FRIDAY
DEDICATED TO DEFENSE
Oc tob er 3 1, 2014 • $ 1 .0 0
With focus solely on defense, Lowie is a stabilizing force for DeKalb secondary / B1 HIGH
LOW
41 25 Complete forecast on page A8
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Some job changes ahead at NIU University announces administrative shifts as vice president Nicklas retires By JILLIAN DUCHNOWSKI jduchnowski@shawmedia.com
Bill Nicklas is resigning from his post as vice president of operations and community relations. The job will be eliminated.
DeKALB – As Northern Illinois University bids top administrator Bill Nicklas a happy retirement, President Douglas Baker is distributing Nicklas’ responsibilities to several others. The move will eliminate the most recent position Nicklas held – vice president of operations and community relations – in an effort
to reduce the university’s administrative costs. Nicklas’ job title was created when Baker eliminated the position of executive vice president of finances and facilities, last held by Eddie Williams. “I think we’ll get some like functions together and reduce the size of the administrative team,” Baker said. Nicklas said in August he would resign, effective Saturday, after spending about three years
addressing high-profile scandals in a variety of roles at NIU and easing the transition between Baker and former President John Peters. Baker announced these staffing changes Thursday in his weekly Baker Report: • John Cheney, senior associate athletic director for facilities and game operations, will become an interim associate vice president for facilities management and
campus services. He will report directly to Baker until a replacement is found for a vice president to replace interim CFO Nancy Suttenfield. • NIU is seeking a senior associate vice president of human resources who will integrate all human resource functions. • NIU Police Chief Tom Phillips reported directly to Nicklas with a “dotted reporting line” to Baker. Eventually, the vice president for
ILL. GOVERNOR’S RACE
NORTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY
VISION FOR HUSKIE FACILITIES UNVEILED
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An artist’s rendering of the upgraded Huskie Stadium. Northern Illinois University athletic director Sean Frazier announced on Thursday a $138 million plan to upgrade not only the football stadium but facilities for nearly every athletic program. No timetable was given on the upgrades.
Athletic director details $138M plan for stadium, field upgrades, new buildings By STEVE NITZ snitz@shawmedia.com DeKALB – Northern Illinois University athletic director Sean Frazier unveiled a plan for a complete overhaul of the school’s athletic facilities Thursday at the Yordon Center. The plan, which is estimated to cost $138 million, includes extensive renovations to Huskie Stadium. Planned improvements include adding suites, lounges and outdoor club seating on the east side of the stadium, as well as a minimum of 6,500 seats in the south end zone. The project will be 100 percent privately funded, Frazier said. “I want to make sure I stress that. We do not have a money tree,” he said. “This was done with donors and supporters who saw the need, and saw the vision for the next step. So that’s a key issue there.” Frazier said the renovations would increase Huskie Stadium’s capacity to 30,000 to 35,000, with the potential for about 42,000 seats. The stadium capacity now is about 24,000. “We want more seats, but we also want people to fill those seats. We want something very intimate,” Frazier said. “We’ve got a great,
great facility right now. What we want to do is build off of that. When that thing is full, nobody wants to play in Huskie Stadium. It is definitely a difference-maker when you’re out there.” Frazier said a timetable for the plan to be completed will be dictated by donor interest and timing. Frazier said the athletic department would identify the first project beSean Frazier tween now and the spring. NIU’s football facilities have seen big upgrades in the past 10 years. The Yordon Center, located in the north end zone, was completed for the 2007 season, and the Chessick Practice Center was finished in October 2013. In terms of NIU’s other sports, facility upgrades include a new baseball field, which would be located north of the NIU Convocation Center, new tennis courts west of the Chessick Center, an Olympic sports facility with numerous locker rooms, as well as practice facilities for wrestling and gymnastics. The plan also calls for upgrades to the Convocation Center, including an addition to the perim-
eter concourse, and additions to NIU softball’s Mary M. Bell Field, including locker rooms and more than 400 new seats. Proposed features for the new baseball stadium include a home team clubhouse and a visiting team locker room. Currently, NIU’s baseball team uses the old football locker room at Huskie Stadium. NIU baseball coach Ed Mathey, one of many NIU coaches in attendance at Frazier’s presentation, said there’s also a plan for field turf and lights. Mathey’s team’s current home, Ralph McKinzie Field, lacks those features. In the past, NIU has had to move home games because of unsuitable field conditions. The new baseball facility could also include plans for a collegiate summer league team. “It’s been a need from my perspective for a long time,” Mathey said of the proposed facility. “The good thing is, for me as a baseball coach here, I think that they also see that. We had several discussions about what would you like to see, how would you like it to be. If money wasn’t an object what would you want to have. “I think they see the potential of what we could do here.”
administration and finance will oversee the department of public safety, but for now, Phillips will report directly to Baker. • Jennifer Groce, who has been managing “communiversity” initiatives, will take on more community relations responsibilities in a new Office of Community Affairs. • Mike Mann, NIU’s assistant vice president for budget and planning, will serve as liaison to the NIU Board of Trustees.
NIU facilities plan highlights Huskie Stadium • Private suites and indoor club seating on the east side • East side club lounge, outside club seating and loge box seating • Minimum of 6,500 seats in the south end zone, elevating the scoreboard and videoboard • East and west sides of the stadium will be connected • Concessions and restrooms in the south end zone • Dedicated student area on field level of south end zone • More permanent concession areas and easily accessible restroom options on the west side Other facility plans • New baseball field north of the NIU Convocation Center, with plans to include field turf, lights and locker rooms • Minor additions to the NIU Convocation Center • New tennis facility west of the Chessick Center • Olympic Sports Facility where Ralph McKinzie Field currently stands • Additions to Mary M. Bell softball field
Social topics avoided By SOPHIA TAREEN The Associated Press CHICAGO – Normally hot-button social issues like gay marriage and abortion rights have remained on the back burner for much of the Illinois governor’s race, with candidates more focused on the state’s dire fiscal problems. Republican businessman Bruce Rauner, who is challenging Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn, goes so far as to say he doesn’t have a “social issues agenda.” But positions on those issues still sway some voters, and a new batch of political ads and an advisory referendum about birth control on the November ballot have brought some of them into the limelight. Quinn, a Chicago Democrat, often touts his role in signing laws that legalized same-sex marriage and a medical marijuana pilot project. He calls them a matter of fairness and tries to paint Rauner’s views as too extreme – or unclear – for Illinois. Rauner, a venture capitalist from Winnetka, says he remains focused on economic reforms, even refusing to state his views on same-sex marriage. On two issues, abortion rights and medical marijuana, he disagrees with his lieutenant governor running mate, Wheaton City Council member Evelyn Sanguinetti. Rauner claims that Quinn highlights social issues because he doesn’t have much else to showcase. Here’s a look at the candidates’ views:
GAY MARRIAGE Same-sex marriages became legal statewide in Illinois this year. The measure, which Quinn signed in 2013, was opposed by religious groups. “I fought for marriage equality to make Illinois a state that welcomes everyone and provide equal rights to all couples,” Quinn wrote in an Associated Press campaign questionnaire. Quinn calls it among his greatest accomplishments, but his stance has evolved. He didn’t publicly back gay marriage until 2012 after President Barack Obama did so, saying Illinois’ 2011 legalized civil unions had worked well. Rauner refuses to discuss
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Good Life Halloween party at DeKalb church a community effort / B10
Chinese band Shanren to perform Saturday at DeKalb High School / A3
Barbs, Cadets bring injured squads into playoff opener / B1
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