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'Different suits' suit Barrie Mason just fine  Do
you know how to peel a banana?Not so fast! Turns out that once you get over the strangeness of it, peeling a banana from the bottom may actually be a better way. "You usually don't get so many strings," smiles Barrie Mason, instructor of speech communication. Mason, who has a master's degree in theatre from the University of Missouri, Kansas City, and a bachelor's degree from Texas Woman's University in Denton, is in her first year of full-time teaching at North Central following five years part time. In the classroom, she loves to use the banana example to illustrate the assumptions and stereotypes that get in the way of good communication. It's easy to forget, she says, that "around the world, other people are doing things differently — and maybe even better — than we are." For her, communication is what it's all about. "Communication skills don't have to be constantly upgraded like technology," she says. "What we learn about communication, we have forever." If communication is Mason's mantra, cross-cultural communication is her life. "After college, I went to Europe on a dare and ended up living and working there." For the past six years, she and Thomas — her husband of 29 years — have also hosted American Field Service (AFS) exchange students in their home, which has been a joy. "I admire how the kids handle stress and take things in stride," she says. She still refers to them as her sons and daughters, and they call her "Mom." Mason finds befriending people from other countries and cultures almost intoxicating. "I value and appreciate diversity," she says. "But when you get to know people, you find we have even more in common. All stereotypes and generalizations melt away. They're just like us in different suits." In addition to teaching courses in public speaking, group process and cross-cultural communication and providing local leadership to AFS, the Downers Grove resident brings her passion and enthusiasm to another cause close to her heart — literacy. Seven or eight years ago, she took a break from one of the many careers she's had — acting, directing, producing, teaching, corporate communication — to re-evaluate what she wanted to do next. "What I was doing then was so safe, I was dying." Ultimately, she decided to get into literacy training through Literacy Volunteers of DuPage, a local arm of Literacy Volunteers of America (LVA). "It's hard for me to imagine what life's like for someone who can't read," she says. Mason's first student, however, was not "illiterate" in the usual meaning of that word (only 25 percent of the LVA DuPage students are). Rather, she was a student whose first language was not English. "DuPage County is among the top 50 most diverse counties in the United States," Mason reports. "At last count, between 38 and 42 languages are spoken here." Nowadays, in addition to continuing as a volunteer, running a conversation group twice a month at the Lisle Public Library, Mason trains half of the DuPage LVA tutors. Volunteers go through 18 hours of preparation and make a one-year commitment to the program. The program enjoys a "huge success rate," according to Mason, one reason being the use of everyday materials to meet pupils' needs — like maps, calendars, menus, grocery store ads, even the TV Guide. A tutor meets with his or her student two hours a week. Retention among tutors (exclusive of involuntary things like job transfers) is an astonishing 95 percent. But even so, demand is outstripping supply. "The reason I'm so eager to talk about this is that right now we have 85 people waiting for tutors," Mason says, "people who value education and want to fully participate in life and be good citizens." The next training program meets from 6-9 p.m. in Naperville's Nichols Public Library on March 11, 18, 20, 25, 27 and April 8. There is no charge. Those interested are invited to call 630-416-6699. Mason guarantees, "You'll meet some great humans!"  Women's Chorale hosts innovative musical concert and Q&A on Feb. 26  The Women's
Chorale is taking a page out of Leonard Bernstein's book. In the style
of Bernstein's
"Young People's Concerts,"
the Chorale will present a concert performance highlighted with discussion
and questions. Join the 43-voice Women's Chorale and new 18-voice
Women's Chamber Ensemble on Tuesday, Feb.
26, as they sing and discuss the topic of "Meaning
and Movement in Music," at Community United Methodist Church,
20 N. Center St. Admission to the 7:30 p.m. performance is free."In addition to hearing the Women's Chorale perform a variety of sacred and secular pieces, audience members will gain insight into the pieces and into music itself," says Chorale Director Ramona Wis, associate professor of music. "We will talk about what music 'means,' how movement is vital to music, how movement is portrayed in music, and other related ideas. This is not a lecture, rather an interactive performance that will be informative and interesting." Members of the Chorale will occasionally offer their insight and, if the audience is up to the challenge, they may be invited to participate. For more information.... Panel of professionals discusses business ethics The campus organizations Students In Free Enterprise (SIFE) and the Student Accounting Society (SAS), along with the help of the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA), are sponsoring a panel discussion about business and accounting ethics — a timely issue given the financial and ethical collapse of Enron. The panel discussion is set for Tuesday, Feb. 26, at 7 p.m. in the Harold and Eva White Activities Center (WAC). Members of the panel represent area businesses, including Deloitte & Touche — a professional services and accounting firm, Robert Half financial recruiting agency, a bank and a small business. Each will discuss, from a practitioner's perspective, ethical issues such as defining aggressive accounting practices and proper responses to confusing ethical situations, similar to those at Enron. Spirit Squad brings home the Gold  North
Central's Spirit Squad competed with other Division I schools on Feb.
