It’s a slap in the face when NIU wants donations from students when it hasn’t had the decency to listen to those same students about summer commencement. That’s just what the school has been doing as the NIU Foundation set a Senior Challenge goal...

NIU should try harder to get donations for its academic departments and residence halls. The fundraising for the new athletic training facility proves big things can be accomplished if adequate effort is put forth. If campus departments applied this principle...

Gov. Rod Blagojevich should be commended for issuing an emergency order concerning emergency contraception, one that has sparked a lawsuit against the governor’s office by the American Center for Law and Justice. Blagojevich issued an emergency rule...

Who wakes up in the morning and thinks to themselves, "What kind of ploy can I pull on a restaurant today?" It seems Anna Ayala did just that on March 22, according to the police who arrested her outside of her Las Vegas home last week. She’s been charged...

As the moral leader of more than a billion people, the newly installed Pope Benedict XVI faces many challenges. The former German cardinal, Joseph Ratzinger, must deal with threats from other religions, a declining base of priests, the sexual abuse scandal...

It’s a good thing NIU was able to scrape up funds for the Polish program, because foreign language is one of the last things that should be cut from a university’s curriculum. NIU is a very diverse school. International students represent more than...

If you’re like many, alcohol has affected your life one way or another. Directly or indirectly, drinking obviously can cause more harm than good. Statistics show Americans are becoming lax in terms of their attitudes against driving drunk. In an article...

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns admits few Americans follow the Food Guide Pyramid’s recommendations. Yet, according to the Wall Street Journal, the U.S. Department of Agriculture paid $1.6 million to Porter Novelli, an international marketing-based...

Two chimpanzees prove that some animals can express frustration in the most human of ways. Thirteen-year-old Feili, a chimpanzee at Zhengzhou Zoo in China, reportedly began smoking in response to her frustration after her partner, who is 28 years her...

In the words of the taxman, as sung by the Beatles, "If you drive a car, I’ll tax the street/ If you drive to city, I’ll tax your seat/ If you get too cold, I’ll tax the heat/ If you take a walk, I’ll tax your feet." Last Friday, Americans scrambled...

It never ends with Campus Parking Services. Fines for parking tickets skyrocketed in the fall. Parking services removed 170 meter spaces to make room for "general permit parking," meaning it made room to fit $400-$500 reserved spots. Not only did fines...

Decades after the human rights movement of the 1960s, Malcolm X’s daughter Ilyasah Shabazz said blacks are faced with a new enemy: not knowing their heritage. "To all of you who think Africa is a country, you need Jesus," were some of Shabazz’s closing...