Under pressure to come up with nearly $8 million in budget cuts for the current budget year, key players who have been lobbying in Springfield on NIU's behalf met last Tuesday to discuss relating to the budget crisis.

Members of NIU's Board of Trustees Legislation, Audit and External Affairs committee met at NIU's Hoffman Estates campus to briefly mention the current budget situation, as well as address new state legislation that could affect NIU.

Kathy Buettner, executive director of state and federal relations, said NIU is taking the budget issue day by day.

"As you know, the governor has not issued a budget message at this point," Buettner said. "We are not going to be able to know what the governor recommends until April 9."

Buettner also shared with the board the fiscal '04 priority list for capital improvements at different state institutions.

"If we follow logic from previous years, the estimated cutoff for prioritizing will be somewhere between projects 11 and 12," Buettner said.

NIU requested state funding for the renovation and addition of the Stevens Building. This year, planning funds for the project ranked 15 on the IBHE's capital improvements list, a progression from last year's ranking of 21. Funds for construction are ranked 25, an improvement from last year's ranking of 32.

"Obviously ranked 15, it appears doubtful that there will be any funding for any capital project at NIU in '04," Buettner said. "We are working very, very hard in an attempt to draw the needs of the university to the forefront."

The BOT will meet Wednesday.

With eight games in nine days, the Huskie baseball team experienced its ups and downs, going 4-4.

The week began with a 12-7 victory over Eastern Kentucky in the first game of a doubleheader. Senior Dan Urban hit a grand slam in the top of the eighth inning to give NIU the lead. Junior catcher Derek Barrone was 3-for-3 with two runs scored.

After winning the first game, NIU went on to lose its next three games, 17-13 and 19-4 to Eastern Kentucky and 7-6 to Morehead State.

The Huskies went on to win three of their last four games over break.

NIU beat Eastern Kentucky 7-5 behind two hits apiece from Urban, sophomore centerfielder Mike Brown and junior infielder Josh Owens.

Its other two wins came against Michigan and Winthrop, 12-8 and 11-10.

Against Winthrop, Mike Hochhauser had three hits and a pair of RBIs to lead the way. NIU had six hits in the first inning while scoring five runs.

However, Winthrop scored the next six runs to take a 6-5 lead. NIU fought back with a six-run seventh inning to hold on to a one-run victory.

Every NIU starter had at least one hit.

"It was a good win. It's nice to finish up the trip with a win," NIU coach Ed Mathey said. "It was a good grind out game for us. We had a couple of games earlier in the trip where we were in similar situations and we let them go. That's something we are going to need to continue to do if we are going to reach our goals."

Asian American Resources is giving Asian and Asian-American students the opportunity to express themselves at a discussion group held Mondays from 12 to 1 p.m. at the Campus Life Building, Room 110.

The group was developed in part by Michelle Bringas, program coordinator for Asian American Resources, to raise awareness about the issues facing Asian and Asian-American students at NIU.

Mubarak Asmi, a technical assistant for Asian American Resources, said Asian and Asian-American students often are faced with stereotypes of their culture, behavior and physical appearance.

According to "Working with Asian-American College Students," a book used by the group to spark discussion, Asians and Asian-Americans often are labeled as "the model minority."

This label sometimes leads non-Asians to expect Asians to achieve outstanding academic success, love math and engineering, be computer whizzes and have vast knowledge of the martial arts.

"Because of this model minority stereotype, Asians often aren't considered as having to face racism, but the truth is that they have to struggle like everyone else," Bringas said.

Asmi and Bringas both said they think the discussion group will be a great help to participants.

Bringas said the group provides a safe environment for the students to express their feelings.

Asmi said the group helps students not to feel so alone and to be exposed to possible solutions to the problems they experience.

The group has six members, but Asmi would like to see the membership grow to 25 or 30 people.

NIU faculty, staff and non-Asian students are welcome to join the group.

For information, call Asian American Resources at 753-1421.

In a few months, Macedonio and Berta Borjon and their four children will be able to move out of a tiny rented trailer and into a home of their own.

This is in part due to the work of some NIU students who chose to build houses for the less fortunate during Spring Break.

NIU Habitat for Humanity organized a trip to John's Island, S.C., where 18 students made the 18-hour journey. Once there, they settled into a volunteer house and prepared for work the next day.

The students worked three eight-hour days and one four-hour day with Sea Island Habitat for Humanity. The sounds of pounding hammers resounded in Sea Island Place, an eventual community of 70 habitat homes.

