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Thursday, Sept. 8, 2016
Northern Star
815-753-5606 | @NIUNorthernStar | NorthernStar.info/Opinion
Professors should better explain the use of clickers in lecture halls
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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 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: Andy Cozzi 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
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Students blindsided by lack of print quota Northern Star Editorial Board
Editorial Board Editorials reflect the majority opinion of the Editorial Board; columns reflect the opinion of the author alone.
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Perspective
Makenna Pranchke | Northern Star
Students should try a more organic lifestyle
non-natural products based on my own shopping experiences. Frustrated with the unaffordable prices, Amber Shanks, 38, of DeKalb, decided to change that by opening her own store, Maddie Steen Columnist Organic Essentials, 314 E. Lincoln Highway. Students should consider Organic Essentials offers a Letters to the Editor Letters should not exceed 300 words and switching from their store-bought wide variety of aromatic soaps, may be edited for clarity and brevity. bath products to all-natural, creams, scrubs and other types of The deadline for a letter is 4 p.m. one organically-made alternatives. skin care products and remedies. day before the desired date of publicaChemicals and toxins can be Shanks has begun to make big tion. Submissions may be held due to space limitations. absorbed through skin and trans- changes adding clothes, healing Letters written by students should ferred into the bloodstream with- stones, jewelry and other handinclude the author’s year and major. out us knowing, according to the made creations. Letters should include a phone number Students should be educated where the author can be reached. Phone Centers for Disease Control and numbers will not be published. Letters Prevention’s website. To eliminate and aware of what ingredients may be submitted to Editor@Northernthe chance of repeatedly coming they use on their bodies at an Star.info. in contact with toxins that are in early age so as to set healthier habsoaps, buying organic products its for themselves in the future. Advertisement policy The Northern Star does not knowingly ac- made with natural ingredients is Shanks’ goal for Organic Escept advertisements that discriminate on a great alternative. sentials is not only to provide the basis of sex, race, creed, handicapped affordable organics but to educate or veteran status or sexual orientation. others. In hopes of spreading Nor does the Northern Star knowingly It makes me upset that print ads that violate any local, state or knowledge on organic products, it’s only a select few that federal laws. Shanks holds bimonthly workcan afford organics...The To place an advertisement, contact the shops to teach others how create Northern Star advertising team at 815doors need to be open for their own products that will keep 753-0108 or ads@NorthernStar.info. everybody.” To view advertising rates, go to their family safe and chemicalNorthernStar.info/site/advertise/. free. Whatever attendees make at Amber Shanks these workshops, they can take Organic Essentials Owner Hiring home along with the recipe. Student employees must carry a minimum of six NIU semester hours and Walmart, Target and other “I would like it to be everymust have a cumulative grade-point chain stores carry a few lines where,” Shanks said. “It makes average of 2.0 or better. of organic products like Burt’s me upset that it’s only a select Students of all majors and experience Bees or Jason, and both brands few that can afford organics. levels are welcome to apply. Apply at NorthernStar.info/apply. tend to be more expensive than Everybody else has no choice
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but to use unknown chemicals on their bodies and that’s not fair. The doors need to be open for everybody.” Students should actively seek out products such as those sold at Organic Essentials, not only because they contain no synthetic ingredients or smells but by creating a demand for these products, more small shops could open up near campus that could make going organic more convenient. “...It’s about giving our children products that aren’t going to do more harm then good,” said Katie Liker, 32, of DeKalb. “So many commercial products have ingredients you can’t pronounce, so it’s great to know I have someone I can trust, creating products we use in our everyday lives that are high quality and affordable, and we know exactly what’s put into them without having to go to Google.” I use organic skin care products mainly because it is made with artificial or synthetic chemicals. On top of promoting the general health of myself and the environment, I’ve also noticed cleaner skin, fewer allergies and less acne. Until Organic Essentials opens more stores in the surrounding areas, students can find and order their products online on Facebook.com or Etsy.com.
NIU should have been more vocal in its recent elimination of the printing quota for students. In order to make up for the confusion caused by this change, professors should now be more flexible when transitioning to a digital curriculum. The printing quota has gradually diminished since 2012, from unlimited printing to this semester’s pay-as-you-go system, according to a Nov. 26, 2012, Northern Star article. While the elimination of the printing quota is announced on the Division of Information Technology’s website, students were still caught off guard by the change. The last mention of the stipend was made by NIU on Jan. 25 in an NIU announcement which asked students to participate in a survey about their printing needs. “I was surprised they didn’t tell us [that they got rid of the quota],” said junior English major Madison Smith. “It was like they were trying to hide it. If they were going to cut costs somewhere, that wasn’t the way to do it.” Other than the Division of Information Technology’s website, there was little information available recently for students to know their printing stipend would no longer exist this fall. Although information about why the stipend was being gradually eliminated was provided on NIU’s website in the minutes of a Computing Facilities Advisory Committee meeting from April 13, 2012, students starting this fall semester with no stipend deserved a recap. While the Northern Star applauds this effort, we recommend the intent to become more ecofriendly also be adopted by professors in terms of class requirements. “[The end of the printing quota] is an awful thing,” said Milda Willoughby, junior computer science major. “In statistics, we are required to print off our notes which is about 60 pages; that $7 would have been nice. It ends up being around $4 with the rates today, but it could have come out of the $7.” Without the cooperation of professors, NIU’s initiative to lower printing on campus will become a burden to students. Blackboard, NIU’s online course management system, allows students to submit papers online through SafeAssign, a program that helps prevent plagiarism, along with other assignments. As long as professors use this system to its full advantage, students will not have to scramble to load money onto their OneCard in order to pay for printing.
For more information Go to NorthernStar.Info/Campus to read more about the gradual elimination of the student printing stipend. In 2012, students had unlimited printing, but this fall, the stipend no longer exists.