News

February 25, 2008

First, we at Sigma Tau Delta, Xi Delta chapter wish to express our deepest condolences to those affected by the tragedy that befell our otherwise peaceful campus on February 14. No one could fathom that such inexplicable violence could suddenly lash out against our community growing out of the cornfields, in the middle of a routine Thursday afternoon. Surreal events elicit two kinds of reactions: some of us feel disconnected, as if it happened in a town far away, and some experience a waking nightmare. Is it possible to move on without forgetting painful disaster, or must we give up memories and feelings in order to function? Xi Delta intends to carry on strongly but not forgetfully--we will try to move on respectfully and mindfully, continuing to service the community while keeping in our mournful hearts those who have suffered. Gradually, we build the strength to overcome the pains of unprovoked violence and loss, not only granting peace to those who are forced to carry on, but also to those unfortunate souls who would have wished that strength upon us.

That said, events this week for Xi Delta chapter have been rescheduled. We will meet the week after we return from spring break, and the Gandal/Bonomo reading scheduled for tonight will be rescheduled for a later date.

Best wishes to all.

February 7, 2008

February

14: Bake/Book Sale from 10-2 in Reavis; if you can't work, please bake! We're raising money for Relay for Life 2008.
15: New Member Applications due in the Sigma Tau Delta mailbox in RH 215 by 4:30 pm
25: Dr. Gandal/Dr. Bonomo reading in RH 211 at 5:00 pm
28: Meeting/New Membership Induction at 6:15 pm in RH 211

March

13: General meeting (5:30 pm in RH 211) before Spring Break to plan In Translation
27: General meeting (5:30 pm in RH 211) to plan In Translation
Throughout March and April, we will be volunteering for various activities at a local residents’ home.

April

3: In Translation—A collaboration between the Department English and the Department of Foreign Languages and Literature to give Northern students a chance to experience other cultures through poetry. 6:30 pm. Place TBA
17: General Meeting (5:30 pm in RH 211)

May

1: Last General Meeting (5:30 pm in RH 211) before summer break!

September 24, 2007

Well, two years later, STD at NIU is still spreading the love. This is Lionel Newman, your new resident nerd—err, I mean Webmaster. This website will finally get some desperately needed information updates. So, that said, here are some important dates coming up for Xi Delta Chapter that are not two years old:

October 4: General meeting @ 5:45 pm in RH 211

September 25 & 26: Bake/Book Sale! Bring some baked goods and/or old books to sell.

October 18: Spelling Bee

October 19: Application for membership due by 4:30 pm.

October 25: Pumpkin Carving! 5:30 pm in RH 211.

October 30: Scholarship applications due by midnight.

November 4: New member induction @ 1 pm in RH 211.

November 14: Deadline to submit a paper for next year's convention. The convention topic is "Necessary Contradictions."

This is the schedule for working the bake/book sale next week:

Tuesday 9/25
10am -12pm: Hannah
12pm - 2pm: Nick and Erika
2pm - 4pm: Jessica

Wednesday 9/26
10am -12pm: Rachel
12pm - 3pm: Nick and Erika
3pm - 4pm: Hannah

"If anyone else can help out during any of these times, let me [Erika Sparby] know, and I'll add you to the schedule. Even if you can't work, you can always bring some baked goods or books to sell instead!" – Erika, Secretary/Treasurer

For more information on any of these events, contact one of our officers. Click here to view the Members page for contact information.

October 18, 2005

Although it's been a while since the last update, rest assured that the wheels have been turning here at the Xi Delta Chapter. After a brief period of consolidating our power, Xi Delta's coming at you with hot new events to chase away those October blues (and reds, oranges, etc.)!

As always, to get into the Halloween spirit, we will be having our annual Pumpkin Carving Extravaganza (okay, I added the "Extravaganza" part, but it's still pumpkin carving, damnit) on October 20 from 6:00 - 8:00 pm in Reavis Hall Room 211. All members are welcome to attend; be warned that hands will be covered in pumpkin guts and pictures will be taken (see the Photos section to get an idea of the crazy antics that ensued last year)!

Also, for those who would like to get to know their professors better, we will be hosting our "Meet the Profs" book fair on October 27 from 12:00 - 3:00 pm in good old Reavis 211. This is an opportunity to see what sorts of books your favorite professors have written and to meet some of them in person (and probably earn a brownie point or two).

