For a couple years now, NIU has been weathering a terrible storm of financial calamity. First, state support for the university (indeed, for all institutions of higher education) has been eroding, slowly but surely. Couple this with the fact that the...
The Northern Star Editorial Board has decided to endorse Alexi Giannoulias for U.S. Senate. This decision comes at an important time in American history, as the country struggles to climb out of a deep economic depression and overcome fierce bipartisanship...
It's our favorite time: fall on an even-numbered year.The colorful leaves are falling, the air is just cool enough to be comfortable and political candidates are hammering each other in their TV ads.In about a month, the polls will open and make their...
Democracy 101 is coming to campus this Tuesday and Wednesday with the Student Association's Senate elections.As an NIU student, you will have the opportunity to choose which of your peers will represent you, your interests and your money. But if history...
This Saturday marked the ninth anniversary of the 9/11 attacks, but honestly, it seemed like any other day. We're not sure if it was because it was the Huskies' first home football game, or the fact that the day itself had perfect weather, but it just...
On Wednesday, we published our expectations for NIU President John Peters' State of the University address.We said we would like to see Peters talk about: how NIU will tackle the budget situation; how to recruit and retain students; and the new buildings...
Ignorance is bliss. Friday marks Reading Day - to overstressed students, the equivalent of every religious holiday, Super Bowl, World Series and Nicholas Cage movie release. This long-awaited day, set aside by NIU to provide students the invaluable opportunity...
Four years after President Bush claimed "Mission Accomplished," the mission in Iraq is far from accomplishment. U.S. troops continue to die in Iraq, even after the president's declared end of "major combat operations." Undeterred, Bush vetoed on Tuesday...
Newly elected 3rd Ward Alderman Victor Wogen's role in the recent mailer controversy is not entirely clear. What has become clear, however, is that a certain level of deception and loose ethical standards were employed by the then-candidate and current...
There are 300 journalism majors in the Department of Communication. The number of students declaring journalism as their major is increasing, but unfortunately, the amount of faculty has not. The student-to-teacher ratio within the journalism program...
If this is the first copy of the Northern Star you have ever picked up, the staff would like to extend a hearty welcome and congratulations. Simply by reading the Star everyday, you are contributing to the history of this newspaper and to college media across the country.
Students are continually entering higher education without any prior habit of consuming news media. This was a trend the Star staff decided to try and break last winter when it completely redesigned its paper and changed many of its philosophies regarding how and why we present news.
The results were encouraging: we received much feedback, some positive and some negative. This criticism was what the staff took into consideration over this past summer when it again changed the look of the paper.
Among the changes readers can expect to see include a more useful front page that includes Widgets, which are small pieces of information not found anywhere else in the paper. Also look for our Sports section returning to the back page later this week.
Visitors to our Web site and listeners of our radio station, NS*Radio, also will begin to experience enhanced Web and radio-exclusive content as we continue to utilize alternative forms of media to best convey information to NIU students.
The spirit of innovation has continued to grip the Northern Star staff throughout the spring and summer months and we still remain committed to our goal of being NIU and DeKalb's primary source of news, regardless of whether we accomplish that in print or online.
Anyone at Sunday evening's Student Association Senate meeting caught a glimpse of the comical - and quite disturbing - way some senators seem to view themselves. Even if you weren't at the meeting, Senator Brittney Mottley was quoted in Monday's Northern...
