There is good news for students who want to graduate with honors but are not members of the University Honors Program. Students can participate in their major department's individual honors program.

Sometimes, the individual program of the department will qualify a student for the university program as well, so it would be possible for a student to receive both departmental and university honors, said University Honors Program Director Michael Martin.

Martin said that, contrary to myth, students do not have to be freshmen or sophomores to begin the University Honors Program. Many transfer students, including juniors, have gone through the University Honors Program and still graduated on time, he said.

In order to graduate with university honors, a student must have a cumulative grade point average of 3.2, at least 27 credit hours of honors coursework (12 of which must be outside the major), completion of a seminar and a capstone project.

It is not necessarily easier to graduate with departmental honors than to earn university honors, said William Blair, department chair of mathematical sciences. However, he said that it is easier to start out in the honors program as a freshman and later receive departmental honors than it is to begin a departmental program and then try to also fulfill the requirements for university honors later on as a junior.

This is because the University Honors Program requires honors coursework in general education classes, which are usually completed by the time a student reaches his or her junior year. However, Blair said that it is very common for students to graduate with both university and departmental honors.

The required cumulative GPA in departmental classes is higher for departmental honors than the required 3.2 for university honors. Students who wish to receive departmental honors in mathematical sciences, for example, must have a 3.5 or higher overall GPA in their math classes. The same is true for the departments of history, geography and foreign languages. Other departments, such as geology, require a 3.4.

Nicole Fulton, a junior corporate communication major and peer adviser for the University Honors Program, began the program at the beginning of her sophomore year.

Fulton said students can begin at any point in their college year because there are two divisions - upper and lower - to choose from, depending on where the student is at in his or her academic career. For students who wish to complete both divisions of the honors program, however, Fulton recommended beginning as soon as possible.

Central Michigan not only won the MAC Tournament, but also won nearly every postseason award the conference had to offer.

CMU center Chris Kaman took home the conference Player of the Year award as well as Defensive Player of the Year award. He finished second in the MAC in scoring at 22.5 points a game, and rebounding at 12.2 average. He led the conference in field goal percentage with a 63.4 percent and blocks at 3.23 a game.

"Chris does a lot for us offensively and defensively," CMU guard J.R. Wallace said. "As far as defensively, he's huge. Our defense tries to push guys towards the lane so he can alter shots."

Coach of the Year was a close vote, but Chippewa coach Jay Smith beat out NIU's Rob Judson 26-23.

CMU's Whitney Robinson rounded out the Chippewas' awards by winning the first-ever Sixth Man of the Year award.

Kaman also was a part of the All-MAC First Team, joined by Ball State guard Chris Williams, Kent State forward Antonio Gates, Ohio forward Brandon Hunter and NIU forward Marcus Smallwood.

"Just set your watch by him for another double-double," NIU coach Rob Judson said of Smallwood.

NIU's Perry Smith was named All-MAC Honorable Mention.

The Huskies also had freshman guard Todd Peterson named to the MAC All-Freshman Team. The 6-foot-6 swingman set the Huskie 3-point record by a freshman with 55.

The remainder of the All-Freshman Team was Ron Lewis of Bowling Green, DeAndre Haynes of Kent State, Josh Hausfeld of Miami (Ohio) and Toledo's Sammy Villegas.

Villegas averaged 10.9 points a game and led the Rockets in assists to become MAC Freshman of the Year.

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.