Roque Sanchez in "The Homestretch"

Friday, November 7, 2014

How do you unwind from a stressful election week? Catch up on the good news at Northeastern Illinois University with these updates, videos and event listings from around the University.

Around the Commons

In ‘The Homestretch’

“Where are you now?” That’s the question Northeastern student Roque Sanchez receives from the audience after every screening of “The Homestretch,” a documentary about three homeless Chicago teens—Kasey, Anthony and Roque—that will screen twice on Nov. 18 on the main campus, accompanied by post-show panel discussions.

Alumnus Award winner and Commencement speaker

President Sharon Hahs has announced that the 2014 Distinguished Alumnus Award recipient and December Commencement speaker is William Pollakov, president and CEO of The Pollakov Financial Group Inc.

A busy police chief

University Police Chief James C. Lyon was appointed to a three-year term on the executive committee of the International Association of Chiefs of Police during the 121st Annual Conference on Oct. 25-28 in Orlando, Fla. He will lead more than 400 college and university police departments as the chair of the IACP College and University Police Section. During the conference, Lyon also was appointed to the advisory board for the National Center for Campus Public Safety, whose mission is to bring together all forms of campus public safety, professional associations, advocacy organizations, community leaders and others to improve and expand services to those who are charged with providing a safe environment on the campuses of the nation's colleges and universities.

$100K NGEMS grant

In collaboration with Chicago City Colleges’ Wright and Truman colleges as well as offices and schools of the Chicago Public Schools, Northeastern has been awarded a $100,000 Strengthening Teacher and School Leader Preparation grant from the Searle Funds at The Chicago Community Trust. The official name of the project is the NEIU Generation Educator for Middle School: Refining STEM with Pedagogical Content and Literacy (NGEMS).

New Ways of Analyzing Variation conference

Linguistics instructor Inge Stockburger and several students presented a poster titled "Latin@ in Chicago: Constructing Ethnic Identities in Research Interviews" on Oct. 23-26 at the New Ways of Analyzing Variation conference in Chicago. The students who presented were Ryan Brokamp (graduate), Consuelo Miranda (undergraduate), Elvis Munoz (undergraduate), Islam Wahden (undergraduate) and Eduardo Trujillo (undergraduate).

In the community

Katherine Gleiss and Mark Gunter from the Learning Support Center made a presentation to Roosevelt High School's Culinary Arts Small Learning Community on "Healthy Habits for Learning" on Nov. 6. The workshop was a part of the outreach for Northeastern's Reimagining Food Initiative. The interactive session provided an opportunity for approximately 50 high school juniors to learn why sleep, exercise and nutrition are essential for healthy brain function.

And there’s more!

 

In the media

Ready for ‘Rotas’

As Ensemble Español prepares for the Nov. 8-9 performances of “Rotas,” the resident group’s executive director, Jorge Pérez, joined Dean Richards on WGN Radio on Nov. 2 to chat about the domestic violence-themed production. “Rotas” also has received attention from Univision, the Chicago Tribune, WZRD and the Sun-Times.

High praise

English professor Bradley Greenburg’s new novel, “When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloomed,” was selected by Library Journal as “top indie fiction” and listed as one of 15 key titles beyond the best-sellers list for fall 2014. The review reads: “This historical combines the pleasures of old-fashioned storytelling with the sobering and ever-needed reminder of the price of racial hatred.”

Also in the media ...

 

  • If you’ve never been to a Jewel Box Series event, check out this video posted by Omega Clarinet Quartet of its Oct. 17 performance in the Recital Hall.
  • The Chicago Tribune published a story about alumnus Hecky Powell (B.A. ’78 University Without Walls), who will be honored Sunday, Nov. 9, by the city of Evanston. The corner of Green Bay and Emerson will receive the honorary designation of Hecky Powell Way.
  • The India Post mentioned Rohit Joshi of the Learning Support Center on Pages 17 and 21 in a story about Sri Sri Ravi Shankar’s visit to Chicago last month.
  • Argentina’s Los Andes featured Anthropology instructor Martin Giesso for his research into ancient trade using archaeometry.

To do

Jean B. Carlson Memorial Lectureship

Angela Valenzuela, professor of Educational Policy and Planning at the University of Texas at Austin and Director of the National Latino Education Research and Policy Project, will speak Nov. 10 as this year’s guest lecturer. As always, the lecture is free and open to the public!

Internship fair

The Department of Communication, Media and Theatre will host an internship fair with the support of the Center for Career Development from noon-4 p.m. Nov. 11 in Golden Eagles. Students are encouraged to attend, dress nicely and bring their resumes.

Mark your calendar!

#FollowFriday

Let’s communicate

The Department of Communication, Media and Theatre maintains an active presence on Facebook and Twitter. The social media accounts help ensure that students have all the information they need about department life and University events. With so much going on at Northeastern, social media makes it easy to share the word about news such as recent faculty and student presentations at Disability Awareness Day, the library’s Wikipedia Edit-a-thon, performances at Stage Center Theatre and course registration information.

Do you have a story tip? Let the public relations office know!

Mike Hines, director of public relations, m-hines@neiu.edu, (773) 442-4240