ donor awareness to NIU.

Public Relations Student Society of America, hosted its third annual organ donor bash for the National Kidney Foundation of Illinois.

Past events were held at Amnesia, but they wanted to try something new.

"The past years were very successful," said Marcelyn Love, PRSSA's president and a senior communication major. "The shows were outside before and you couldn't really judge the crowds."

PRSSA is in competition with other chapters to raise the most money, and Love said NIU has been in the top three in the past years.

Jorie Vonohlen, a junior psychology major and audience member, received a liver transplant when she was 3 years old.

"I want people to be aware that there is a great need for organ donors, especially in our age group," Vonohlen said. "The act of it is very selfless."

Vonohlen suggests that students tell their family they want to be donors. Some people could die suddenly in a car accident and it would help the family look beyond that by knowing that can benefit others in need, she said.

Raffle tickets were given out to audience members at the door. Prizes included gift cards from Applebee's, Glidden Florist, VCB and Ritz Camera. There also was an autographed hockey puck from Blackhawks player Steve Sullivan and Poison tickets sponsored by WMKB radio station.

Sound technician Alex DeForest said he was excited for the event.

"This is a good event," he said. "Hey, the sound guy is an organ donor."

The event also was sponsored by Alpha Sigma Alpha.

The first annual Convocation for Academic Excellence will be held 5 p.m. Sunday in the Holmes Student Center's Duke Ellington Ballroom.

In years past, the University Honors Program held their own ceremony, and the other awards were given out at commencement.

The ceremony will honor graduating honors students and selected honors students for their work over the past year.

"It will be a very nice ceremony," said Michael Martin, master of ceremonies and director of the University Honors Program.

Among those being honored this year are 2003 Presidential Teaching Professors Gerald Gabris and Robert Chappell and Presidential Research Professorships William Baker and Christine Worobec.

A number of distinguished graduate students will also be honored for their work at NIU.

The reception following the ceremony will be held in the Holmes Student Center's Regency Room.

About 40 people listened and discussed the changing images of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender community at the Holmes Student Center's Heritage Room Thursday night.

Joe D'Emilio discussed and analyzed his most recent book, "The World Turned."

"The World Turned" is a book of essays about D'Emilio's experiences as an activist and member of the LGBT community.

"[D'Emilio] enhanced so much insight about Ruston who has been overlooked too often. He really emphasized the principle of non-violent demonstration within the gay community," said NIU alumna Cordelia Parham.

After D'Emilio spoke about his experiences and read from his book, he allowed ample time for questions concerning his book, or just the LGBT community in general.

"We are living through a period of change in our community," said D'Emilio, responding to a question about his opinion of today's LGBT community. "We are becoming a more open society, and that is why I titled this book ‘The World Turned.' We truly are turning our appearance to society."

The presentation was done to coordinate with the Women Studies in English class.

D'Emilio stayed for a question-and-answer session, as well as talking to people one-on-one.

Clothing drive donations sought at NIU luncheon

NIU's Presidential Commission on the Status of Women and Kishwaukee College's Employment Resources Center will conduct a suit drive on April 9. Donations of new, gently worn women's suits and dresses, as well as accessories such as bags, shoes and new, packaged hosiery are being sought.

Individuals may drop off their donations between 8:30 a.m. and 4 p.m. Wednesday at the School of Nursing's east door entrance, Office of Records and Registration and the Human Resource Services. Clothing donations also may be accepted at a networking luncheon from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m on April 9 at the Holmes Student Center.

The luncheon is open to the community and will feature Barbara Cole Peters, private collector of 20th century women's clothing. For luncheon reservations, call 753-9614 before April 4.

School of Music hosts weekend activities

The School of Music will host a Clarinet Cornucopia on Saturday and Sunday. The two days will be packed with classes, recitals, concerts and rehearsals. Students, amateurs, teachers and fans are welcomed to join NIU's clarinet faculty, as well as noted guest artists and even a certified hand therapist. Activities begin at 8:30 a.m. on Saturday with registration at the Music Building Concert Hall lobby. For information, call Renee Page in the Office of External Programs at 753-1450.

