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Thursday, Sept. 29, 2016
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Candidate breakdown
Hillary Clinton P L A T F O R M
• “Hillary will make debt-free college available to everyone and take on student loan debt.” • “We can — and must — end the epidemic of gun violence.” • “We need comprehensive immigration reform with a pathway to full and equal citizenship.” • “Universal, quality, affordable health care for everyone in America.”
Donald Trump • “Ensure universities are making a good faith effort to reduce the cost of college and student debt in exchange for the federal tax breaks and tax dollars.” • “The right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed upon. Period.” • “Establish new immigration controls to boost wages and to ensure that open jobs are offered to American workers first.” • “Repeal and replace Obamacare with Health Savings Accounts.”
Source: HillaryClinton.com
D E B A T E C A M P U S
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Sometimes there’s not a direct transfer of skills from business to government. Sometimes what happened in business would be really bad for government.”
Source: DonaldjTrump.com
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Hillary Clinton Democratic presidential nominee
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I definitely like that Secretary [of State] Clinton has a lot of experience dealing with other nations, because that’s something we need our head of state to work with often.”
Zohra Sattar Sophomore chemistry major
You, [Clinton], are going to approve one of the biggest tax cuts in history. You are going to approve one of the biggest tax increases in history. You are going to drive business out.”
Donald Trump Republican presidential nominee
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I agree more with Trump because he doesn’t belong in prison. I agree with the fact that immigration is a problem, although I don’t necessarily agree with the means with which he would solve that problem. ”
Sean Thompson Freshman psychology major
Infographic by Madison Kacer | Northern Star
Associated Press
Idaho voters head to a new food truck-inspired voting unit in Boise, Idaho on Tuesday. To vote in the City of DeKalb, go to the Holmes Student Center, Regency Room or the DeKalb Township building, 2323 S. Fourth St.
Injunction passed Madison Kacer News editor
DeKALB | The DeKalb County Clerk’s Office is preparing for an injunction passed by a federal judge Tuesday that bans same-day registration at polling places on the Nov. 8 Election Day in Illinois. An appeal has been filed against the injunction, which will take at least 14 days to process, said DeKalb County Clerk and Recorder Douglas Johnson. As a result, the Clerk’s Office is preparing for an Election Day that may or may not have the injunction present. “For the taxpayers of DeKalb County and the voters of DeKalb County, I need to prepare to provide for either way so that we’re ready to go,” Johnson said. “Because it isn’t like we can just fire up in five days and be ready to register everybody at polling places.” In order to allow for same-day registration, Johnson said he plans to close early voting locations on Election Day and designate them as registration centers if the injunction is still in place. Individuals can also register at the DeKalb County Clerk’s Office, 110 E. Sycamore Road. “I understand that [the federal
judge] is trying to do things to get voters involved and getting people to register and vote,” Johnson said. “But with all this jumping around and changes, I think they’re going to have a reverse effect, because everybody is going to be confused.” Early voting begins today in DeKalb County, but polls with not be open locally until Oct. 24. Local early voting locations include the Holmes Student Center, Blackhawk Annex and the DeKalb Township building, 2323 S. Fourth St. Individuals can still partake in same-day registration for early voting. Individuals can register to vote at bit.ly/1YodC57 and at polling stations. Voters must register by Oct. 23 to vote on Election Day.
Early voting • Early voting begins today at some locations in DeKalb County. Early voting in the City of DeKalb begins Oct. 24. • Individuals can still partake in same-day registration when voting early. • Register to vote at bit.ly/1YodC57.
Students research eco-friendly solar energy sources Nancy Galan Staff writer
DeKALB | Chemistry and biochemistry professor Tao Xu and a student research team are collecting data for a research project at NIU about converting light into electricity in an ecofriendly way.
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[Perovskites are] an alternative form of energy source, a big field to research, and silicone isn’t the best. This is why we are looking to replace it.” Jordan Rucinski Junior applied math major and chemistry minor
The project uses perovskites, a photovoltaic mineral with high energy efficiency. This allows it to be used for the conversion of light into electricity, Xu said. Silicone is a less environmentally friendly material used to complete the conversion process. Research began in 2013 and focuses on environmentally friendly energy sources such as gas sensors,
Courtesy Tau Xu Group
When conducting research, students use this UV-Vis-NIR thin film reflectance spectrometer.
hydrogen storage, solar cells, catalysis, Li-ion battery and molecular electronics. Since 2013, the team has encountered difficulties because collecting, analyzing and interpreting data is time consuming. The research will Tao Xu provide new Chemistry and biochemistry knowledge to professor understand fundamental mechanisms and create a new discovery in the field, Xu said.
The research team, consisting of undergraduate and graduate students, decided to use the perovskites because they are formed with organic and inorganic materials and can help eliminate pollution as they don’t affect the environment as much as the solar cells used in other studies, Xu said. It is also easy and less time consuming to convert the light into electricity. “We are striving to explore renewable energy sources to make it cleaner, cheaper and more efficient,” Xu said. The team has encountered some
failures while working in national labs and at NIU, such as spending time working with materials that were ineffective, which has set them back in completing the project. They have published multiple papers, which can be found on the Tau Xu group website. Jordan Rucinski, junior applied math major and chemistry minor, volunteered to work in the chemistry lab and soon joined the research team. Her role on the team is to work on a manuscript about the project’s process and results and test materials like polymers to see if they could
work along with the perovskites. While conducting research, Rucinski learned how to use equipment such as a glove box, which is a sealed container that allows researchers to manipulate objects within a different atmosphere. “[Perovskites are] an alternative form of energy source, a big field to research, and silicone isn’t the best,” Rucinski said. ”That is why we are looking to replace it.” Research is continuing, and the team hopes they will be able to discover an environmentally friendly, cheaper way to create solar cells and make them available. “I will like to encourage students to conduct research with various research groups around campus so they can feel they are tied with NIU,” Xu said.
Tau Xu Group Go to bit.ly/2d61czm for background on Tau Xu Group’s project, photos of lab facilities and lists of published work related to the research and involved students.