Bryan Schuetze sleeps with the fish.

Well, not really, but the NIU alumnus must feel like it sometimes with his tireless work as design director of the John G. Shedd Aquarium in Chicago.

"When I come in every morning, there's a true love for the animals that I see every day, and they actually get to know you," he said. "We fulfill a service to the community at large by offering an understanding of the fragile ecosystem."

Schuetze hopes the understanding will be furthered by Wild Reef, a soon-to-be opened exhibit that he has worked on for six years.

The $45 million exhibit will contain 750,000 gallons of water and more than 30 sharks. Schuetze's goal is for it to be a near perfect duplication of a Philippines coral reef with more than 500 species of reef fishes. It is Schuetze's most ambitious work to date.

"It sets a new standard for the aquarium industry," he said. "It's an incredibly rewarding accomplishment. It's been incredibly inspiring. With the process and the amount of learning, to get that opportunity has been quite honestly life changing."

Schuetze first developed his skills as an NIU student in the 1980s.

"I always knew that my mind was more three dimensional than two dimensional," he said. "Design has always been a part of my life, and it's something I have enjoyed and showed an aptitude for. My interest in art was certainly developed at Northern. I think the isolation at Northern created a more focused understanding of design."

Schuetze is not the only former NIU student involved with the project. Schuetze's friend, Joseph Seigenthaler, is the exhibit fabrication and maintenance coordinator at the Shedd. He also is sculpting a giant coral polyp for the exhibit.

"I am really excited about it," Seigenthaler said. "It's one of the best exhibits that the Shedd Aquarium has ever had. It looks great right now even without a lot of the aquatic animals there. You really can see [Schuetze's] work paying off when you look at it. He also has a great sense of humor and a great work ethic. He works really hard and is dedicated once he gets involved in something."

That hard work included getting certified to dive and spending six weeks in the Philippines to study ecosystems. That type of effort left one of Schuetze's coworkers stunned.

"He has done a wonderful job," said Jennifer Bennett, graphic coordinator at the Shedd. "He has been very open and introduced a lot of creative ideas. As far as exhibits go, it's an excellent design."

Schuetze is eyeing his next project, but he knows he wants to continue one aspect of this one.

"I am just trying to create and maintain an environment of experimentation here," he said.

Schuetze's Wild Reef Exhibit will open this April.

"Lose 10 pounds in 10 days" or "Get big, lean and ripped muscle mass!"

These are the claims companies make about supplements to sell consumers quick fixes for their health issues. People now are purchasing supplements to get the results they want fast instead of getting it the old-fashioned way, through exercise and a good diet.

"I think there are a lot of people out there using supplements, but don't know what they do," said Greg Ehlers, assistant athletic trainer for NIU athletics. "Since FDA doesn't regulate the use of supplements, people are using them for the wrong reasons."

Generally, supplements can be placed into four categories: vitamins and minerals, performance enhancing, weight loss and meal replacements.

"I feel that a one-a-day multivitamin is very important in a daily diet," said Kristie Emmons, an NIU dietetic intern. "As college students, we have busy schedules and compromised financial situations, making it difficult for us to consume the varied, balanced diet we need. The multivitamin by no means replaces the diet we all should consume, but it will help in areas that we may be lacking for that given day."

While multivitamin supplements are good for you, weight loss supplements are not.

"Diet supplements [weight loss supplements] often contain Ephedra, a stimulant which essentially speeds up a person's heart rate, giving them the feeling of increased energy and decreased appetite," Emmons said. "Not only is this increased heart rate dangerous over any period of time, it can become an addiction. The body will quickly adapt to the Ephedra dose, requiring a person to increase the dose to feel the same effects."

Ehlers also agrees that using weight loss supplements is one of the most dangerous kinds of dieting.

"A lot of people seem to be hypersensitive to the stimulant," he said. "We see a lot of adverse effects to that ingredient. Over 100 deaths have been associated with Ephedrine. NCAA and other professional sports organizations have banned the use of Ephedrine for that reason."

He added that since supplements are not very well regulated, consumers are never 100 percent sure of the purities of the ingredients. Many people believe the claims made by the company, and many have not been scientifically proven.

"We are always looking for quick fixes, and we need to be careful in listening to the claims of what the products does," Ehlers said. "The products that contain Ephedrine have not been scientifically proven to work, and there has been no testing for long-term health problems. Supplements can hurt you, and it might even kill you, which can be in the case of Ephedrine."

Ehler suggests that the best way for weight loss is good nutritional diet, cardio and strength training. He recommends that before taking any supplements, it is important to be educated by people who are knowledgeable in the use of supplements, such as dietitians, physicians or athletic trainers.

"The Office of Campus Recreation offers free nutrition counseling with NIU dietetic interns, which would be a good place to start," Emmons said. "The health center should also be able to answer any questions a person may have regarding supplementation."

It is important to be careful with the use of supplements because people might be buying something that is not helpful at all, or at the worst, it might be damaging to your health, Ehler said.

Non-conference success has the NIU men's and women's tennis teams in the good graces of the MAC preseason poll setters.

The men's team has a 6-3 record and opens MAC play March 29 against Buffalo while receiving 25 points, placing it second in the MAC preseason polls, one point behind Ball State. The Huskies and Ball State also received two votes, favoring them to win the MAC Tournament.

