The Student Association Executive and Senate elections begin 9 a.m. Tuesday and end 6 p.m. Wednesday. Go to huskielink.niu.edu to vote.
Monday March 28, 2016
NorthernStar
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Alex Forgue
Volume 116 Issue 49
Rachel Jacob
Matthew Holmes
Giuseppe LaGioia
Atlee Hargis | Northern Star
Not pictured: Treasurer Candidate Brian Robinson
2016 Student Association Elections 5 candidates remain after 65 interested
Matthew Holmes, vice presidential candidate Rachel Jacob and treasurer candidate Brian Robinson are Alexander Chettiath all running unopposed. The two News Editor candidates for president are Alex DeKalb | The first combined Stu- Forgue and Giuseppe LaGioia. dent Association executive and senate elections will begin 9 a.m. TuesI thought we were going to day and end 6 p.m. Wednesday, have an awesome election with only five candidates running this year, very competitive, for four executive positions. but it turned out I was The purpose of the SA is to voice absolutely wrong.” the concerns and questions of the Dillon Domke student body to the university adStudent Association ministration. The SA supports Senate Speaker many campus events and activities through organizational funding which is allocated through the SA “The first night I was ecstatic when to various organizations on cam- I saw that many people [at the candipus, according to its website. dates’ meeting], and when I heard Despite having record turnouts the turnout for the second meeting for the candidate meetings, with and couple that with people coming more than 60 people in attendance, to talk to [Election Commissioner only five students are running for Kevin Gordon], I was very excitexecutive positions. ed,” said SA Senate Speaker Dillon Student trustee candidate Domke. “I thought we were going to
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have an awesome election this year, very competitive, but it turned out I was absolutely wrong.” A survey was distributed directly to the approximately 65 people who came to the candidates meetings and aims to find out why the parties didn’t run, Domke said. An executive candidate debate was held Thursday, in the Holmes Student Center, Heritage Room, where candidates presented statements and answered questions from the moderators, Gordon and Domke, and the audience.
President Both candidates agreed on issues such as outreach to more organizations on campus, a potential move to the Big 12 Conference and disapproval of DeKalb’s proposed unlawful assembly ordinance, which would allow a police officer to break up a demonstration. “A majority of the students don’t
know what [SA] does and there is not enough outreach on [SA’s] part to get more students involved,” Forgue said. “The biggest issue is that a lot of people feel that the [SA] is mostly biased towards Greek life and a lot of students feel like they don’t have a voice on campus so that‘s why I’m running to be the voice of those students.” Forgue said he will also focus on implementing gender neutral bathrooms and holding the administration accountable for reckless spending. LaGioia said he hopes to continue the No Shame campaign, which focuses on eliminating stigma with mental health, and expand the Huskies Den to increase the availability of activities on weekends. “[The] basis of our campaign is trying to empower the students to get them together as a student body so we can make the experience at NIU all that much better,”
LaGioia said.
Vice president Jacob said she hopes to communicate with the more than 300 student organizations on campus by setting up networking events and making herself readily available at all times. “I don’t really believe that one organization should have dominance on campus and that one group should have a louder voice than others,” Jacob said. Student trustee Holmes said the main issues facing NIU are the budget impasse, dropping enrollment and program prioritization, and he hopes to work closely with the SA Senate and executive board to make sure students are represented on the Board of Trustees. Treasurer Robinson was not in attendance due to a sinus infection.
Softball reaches 14-win streak after MAC matches
Christopher Loggins Sports Editor
DeKalb | Softball (22-7, 3-0 MAC) increased its historic winning streak to 14 games after sweeping a three-game series against Bowling Green State University in the first week of conference play. The two teams began the series with a game Friday as the Huskies took an early lead to put the Falcons
away early. NIU scored four runs in the first inning led by a five-hit attack. The teams went head-to-head again in a double-header Saturday. The Huskies followed their performance in the first game with an even stronger showing, winning the first game of the double-header 131. It was the fifth time the team has scored at least 11 runs and the ninth time they’ve scored at least 10.
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The final game of the series proved to be the closest of the weekend — a two-run shot from Grable gave the Huskies their only runs of the game, but it proved to be enough as they went on to win 2-1. Freshman pitcher Alex Frenz went the distance for NIU, surrendering one run on four hits for a complete game. She walked two batters and struck out six, bringing
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her to 9-2 on the season. If you go The Huskies’ 14-game winning streak is their longest since the 1989 NIU vs. Kent State University season — the team completed the Time: 3 p.m. streak twice in that season. They’ve Date: Friday managed to achieve the feat without Place: Mary M. Bell Field yet playing a home game, which they will finally be able to do this week. The team will play two games at hold a three-game series against Kent Loyola University, starting at 3:30 State University, starting 3 p.m. Frip.m. Wednesday in Chicago. It will day at Mary M. Bell Field.
Schmack: Man did not kill Ridulph Richard Schmack, DeKalb County state’s attorney, said Jack D. McCullough, 76, of Seattle, could not have abducted and killed 7-year-old Maria Ridulph in 1957, according to a news release Friday. Read more on Page 3.