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Northern Star

Northern Illinois University’s student news organization since 1899

 

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The Student News Site of Northern Illinois University

Northern Star

The Student News Site of Northern Illinois University

Northern Star

Editor in chief: time at Star will stay with me forever

By Kelly Bauer | May 3, 2015

If I’d had the money to attend Mizzou, I would have. That would have been an incalculable mistake.When I first came to NIU, I saw my enrollment as a failure. I was accepted into Mizzou and was automatically admitted to the school’s journalism program,...

Senior Novella Blackmon creates a poster for a rally held Tuesday in the Martin Luther King Jr. Commons. Students at the rally called for unity and an end to inequality and police brutality. “The purpose of this rally is to awaken the ones who are sleep and bring light to darkness,” Blackmon said.

Black students rally for safety, equality

By Kelly Bauer & Andre Phillips | April 30, 2015

Stephen Samuels, graduate adult and higher education student, speaks during a Tuesday rally in the Martin Luther King Jr. Commons. Samuels encouraged students to be safe in light of the death of Freddie Gray in Baltimore.

Students protest death of Freddie Gray, treatment of black community

By Kelly Bauer | April 29, 2015

Students called for unity in the black community and for an end to inequality at a Tuesday rally.The rally was organized by Stephen Samuels, graduate adult and higher education student, to spread awareness of the death of Freddie Gray in Baltimore. Gray,...

Then-senior psychology major Brooke Harris defends herself from her opponent, an NIU campus police officer in full protective gear, in April 2014 during the Rape Aggression Defense program. The goal of the class is to educate women in case of an attack, said Lesley Rigg, interim vice president for Research and Graduate Studies.

NIU seeks reform, training to prevent sexual assault

By Kelly Bauer | April 16, 2015

NIU is changing its training and policies in an effort to improve how it prevents sexual assault and to better support survivors.NIU has already mandated online training for sexual assault awareness for incoming freshmen and transfer students. By May,...

Ron Walters, who provided consulting services to NIU President Doug Baker, discusses the Master Plan Thesis during a Feb. 9, 2014, Student Association Senate meeting. A Northern Star analysis found Walters was paid about $460,000 during 18 months of work at NIU and he was improperly reimbursed about $32,000 for travel expenses.

NIU will ask Walters to repay $32K that was improperly reimbursed for travel

By Kelly Bauer | April 2, 2015

Former NIU employee Ron Walters will be asked to repay the $32,000 a state audit found he was improperly reimbursed for travel by the university.Alan Phillips, vice president of Administration and Finance, told University Council on Wednesday the reimbursement...

Ron Walters, who provided consulting services to NIU President Doug Baker, discusses the Master Plan Thesis during a Feb. 9, 2014, Student Association Senate meeting. A Northern Star analysis found Walters was paid about $460,000 during 18 months of work at NIU and he was improperly reimbursed about $32,000 for travel expenses.

Consultant Ron Walters paid $460K in 18 months, even without scheduled work

By Kelly Bauer | March 30, 2015

Ron Walters, who provided consulting services to NIU President Doug Baker until Dec. 31, was paid more than $460,000 during 18 and a half months, even when records indicate he didn’t have scheduled work.Walters’ salary varied throughout his time at...

Northern Star takes No. 2 for 3rd time in a row at state conference

By Northern Star staff | February 23, 2015

The Northern Star received second place for general excellence among daily college newspapers for the third year in a row at an Illinois College Press Association conference over the weekend.The Daily Illini of U of I took first place in the general excellence...

Gov. Bruce Rauner delivers his budget proposal to a joint session of the General Assembly in the House chambers Wednesday in Springfield. Rauner’s proposal calls for a $387 million cut to higher education funding, which would amount to a $29.3 million cut in funding to NIU.

NIU officials worried Rauner’s proposed $29.3M funding cut would mean layoffs

By Kelly Bauer | February 19, 2015

Gov. Bruce Rauner’s budget calls for state allocation to NIU to be cut by $29.3 million.NIU was allocated about $93 million for Fiscal Year 2015, but that would be cut to about $64 million under Rauner’s proposal. The $93 million represented about...

Kaitlyn King (left) and Joe Palmer, recipients of the 2014 Forward, Together Forward Scholarship, lay flowers by Gayle Dubowski’s memorial stone at a ceremony Saturday. The ceremony honored those lost when gunman Steven Kazmierczak killed five students before killing himself on Feb. 14, 2008, in Cole Hall. The scholarship is given to students who best embody the qualities of the shooting victims.

Community honors Feb. 14, 2008, victims with moment of silence

By Kelly Bauer | February 16, 2015

The families of the Feb. 14, 2008, shooting victims were accompanied by friends and community members at a quiet remembrance ceremony Saturday.At 3:06 p.m., they listened as NIU’s bell chimed five times. They looked at each name — Gayle Dubowski,...

Live tweet: NIU town hall meetings on prioritization, enrollment

By Northern Star staff | January 29, 2015

Follow @BauerJournalism and @NevarezJackie for tweets from today's town hall meetings. // [View the story "Live tweet: NIU town hall meetings on prioritization, enrollment" on Storify]

Anthropology professor Mitch Irwin (left) and biology professor Karen Samonds perform a health check on a lemur during a July research project in Madagascar. They lead summer a NIU study abroad program on the island. “Hands-on experience in the field is critical as a complement to traditional instruction for ensuring student career success,” Irwin said.NIU President Doug Baker and Provost Lisa Freeman will explain program prioritization and how it will affect university programs like those pictured and employees at town hall meetings today.

Program prioritization: All programs to face NIU’s reviews

By Kelly Bauer | January 29, 2015

Provost Lisa Freeman said there will be “no sacred cows” as NIU evaluates whether programs will be cut, merged, further funded or left unchanged in coming months.Every program, from football to forensics, will face evaluation based on university priorities,...