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Tuesday, Sept. 6, 2016
Northern Star
815-753-5606 | @NIUNorthernStar | NorthernStar.info/Opinion
Moving the IT database to the Cloud is a secure switch
Perspective
See what’s a pass and what’s a fail as judged by Perspective Editor Angela L. Pagan.
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Pass The Huskie Xpress bus is a great way for students living in DeKalb to travel to their families. The student-organized bus departs at 2 p.m. Fridays and noon Saturdays from the Holmes Student Center and stops at Oak Park, Union Station, 87th/Dan Ryan and Fox Valley Mall, according to a Sept. 1 Northern Star article. As a student without a car, holiday breaks are difficult because I have to arrange transportation with a friend or force my parents to take a day off work to pick me up. I applaud Alumnus Randiss Hopkins and senior sociology major Michael Leigh for creating the service.
Editorial Board Editorials reflect the majority opinion of the Editorial Board; columns reflect the opinion of the author alone. Editor in Chief and Publisher: Leah Nicolini Editor@NorthernStar.info 815-753-0105 Managing Editor: Nick Bosshart Editor@NorthernStar.info News Editor: Madison Kacer Editor@NorthernStar.info 815-753-9643
Fail
Digital Editor: Kaylyn Zielinski Editor@NorthernStar.info Perspective Editor: Angela L. Pagan Editor@NorthernStar.info Sports Editor: Scott A. Nicol Sports@NorthernStar.info Scene Editor: Jay Ibarra Editor@NorthernStar.info Photo Editor: To be determined Editor@NorthernStar.info Other Advertising Manager: Jonathan Davila Ads@NorthernStar.info 815-753-0108 Circulation Manager: Conner Kauffman 815-753-0707 Adviser: Shelley Hendricks 815-753-4239 Business Adviser: Maria Krull 815-753-0707 Departments Newsroom: 815-753-0105 Advertising: 815-753-0107 Classifieds: 815-753-0707 About us The Northern Star is a limited public forum whose content is determined exclusively by its student editors. Information presented in this newspaper and its website is not controlled by NIU administration, faculty or staff. The Northern Star has a circulation of 10,000 Mondays through Thursdays. It publishes online at NorthernStar.info Monday’s through Fridays. A single copy of the Northern Star is free. Additional copies are 50 cents.
Faith Mellenthin | Northern Star
Students and faculty should still receive a hard copy of parking rules and regulations information with their parking permits instead of having to go to the Campus Parking Services website. On a busy morning when parking seems impossible to find and a student is in a rush to get to class, there is not much time to search for the rules online. Before, students could pull out a physical copy of the rules in their car and reference it easily rather than search it on the internet while driving.
InFocus: Will downtown shop change be good? Green Tangerine Records, 866 W. Lincoln Highway, a record store that sells vinyls and Book World, 858 W. Lincoln Highway, a general-interest bookstore, opened its doors to customers. The shift in local businesses with The House Cafe, formerly located at 263 E. Lincoln Highway, music venue closing has students weighing the community impact.
Faith Mellenthin Columnist
The grand opening of Book World along with the relocation of Green Tangerine Records makes downtown DeKalb more appealing to students. Last year I grew bored of DeKalb because I felt I had Letters to the Editor Letters should not exceed 300 words and explored everything closest to me. may be edited for clarity and brevity. It is refreshing to see the empty The deadline for a letter is 4 p.m. one spaces where once loved busiday before the desired date of publicanesses, like Rosy’s Roadhouse that tion. Submissions may be held due to space limitations. closed in spring 2015, stood are Letters written by students should finally being put to good use with include the author’s year and major. renovations and reopenings. Letters should include a phone number This shift in local businesses where the author can be reached. Phone numbers will not be published. Letters reflects a need to draw students to may be submitted to Editor@Northernmore than just Walmart and instead Star.info. re-focus their attention on helping to support small businesses in DeKalb. Advertisement policy The Northern Star does not knowingly acThe Junction Shopping Center cept advertisements that discriminate on on Lincoln Highway had several the basis of sex, race, creed, handicapped vacant lots after the closing of No or veteran status or sexual orientation. Strings Attached in 2001, accordNor does the Northern Star knowingly print ads that violate any local, state or ing to a Feb. 21, 2002, Northern federal laws. Star article. Adjacent to campus, To place an advertisement, contact the the Junction is bringing the comNorthern Star advertising team at 815munity closer to students with 753-0108 or ads@NorthernStar.info. To view advertising rates, go to trendy businesses like Book World. NorthernStar.info/site/advertise/. It is important that students want to live here because that is Hiring what will help the community Student employees must carry a minimum of six NIU semester hours and grow and be able to support the must have a cumulative grade-point students’ changing interests. The average of 2.0 or better. impact of these new stores will Students of all majors and experience hopefully result in a more positive levels are welcome to apply. Apply at NorthernStar.info/apply. outlook towards DeKalb.
Maddie Steen Columnist
Brooklyn Harper Columnist
Ian Tancun Columnist
Local businesses do affect us as residents of DeKalb in that we could become more encouraged to patron local shops. As students, we are influenced by these businesses whether we are avid customers or have never set foot into one of the shops. The stores around us are the only options we have when we need or want something immediately. Aside from food providers, many of the shops around town are small and privately owned such as The Confectionary and Cracker Jax. Having these niche, local shops gets students away from supporting large corporate companies and brings more trust into community relationships. Students could also be inspired by these businesses, its owners and its employees. Someone who plans on starting a small business could be given a new sense of hope after walking around our community and seeing how closeknit everyone is. I do not think DeKalb would be DeKalb without the small-hometown feel. This town and its stores bring comfort to me and have influenced the way I live as well as the products I buy in that I try to shop locally when I can.
Switching up habits by going to new businesses greatly improves the chance for students to have a more active social life. Students often venture off-campus with their friends in search of nearby food and fun and find their go-to hangout spot in local stores. Changes in establishments alter the social interactions happening there. Take away a restaurant or a bar and its regulars must search for a new favorite place to patron. My friends and I love the food at Burritoville and would be disappointed if it ever closed down. A friendship could dissolve with the closing of a go-to hangout spot. At times, friendships only exist in one place, and when that place is gone, the friendship disintegrates. Opening new establishments may lead to new social experiences for those brave enough to test them out. We visit places based on our interests and others do the same. This explains why when we go somewhere new, we meet people with similar interests. This is how friendships blossom. I believe hangout locations are crucial to social lives and friend groups. As college students finding themselves, we form habits, so we return to the same places.
I think the opening of local businesses like Book World in DeKalb will positively impact students because the new businesses will directly cater to students. When I lived in Palatine, there was no shortage of bookstores. As a frequent visitor to the Barnes and Noble in Palatine, I was excited to see one down the street from my apartment when I moved to DeKalb earlier this year. Unfortunately, I soon found out the Barnes and Noble on Sycamore Road had closed down. I do not understand how a college town could not have a plethora of bookstores except for textbook stores like the Village Commons Bookstore and the Holmes Student Center Bookstore. I like having background noise when studying and prefer the atmosphere of a bookstore where I don’t have to worry about noise restrictions. I am thrilled about the recent opening of the Book World bookstore in DeKalb. I think it will be a welcomed and useful addition to DeKalb. Adding new businesses that directly cater to students while addressing a key, missing component of this area seems like a win-win to me.