Homecoming tent planned for Oct. 20
Alums, friends and families can get together Oct. 20 as the Northern Star hosts a tent prior to NIU's Homecoming football game against Western Michigan. Details TBA in early fall.
Huston honored as alum of the year
Jerry Huston, an attorney with Lord, Bissell and Brook of Chicago, recieved the Bridge Builder award this spring as the Northern Star alumnus of the year.
Huston provided free legal counsel for the Star, and also represented former editors Joe Biesk and Kevin Wendt in their open-meetings lawsuit against the NIU Board of Trustees. He is a former reporter for the Memphis Commercial Appeal, and was the Northern Star's editor in chief in the mid-1980s.
"Jerry's a terrific resource for our students," said Star adviser
Jim Killam, "because he combines legal expertise with a solid journalism
background. He knows the obstacles reporters face."
Huston received the award at the April 27 NIU Journalism Banquet.
Star, individuals grab national honors
The Northern Star won two general-excellence, Best-of-Show awards last November at the National College Media Convention in Washington, D.C.
The Star's Weekender section took first place among entertainment sections, while the entire newspaper placed second among daily tabloids, behind Syracuse University.
At the same convention, Star cartoonist Jay Verzal took first place for cartoon strip; Todd Michaels placed third for editorial cartoon; and Nick Franklin third for promotional advertisement.
In February, the Star won 22 individual awards from the Illinois College Press Association and placed third in general excellence, behind the Daily Northwestern and the Daily Illini.
Campbell-Thompson award split by 2 editors
Josh Albrecht and Hank Brockett, who already have served the Northern Star in a variety of editing and reporting roles, will share this year's Campbell-Thompson Northern Star Scholarship.
Albrecht, from Morrison, Ill., has been elected editor in chief for fall 2001. Previously, he has been editorial editor and assistant campus editor. He is part of an NIU Study Abroad trip to Ireland this summer.
Brockett, from Elwood, Ill., is Weekender editor for fall, and has been
campus editor and assistant campus editor. He is writing this summer for
the Herald News in Joliet.
The $3,000 award honors two legendary Northern Star advisers, Roy G. Campbell
and Jerry Thompson. It's made possible by a donation from former Star reporter
Henry deFiebre and his wife, Karen Rothe.
New sports award honors Ryan Byrne
This year's Northern Star awards at the NIU Journalism Banquet included a new honor for sports writers, in memory of the late Ryan Byrne.
Byrne, a former Star sports editor and 1997 graduate, died of cancer
in 1999 at age 24.
This year's winner was Nick Gerts, the Star's sports editor.
The $500 award was funded by Ryan's family and by the Northwest Herald, where Ryan worked as a sports writer. Ryan's father, Peter Byrne, presented the award to Gerts.
Westphal awarded Kathy Orr scholarship
Melissa Westphal, the Star's 2000-1 editor in chief, won the second annual $500 Kathy Orr-McDonald Memorial Award for Editorial Excellence.
She will be a senior this fall, and this summer is interning as a reporter for the Rockford Register Star.
Kathy Orr-McDonald, a former Northern Star editor, died in 1997 at age 34. She had been a reporter for the Daily Southtown and won numerous awards during her brief career.