NIU Today

NIU employees are urged to join the fight against vascular disease and protect their health by learning their risk of suffering strokes. Sponsored by the NIU Employee Assistance Program, staff from Life Line Screening will provide that service from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 28, in the Capitol Room of the Holmes Student...

The FIT Program, part of the Department of Kinesiology and Physical Education, is an exercise program for NIU employees, family members, retirees and residents of the surrounding community. The experienced staff can help participants begin the new year with scientifically based exercise programs. Free one-week trials of the FIT program are available anytime. Membership in...

Aurora’s Farmers Market is celebrating 100 years of providing fresh, locally grown produce, and NIU nutrition students are joining in the festivities. Events begin at 7:30 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 11, when the market opens at 350 N. River St. at Wilder Promenade. The Gipsy Trio will play circa-1912 jazz at 9:30 a.m. Mayor Tom Weisner will...

A breakthrough study outlining the effects of psychological stress on the recovery of muscular function after strenuous exercise was recently published in the prestigious Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise. The results might explain why stressed populations are less fit and develop adaptations more slowly than non-stressed populations. Responsible for the article? Matthew Stults-Kolehmainen,...

One year ago, NIU student Jeffrey Lamble found himself exploring the lives of open landfill scavengers in Central America. An estimated 4,000 “waste pickers” in Guatemala City turn small profits by rifling through the 40 acres of trash for reusable items that they can pocket and sometimes sell. This includes food. Unfortunately, their labors expose...

Eight leaders of state government and corporate health care agree that “true reform” of health care delivery is not only likely but coming, thanks to advances in technology and electronic medical records. That hopeful message closed a June 13 panel discussion moderated by NIU Board of Trustees Chair Cherilyn Murer. “I found it very gratifying...

A nurse, public health educator, administrator and trailblazer has been named chair of NIU’s School of Nursing & Health Studies. Jan Strom, who has been lauded for having an extensive and well-rounded teaching, research and partnership-building community health background, will replace retiring chair Brigid Lusk. Strom begins July 1. “Her background is very impressive. Jan...

Health care has been identified as one of the fastest growing fields in the job market. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, health care and social assistance careers have the largest projected wage and salary employment growth for the next 10 years. Not everyone knows what health career paths are available or how more...

Roger L. Holloway has been named CEO and president of the Illinois Rural HealthNet following a reorganization designed to broaden the scope and reach of the network. IRHN board chairman John L. Lewis made the announcement Wednesday, June 6. The IRHN is a high-speed, fiber-optic network that links rural Illinois hospitals and clinics with tertiary...

NIU’s College of Health and Human Sciences announces the 2012 winners of the Dean’s Faculty Awards and Dean’s Student Awards. Dean’s Faculty Awards The Lankford Award for Excellence in Teaching is given each year to a full-time, tenured or tenure-tracked faculty member within the College of Health and Human Sciences with at least three years...

NIU counseling faculty Charlie E. Myers and Toni R. Tollerud, along with department chair Barbara Johnson, have launched the NIU Say It Out Loud Mental Health website. Funded by a “Say It Out Loud” grant from the Illinois Children’s Mental Health Partnership, the website is meant to provide reliable information to NIU and the surrounding...

For a second summer, students from NIU’s School of Family, Consumer and Nutrition Sciences will be cooking at Aurora’s Farmers Market and showing customers the simplicity of eating healthy. The students, enrolled in the College of Health and Human Sciences, will feature fruits and vegetables from produce being sold by the market vendors. They then...