Students who may be called into military action should start planning to leave the university prior to completing the academic term.

The only exception for not withdrawing is if the call to active duty is near the end of the term, since most of the course requirements are completed. In this case, students should see their specific teachers for instructions on what they can do.

All students who are members of military reserve units called into duty are eligible to receive a refund of payments made for tuition and student fees, excluding health insurance fees, materials fees and delivery fees.

Linda Dersch, assistant director for Student Financial Aid, said that students called to military action need to go through a complete withdrawal process, but the amount of reimbursed money they will receive depends on what time during the term they are called to service.

"Aid is based on need, so students called to service won't be affected in applying for financial aid," Dersch said. "Students shouldn't wait until they return to apply for aid though. They should apply early like everyone else if they know they will be back for the next semester so state funds don't run out."

NIU's Inter-Fraternity Council and Pan Hellenic Council met separately Monday night to pick their endorsements for the upcoming Student Association executive elections.

Representatives from fraternities and sororities were given the chance to discuss and vote on who they wanted to endorse in each of the four upcoming elections.

"We are going to go through each candidate and discuss them for three minutes," said Tim Samp, president of the IFC. "Try to make the best educated decision you can make."

Each office's candidates were discussed separately, and candidates who are members of Greek chapters on campus were identified.

Chris Juhl, activities adviser for Greek affairs, spoke briefly concerning rumors he had heard about the candidates.

Several years ago, a number of Greek fraternities hosted afterhours, parties held after the bars were closed. Juhl said these parties were the source of a number of problems, ranging from what he called police brutality to Greeks fighting among themselves.

When the Greek system was almost kicked off campus six years ago, one of the stipulations for keeping them on campus was that afterhours would be eliminated, Juhl said.

The rumor, Juhl told the Greek chapters, is that some candidates were promising some Greek chapters they would remove the ban on the parties.

"I do want to mention that this will never happen," Juhl said. "I guarantee the university will not allow history to repeat itself."

Juhl would not divulge which candidates were rumored to be making the statements.

All of the candidates who were identified as Greeks were endorsed by both organizations. The only split decision came in the student trustee position.

City Manager Jim Connors was unable to ignore the threats posed by The Dungeon to the DeKalb community and revoked the club's license March 7.

Connors explained that he personally is responsible for the health and safety of the city employees, and he said that the teen club presented a danger to patrons and police officers alike.

"It is not in the best public interest," Connors said of keeping open The Dungeon, 1025 W. Hillcrest Drive.

Dungeon owner David Hana, who represented himself, did not call any witnesses throughout the hearing and had no evidence to refute the city's claims.

City Attorney Margo Ely called various members of the DeKalb Police Department who each had witnessed incidents that occurred at The Dungeon since the club opened in October. The witnesses detailed violations of Chapter 32 of the Municipal Code.

Sgt. Wes Hoadley recounted an incident on Jan. 24 when he was sent into the club to count chairs on the orders of Lt. Carl Leoni. According to Chapter 32, teen clubs must have seating available for half of their patrons. Although only about 25 percent of the stools in the club were being used, Hoadley said he did not see sufficient seating as required by the Municipal Code.

Leoni, also a witness for the city, testified that he had at least two meetings with Hana regarding the need for sufficient security at the club.

Leoni also had totaled up the cost to the city for response to The Dungeon over the course of one weekend in January.

Using the computer system to determine the amount of time each officer spent responding to the incidents at the club accurately, Leoni calculated the cost of each officer's presence at the scene depending on their personal wages. The cost totaled $1,640.28. Leoni also added that in one meeting with the club owner, Hana had told the lieutenant that he would pay for two off-duty officers to work at the club for two hours, but Hana did not come through.

In the end, Ely repeated her slogan for this case to illustrate the need for the revocation of the license.

"What is observed randomly occurs regularly," Ely said, adding that if Hana is not willing to pay for sufficient security, then he does not deserve to keep the teen club license.

Ely applauded Hana in his venture as a young entrepreneur but remained reserved, commenting, "Right now it's not working."

Ely stressed that none of the 16 businesses that hold liquor licenses have required the attention The Dungeon has demanded, and she vented her frustration that Hana has not cooperated with the police in fixing the problems.

"I think Mr. Hana completely fails to accept responsibility," Ely said.

Hana, on the other hand, contends that there have not been any incidents inside the club and that he is working on providing better security measures outdoors. He said that he has changed security measures already, ending the mandatory coat check that had caused the long wait to get into the club.

Hana also said, when he took the stand on his own behalf, that a pre-existing feud between the promoters and another group is what caused the violent outbreak on Jan. 18. Hana said he felt targeted by not only the media with bad publicity, but also city officials who he believes are coming down harder on him than local bars that have been admitting and serving minors.

"Everybody's trying to shut down The Dungeon," Hana said. "Everybody's making up stories."

Connors responded to this in his final statements, calling for citizens to report troublesome incidents at any area business that may be a cause for concern.

But Connors, who revoked the teen club license but did not fine Hana as requested by Ely, said that his concern is with the welfare of individuals and not money. The magnitude of the response needed for the outbreaks at the club were a determining factor for Connors.

"To have three large instances in six months is significant to me," Connors said.

Connors said Hana has the option to appeal the ruling in Circuit Court.

In honor of Women's History Month, the NIU Women's Studies Program is bringing attention to various women's issues.

An open panel discussion, "Volunteerism: Past and Present," is being hosted today from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. at Reavis Hall, Room 211.

Jolene Skinner, program coordinator with Women's Studies, said the panel discussion will answer questions like, "What can women gain from volunteer experience?" and "What do employers look for when evaluating volunteer experience?"

