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Northern Star

Northern Illinois University’s student media since 1899

 

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The Student News Site of Northern Illinois University

Northern Star

The Student News Site of Northern Illinois University

Northern Star

Illinois still concerned with drought

By Tim Scordato | February 15, 2006

Low precipitation continues to raise agricultural concerns, but some hope the drought will end as spring approaches. Northern Illinois is still labeled as severely dry by the U.S. Drought Monitor, despite precipitation surpluses at the end of January....

Area employment rate changes rank as some of worst in state

By Blaise Sewell | February 15, 2006

Employment decreases in the Sycamore and DeKalb area are one of the lowest in the state despite record-low national unemployment rates, according to a recent Manpower survey. Early this month, the Labor Department announced the nation's unemployment rate...

Mr. Right or Mr. Tonight

By Blaise Sewell | February 14, 2006

Editor's Note: A Northern Star reporter with a psychology background went bar-hopping to observe how people attract each other in a social setting. Armed with a note pad and pen, he took notes as the night went on and the drinks flowed liberally. Skimpy...

Non-smoker’s world

By Mike Swiontek | February 14, 2006

An agreement was reached at the DeKalb City Council meeting Monday night that will likely ban smoking in all public places in DeKalb beginning Sept. 1, 2007. Pending a Feb. 27 vote, smoking will be banned starting Sept. 1, 2006 in all public places except...

Republicans seek support

By Jonathan Benish | February 13, 2006

During the Annual Lincoln Day Dinner Saturday, Speaker of the House J. Dennis Hastert (R-14), said Lincoln did extraordinary things to keep the United States safe and whole, as President George W. Bush does currently. The dinner took place at Southpoint...

More Than Cartoons

By Lydia Roy | February 13, 2006

As a newspaper, it is our responsibility to report and react to events around us. Sometimes those events are positive, often times they are not. Many times media outlets are forced to report on the darker sides of human nature, and journalists must curb personal beliefs for the sake of reporting on the facts surrounding them.

This is the case regarding a Danish newspaper's ignorant cartoon depiction of the prophet Muhammad.

The last few weeks have witnessed a violent outcry against the paper's decision to generate and run these satirical cartoons of the religious figure.

And though the Northern Star finds the creation of these cartoons to be tasteless and inappropriate, we also feel it is our responsibility to respond to the news. This was the basis for our choice to run these images. Many American newspapers have yet to run these images, and we feel it is unfair to send our readers on a chase through Google to find the cause of such a newsworthy event.

We understand these are offensive. However, these were not generated by a Star cartoonist. If they were, we would not run such images because we are not in the practice of creating controversy for the sake of creating controversy. Yet, the article today stems directly from the fallout to these cartoons. We felt it was not right to dedicate such a large space of news without providing the very images which created the story.

With this reasoning understood, please choose for yourself if you find these cartoons offensive. However, we ask that you consider the newsworthiness of them when questioning why they appear in our pages today.

Derek Wright, Editor in Chief

Students reflect on riots with mixed thoughts

By Justin Gallagher | February 13, 2006

So the world has reacted. How about NIU? Reaction was hard to come by. About half of the people spoken to didn't know about the conflict. Some had never heard of it, despite its domination of the broadcast airwaves these past weeks. As can be expected,...

Internet keeps crowds coming to libraries

By Tim Scordato | February 10, 2006

Libraries have evolved to face the 21st century in a new light thanks to the help of the Internet and new media. Among this new breed of libraries is the DeKalb Public Library, 309 Oak St. Dee Coover, Interim Director of the library, has worked at the...

Flu strain too tough for popular meds

By Blaise Sewell | February 10, 2006

This year's flu strain surprised health officials when two of the world's most common antiviral drugs showed no effect on the most recent strain. On Jan. 14, Julie Gerberding, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, held a news conference...

Library to expand CD/DVD stock

By Tim Scordato | February 10, 2006

The DeKalb Public Library has received a $4,000 Weed and Feed for Education Grant to help circulate their nonfiction audio/video materials. Pat McGuckin, manager of communications at the Illinois State Library, said the grant is called Weed and Feed because...

Bill would give pharmacists a choice

By Lydia Roy | February 9, 2006

In Illinois, emergency birth control is available to anyone who needs it at any pharmacy in the state. This availability, however, may soon change. Lawmakers are working toward passing a bill that would allow pharmacists to refuse to fill prescriptions...

Congress makes horse slaughter more costly

By Andrew Schlesser | February 9, 2006

Congress' recent decision to have horse slaughter houses pay for meat inspection costs is a small victory for horse lovers, but the battle is not about money. "We thought this bill would stop horse slaughtering for one year and give us time to work on...