NIU's ninth annual Thanksgiving Classic 15K and 5K walk/runs brought in a record-breaking crowd of participants, classic organizer and founder Alisha Cosky said.

Both 5K (3.1 miles) and 15K (9.3 miles) began north of NIU's Recreation Center on Lincoln Highway, Cosky said. She said the 15K ran north to Ridge Drive and Nelson Road, and the 5K ran through the residence hall area.

Cosky said 316 participants ran in the 5K walk/run while 146 participated in the 15K run.

Last year only about 400 participated in the event.

Cosky said results of the race would not be available for a "few days." One team participated in the co-ed team competition, which was open only to NIU students carrying six or more credit hours, said Lisa Miller, who helped with the classic.

Four stations, which offered different fitness profile testing, were set up before the events, Cosky said.

unners were grouped in eight age divisions for both men and women, including categories for those 55 and older. Special divisions for those 12 and younger were set up for the 5K race.

All participants received long-sleeved T-shirts and were eligible for running merchandise and gift certificates raffled at the rec center after both races were completed.

Cosky said the classic is not a fund raiser but an opportunity to share in a fitness experience. She said registration fees just break even with the costs of running the event, including costs of T-shirts, refreshments and entry forms.

Cosky said she was happy with the results of this year's classic. "A wonderful time was had by all," she said.

This is in response to the repeated negative articles Mike Solley has written about the "poor respect" of NIU.

Solley's articles were poorly written and his opinions weakly defended. We will refer to his most recent article. According to Solley, the segregaton in our school is due to the groups on campus being located "at least 1 1/2 miles apart from each other." We live in Suburban Apartments, located two blocks from Greek Row. Such highly exaggerated examples are a big turn-off.

Solley's next argument was the students' unmet expectations of parties. Solley seemingly deducted since NIU is no like Hollywood, it is a boring school. If Solley thinks any parties, at any school, are equal to the produced stories on TV, he has a problem with deciphering between reality and drama. We think most of us have figured out by now that movies and TV programs are far from reality. Perhaps it is Solley's unquenched expectations of a "good" party that makes his life at NIU boring. Solley seems to dwell on the fact that many students go home on weekends, making campus life less exciting. Did it ever occur to him that many students attend NIU simply because it is close to home where they would prefer to spend their weekends? Solley seems to think he needs to be surrounded by 26,000 people to have a good time. Personal experience has told us otherwise. We, among many others, have a great time every weekend, suitcase school or not.

But perhaps Solley has not yet been exposed to how to enjoy college life. We have all heard that college is what you make of it. Fun does not happen or come to people. Those who wait for it will end up like Solley. You have to make parties fun, go out of your way to meet people and have an open mind to spontaneity. If you expect "Animal House" every Friday night, you're not going to enjoy college. Even if the music at parties isn't your taste or the beer isn't imported, you still have fun because you're with your friends.

Solley suggest that to cure our problem of boringness, we should begin with socialization between groups on campus. We see a lot of interaction. Solley says that students are segregated geographically and socially. Our only speculation is the Solley cannot observe socialization if he doesn't participate in it.

We were trying to figure out what Solley's intent was in columns that degrade ourselves and our school. Beside the fact that his theories are untrue, we do not see the function of his columns. Instead of using his job as a tool to better his school, he wastes his editorial space on redundant topics. We could see nothing positive that could come from his articles. Unfortunately, his opinions that are unprofessionally presented have to be exposed to students again and again.

Tracey Gee, social services

Chris Kreisheimer, biochemistry

uda Scheidelman, nursing