NIU Today

During spring break this year, a group of NIU students in the Student Support Services program visited the nation’s capitol. They traveled with other students representing TRiO Programs throughout the state. TRiO Programs are federally funded initiatives aimed at helping students who are first-generation, low-income and/or learning or physically disabled. The students took part in...

Six students majoring in Community Leadership and Civic Engagement (CLCE) at Northern Illinois University spent spring break in the nation’s capital learning more about advocacy, nonprofit organizations and the political process. “The program was designed to provide students with real-world, practical experiences that reinforce what they learn in the classroom,” said Ben Bingle, program coordinator...

Forget white sands for the upcoming spring break. A group of NIU students is headed to the White House. Sixteen political science students, accompanied by faculty members, will visit Washington, D.C., from Sunday, March 11,, through Wednesday, March 14. While there, students will tour the White House, the Capitol and the Supreme Court and meet...

In Springfield … This will be a very busy week in Springfield. Gov. Pat Quinn will give his Fiscal Year 2013 Budget Message at noon Wednesday, Feb. 22. You will recall that in his Feb. 1 State of the State message, he talked about his desire to eliminate a tax on natural cost (at an...

Amy Widman, an assistant professor in the NIU College of Law, testified Feb. 2 before the United States House of Representatives Judiciary Committee – Subcommittee on the Constitution in Washington, D.C. Widman was asked to testify in support of her recently published article, “State Attorneys General’s Use of Concurrent Public Enforcement Authority in Federal Consumer...

NIU students who hunger for adventure and accomplishment on an Alternative Spring Break next month have four choices to satisfy their appetites. They can travel to Washington, D.C., and help the hungry or homeless or trek to Newark, N.J., and work with youths in the local Boys and Girls Club. For those service-minded students who...

Happy New Year, and welcome back to campus. This should prove to be a very interesting year at both the state and federal levels. In Washington, D.C. … Congress has been on holiday recess since mid-December, returning to session this week. Congress did approve the remaining FY2012 appropriations bills Dec. 15, 2011, which comply with the...

NIU’s MAC champion Huskie football team continues to win – only now it’s off the field. The Huskies are winning kudos from Capitol Hill. Northern Illinois now will close out its record-setting 2011 season Sunday, Jan. 8, versus Arkansas State, champions of the Sun Belt Conference, at the GoDaddy.com Bowl in Mobile, Ala. For more...

In Washington, D.C. … As expected, Congress last week approved the first “minibus” Fiscal Year 2012 appropriations, which included funding for Agriculture, Commerce-Justice-Science and Transportation-HUD. It also included an extension of the Continuing Resolution so that the government can operate until Friday, Dec. 16. Of special interest to NIU is the increase in the National Science...

NIU representatives traveled this week to Washington, D.C., where they made a strong case for the importance of federal funding for research universities and national laboratories. “We made a lot of face-to-face contacts with our congressmen and their staffs and were able to drive home the point of how vital federal funding for research is...

NIU chemistry professor Timothy Hagen will talk about the importance of federal funding for research universities and economic development during a luncheon panel discussion Tuesday in front of an audience of Washington, D.C., movers and shakers. The luncheon at the U.S. Capitol Visitor Center is part of a full day of events planned for Illinois...

The NIU College Republicans invite students and the public to its November general meeting, scheduled for 7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 9, in the Stevenson North Fishbowl Room. Congressman Joe Walsh, a Republican from McHenry who represents the 8th District of Illinois, will speak at the event. Because of redistricting, Walsh faces a primary election run...