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Monday, January 20, 2014
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Winterfest celebrates season, not just snow
Huskies can’t handle Ohio’s 3-point attack
Weather postpones MLK Day celebration By KATIE DAHLSTROM kdahlstrom@shawmedia.com
Photos by Rob Winner – rwinner@shawmedia.com
International students Hongshi Wu (left) and Greg Luo talk after a class at the Northern Illinois University Engineering Building on Wednesday in DeKalb. Both Wu and Luo came from China to study at NIU. By ANDREA AZZO aazzo@shawmedia.com
D
eKALB – Vednidhi Teeruthroy did his research at home in Mauritius before making the commitment to pack all his belongings and attend Northern Illinois University. Teeruthroy is one of 821 international students at NIU. He decided to attend the university to pursue his master’s degree in marriage and family therapy and because of the relatively low tuition. “As an international student, finance plays a big role,” he said. “NIU made it possible for me to come here, and I really wanted to go.” University officials hope to recruit more international students like Teeruthroy in the coming years as part of an effort to put a global presence on campus. In an Oct. 11 email, NIU President Doug Baker announced the appointment of Raymond Alden as vice president of international affairs, a newly created position, and Deborah Pierce was named associate vice president. In addition to enhancing campus di-
versity, international students also pay twice as much in tuition as in-state residents, which provides a financial incentive for universities to recruit them. A typical full-time international student pays just more than $10,000 a semester in tuition, which doesn’t count room and board costs.
But Alden said the recruitment effort is not just to get a bang for the buck. “We believe higher education fails a student if we do not provide the global competencies,” he said. “Even if you never leave this country, corporations expect
their rising leaders to have global perspectives.” In order to recruit more internationals, NIU signed a contract with ELS Educational Services in 2009, a company that provides free English instruction for students. ELS recruits students from all over the world energetically, Pierce said, and its facilities are located at the university’s Health Services building. The university also wants to focus on growing its already strong connection with the Center for Southeast Asian Studies, which has been on campus for 50 years. Two NIU alumnae from MARA, a Malaysian government-sponsored program, will visit the campus in February to discuss a plan that would place Malaysian freshman students on campus. “I’ve been going to Malaysia for several years and hosted a number of events in [Kuala Lumpur,] the capital of Malaysia, and now we’re seeing real students are going to come of this,” Pierce said.
See INTERNATIONAL, page A9
DeKALB – The traditional local celebration of civil rights leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Martin Luther King Jr. is being revamped as a Black History Month event after winter weather limited rehearsal time. That means three congregations will not reflect on King’s legacy today with the 2014 Martin Luther King Jr. Community Celebration. Instead, the celebration will be from 5 to 6:30 p.m. Feb. 8 at the Federated Church of Sycamore, 612 W. State St. The decision was made after Saturday’s snowfall canceled a rehearsal that day, but If you go the details of the celebration itself are not exn What: “The pected to change. Beloved Community: The theme is “The A Place at the Table” Beloved Community: A celebration of Martin Place at the Table.” This Luther King Jr. is the second installn When: 5 to ment of the beloved com- 6:30 p.m. Feb. 8 munity theme, which n Where: event coordinator Beth Federated Church Campen expects will last of Sycamore, 612 W. for a decade. Campen said the be- State St. loved community refers to the community as a whole as well as smaller groups. According to the King Center’s website, thekingcenter. org, King and others used the term “beloved community” to describe a community that would not tolerate poverty, hunger or homelessness. The “place at the table” portion of this year’s theme targets hunger by promoting the idea that everyone should be able to access food. “There will be food,” Campen said. “It’s part of that communal idea. The table is an image I really want us to celebrate.” In addition to food, the celebration will include songs performed by the New Hope Missionary Baptist Church choir and singers from the Rock Christian Church. Readings of various speech excerpts will be interspersed with the music. Campen expects about 100 people to attend the event, but hopes the turnout will be larger. She also would like the event to inspire more community events throughout the year that promote the message of inclusiveness. “In this event, I hope it will spark other events,” Campen said. “I hope others will use the beloved community theme and the idea will hopefully be everyone is welcome.” The event originally was scheduled to align with Martin Luther King Jr. Day, which is celebrated on the third Monday of every January. King served as the co-pastor the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta from 1960 until his assassination in April 1968. The day recognizes King’s work as a nonviolent civil rights leader to end racism during the 1950s and ’60’s.
Chicago woman killed in Kabul ‘sought a better world’ The ASSOCIATED PRESS CHICAGO – Friends and family of a Chicago woman killed in Kabul, Afghanistan, said the 27-year-old was committed to helping others despite potential dangers, telling friends it was “something she was meant to do.” Lexie Kamerman was among 21 people killed Friday in a Taliban suicide bomb and gun attack at a Kabul restaurant popular with foreigners. She had worked since June as a student development specialist at the American Uni-
versity of Afghanistan, where her family said she was helping women “get an education and take their rightful place as leaders in Afghan society.” The Chicago Sun-Times reports Kamerman graduated from the Latin School of Chicago and Knox College in Galesburg. “When she told us that this is what she was doing, we were all definitely concerned about her safety,” friend Carmen Knight, 28, of Milwaukee, told the newspaper. “She knew this had to be done and that she could do it. She kept
Lexie Kamerman
“She knew this had to be done and that she could do it. She kept reassuring us it was something she was meant to do.” Carmen Knight, Friend of Kamerman
reassuring us it was something she was meant to do.” In a statement, Kamerman’s family described her as “an amazing young woman – smart, strong, beautiful, funny, stubborn and kind. And fearless.”
The statement continued: “Her death is a shock to us all and we can’t imagine a moment going forward when she won’t be desperately missed.” Friend Sherrille Lamb told the Sun-Times that Kamerman had just been back to
Chicago to visit her family over the Christmas and New Year’s holidays. Lamb and Kamerman became friends when they worked together at Elon College in North Carolina, where Kamerman was an assistant director of residence life during the 2012-13 academic year. Kamerman also had done volunteer work in Africa, served in a soup kitchen and an animal shelter and volunteered in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. Lamb said she believed Kamerman felt a responsibil-
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ity to help others. “It’s rare to see that in someone that young these days,” Lamb said. “A lot of people talk about what they’re going to do. ... The things she talked about, she actually did. And that just shows a wonderful sense of humility and just something that’s going to be so missed in this world.” Knox College president Teresa Amott said in a statement Sunday that the news of Kamerman’s death was “heartbreaking.”
See KAMERMAN, page A9
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