NEIU Legal Battles Continue

In recent years, Northeastern Illinois University (NEIU) has been associated in a number of legal cases and two in particular were addressed during the most recent Board of Trustees meeting.  On Nov. 8th, the Golden Eagles room was full of attendees who lined the walls and were informed about the latest Legal Counsel and Board Committee reports. News of the groundbreaking ceremony of the new El Centro campus building was shared with the Board of Trustees (BoT) and the campus police were commended for their improvement concerning bike thefts. However, many of the faculty and students in attendance were there to speak about the legal cases of Dr. Loretta Capeheart and Dr. John Boyle.

NEIU to Offer Free HIV Tests

Northeastern Illinois University (NEIU) set a promising new precedent by offering health services for the “mind, body and spirit.”  This past Nov. 27, 2012 NEIU Health Services, in conjunction with Affinity Community Services, the Chicago Abortion Fund, the Chicago Alliance Against Sexual Exploitation (CAASE) and VIDA/SIDA organized a health fair in the Student Union. These organizations offered breakout sessions and discussions on a variety of topics; research as it pertains to LGBTQA community health issues; the health services available at NEIU, including the Plan B pill; reproductive justice in Chicago, including a showing of the documentary “Trust Black Women”; and ending human trafficking by raising awareness about the “End Demand Illinois Campaign.” As part of the recognition efforts of World AIDS Day 2012 & the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, VIDA/SIDA offered free rapid result HIV testing. The organization performed close to 50 anonymous and confidential HIV tests, and had trained STI counselors available for students to speak with about their concerns.

Letter To The Editor

Dear Independent:

You recently ran an article on the front page of your paper titled “WZRD 88.3 Back In Business”. We in the WZRD Collective object to this article on the following grounds: for one thing, it is wrong. WZRD is not back in business. What happened, as the article goes on to illuminate, is that Director of Student Leadership Development Veronica Rodriguez read a letter she wrote, addressed to Matt Specht, Acting Assistant Vice President of Student Involvement, in a public forum. She then passed out copies of this letter to some of the attending members of WZRD and to reporters for the Independent. 

CPS Extension: Fueled by Insincere Intentions

Chicago Public Schools (CPS) seeks an extension for releasing the list of intended school closings, for possibly insincere reasons.  Claiming an extension is necessary so that community voices may be heard and considered, CPS’s claim is flawed. The decision to close a school takes research and reasoning; the decision is not a sudden one. If schools were being considered for closure, the opinions of the community could have been taken into consideration long ago. It is possible that a request for an extension is really only an excuse for more time. The voices of the community will not be pleasant ones. More students will be forced into already cramped schools; student-teacher ratio will continue towards a number that is hazardous towards the academic health of students. Finances, rather than the students, are again the priority.

Review of “Unveiled”

 “Do you know what it is like to be treated like you’re not human? I do.” With that statement, Rohina Malik got to the heart of the message in her play, “Unveiled.” The one-woman play was written by Malik and performed by her on Nov. 28 in Northeastern Illinois University’s (NEIU) Auditorium Theatre.

A full contingent of theatergoers were in attendance and it was a diverse crowd of people. The venue itself was not the most ideal, however. The sound was a bit muddied, and the hall had a high-school cafeteria-like feel, with tiled floor and concrete walls. NEIU has much better venues for plays on its campus, and I was struck by the question of why they were not used in this instance.

Voulez vous parler avec moi?

The French Studies major offered at NEIU is a truly interdisciplinary major in the College of Arts and Sciences that allows students to take up to three courses in another discipline with prior approval.  Linguistics, French Revolution and European History are some courses that may be allowed as part of the French Studies program.  Dr. Mary McGoey, who is an NEIU French instructor, believes that an interdisciplinary degree in French Studies is apt to be more attractive to future employers than a traditional French degree emphasizing literary studies only.