If Republican candidate hopeful Judy Barr Topinka plans to set her eyes on Illinois’ top seat as governor, hypocrisy isn’t a good quality to have. Topinka and her staff have repeatedly blasted Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich for taking campaign contributions...

It seems like every year, student fees go up right along with faculty salaries. And at the same time, student benefits suffer. Fewer summer classes are being offered and academic departments lack the paper to print syllabi and other materials. At least...

With the controversy of the Terri Schiavo case, the issue of whether the state can assume guardianship in an end-of-life decision is an alarming one. Schiavo, the 41-year-old, brain-damaged woman from Florida who has spent the last 15 years in a vegetative...

After Wednesday’s debate, Mayor Greg Sparrow has shown he is more connected and in tune with the wants and needs of students. The Northern Star believes he should continue serving as mayor of DeKalb. Sparrow has been mayor for 20 years. That alone is...

Student Association executive elections are less than a week away and the student body’s decision between two tickets is as difficult as it has been any year before. There is one less ticket on the ballot this year but each of the candidates seems more...

Drilling for oil in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is now close to reality, thanks to underhanded tactics on the Senate floor which flouted the representation of about half of America. This is a tragedy of epic proportions because drilling...

It’s not the federal government’s job to intervene in the Terri Schiavo case. Schiavo, a severely brain-damaged woman in Florida, has been at the center of a legal and moral controversy since 1990, when she collapsed from a chemical imbalance that...

If you’re one of many college students embarking on a "wild and crazy" Spring Break next week, keep in mind that what happens on your extreme vacation doesn’t necessarily end up staying on your extreme vacation. With that in mind, we, like your loved...

The Illinois General Assembly must prohibit auto insurance companies from putting the squeeze on vehicle owners when they are most vulnerable. State Rep. Thomas Holbrook (D-Belleville) proposed a bill that would forbid auto insurance companies to pressure...

It’s almost funny. University officials said they did not cancel summer commencement because of the cost. That’s puzzling, because these days, nothing really gets cut or canceled unless there’s no money for it. Now, it has become apparent the Convocation...

NIU should use more effective means of dealing with alcohol violations. University Police currently are employing more alcohol education programs and fewer alcohol-related arrests, according to a March 2 article in the Northern Star. Doing this, of course,...

NIU administrators’ decision on Feb. 15 to merge August and December graduations comes as a slap in the face to many graduating seniors. For years they struggled through burdensome essay tests, survived endless presentations and pulled seemingly countless...