NIU Gallery presents Lewis deSoto exhibition

The NIU Art Gallery in Chicago is pleased to announce Lewis deSoto: Paranirvana (self-portrait), an exhibition that will run April 4 through May 24, with a public reception for the artist from 5 to 8 p.m. on April 4. The artist will present a gallery talk at 3 p.m. on April 5. DeSoto's 26-foot-long air-inflated installation, Paranirvana, will be inflated daily at noon and deflated at 4:30 p.m. each day of the exhibition.

The NIU Art Gallery is located at 215 W. Superior, 3rd Floor, Chicago. Gallery hours are 11a.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays. Admission is free and open to the public. For information, call (312) 642-6010.

Vermeer Quartet to finish Beethoven series

The world-renowned Vermeer Quartet will complete its performances of the complete string quartets by Ludwig van Beethoven at 8 p.m. on April 3 in the Boutell Memorial Concert Hall at the Music Building. The Vermeer Quartet has achieved international status as one of the world's finest chamber music ensembles. A pre-concert lecture featuring Jan Bach takes place at 7 p.m. in the Concert Hall. The public is welcome and there is no charge. For information, call Lynn Slater at 753-1546.

Percussion Ensemble to perform spring concert

The NIU Percussion Ensemble will present its spring concert at 8 p.m. on April 2 in the Boutell Memorial Concert Hall. The concert is free and open to the public. The focus of the spring concert will be on classic literature for percussion ensemble, including historic works, new works for quartets to large ensembles and world-influenced compositions. For information, call Robert Chappell at 753-7973.

Women's Studies program sponsors case study

The Department of Geography, along with the Women's Studies program, is sponsoring "Family Photography and Domestic Spacings: a Case Study" at 3:30 p.m. on April 2 at Davis Hall, Room 308. It is an exploration of how mothers work with family photos to create their own interpretation of self, time and space.

Alumni who live and work in the heart of downtown Chicago now have a piece of NIU close by.

The NIU Alumni Association finished work on their Alumni and Visitor's Center in Chicago on April 1. The center is located at the Chicago Athletic Association Building, 12 S. Michigan Ave.

"We started planning this since Sept. 2001," said Joseph Matty, assistant director of outreach services. "It was a slow moving process, but we wanted to do it right. Both the University of Illinois and Illinois State University have alumni centers in Chicago, and we have more alums living and working in Chicago than those two schools."

Matty is referring to the 160,000 alumni in Illinois, with the majority of them around Chicago. The center was built for convenience, entertainment and keeping the alumni in touch with NIU, something that has been difficult in the past.

"The function of the center is to utilize different events, especially for the three Chicago chapters," Matty said. "We haven't decided whether or not we will have an official grand opening ceremony. We feel that because of the current budget time, we are unsure about publicizing in that manner. We feel that the center is in the alums' best interest."

According to Northern Now, the center will coordinate and consolidate activities, programs, services and events for NIU in the heart of downtown Chicago.

The funds for the center came directly from the Alumni Association operating budget, Matty said.

"Our alums are very excited about this," Matty said. "We appreciate all the help and support we have received from the university. We feel that we are catering to the alums' needs."

n a victory for public college and university newspapers, the U.S. Court of Appeals decided that administrators cannot censor student-run newspapers.

The case arose in 2001 when editors of the Innovator, Governors State University's student newspaper, decided to sue the dean of student affairs Patricia Carter for censoring the newspaper.

The decision, which wasn't expected until mid-summer, doesn't support the state of Illinois' request to apply a ruling in a similar case involving high school publications.

In 1988, the United States Supreme Court granted administrators in the Hazelwood School District authority to review and censor its high school-sponsored newspapers. The state of Illinois was looking for this decision to be applied to public college and university students, but has been unsuccessful so far.

"It's a wonderful victory," said Mike Hiestand, attorney for the Student Press Law Center. "It could have been a devastating defeat, but luckily it went the other way."

He said throughout the case, there was a feeling that the law would be on students' side.

Mark Goodman, executive director of the Student Press Law Center, said in a press release he hopes this decision reaffirms the last 30 years of college censorship cases.

"We hope that this ruling will dissuade—once and for all—college officials who are inclined to censor from engaging in that unconstitutional behavior," Goodman said.

In its ruling, the Court said, "...Hazelwood's rationale for limiting the First Amendment rights of high school journalism students is not a good fit for students at colleges of universities."

The decision went on to state that the differences between college and high school newspapers are far greater than differences in curriculum and extracurriculars.