"All of us got a really good chance to be productive on the build," said Ashley Pearson, president of NIU Habitat for Humanity and a junior English major.

NIU students worked on a variety of projects.

Everyone helped construct the wooden frames of two houses and later cleaned the area in preparation for Sea Island's 25th anniversary celebration. Some of the students cleared plots, built sheds, worked on pre-build kits, painted walls and helped with interior work.

Felicity Ippolito, a junior art education major, worked on a building for the first time on the trip.

"The most challenging part was making myself get out in the rain and move all those planks of wood to the dumpster; but I learned stuff I can use when I actually own a house,"she said

NIU students worked with students from other colleges, including Drew University in Madison, N.J., and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y.

The week's work was part of the Collegiate Challenge. More than 400 students are expected to travel to all over the country to work with Sea Island Habitat for Humanity this year, the largest number ever to participate in the Collegiate Challenge.

Pricilla Svendsen, volunteer coordinator for Sea Island Habitat for Humanity, was pleased with the accomplishments of college students.

"One of my favorite things about my job is working with all the great volunteers," she said. "There are a lot of families with terrible living conditions. The volunteers can really make a difference."

Habitat for Humanity is an ecumenical, non-profit Christian-based housing ministry that builds simple, affordable houses in partnership with motivated, low-income families. Although the organization is Christian, it welcomes all people to volunteer or to apply for housing.

Habitat families invest 500 volunteer hours of "sweat equity" and purchase their houses on no-interest 20-year mortgages.

Sea Island Habitat for Humanity is the third-oldest of more than 1,900 affiliates of Habitat of Humanity International. It has built more than 140 homes. More than 130,000 homes have been built worldwide.

For information on joining NIU Habitat for Humanity, call Ashley Pearson at 787-3712.

The Plan Commission voted against the proposed Savannah Green subdivision at its Wednesday meeting.

City Planner Ray Keller said the recommendation, which was unanimously voted by the four commission members present, will be forwarded to the city council for consideration at its April 28 meeting.

Savannah Green is a proposed subdivision located south of Twombly Road at the west end of Hillcrest Drive.

Two other smaller subdivisions also were discussed at the meeting, Keller said.

Meadow Ridge is a proposed 45-lot single family residential subdivision.

Ken Nelson is the developer behind the project, which is proposed for the south side of Ridge Drive, Keller said.

The March 26 Plan Commission meeting will consider the proposed subdivision.

The second project, Heatherfield of DeKalb, from Eagle Homes, would be located at the northeast corner of Ridge Drive and Normal Road, Keller said.

Keller said this subdivision has proposed 46 single-family homes.

Wednesday's meeting was intended to give the Plan Commission members an initial walk-through of the proposed project. courtesy photo illustration

The proposed Savanah Green Subdivision was rejected by DeKalb's Plan Commission on Wednesday. Two projects have been introduced to the

commission and will be considered in the upcoming weeks.

Thanks to a USOAR grant, Kristine Shuey will be able to travel to England this summer to study images in medieval manuscripts.

"This is an amazing opportunity," said Shuey, a senior art history major." I never thought I would be able to do first-hand research like this as an undergraduate."

Thirty-three NIU undergraduates have won grants to support 25 independent research projects.

The USOAR grants, short for Undergraduate Special Opportunities in Artistry and Research, total $50,000 a year and are funded through NIU's exclusive contract with Pepsi. The grants allow students, some working with partners, to pursue learning that they otherwise may not get from classes.

Many of the students will travel to other states or overseas. Each project can receive up to $2,500 in grant money. Pepsi provides $500,000 a year to NIU for a variety of projects that improve instruction on campus. This is the fourth year the USOAR grants have been awarded.

"It's pretty exciting to win a grant," junior biology major Trish Kaiser said. Kaiser will be looking at the exocytotic process in the pancreatic cells of rats. She plans to do her senior thesis on the subject.

Pepsi will provide grant money until 2006, but by that time, NIU hopes to find another source of funding, said Robert Wheeler, interim vice provost and coordinator of the USOAR program.

USOAR workshops are held in the fall to help students write solid grant proposals. Each project is submitted to the student's college and needs a faculty adviser.

"For a lot of students who have received grants, the experience has been transformational," Wheeler said. "That's the real payoff. Last year and the year before, students went to Kenya to study public health in a third-world setting. That was a real opener for them."

Wheeler is not aware of any other Illinois public university with a program like USOAR.

"This is part of what makes Northern special," he said.

NIU President John Peters will recognize USOAR winners during an awards ceremony and luncheon on March 24.

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.