OPPORTUNITY COSTS. The Student Association continues its open meetings on the future of Cole Hall.

Among the lesser-voiced opinions Thursday night was to reopen the building without renovations.

“There are other buildings on campus that are in far worse shape and could really use the funds,” said student and campus custodial worker Pete Suffield, who added he understands the sensitivity surrounding the issue. “Those auditoriums are crucial, and leaving them closed for an extended period of time isn't right. We are facing a space crunch.”

The editorial board at the Northern Star issues another challenge to apathetic students.

Please show up.

Or start to shine to the idea of attending class in Blago Hall in a few years.

In related news, some future Huskies changed their birthday plans to help us.

Two local seventh graders gave a big gift to NIU on Thursday in memory of the victims of the Feb. 14 shootings.

Jaylene Thompson and Nick Bourdages, both 12, gave up their birthday gifts this year in favor of making a large donation to NIU. They held a combined birthday party March 13 and had friends donate money instead of gifts.

The pair raised $580 dollars from 35 of their friends to donate to the Feb. 14 Student Scholarship Fund, set up by the university to memorialize the fallen students.

“We wanted to give to charity,” Thompson said. “And when the shooting occurred, NIU seemed like the perfect one.”

Both Thompson and Bourdages are students at St. Mary School in DeKalb. Bourdages’ older brother, Austin, is a freshman at NIU.

President John Peters accepted the donation Thursday, thanking Thompson and Bourdages for their gift and rewarding them with gift bags of NIU apparel.

“My faith is renewed in our young people,” Peters said. “I’m strengthened in my commitment to make sure they get a good education.”

Peters said there have been more than 900 donors to the scholarship fund, totaling more than $200,000.

“This will continue, from what we know from Virginia Tech,” Peters said, referring to the large number of donations received after last year’s shooting at VT. “I can’t think of a better way to memorialize our fallen students.”

Peters was eager to meet the two students, saying there must be an outlet when the people in the community are moved to make such an effort.

“I never miss an opportunity to meet with young people,” Peters said. “I see so much potential in them. They are the future of the country.”

Today was our first open house since the shootings (Good Friday often functions as a school holiday leading into spring break, church-and-state notwithstanding.) The turnout was good, with yet another snowstorm providing a confounding explanation for any fall-off in attendance. The storm made for truth in packaging: this is Northern Illinois. There is one weather-related inconvenience. Cole Hall offers a 100 yard shortcut out of the elements between the central and west campuses. That shortcut has been unavailable.