Students looking to schmooze with potential employers were greeted by a protest Wednesday when they tried to enter the NIU's Job Fair held at the Convocation Center.

Members of the student body, faculty, community and the pro-union group Unite! gathered on the paved area near the arena's east-side entrance.

The group distributed fliers to protest the labor practices of Cintas Corp. - America's largest uniform producer - which recruited students at Wednesday's fair.

"I can't believe NIU would support a company such as this," said senior history major Gema Gaete-Tapia. "We demand that students have no relationship with a company that abuses its employees ... Today is just the beginning."

Protesters cited the more than 40 lawsuits that have been filed against Cintas for racial, sexual, age and/or disability discrimination.

Joan Zelinski, human resources manager for Cintas, did not think the protests affected the company's recruiting presence.

"They have the right to present their information to students, and they can decide for themselves," she said. "We wouldn't be attracting so many students if we didn't offer so many benefits."

The day's events unfolded peacefully, but not without conflict. Protesters initially went inside the arena, but were stopped by security personnel who said they couldn't enter as a group.

"When it was brought to our attention, they were already standing outside," Convocation Center Director John Gordon said. "At that point, we handed it over to our legal department, and [NIU General Counsel] Ken Davidson."

Davidson focused on trying to address the complaints of protesters and recruiting employers, as well as implementing university policy relevant to the situation.

"They didn't have permission to do what they were doing when they were doing it," Davidson said. "There aren't any designated areas at any of the athletic areas or the Convocation Center for this type of expression."

Davidson said at all public universities, there are "time, place and manner restrictions" that govern the flow of ideas.

At NIU, the office of University Programming and Activities requires people to register if they want to express ideas at the King Memorial Commons, "so they don't get groups on top of each other."

The designated space is the "free speech zone" located at the northwest corner of the MLK Commons, which is the cement-paved area bordering the Holmes Student Center. Registration is not required for this area.

The protest, which was part of a two-month-old campaign to organize Cintas, focused on the company's treatment of employees.

"We want to put pressure on Cintas through various means," said Chad Gray, a Unite! union organizer from Chicago. "We go to areas where Cintas recruits to let potential employees know Cintas' history of discrimination. We also want to let Cintas know that people in the community don't want a company with such anti-labor practices."

There are 82 pending federal labor-law charges against Cintas, according to information distributed by protesters. Cintas employees began organizing with Unite! in January, and the company responded by hiring anti-union attorneys, industrial psychologists and "a regiment of security guards to record union activity and intimidate employees."

Zelinski said Cintas has been recruiting at NIU job fairs for more than four years, and he was not sure whether people had previously protested the company's presence. She said the company offers its full-time employees a "comprehensive benefits package" that "is a good program."

Jean Callary, an assistant director at NIU's Career Planning and Placement Center, said the protest did not cause negative effects on the job fair. She said Cintas has employed many NIU graduates over the years.

Student Association Senator Ryan Billedo informed the senate that fliers from University Plaza addressed to students were publicly available at Stevenson Towers at Sunday's meeting.

Billedo said he came about the information from an unidentified person who is a member of the residence hall operations personnel.

"They keep them at the front desk instead of putting them in the mail boxes," Billedo said. Billedo said they were stacked in alphabetical order and were placed on the front desk of Stevenson Tower, apparently available for all to take.

Billedo added he had contacted the Post Master General and is looking at the possibility of a federal offense.

"Our intention for them was to be put in the mail boxes," said Michele Sotak, senior staff at University Plaza. "I don't think it is our fault."

Both Sotak and Dave Pasquale, a sales associate with University Plaza, said they did not know Stevenson's policy when it came to mail.

"They were out on the table for a period of time," said Anthony Williams, an RHOP supervisor at Stevenson. He confirmed the fliers were placed in a public location, where they could have been taken by anyone.

Williams said that once he found out about them, he had placed them in the appropriate mail boxes.

During the meeting, the Student Association Senate approved the suspension of its own rules in order to change the resolution to a bill.

During discussion of a resolution to amend the SA election policy, the point was raised that the senate cannot amend the bylaws with a resolution.

A bill is required to change the senate bylaws.

"The best thing to do ... is suspend the rules and parliamentary procedure," Senator Kevin Rumbaugh said.