"When we think of volunteerism, we think of women traditionally," she said. "Although that may not be fair to men."

Jeanne Meyer, program coordinator for the sexual assault programs with Safe Passage, and Mary Beth Markwell, the director of community relations with the Girl Scouts, will be the speakers for the event.

They will be available to answer any questions students may have.

The discussion will be very beneficial and it will enlighten students to the fact that internships aren't the only way to gain experience, Skinner said.

"One thing that the panel will show is that volunteerism is great for career development," she said. "And also to help get that first job."

Faced with a state edict to cut back on spending, NIU administrators are grappling with how to manage a nearly $8.6 million shortfall this year.

Earlier this month, the state sent NIU notice to slash 8 percent from this year's operating budget and save it in a reserve for later expenses. The governor's budget office asked each Illinois public university to cut 8 percent out of its operating budget.

Now, NIU may face the task of working the remainder of this fiscal year, which ends June 30, without the $8.6 million. NIU started the year with a $110 million operating budget before the planned cut.

Even though there's a chance NIU could see some of that money come back, school administrators aren't planning on it, said Melanie Magara, NIU's assistant vice president of public affairs.

NIU President John Peters testified before the House Appropriations Committee last week to ensure NIU's budget is not "unduly affected by the effort to solve our state's financial problems," he stated in a press release.

However, the state is facing a $5 billion deficit this year. All state agencies and universities are struggling to find ways to cut costs, Magara said.

"We have to be prepared as a campus to understand the enormity of the financial problem and the fact that our government leaders have every expectation that higher education will have to contribute to the solution," Magara said.

Illinois' public universities are considering a number of ways to meet the Bureau of the Budget's request, including a continuation of hiring freezes, reduction in workers and positions and a possible curtailment of summer school, Magara said. Universities may have to slow down on expenditures for projects and technology upgrades. Student employment also may face cutbacks.

"We're talking about a real challenge in terms of finding ways to make those cuts not apparent to students and not borne out in terms of the quality of academic programs," Magara said. "That's the challenge."

NIU, along with other universities, was able to offer 2 percent of its operating budget without devastating its academic programs, but the Bureau of the Budget wants to see scenarios for 8 percent cuts, Magara said.

The presidents of Illinois' nine public universities will meet with the Illinois Board of Higher Education today at the State of Illinois Building in Chicago to discuss how the 8 percent cuts will affect them.

Gov. Rod Blagojevich's State of the State address on Wednesday left unanswered questions about what he specifically plans on doing about the $5 billion deficit, according to The Associated Press.

Rep. David Wirsing, R-Sycamore, said legislators are having difficulty figuring out what direction Illinois is going. While the Bureau of the Budget has requested across-the-board cuts, Blagojevich has offered little detail and has been "governing by memo, or governing by press release," Wirsing said.

"It's been a series of ongoing confusion and lack of detailed information," Wirsing said. "This is not a partisan confusion."

The 8 percent cut from NIU's operating budget will pose a great challenge, Wirsing said. In the last 18 months, higher education in Illinois has taken a 16 percent budget cut. The state also will cut 8 percent from NIU's fiscal year 2004 budget.

"Everyone's going to get cut," Wirsing said. "There's no way around that."

Blagojevich is scheduled to deliver his budget address April 9 -- two months after it traditionally is presented.

In response to France's protest of the United States' involvement with Iraq, "French" cuisine was banned on Capitol Hill.

Specifically, foods previously known as french fries and french toast now are known as freedom fries and freedom toast in the U.S. House of Representatives' office building cafeterias.

Many restaurants around the country have done similar protests, removing references to "French" foods. Some local businesses fear this may be extreme.

"We're taking it too far," said Evanthia Matavagas, manager of Lukulos Restaurant, 1101 W. Lincoln Highway.

Matavagas related the food protest to the protests within the United Nations.

"Just because someone won't help us, we shouldn't blow them off," Matavagas said. "It's just not fair."

Debbie Lekkas, also a manager at Lukulos, said that it is just food.

"I say french fries," Lekkas said.

"Changing the French dressing, I just think is silly," Pete Lutz, owner of Pita Pete's, said.

Lutz said France is protesting the United States' involvement because of France's oil ties with Iraq. If the United States was to go to war with Iraq and take over, then any previous deals that France has with Iraq would be tossed out, he said.

Lutz said he does not want to see war, but he knows that peace is difficult to obtain.

"War is dangerous and costly, but peace is costly, too," Lutz said.

A number of local restaurants were not aware of the protest on Capitol Hill and did not have comments.

On March 8, the NIU athletics department discovered that Huskie wrestler Bill Lowney had been arrested for criminal sexual assault.

Lowney allegedly assaulted a fellow student in November. The grand jury issued a warrant for his arrest on Feb. 27. He turned himself in to Kane County officials on March 4. Lowney then was transferred to DeKalb County Jail. He was released on a $20,000 bond.

Lowney remains free on the bond that allowed him to travel to Mt. Pleasant, Mich., for the MAC Championships and Wisconsin to visit his family.

About 10 minutes from Mt. Pleasant, Mich., Huskie coach Dave Grant received a phone call from Associate Athletic Director Robert Collins telling Grant that Lowney would not be able to hit the mat for the Huskies, Grant said.

Lowney, the defending MAC champion, declined to comment.

Lowney's teammate, senior sport management major Scott Owen said the wrestling team does not know the whole story.

"Hopefully [Lowney] will be OK, and everything will work out," Owen said.

Lowney had a 9-7 record this season, down from 22-11 last season, and was going to be the fourth seed in the MAC Championships.