Archive for February, 2008
February 27th, 2008
An open letter to Gov. Rod Blagojevich
Dear Rod,
It’s great that you’re showing so much interest in the future of Cole Hall. While NIU had planned to leave the building alone for a couple months, let the stigma of the Feb. 14 events settle and then possibly reopen it in the fall for classes, you just came in and offered a - in your mind - better solution before the halls could even get cold.
You threw $40 million at NIU president John Peters and said, “Tear down that sucker and build a new one.”
Um, thanks? That’s exactly what we need? That’ll make us forget about the six lives lost and the 17 others that were wounded?
No, not at all. We all know the word “Columbine” is no longer synonymous with a flower, but instead a high school in Littleton, CO., where two teens killed 13 people. VA Tech is no longer a small college in Blacksburg, VA. It’s now a place where a gunman killed 32 people before taking his own life.
And sadly, we have to add Northern Illinois University to that list.
A college town that sits along I-88, whose city symbol is a piece of corn and whose claim to fame is - depending on who you talk to - the birth or barbed wire and Cindy Crawford’s hometown.
So Rod, you think that giving the school money to raze Cole Hall and build a new high-tech building called - get this - Memorial Hall will make you liked in the community?
Maybe the school doesn’t want a new hall. Maybe leaving Cole to stand the test of time is the best thing to keep the faith and hope alive for the 25,000 students who attend classes. Maybe you should focus all your time and energy on all these labels people are calling you these days and that big trial in Chicago.
Or maybe, maybe you should just butt out for a bit.
Knocking down a building won’t hide the fact the shootings never happened. If that’s your prerogative, tell that to Lauren Debrauwere who was released from the hospital the other day with a bullet in her chest. A bullet that is within centimeters from her heart. Go ahead, tell her.
Just because you think something is right doesn’t make it right. Ever thought of talking to the students at NIU? Maybe the professors? Maybe more than just the people who sit behind big oak desks in Altgeld Hall all day long? Those are the people who really care about NIU’s future.
It’s funny, you know. About five years ago, the school was begging you for money to improve our buildings. We couldn’t walk down hallways without kicking up floor tiles or dodging falling ceiling tiles. Leaks were as common as assigned readings. So we sat there, in our classrooms that fell apart by the day, wondering if and when we would ever get a couple bucks for some insulation so we could make it through those harsh Illinois winters.
Hey Rod, we were in such a budget crunch that paper had to be rationed. Certain professors could not call their students from their office phones. Some of us wouldn’t get in elevators because we didn’t know how safe they were.
And here you are, throwing money in the face of a national tragedy. Throwing money at friends and families who lost loved one, boyfriends, girlfriends or just someone they sat next to in class.
You’ve hit a new low, Rod.
If I could take back that vote I cast for you, I’d do it in a heartbeat.
Signed,
Collin Quick, Class of 2006
February 27th, 2008
On Tuesday, I attended class for the first time since the shooting Feb. 14. Everywhere I looked on campus, there were signs proclaiming, “Forward, together forward,” a message of hope taken from the lyrics of the “Huskie Fight Song.”
The university distributed black and red ribbons for students to pin on, provided counselors to give presentations in every class, and handed out reading materials on dealing with the emotional and mental impacts of violence. All of my professors lightened their students’ workload for the first week back in class. One professor canceled quizzes for the rest of the week. Another passed out an exam originally scheduled for Thursday, allotting us one week to complete it at home and hand it in. In my other classes, heavy reading and editing assignments were postponed.
Although all of this helped immensely, it was still incredibly difficult to pass right by Cole Hall on my way to classes in neighboring buildings, so I was relieved when I heard about the potential plan to demolish Cole. The future of the building has been a common topic for discussion among students since the day of the shooting. I’m not at all thrilled about Blagojevich trying to “own” the project, but I think it’s still a good project, nonetheless, even though it would certainly be best undertaken without the Gov’s – ahem – blessing.
Among the students I’ve talked to, it has been almost universally agreed upon that Cole Hall should be permanently closed, although some students are saying that it should be closed but not be razed. They argue that the structure, itself, is a memorial, but an empty, unused building is neither practical nor a memorial.
The costs of undertaking the Memorial Hall project are high, but the university needs a new facility somewhere on campus to replace Cole. Memorial Hall will not be built where Cole stood. Instead, a “green space” or memorial statue will be created there, and Memorial Hall will be constructed elsewhere.
I am taken back to the fear and chaos of Feb. 14 every time I walk past Cole Hall. A memorial built in its place would commemorate the lives of the students who died and give the NIU community a place to go and honor them.
February 22nd, 2008
Jonathon Ellis, an employee of Illinois Growth Enterprises in Loves Park, holds up a poster that says “NIU: Our prayers are with you.”