Senators Andrew Nelms, R.J. Gravel and Jeff Meyer and Kevin O'Kelly, SA chief of staff, debated whether or not it was legal to suspend the rules.

"We've broken our own rules 30 times," Senator Andrew Nelms said in a raised voice to the assembled senators. "We are going about this entirely wrong. I move to send this to IAC [Internal Affairs Committee]."

The senate also moved a petition to call for the extension of parking hours in the Greek Row area to the Internal Affairs Committee.

"I believe we should be in full support of the bill," Senator Philip Stroud said.

Stroud's comment echoed the words of many other senators.

"I don't understand why parking ever was suspended," Meyer said.

The petition calls for the elimination of the current restriction of parking in Greek Row. Currently, parking is restricted from 2 to 7 a.m. This area includes Hillcrest Drive between Greenbrier Road and Normal Road, and Normal Road between Hillcrest Drive and Ridge Drive.

The senate failed to approve the petition and moved it to the Internal Affairs Committee for further review.

The senate also approved graduate law student Bob Morgan to the SA Supreme Court, and recognized March 20 as Meet the Senate night.

Meet the Senate will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. at Stevenson North's New Orleans Room.

Open forums were held the past few weeks to give candidates for the Vice Provost position a chance to be heard.

The candidates are Paul Bauer, director of the NIU School of Music; Earl Seaver, chair of the Department of Communicative Disorders; and George Bishop, professor of English and dean of faculty at D'Youville College in Buffalo, N.Y.

The forums, which were open to all faculty and students, were held on Feb. 14 and 18, and on Wednesday.

The candidates were narrowed down to three by the Search Committee for the Vice Provost.

According to the Office of the Provost Web site, the position description for the vice provost includes overseeing undergraduate curriculum, teacher certification and enrollment services.

Provost Ivan Legg said the search for the candidates involved a very detailed screening process by the Search Committee for the Vice Provost.

The search for the candidates was very broad and was advertised nationally in higher education journals and publications, he said.

Candidate Bauer said he heard about the position because of this reason.

The process involved an application letter explaining his interest in the position, his involvement in different academic activities and a curriculum vitae, which basically is really long resume, he said.

Bauer said he has worked with the people in his 13 years at NIU that the vice provost comes into contact with and he has enjoyed his experiences with them.

"I really look forward to working with the big picture issues on campus," he said.

Seaver and Bishop were not available for comment.

Legg said the vice provost position requires someone who has worked with undergrads, because the position involves this kind of interaction.

Heather Hardy, faculty chair of the search committee and chair of the department of English, also said the position involves undergraduate involvement.

"This is the position in the university that is most responsible for the undergraduate experience," she said.

Legg added that although he makes the final decision as to who gets the position, he does it with a lot of advice.

If Bauer doesn't get the position, he said he'll have no hard feelings.

"If it doesn't work out, I still get to be director of a great school of music," Bauer said. "So, I'll be happy either way."

Legg said he likes the candidate selection.

"I think we've got a good group of candidates," he said.

Huskie junior Jennifer Youngblood broke out of a four-game slump without a double-double to register 18 points and 11 rebounds Wednesday night at Central Michigan.

But it wasn't enough for the NIU women's basketball team, falling 70-62 for its third loss in four games and fourth in six tries.

Youngblood, known for her ability to do damage in the scoring and rebounding column was credited with her 27th career double-double.

"We did some good things inside, especially in the first half," NIU coach Carol Hammerle said. "Our perimeter didn't come through tonight, though."

A power forward, Youngblood had help in the post from freshman center Joi Scott (18 points), the only other Huskie in double figures.

Senior guard Kristan Knake fouled out with five points and seven turnovers for NIU (11-14, 7-7 MAC), which fell to eighth place in conference.

Breaking a three-game losing streak, the Chippewas got a large contribution from freshman forward Lindsay Mecoli, who dropped 17 points on 5-of-7 shooting from beyond the arc.

"Mecoli had several threes and that deflated us," Hammerle said.

Youngblood gave the Huskies their first lead of the night with 17:42 left in the game. She scored again on NIU's next possession, but went scoreless the rest of the way. NIU built the lead to 41-37 before CMU got 14 of the next 16 points to take the game in hand.

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."