Northern Star

Competition heats up for office position

By Courtney Cavanaugh | March 6, 2003

The International Students and Faculty Office is searching for a new director. Notrida Mandica, international student and graduate assistant for the International Training Office, said all the candidates who are seeking the position have experience in...

Fighting hunger with geography

By Kristin Cavarretta | March 5, 2003

In an effort to aid hungry families in Northern Illinois, the NIU geography department volunteered to partner with the Northern Illinois Food Bank in St. Charles. The food bank needed to identify areas of Northern Illinois that are in the greatest need....

N.A.T.I.O.N.S. gives back

By Samantha Henwood | March 5, 2003

Native Americans Together Insuring Our Nations Sovereignty (N.A.T.I.O.N.S.) has been giving back and helping Native American students for its past 11 years on campus. The main goal each year is to put together a scholarship for high school seniors, undergraduate...

Men react to their role in the title

By Jason Watt | March 5, 2003

To cut a men's team to help make way for a women's team doesn't sit well with many non-revenue producing men's teams. "We're a small revenue sport and because we don't bring in the money, we're easily expendable," wrestler Scott Owen said. "When it comes...

Rematch with Kaman, CMU

By Frank Rusnak | March 5, 2003

Attention this time has turned slightly away from the 7-foot behemoth Chris Kaman. When the NIU men's basketball team travels to Mount Pleasant, Mich., for a 7 p.m. game today, the rest of the Chippewas - particularly the three-point shooters - will not...

Latino Cultural Awareness Committee elections loom

By Linda Luk | March 5, 2003

Elections, speakers, fundraisers and Web design were among some of the issues discussed at the weekly Latino Cultural Awareness Committee on Tuesday. Rosalba Garcia, president of the Latino Cultural Awareness Committee, opened the meeting with an announcement...

Reality, racism and respect

By LaShaunna Watkins | March 5, 2003

Reality, racism, and respect are fundamental to early childhood learning and essentially fundamental to the infrastructure of the United States of America. The three R's were the focus of a conference sponsored by the department of education Tuesday....

CAB box office workers threatened

By Nick Swedberg | March 5, 2003

Missed buses have caused several unidentified NIU students to threaten Campus Activities Board box office workers. According to a press release from the Student Association, several complaints from the Campus Activities Board have been made regarding...

Women react to their role in the title

By Mark Pickrel | March 5, 2003

NIU women's tennis coach Laura Scott said she's a product of Title IX, plain and simple. When Title IX was established in 1972 it opened doors previously closed to women. "In my high school, all the talk was about this great new legislation," Scott said....

WMU blocks Senior Day

By Mark Pickrel | March 5, 2003

For NIU seniors Kim Boeding and Kristan Knake, their last regular season home game did not end as planned. Boeding, Knake and the Huskies fell to Western Michigan 83-67 in front of 1,232 people on Tuesday night at the Convocation Center. "It's frustrating,"...

NIU unable to ride the Broncos

By Chris Jurmann | March 5, 2003

Giving explosive teams a second chance to score never pays off. Western Michigan took advantage of its opportunities in an 83-67 win over the NIU women's basketball team Tuesday night at the Convocation Center. The Huskies were led in scoring by junior...

Color line defined

By Stephanie Gandsey | March 4, 2003

Professor Neil Foley from the University of Texas at Austin discussed Hispanic identity in America Monday night in the Moot Courtroom of Swen Parson Hall.

The lecture was entitled "Straddling the Color Line." Foley said that people have confusions about the color line.

"Most people understand the color line as being black and white," Foley said. "The problem now, though, isn't the color line. It's color lines as they seem to be multiplying."

Foley went on to explain how many who would be considered Hispanic marked "white" or "other" on surveys.

"There's confusion about Hispanics in the United States," Foley said. "Before 1980, we didn't hear about Hispanics."

Olivia Rodriguez, a sophomore electrical engineering major, said Foley was very informational and that Hispanics marking "white" shocked her.

"As a Hispanic, one thinks we're being represented, but many Hispanics are claiming "white" and it affects our representation," Rodriguez said.

Foley then explained three different court cases that helped explain Hispanic identity.

"Race is a cultural construction," he said. "It's all politics, racial politics."

A court case in 1897 argued that only whites could become naturalized citizens.

In 1954, "busing" was introduced in order to desegregate and integrate schools, but the courts found that only Hispanic and black schools were forced to do the busing.

History graduate student Carl Lindskoog also enjoyed the lecture.

"I think he was really good, and I learned a lot in different areas," Lindskoog said. "This is relevant to what I'm doing research on for my Master's thesis."

After Foley finished, he asked the audience for questions and answered them for about 25 minutes.

Michael Gonzales, director of the Center for Latino and Latin American Studies, said the speaker was recommended by grad students in the history department.

"[The speaker] was of interest to all students at NIU," Gonzales said. "He explained how history of Latinos relates to whites and blacks and Asians."

Gonzales also responded to Hispanics marking "white" on surveys.

"It's a question of self-perception and a question of how people perceive you," he said. "White means different things to different people."

The History Graduate Student Colloquium Committee, Center for Latino and Latin American Studies, the University Graduate School's Graduate Colloquium Committee and the NIU Department of History sponsored the lecture.

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