.Student center offers finals week accomodations With fall semester finals looming, the Curry Student Center is making an effort to accommodate students’ needs during this stressful time. Beginning Thursday, building hours will be extended to 2 a.m., and the fourth-floor computer lab will be open every day from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., according to an announcement on the myNEU Web site. Study rooms are also being made available to individuals or groups of students looking to hit the books, and can be inquired about at the Scheduling Desk. afterHOURS is also joining in, offering light programming including mini golf and the movie “Mean Girls” on Thursday, as well as free coffee from 8 p.m. to 2 a.m. and a $3 breakfast special starting Thursday night and running through Wednesday, afterHOURS manager Jacqueline Indrisano said. “We’re figuring people will get a hankering for breakfast after studying for like five hours,” Indrisano said. “We want to be the place that when you’re so studied out and you just want to shake it off, you come here and have a cup of coffee and blow off some steam.”
Tim Robbins’ ‘Embedded’ to play at Blackman Actor and playwright Tim Robbins will be at Northeastern Dec. 9 and 10 to premiere “Embedded” to Boston audiences. The play, written and directed by Robbins, examines the relationship between the media and the government during war, according to a release from University Relations. Robbins, a well-known anti-Bush activist, riddles the play with humor including cynical front-line journalists and a show-tune singing colonel. It will be performed by The Actors’ Gang from Los Angeles, a group Robbins co-founded in 1981. “Embedded,” which premiered in Los Angeles on Nov. 15, 2003, will be performed in Blackman Auditorium. Tickets are $25; seniors and students $20, through the Northeastern University Ticket Center. Call 617-373-2247 for more information. The ticket center is open Monday through Friday, noon to 4 p.m. or online at www.centerforthearts.neu.edu.
Black Nativity features faculty, staff Langston Hughes’ “The Black Nativity,” featuring four NU faculty and staff members, is currently performing for its 35th year at the Tremont Temple at 88 Tremont St. “Black Nativity” is the biblical tale of the birth of Christ from an Afro-centric perspective, according to a University Relations release. Leonard Brown, associate professor of music; David Hall, professor in the School of Law; and Richard Harris, director of multicultural engineering, played the Three Kings. Joe Warren, an adjunct professor of African American studies and economics and a special assistant to the vice president of public affairs, is a consistent cast member and was also in the production as a soloist and in the chorus. Northeastern sponsored the Dec. 3 show, and other organizations have the opportunity to sponsor other shows through Dec. 19. Hall said although the turnout for Northeastern’s night could have been better, the production turned out “wonderful regardless of the numbers.” “It’s a very sacred performance and it’s an honor to be a part of that performance,” Hall said. “It’s special for members of the university, and special for those connected to the National Center for African American Arts. It’s one of the highlights of the holiday season.”
Contest brings ‘houses’ to homeless The fourth Annual Gingerbread Construction Contest will take place Dec. 9 at the Levine Marketplace in Stetson East. Out of the number of those who entered, 30 students will be randomly chosen to construct a house in Levine Marketplace and enter it in the contest to be judged. Each participant is also allowed to bring a friend to help with the process, said Deb Fantasia, marketing manager of dining services. “I just think it’s a fun thing for kids to do right before finals. It just takes their mind away from the stress of getting ready, and it gets everybody in the holiday spirit,” she said. Chartwells will be providing all the supplies necessary to construct a house, and Fantasia said she recently bought over 100 pounds of candy for the event. The finished products will be displayed Friday in the Levine Marketplace, and students and faculty are invited to come cast their vote for the best houses. There will also be cash prizes of $100, $75 and $50 awarded to first, second and third place, respectively. Fantasia said after the winners are picked, all the houses are given to local charities including the Pine Street Inn homeless shelter, Rosie’s Place and The Fenway Project. “It’s a great thing because when we take them down to Rosie’s Place, the people standing in line waiting for a hot meal get to see all these houses,” she said.
Students write letters for charity Students recently banded together in an effort to fight cancer. Up Till Dawn, a student group which takes its name from the annual event it puts on, held the Up Till Dawn event on Dec. 1 in afterHOURS from 8 to 11 p.m. The program, which is a letter-writing party, raises money for St. Jude’s Children Research Hospital in Memphis, Tenn., which deals with children sick with cancer, said program coordinator Kristen Bunnell. “People write letters to family and friends asking for donations,” she said. The letters were recently sent out and the amount of money raised will not be available for another couple of months, Bunnell said. It is important, Bunnell said, for college students to get involved in a charitable organization. “I think it’s a worthy cause to be raising money for children with cancer,” Bunnell said.
