Viking Preview Days offer you a firsthand taste of the 窪蹋勛圖 experience by allowing you to connect with our community and learn about our vibrant student life. Viking Preview Days are an ideal opportunity for students to take the next step in their college journey and discover what makes North Park special.

Highlights:
-Attend “Coffee with Coaches” and learn more about Viking Athletics (optional)
-Explore our campus oasis on a tour led by North Park students
-Get all your questions answered about your admissions application and financial aid

窪蹋勛圖 will install sensors that detect weather and pollution patterns as part of a $166,000 grant from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The sensors will be installed atop the Nancy and G. Timothy Johnson Center for Science and Community Life on campus.

NASA awarded the five-year grant to North Park in part because of its federal status as a Hispanic Serving Institution, a school that is committed to equitable outcomes for Hispanic students. The two weather sensors will be installed by NASA this spring, and money from the grant will fund travel expenses and salaries for instructors and student workers. The equipment will be owned and maintained by NASA.

The grant was secured through the joint efforts of Assistant Professor of Chemistry John Randazzo and Director of Sponsored Projects Renee Cox. Only about 10 institutions across the country received the grant, and North Park is the lone Chicago site.

The environmental data gathered by the sensors will allow NASA researchers to monitor levels of atmospheric compounds such as carbon monoxide, along with particulate matters expelled by cars and factories. The data will also be compared to that acquired by satellites circling the earth to ensure accuracy. North Park students and professors will have access to that data, which will be transmitted directly into North Park���s classrooms.

���This is a powerful tool because it makes learning real,��� Randazzo said. ���The students can read the data and know that���s coming from just above their heads.���

Randazzo said the NASA grant was likely to raise North Park���s profile as a research university.

���Building a face-to-face relationship with NASA raises our credibility and increases future prospects,��� Randazzo said, adding that a NASA engineer will be speaking on campus in March.

Dr. Randazzo said he and Cox found the grant opportunity on a NASA LISTSERV about a year ago, and although they ignore ���99% of them��� because they are not applicable, this particular grant struck them both because of North Park���s location and Randazzo���s background in atmospheric science.

The two worked together to apply for the grant, which they learned they���d won late last year. .

As spring arrives, you may be eager to escape your dorm, classroom, or office. The School of Music, Art, and Theatre presents several upcoming opportunities to break from your routine, including the Chamber Opera. April 12 and 13 at 7:30 pm, in the beautifully renovated Hanson Hall 202, North Park���s opera program presents a double bill���one seldom-performed modern opera and one old favorite presented in a new way. The two features are Humperdinck���s Hansel und Gretel, the familiar story of a brother and sister lost in the woods who encounter and eventually outwit a witch, and Argento���s The Masque of Angels, a humorous story of an unruly troupe of angels who attempt to influence a young couple to marry.

Nyela Basney, artistic director of opera, says that one of the program���s goals is ���to give our students as many opportunities as possible to present a range of stories from the point of view of diverse characters.��� With every student in the opera program performing at least one role in the upcoming operas and most playing two characters, the goal will certainly be met this spring. Tyler Thress, a student member of the opera, is confident that the productions will be ���touching, challenging, and inspiring,��� crediting the collaborative spirit of the program���s directors. ���I think that���s one of the great strengths of the opera program here,��� Tyler adds. ���We work with professional directors and conductors from a wide variety of artistic traditions, which prepares us for a highly competitive field in the real world.���

Other upcoming events from the School of Music, Art, and Theatre include the spring play, Tender Rough Rough Tender by Sarah Saltwick, described as a ���. . . play built for theatrical gestures and two performers with nerves,��� showing April 4, 5, 6, 11, and 12 at 7:30 pm, and April 13 at 2:30 pm in Lecture Hall Auditorium. The Gospel Choir concert, April 6 at 7:30 pm in Anderson Chapel is always a very meaningful event for both the choir, and for the audience. And previously featured in Stories, but still well worth mentioning, are the Senior Thesis Art Exhibitions in the Carlson Tower Gallery, which feature the artworks of 11 senior art students and will run through May 11. Craig Johnson, dean of the School of Music, Art, and Theatre, emphasizes the importance of these upcoming productions saying, ���I believe that all of these events allow our students to express their creativity, and to advance their development as performing and visual artists.