"I'm not sure that we are deserving of that quite yet, but it's still a good honor," men's coach Steve Rodecap said.

At 5-3, the women's team accumulated 59 points, earning fourth place nods from the committee. Coach Laura Scott's team opens MAC play Feb. 28 against Akron.

Marshall led all women's teams with 86 points and was followed by Eastern Michigan with 86 and Western Michigan 70.

"I'm happy with being picked fourth and how tight the race seems to be," Scott said. "There are six teams that have a legitimate shot at winning it all."

The Center for Southeast Asian Studies and the Southeast Asia Club are presenting an "All Southeast Asia Cultural Night" on Friday.

The two groups have made the night possible with help from many other groups throughout the NIU community.

"The club does these three or four times a year to highlight the cultures," said Susan Russell, director of the Center for Southeast Asian Studies.

The night is full of events, including a dinner from Phai Nam Cafe and Restaurant in Rockford.

A Buddhist blessing chant and ceremony will begin the night.

"We usually start off the Southeast Asia nights with a blessing that is traditional to the cultures," Russell said.

Some other activities of the night include readings of palm leaf manuscripts, music representative of Vietnam and Sumatra, a Thai dance, a traditional costume performance and Vietnamese storytelling.

"The most unique thing, which hasn't been done in a while, is the Malaysian Candle dance." Russell said. "We haven't had performances from our Malaysian students lately."

Russell said the the event usually lasts about three hours.

"It's educational as well as enjoyable," she said.

The event is located at the Newman Catholic Student Center, 512 Normal Road.

Southeast Asia Cultural night is free and open to the public.

CHICAGO - A federal advisory panel on the enforcement of Title IX billed its work as a "strong consensus," but on the day it delivered its final report, consensus was hard to find until U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige stepped in.

At a news conference Wednesday in Washington, two dissenting members of the Secretary of Education's Commission on Opportunity in Athletics released their own minority report and attacked eight of the 23 recommendations included in the commission's final report as well as the group's credibility.

At a news conference later, the commission co-chairs defended both their product and their process.

At stake is the future of nondiscrimination in sports under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, which prohibits schools receiving federal funds from discriminating on the basis of sex. Female athletic participation has skyrocketed in the last 31 years, but commission members Julie Foudy and Donna de Varona argued that some commission recommendations granting greater flexibility in the way schools are allowed to comply with Title IX might, if implemented, roll back that progress.

"We plead with the president and the secretary of education and the Congress to understand the implications of the recommendations," said Foudy, past president of the Women's Sports Foundation and a member of the U.S. national women's soccer team. "It could result in substantial losses to women in athletic opportunities."

All called for maintaining current policies while strengthening enforcement of and education about Title IX.

Paige formed the 15-member commission of sports professionals and educators in June to study the enforcement of Title IX. He will decide which ideas, if any, to implement.

In a surprise move, Paige said later Wednesday in a statement he would consider only the 15 recommendations that drew unanimous support from the commission, and a spokesman later confirmed it.

That would eliminate five of the eight proposals singled out for criticism in the minority report. But it still would allow for changes in proportionality, one of three ways a school can show its athletic program complies with Title IX and the focus of much of the controversy surrounding the law and the commission's work.

To meet the proportionality test, a school must provide participation opportunities for male and female students in numbers that are "substantially proportionate" to their respective enrollments.

Another unanimous recommendation suggests the Department of Education explore ways of demonstrating equity beyond the three-part test.

"That last one is so wide open, it gives them license to do anything," Foudy said after learning of Paige's decision. "It basically brings all the other ones back into play."

She had voted for the recommendation but opposed it after seeing how it appeared in the final report.

Among the recommendations eliminated by Paige's move were excluding non-recruited non-scholarship athletes from proportionality calculations and including available roster spots even if they were not used.

"Their willingness to only pursue so-called unanimous recommendations is a step forward, but it is not the end," Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-S.D.) said.

Commission co-chairs Ted Leland and Cynthia Cooper denied the report's recommendations would weaken Title IX enforcement, pointing to proposals reaffirming a commitment to equal opportunity and calling for stronger enforcement and more effective sanctions.

"I don't see a step backward in any of these proposals," said Leland, the athletic director at Stanford.

Advocates for change in Title IX contend current enforcement practices amount to an unfair quota system that has resulted in the termination of hundreds of college teams in such men's sports as wrestling, swimming and gymnastics. They greeted the commission report as a possible first step toward change.

"With the exception of a small number of special interest groups, there is clear and overwhelming support for Title IX reform," said Mike Moyer, executive director of the National Wrestling Coaches Association. "Clearly the majority of people understand what is in place now is not working."

The minority report attacked the commission's report as rushed, based on inadequate information_including the impact of some recommendations.

Northern Illinois University athletic director Cary Groth, a commission member, agreed with the two commission dissidents that the report lacked in-depth information about views on both sides of disputed recommendations.

"There was significant debate," she said. "I think it would have been helpful to those reading this report if they understood somewhat the discussion that took place."

Groth also lamented that the commission lacked the time to "put pencil to paper" to assess the impact of some recommendations and said Paige should do so and reject any proposals that would undermine women's progress under Title IX.

Lenald and Cooper, a former professional basketball player, defended the commission's process as fair.

"We engaged in open, public debate over Title IX," Cooper said.