Carter, who looked for qualified immunity in the case, was denied. The court denied her request on the notion that if her action to censor the Innovator is true, then "she violated clear rights of which she should have been aware."

"I think the decision reflects that there was no uncertainty in their mind and what school officials at Governors State did was wrong," Hiestand said.

He said that the case is not over because it could carry on in trial courts if it continues to be pursued.

"Other courts that are faced with this question are going to look at this decision," Hiestand said. "The students won big time today, but the case is ongoing. I think it's just a matter of formality now."

The Vietnamese Student Association and Southeast Asia Club are sponsoring a Vietnamese Cultural night.

"This is [the] first time the VSA is having the Vietnamese Cultural Night at NIU," said Hanh Nguyen, vice president of the VSA. "We wish everything goes well this year and hope the audience will learn and be aware of different aspects of Vietnamese culture and heritage."

Some events included tonight will be traditional dances and music, Ao Dai fashion, Vietnamese martial arts, slide presentation and storytelling.

"Our purpose is to promote Vietnamese culture and heritage at NIU and its community," Nguyen said.

Nguyen also is optimistic about the turnout of the event.

"We are expecting about 300 to 400 people coming from different areas," he said. "[They are coming from] NIU, DeKalb, Rockford, Naperville, Chicago, Iowa and other areas."

Food also will be served, and will be made by members of the VSA.

"Our VSA members will cook all of the Vietnamese food," Nguyen said. "There will be egg rolls, shrimp, fried rice, stir-fried noodles, mixed salad with shrimp crackers, roasted pork, fruit cocktails and other desserts. We will also provide vegetarian meals and beverages."

There is no cost to attend the event but if you choose to eat, a food ticket is $6 per person.

To order a meal, call 753-1771 and specify a meat or vegetarian meal.

For information, e-mail [email protected].

The NIU Art Museum has not had a home since 1998, but that is not stopping it from displaying its collection all around DeKalb.

The museum originated in the 1960s and has had several locations throughout the years, but made its first appearance in the auditorium of Altgeld Hall in 1991.

From then, the art museum resided in Altgeld Hall, but since December 1998, when it was closed for major renovations, it has been a "Museum Without Walls."

The Museum Without Walls program is a way to keep presenting its collection of contemporary art throughout the DeKalb area. It works with local community groups, organizations, business groups and artists to explore ideas for locations of art exhibits.

The most recent project by the museum was the DeKalb Farmland Project, which examined the issues of food production, soil sustainability and housing developments.

"We worked with the NIU departments of geography and geology to hold the exhibit in the old Woolworth's storefront [in downtown DeKalb]," said Jo Burke, assistant director of the NIU Art Museum.

The art museum also worked with the DeKalb Park District to renovate Huntley Park.

"The art museum provided most of the legwork for the Labyrinth [Garden] project; we only provided some of the resources and funds," said Dave Emanuelson, executive director of the DeKalb Park District.

The NIU Art Museum also helped create the mural painted on the side of the building on the corner of First Street and Lincoln Highway.

The museum will be without a permanent home until Altgeld Hall reopens after its five-year renovation project in spring 2004.

Reality Overload," the theme of this years 13th annual Asian American Association Fashion Show, will be based on America's favorite reality series.

The show will begin at 3 p.m. on Saturday at the Egyptian Theater, 135 N. 2nd St., and will last for over two hours.

This show is packed with popular up-beat music, dancing, videos and skits, said Janet Yap, a sophomore elementary education major.

"Basically, each scene is made up of a dance, a skit and a walk," she said. "Each dance is made up by the choreographers and taught to all the models."

This year's show includes everything from casual to club clothes. Yap said she enjoys the "hip-hop" look for the summer.

"To me, the hip-hop look is a casual-looking sporty top and trendy-looking dirty jeans," she said. "This year for the fashion show, men and women are modeling clothes that have to do with their specific scene. For example, the club scene would model club clothes, the casual scene would model casual clothes and so on."

Fashion show models began practicing about five months before the show.

Richard Bernardo, a junior communication major and AAA multi-media director, said they are hoping to see about 400 people turn out for the show.

"We've been working very hard on this, practicing four times a week since January, and we hope it turns out really well," Bernardo said.

Tickets are free for NIU students with a student ID, $3 for non-NIU students with an ID and $5 for anyone without a student ID.

"It's the AAA's biggest event of the year," Yap said. "Anyone who decides to attend the show will not regret it."