New fine arts majors to be offered with MFA

Partnering with the School of the Museum of Fine Arts (SMFA), Northeastern will offer a Bachelor of Fine Arts and a Master of Fine Arts in Studio Art joint-degree program beginning fall 2007. The program will combine classroom learning at Northeastern with studio experience and access to the MFA art collection and SMFA faculty. The SMFA is one of the largest and oldest museum schools in the country. Applicants to the two programs will come from Northeastern’s current application pool and will be considered based on both artistic and academic potential.

– Megan Fraser, News Correspondent

Exam week prompts extra study space

Students who need extra study hours before finals now have late night options throughout campus. Snell Library will be open until 2 a.m. April 8-12 and April 16-26, with an additional 90 workstations available at InfoCommons during exam week. Students preferring to get work done outside the library can head to Levine Marketplace, which will be open until midnight April 19-26 with free beverages available. The Alumni Center Pavilion and Lounge on the sixth floor of 718 Columbus Place will be open from 2 p.m. to midnight April 22, from 9 a.m. to midnight April 23 and 24 and from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. April 25. Cultural centers on campus will also be open late April 19-26, with the Asian American Center open until 12 a.m. and the Latino/a Student Cultural Center and African American Institute both open until 9 p.m. For students who need to study all night, the West Addition and Starbucks will be open 24 hours April 22-26. Campus security reminds students living within a one-mile radius of campus they can get a ride home with the Public Safety van, which stops at Snell Library and the Public Safety substation on the hour from 7 p.m. until dawn.

– Megan Fraser, News Correspondent

Northeastern chooses 2007 Presidential Scholars

Chosen from a group of more than 300 applicants, eight undergraduate students were named Presidential Scholars at a reception last week. This year’s recipients are nursing major Elizabeth Andrews, chemistry and chemical biology major Lauren Chapman, behavioral neuroscience major Courtney Dunn, psychology and linguistics major Stefanie LoSavio, criminal justice major Seth Housman, electrical and computer engineering major Sean Mayo, mechanical engineering major Matilda Urie and marketing and finance major Philip Stocker. The scholarship program awards full tuition to students with outstanding academic and professional records. Each applicant must submit letters of recommendation from a professor in their major, a professor of a liberal arts course and co-op employer.

– Megan Fraser, News Correspondent

Economics Society to host 2d Annual Econ-o-Thon

The Economics Society will host its second Annual Econ-o-thon Friday at Centennial Commons from noon to 4 p.m. This year’s theme, “Get Your Freak On With Econ” will celebrate the year’s end for the Economics Society. The event is free to all Northeastern students and faculty and will host a number of activities, including a pie-eating contest, two inflatables, a cotton candy machine and a T-shirt sale. The main event of the day will be the dunk tank, featuring Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences James Stellar and Chris Kelley, vice president of financial affairs for the Student Government Association. For more information contact Mari Chiba, president of the Economics Society, at [email protected]

-Mary Ann Georgantopoulos, News Staff

English and bio profs awarded excellence in teaching

Professors Gail Begley and Elizabeth Britt were selected as the winners out of 10 finalists for the Excellence in Teaching Award. The judging committee received 163 nominations for the 2006-2007 academic year. Begley teaches biochemistry, microbiology, molecular biology and research to undergraduate and graduate students. In addition Begley is a founding member and present chair of the University Service-Learning Board, and has applied her research to bio-terrorism prevention. Britt joined Northeastern’s English department in 1997, and has taught a number of undergraduate and graduate courses in rhetoric and writing. Britt also has directed graduate students in work on cultural studies and technical communication, material rhetorics and risk communication.

– Nikki Markow, News Correspondent

‘Peace Games’ founder speaks on violence prevention

The new student group, Social Change Through Peace Games, will host a talk today by the founder of its national parent organization, Peace Games. The group, which teaches children about peace and justice through games, will host Eric Dawson in 105 Shillman at 7:30 p.m. Dawson will speak about starting and managing a non-profit organization, proactive violence prevention and community building. Free food will be provided 15 minutes before the event. For more information contact Alex Alvanos, president of Social Change Through Peace Games, at [email protected] or 413-219-9792.

-Mary Ann Georgantopoulos, News Staff

Registration open for Civil Rights Era conference

Family members of high-profile victims of the civil rights era will participate in a conference April 27-28 at the School of Law. The widow of Medgar Evers will attend, as well as relatives of Michael Schwerner, James Chaney and Andrew Goodman, three civil rights workers murdered by the Ku Klux Klan in 1964. The Crimes of the Civil Rights Era conference will bring together people involved in the “cold case” movement to investigate and re-open past civil rights crimes. The conference, co-sponsored by The Project on Civil Rights and Restorative Justice at Northeastern University’s School of Law and the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute on Race and Justice at Harvard Law School, will cover issues like the role of community engagement in the search for justice.

-Mary Ann Georgantopoulos, News Staff