My plan for the semester is to include columns that relate to students and discuss topics that affect their day to day lives. Re-occurring topics like life in residence halls, academic policies and student involvement are issues I will have columnists...
Looking at the Star’s home page this morning one would think that the only news worth covering in DeKalb is of home invasions, shootings and NIU football. Has the Star become the Chicago Tribune? Why isn’t the Star covering the most important issues...
Pass: DeKalb officer helps motorist with tireA DeKalb police officer recently went out of his way to help a stranger with a flat tire and his good deed did not go unnoticed.The officer did not have to change the motorist’s tire or drive them to go get...
While many participate in the events celebrating Martin Luther King Jr. Day, NIU could do more to ensure students fully understand the meaning of this national celebration.Before college, Martin Luther King Jr. Day was talked about every year in school;...
As a second-generation NIU alumnus, I was disappointed to recently learn that NIU had acquiesced to a request by the Freedom from Religion Foundation to remove copies of the Bible from the rooms of the Holmes Student Center Hotel.Allowing a copy of the...
As the headline so gracefully puts it, 2015 has been full of surprises for me.My first big surprise was getting hired as the Northern Star’s managing editor in January, a high point for a student who barely graduated high school. My second, however,...
Book buybacks are a hassle at the end of each semester, which is one reason teachers should require more books with e-book options.It is finals week and students are walking into bookstores to return heavy textbooks they rented for the semester, or trying...
Angela PaganProcrastination is one of my biggest struggles when it comes to schoolwork. Once I am in the zone I can accomplish just about anything, but it takes so long for me to get in the zone that I tend to rush through things that need to be worked...
Pass:NIU’s Division of Information Technology introduced Lynda.com, an online training service that students and faculty can use to complement their classroom experience, on Nov. 26.The service offers more than 3,500 courses in 12 different subjects...
Pass:The Founders Memorial Library is running a new and beautiful can drive with a twist. Food for Fines runs now until Dec. 18. Students who have outstanding library fines can lower or even eliminate their balance by donating canned goods. Each canned...
Northern Star Editorial BoardThe most important word that should be on the minds of legislators and Gov. Bruce Rauner when they meet Tuesday is compromise.Their passive-aggressive, five-month silence over a workable state budget has cost NIU nearly $10...
Some students wish Thanksgiving break were longer, but NIU has many solid reasons why more days off in the fall have not been added and should not be added to its academic calendar.Establishing a fall break would create many problems, even though I have...
