Thumbs Up to the possibility of an new Northwestern campus abroad. NU President Henry Bienen said the university was interested in the idea, which has been realized at several other universities in recent years. Georgetown University established a Qatar campus two years ago. George Mason University, also two years ago, created a campus in the United Arab Emirates. An Athens campus for the University of Indianapolis has been open for almost two decades.
In a rapidly globalizing world, NU has to realize that education must go global as well. It soon won’t be acceptable for employers to hire students whose experiences are limited to Evanston or the Midwest. Recruiters will be looking for hires who have traveled abroad and understand the complexities of different cultures.
NU already has study abroad programs, it’s true. But right now, many of those programs are through other colleges. And an international campus could only do more to make the process easier and more appealing, especially for students who haven’t thought much about going abroad before. Professors, too, would benefit. Many do leave the Evanston campus to research at other universities abroad.
An international campus would make it easier to research a diversity of subjects at their very own university.
Thumbs Up to Martin Lucenti Jr., director of clinical operations for Feinberg’s department of emergency medicine … for his courage in helping U.S. troops at an active-duty hospital in Iraq for not one, or two, but three tours now.
Not many are jumping to serve in the war these days, especially as prospects for an end to the violence appear ever-diminishing. But for Lucenti, aiding wounded soldiers hit by roadside bombs was exactly what he went into medicine to do. He’s had to spend time away from his wife and two children but felt it was worth it for all that he has been able to accomplish. For all this, he deserves recognition.
Thumbs Up to those brave, hardy souls … who tested their bodies and their wills in Sunday’s Dare to Bare race. Participants followed a 5-kilometer course around Northwestern’s Lakefill and had the option of shedding as much clothing as they wished during the race.
Perhaps this endeavor sounds merely silly to the uninitiated. But given that wind chills dipped below zero and entrants had to sign a waiver releasing sponsor Northwestern Class Alliance from medical responsibility, only the truly dedicated needed enter.
If running around scantily clad in Arctic-style weather wasn’t enough of a challenge, the same NCA waiver also informed participants that they could face police investigation if someone complained about runners in the buff.
Doubters might question the rationale for running a race half-nude during brutal weather conditions. But to persevere in the face of such odds certainly deserves praise.
Thumbs Down to experiencing deja vu in the Police Blotter… Chicago resident Shaniel Reed has been arrested three times since Jan. 18 on suspicion of trespassing on university property. Over the course of the past several years, she has been detained by university police more than a dozen times on similar complaints.
The most recent incidents occurred in Louis Theatre, University Hall and Kresge Centennial Hall. In the past, she has been noticed in such locales as the Norris University Center food court and a men’s restroom in Foster-Walker Complex.
She has also been previously arrested on suspicion of theft by University Police in 2005.
We hope that in the near future Reed will receive the help she appears to need and that NU students will only have to encounter her voluntarily.