After the tragic shooting at the university last week, Ellis felt led to do something special for Terry Starliper, a production manager at IGE whose daughter attends NIU. With encouragement from his floor supervisor, Mark Janz, Ellis made a poster and asked other IGE workers to sign it. Director of Development Valerie Johnson says Ellis will present the poster to Starliper on Monday to send to his daughter at NIU.
February 19th, 2008
Thanks to initiative and hard work by students, the NIU memorial T-shirts that were in the works a few days ago are now in their final stages of becoming a reality. Go to niumemorialshirts.com to learn more and to pre-order a shirt.
The shirts are only $10, and every penny of the proceeds will go to the DeKalb/Sycamore Community Memorial Fund and the February 14 Student Scholarship fund.
February 18th, 2008
I didn’t sleep well at all this weekend. While I may have been 60 some miles from NIU and Cole Hall, I was up to my elbows in everything NIU related.
Since Thursday, we turned our newsroom into a 24/7 coverage post. We sent reporters, photographers and videographers out to DeKalb to cover every inch of the town and campus.
We even put them up in the Super 8 motel on Lincoln Highway, several hundred feet from the Travelodge where the shooter spent his last days alive.
I’ve talked to several friends since the shooting; all are well physically, but emotionally, they are drained. Phone calls are filled with long pauses, one-word answers and the occasional breakdown.
When we first heard about the shootings, I grabbed my cell phone and started calling anyone I knew who was still enrolled. I did this for two reasons: 1) to make sure the people I knew and cared about were OK, and 2) to see if anyone would talk to someone in the newsroom.
I figured when I left the newsroom, the NIU talk would cease. Though it’s kind of hard for that to happen when my roommate is a fellow NIU grad. Couple with the fact that my Saturday night game night started out with theories about the gunman, there was no escape from anything NIU this weekend.
This next week will be a trying time for students, families and friends. Sunday will bring a packed house the Convocation Center for a memorial before classes start up on Feb. 25.
For the rest of the spring semester, I don’t know if the word “normal” will be in the vocabulary of anyone at NIU.
February 17th, 2008
I went to my roller derby league’s practice tonight and — like I’ve been quite a few times in the past few days — was ambushed with hugs. I hadn’t seen a lot of my Rockford Rage derby sisters since before Thursday, so the embraces were plentiful.
I didn’t really feel like skating at first, so I watched my league-mates zip around the floor. Before the end of the night, I was restless to join them.
Since classes at NIU have been canceled for the entire week, I’ll probably be skating quite a bit. It will keep me busy. The league is also planning a benefit that will go toward the NIU memorial fund, and wants to do something special for NIU students at the next roller derby bout on March 8. It makes me happy to see those girls, some of them NIU grads, pulling together to accomplish some good.
A lot of businesses and organizations have decided to help NIU students during this time. May they be blessed for their kindness.
February 17th, 2008
This is how Victor E. Huskie, the NIU mascot, was depicted in the Register Star today by Rockford cartoonist Bruce Quast.
Copyright by the Rockford Register Star. Used with permission.
While we go through the aftermath of this event, it may help to remember Victor in a happier moment. In the video below, Victor dances as the NIU marching band plays “Hey Jude” during a game last year. Watch it. It will make you smile.
[kml_flashembed movie="http://youtube.com/v/PXnwdJuBIAk" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]
February 17th, 2008
Since leaving NIU on Thursday, I haven’t been anywhere but work or home in Rockford. I worked Thursday and Friday, but since Friday evening, I’ve shut myself into my house for a little solitude.
This morning, I left the house and went to breakfast with family in Rockford. It seemed strange to look around the restaurant and see so many smiling faces. Understandably, life goes on as normal for people who had no connections to this tragedy.
It’s a different story for those who lost loved ones, for students who lost a sense of security, and for the DeKalb community, which will for a long time be reeling from this devastating blow.
My coworkers have also felt the pain of NIU’s loss. A Register Star photographer sent to the university after the shooting showed me a button pin someone gave him while he was there. It has a dove on it and a message that reads “Peace be with you.” He cried when he talked about the students he came into contact with.
On Thursday and Friday, so many colleagues came over to offer me a kind word or just to put a hand on my shoulder. I wasn’t able to walk through the newsroom without someone stopping me and giving me a hug.
This event, as heart-wrenching as it may be for the NIU community, has drawn us all together. It’s comforting to be surrounded by such a strong group of support.
February 17th, 2008
The lyrics of the “Huskie Fight Song” hold a new meaning now. Click here to listen, and sing along.
HUSKIE FIGHT SONG
Huskies, come on you Huskies
and make a score or two
Huskies, you’re Northern Huskies
the team to pull us through
Forward, together forward
there’s victory in view
Come on you Huskies, Fight on you
Huskies and win for N.I.U.
Lyrics by Francis Stroup
Music by A. Neil Annas
February 16th, 2008
I found this touching tribute video on YouTube.
[kml_flashembed movie="http://youtube.com/v/sR9ngDdT4d8" width="425" height="350" wmode="transparent" /]
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