Expected Better

"Rehearsing My Choir" - Fiery Furnaces

"Odditorium and Warlords of Mars" - Dandy Warhols

"Frances the Mute" - The Mars Volta

"Birds Make Good Neighbors" - The Rosebuds

"Commit This To Memory" - Motion City Soundtrack

1

"Making Beds In A Burning House" - Troubled Hubble

A perfect blend of indie-pop sensibility and youthful naivety on a road-weary record of love, life, bees, loss and all things molecular. Key Track: "14,000 Things To Be Happy About"

2

"Twin Cinema" - New Pornographers

By realizing less Neko Case means better music, Carl Newman and his Canadian cohorts put together an intentionally complex, yet occasionally simple album of fuzzy, distorted guitar pop. Key Track: "Sing Me Spanish Techno"

3

"LCD Soundsystem" - LCD Soundsystem

White guys aren’t supposed to dance, but they still can take after James Murphy, who made the year’s best club record. Key Track: "Disco Infiltrator"

4

"I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning" - BrightEyes

Conor Oberst captures the uncertain future with the familiarity of simple acoustics, all the while seeming to be neither a throwback or overly progressive. Key Track: "We Are Nowhere And It’s Now"

5

"The Sunlandic Twins" - Of Montreal

Kevin Barnes’ Prince-like ability to layer dozens of instruments over basic, pop structures creates one of the most engaging and deceivingly complicated albums of the year. Key Track: "Forecast Fascist Future"

6

"The Hate Yourself Change" - Neva Dinova

If misery loves company, this record will never be alone. A crippling ode to self-loathing and depression cast upon a backdrop of beautifully tuneful ambiance. Key Track: "Yellow Datsun"

7

"Road To Rouen" - Supergrass

The Brit-pop veteran’s best album since the band’s debut combines mellow background tracks with all-out guitar chops and the smarminess expected from the genre. Key Track: "Road To Rouen"

8

"Broken Social Scene" - Broken Social Scene

The 15-member band’s most dynamic and lush release uses precise instrumentation to build vast, optimistic soundscapes. Key Track: "7/4 (Shoreline)"

9

"Late Registration" - Kanye West

The producer turned poster-child for Chicago’s blossoming hip-hop scene, the ever-eager West somehow tops his debut with an album both more ambitious and self-aware. Key Track: "Touch The Sky"

10

"Apologies to the Queen Mary" - Wolf Parade

Taking cues from early Modest Mouse, as well as calling on Issac Brock as producer, the quartet wears its influences on its quirky, thrift-store sleeve. Key Track: "Grounds For Divorce"

In the wake of Hurricane Katrina and the damage to the Gulf of Mexico, energy prices are estimated to increase about 70 percent this winter.

NIU Housing and Dining budgeted $6.5 million to all utility costs, including heating plant costs, within the residence halls for the fiscal year, said Brien Martin, associate director of business affairs for student life.

If a 70 percent increase does occur, an additional $4.55 million would be needed for utilities.

Since it would have been impossible to predict Hurricane Katrina when the budget was prepared in November and December of last year, this increase was not taken into consideration.

Students don’t need to worry how Housing and Dining will make up for any losses. It is not the policy of Housing and Dining, or the university, to increase room and board rates to make up for unanticipated costs from the previous year, Martin said.

"Housing and Dining will do everything they can to adjust its overall budget during the current year to help pay for any increases in which they did not budget," Martin said. "Housing and Dining makes do with less in some areas, but they are committed to maintaining present levels of service wherever practical."

The increase in energy costs does not apply to only residence halls. Students living off campus also may see an increase in their bills this winter.

Some students are unaware such an increase was predicted.

"I guess I really hadn’t thought about ways to conserve energy, but I didn’t expect such a high increase either," junior English major Dan Hahn said.

Some students already are practicing ways to save on energy costs.

"Within my house, I have all the computers set to automatically shut down for the night. It actually saves a lot," said Kevin Levy, a freshman communication studies major.

There are ways for students to reduce energy usage.

"Turn lights, computers, stereos and other electronics off when not in use. Leave temperature settings at an ‘even’ level and adjust clothing worn if a room is too warm or too cold," Martin said. "Also, keep windows closed so that the effort of heating your living space isn’t simply flowing outside the building."

Students in the residence halls have ways to help cut back costs as well.

"I live in the residence halls so heat doesn’t really affect me, but as far as electric goes, I’m going to turn off lights, televisions and other things when I’m not in my room," junior history major Anthony Elling said.