17 in the Badger Cheerleading Dance Championship in Madison, Wis.
The Cheer Squad defended last year's championship taking First Place
in their division. The Dance Squad claimed Second Place competing
against several Division I schools. In a final ranking of all squads,
regardless of school size, the Cheer Squad placed 8th in a field of
51 schools, and the Dance Squad placed 10th in a field of 46.It's a Japanese tea ceremony As part of East Asian studies this term, visiting lecturer Yasuko Makita-Discekici will perform and explain the traditional Japanese Tea Ceremony on Tuesday, Feb. 26, from 1-1:50 p.m. in the dining room of WAC. The tea ceremony is performed only for special occasions, such as celebrating seasonal changes, and requires extensive training and schooling to lead the ceremony. Tips on personal safety If you've ever been concerned about how to better protect your property, personal belongings or even your person, plan to attend this informative session. The Communication Advisory Committee has invited Officer Steve Hochstetler to share personal safety tips with College faculty and staff on Thursday, Feb. 28, from 2-3 p.m., in Goldspohn Hall, room 20. Hochstetler is with the Community Education Crime Prevention Unit of the Naperville Police Department. Black History Month events • Wednesday, Feb. 27 — Speaker Brenda Verner will lecture about racism and sexism on college campuses. Sponsored by the Black Student Association, WAC, 7:30 p.m. • Thursday, Feb. 28 — Speaker Alex Correa will share his personal experiences in a presentation titled "To Hell and Back" about how he turned around his life of teenage crime. Sponsored by Raza Unida, WAC, 8 p.m. Chinese Vice Consul speaks on "China-U.S. Trade Relations" Feb. 28 The Office of International Programs is sponsoring a lecture by Li Jian — Vice Consul of the Economic and Commercial Office of the Consulate General of the People's Republic of China located in Chicago — who will discuss "Sino-U.S. Trade Relations and China's Entry into the World Trade organization" at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 28. Jian will speak in Heininger Auditorium. Jian's visit has been arranged by Yaping Chen, the College's Fulbright Scholar-in Residence from the People's Republic of China. Sports update The men's basketball team completed its season sweep of Illinois Wesleyan University with a 77-74 overtime win on Feb. 20. Ricky Hildreth '03 and Kevin Lambert '04 each scored 12 points in the win. The Cardinals close the season on Feb. 23 at Wheaton College. The women's basketball team concluded its season on Feb. 20 with a 53-41 loss at the hands of Elmhurst College. The team finished the season with an 8-17 overall record. Britt Jensen '04 led the Cardinals with 13 points. The women's swimming team placed second at the CCIW Championships on Feb. 14-16 with 471 points. The Cardinals qualified for nationals in 11 events including four relay events. The team won seven CCIW Championships and set five conference records in the process. Maureen Szweda '02 earned co-MVP honors for the fourth straight season. Szweda won three individual titles and swam on all four winning relays. Coach Denis Ryan earned CCIW "Women's Coach of the Year." The men's swim team placed fifth with 170 points. The wrestling team placed fourth at the CCIW Championships on Feb. 9 at Elmhurst College with 53 points. Josh McCarty '02 and Ricky Flores '02 both won individual titles. Flores earned the tournament's "Most Outstanding Wrestler" award after winning his third straight conference crown. Calendar View the calendar of events for the week of February 24-March 2, 2002. Tamara White, assistant director of student
activities for multicultural enrichment and leadership, attended
the Big 12 Conference on black student government in Columbia, Mo.,
on Feb. 1-2. Nine student leaders from North Central's Black Student
Association also attended. In December 2001, White also participated
as an intern in the Social Justice Training Institute (SJTI) — a
five-day workshop about diversity issues. February 24 Janet Gonyo, periodicals assistant, Oesterle Library 24 Nancy Dunker, public information assistant 25 Karl Kelley, professor and chair of psychology 25 Lisa Pettaway, assistant director of development 27 Sophie Hand, associate professor of French 27 William Krieger, visiting lecturer of information services March 02 Peggy Wiora, executive secretary/assistant to the president |
This Week is published
weekly during the academic year, except when the College is on break,
by the Office of Public Information. All information for This Week
may be dropped off in the Office of Public Information
located in Old Main, 4th floor, or emailed to nadunker@noctrl.edu.
Nancy Dunker, Erik Edlen, Carrie Fleszewski, Laura Pohl, Mary-Claire Uselding
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