To the teeming mass of new inductees that are looking to join our illustrious honor society (17 applications... wow), be sure to shake the dust out of that business casual wear for the Induction ceremony on November 6 at 2:00 pm. As of now, it looks as though we will hold it in trusty Reavis Hall Room 211, though that location may change, so stay tuned for more details!

Finally, look out, Internet, because the Illinois Web Ring is now two chapters strong! That's right, the Alpha Eta Pi chapter at Illinois Wesleyan University has joined the IWR!! Check out their double exclamation point-worthy website at http://www.iwu.edu/~sigmatd/!

September 24, 2005

Busy, busy! Graduate school really takes a lot out of a person, but there have been bits of free time here and there for site updating. For starters, check out the new look--not too different from the old look, just a few minor asthetic tweaks. That's not all that's going on, though; not only am I going to be adding to the Photos section soon, I'm also working on a more complete IWR tutorial and rewriting the Calendar in JavaScript to make it more useful than ever. In other words, lots of cool additions coming soon!

As far as chapter news, we had our first General Member Meeting on Thursday the 22nd. There were a couple of new faces, which is always good to see, as well as some familiar ones. It was decided that our future general meetings would still be held every other Thursday from 5:00-6:00 pm at Reavis 211. We also have our first book sale from the year on September 27th and 29th, so if you know any people who would like to pick up some great used books for really low prices, tell them to check it out!

September 3, 2005

I am am pleased and excited to announce a new web-based project: the Sigma Tau Delta Illinois Web Ring (IWR). As of now, out of the 24 chapters of Sigma Tau Delta in Illinois, only two have websites (and you're looking at one of them). The IWR aims to change that by providing resources such as tutorials, tech support, and discussion boards to encourage other Illinois chapters to get online. If you are a member of an Illinois chapter and are interested in starting a chapter website, please contact the Xi Delta Webmaster. For now, there is an introductory tutorial in the IWR section as well as a new IWR discussion forum on the message board, so feel free to check them out. More resources are coming soon, so check back often for updates!

August 29, 2005

To those of you who were referred here from our information table, welcome to the Xi Delta website! Feel free to look around, learn a little about us, see what Sigma Tau Delta has to offer its members, and get involved in our message board discussions (admittedly, they're a bit slow at the moment, but rest assured that they will pick up very soon). The Executive Board will be convening soon to finalize our schedule of events (including the first general meeting) for the Fall 2005 semester, so stay tuned to this site for more details. Thank you for your interest in Xi Delta!

July 6, 2005

Check out the new Photos section; amazingly enough, it actually contains photos now! See what sorts of wacky things the Xi Delta chapter has been up to! It's still under construction (I'm working on making the thumbnail page load up faster, for instance), so expect better performance and (gasp) even more pictures in the near future.

June 15, 2005

Ah, this thing (i.e., "website") is slowly shaping up. Soon my plans for world domination... err... eating peanut butter cookies shall come to fruition! MWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

You may have noticed that two of the "Coming Soon..." pages are no longer labeled as such, because the future is now, and the time for "soon" has passed! I added a Calendar page (which should be suitable for all of our calending needs) and the crème de la crème... the Message Board! Granted, I'm still fiddling with the darn thing, but if you'd like to register early and get the conversation going, feel free.

Parenthetical statements, ellipses, and accented e's abound as the Xi Delta website continues its relentless charge into 2005-2006!

June 10, 2005

Every chapter must have its closing. Inevitably there comes a time when old Executive Board members must go out into the world to pursue their future careers and new Executive Board members must rise up to take their places. In this sense, this semester is especially unfortunate because we at the Xi Delta chapter are losing not one, not two, but three outstanding officers. Let me take this opportunity to say "farewell" to former President/Webmaster Emily Celaric, former Vice President Rachel Holtz, and former Secretary/Treasurer Jayne Crosby. It has truly been great working with and getting to know all three of you, and I wish you all lots of luck in your future endeavors.

As to the next chapter of the Xi Delta story, the Executive Board for the 2005-2006 academic year has been chosen, and already it seems to be filled with energy, enthusiasm, and dedication. Some of the officer positions have been filled by existing Executive Board members who have many ideas on how to improve the Xi Delta experience, and others have been filled by new Executive Board members who will bring fresh ideas and insights to the meeting table. From the looks of things, 2005-2006 promises to be a fun, productive, and exciting year.

As the new Webmaster, it is my job to make the Xi Delta website the best resource it can possibly be. To this end, the site will be under heavy construction over the summer, as I will be adding new sections and content (for example, a News page). I hope everyone is having a fun and relaxing summer!

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