Students see it during the daily rush down Baer Mall, on their way to class or to eat another meal at the cafeteria. They pass it without a second glance, assuming it has nothing more to offer. Some call it the fish sculpture, an aquatic skeleton of geometric design. If one were to tilt her head sideways it also seems to resemble a horizontal cross.

The debate on gay marriage is one that will not cease any time soon. With the recent ruling of Proposition 8 as unconstitutional, the issue is only growing more and more.

With February coming to a close, many students are starting to think about how they are going to spend their summer. For some students this means trying to find a summer internship, and for those who are graduating, it means finding a full time job.

Dr. Yi-Lan (Elaine) Niu completed her master's degree in voice at the Eastman School of Music and her doctoral degree in vocal performance at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Throughout her academic career, Dr. Niu has been the recipient of numerous awards and scholarships including the Joyce and William Wartmann Scholarship, UW-Madison Opera Props Award, and scholarships to the Hot Springs Music Festival, the Madison Early Music Festival, and the Vancouver Early Music Festival.

Dr. Niu joined the music faculty at SNC in 2007. During the past five years, she has taught applied voice, vocal diction and pedagogy, vocal literature and the general education class Introduction to Opera. Dr. Niu is a passionate educator and enjoys preparing courses and helping students. In addition to teaching, Dr. Niu performs both nationally and internationally; her performances have been broadcast on National Public Radio in both the United States and Taiwan. She actively premieres new works written for her and regularly collaborates with professionals in different artistic fields to create unique performance experiences.

Dr. Niu just recently completed her faculty collaborative project "The Shape of Words" with Professor April Beiswenger from Theater Studies in which they combined the art of vocal music and costume design. Past projects have included "Image & Sound: A Reproduction" (2011) in which Dr. Niu and Professor Brian Pirman explored the possibilities of using photography to add meaning to musical text, and "Turning Old Pages, Singing New Notes" (2009) in which Dr. Niu collaborated with Norbertine priest Father James Neilson in the presentation of new music and book art.

As an advocate of new music, Dr. Niu has premiered the epic "Requiem" for solo voice and orchestra and "A Star" for voice and guitar by Alexander Nohai-Seaman and the Chinese "Yuan Songs" for soprano and guitar by Jerry (Chi-Wei) Hui. As an early music enthusiast, Niu has performed masterworks by J.S. Bach, J. Dowland, H. Schütz, C. Monterverdi, B. Strozzi, and A. Scarlatti. Her numerous operatic roles have included Clorinda in "Combattimento di Tancredi e Clorinda," Costanza in "La Griselda," Serpina in "La Serva Padrona," and Papagena in "The Magic Flute."

Dr. Niu is very happy to be part of the SNC family, a place she calls "her second home." In addition to her busy teaching schedule, Dr. Niu's scholarship activities and projects include two recitals in Iowa and South Dakota this spring, an early music concert in the fall, and a New York concert series during the spring of 2013.

At first, four and a half months seemed like it would be quite a long time to spend abroad. But let me tell you, this first month has gone by in a blink of an eye.

The generosity of the Michels family has given SNC the gift of a lifetime: a powerful recruiting tool, a gathering space to experience communio and enhance the overall SNC student experience.  The stunning transformation of the "old caf" into Ruth's Marketplace and Dale's Sports Lounge is breathtaking; from the architecture, to the platform cooking stations, to the comfy booths in Dale's, the results are incredible.

I graduated in May 2011 with a B.A. in English. At the moment, I'm a marketing coordinator at a company that, unfortunately, will not be named in accordance with Policy 516(a) of my employee handbook. 

Hey friends, greetings from Liverpool, England! This short article is just to highlight a few interesting differences between things here and in the States.

Wisconsin is known for its unpredictable winter weather. As many have noticed, winter 2011-2012 has been unusually warm. There have been the expected cold days where gloves or mittens are needed, but there have been plenty of days where wearing a sweatshirt has been more appropriate.

With a new year comes new resolutions. Just like any other year, people around the world have made their own New Year's resolutions for 2012. But how many of these resolutions are actually kept throughout the year?