News Bureau

Giveaways to gambling interests in Illinois have robbed state coffers of billions of dollars, says John W. Kindt, an emeritus professor of business and legal policy at the University of Illinois.

Illinois Newsroom – the statewide, seven-station journalism collaborative, spearheaded by Illinois Public Media and funded through a $715,000 grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting as well as support from the public media partner newsrooms – launches with the appointment of a new leader.

Choreographer and Illinois dance professor Tere O’Connor will talk about his approach to choreography when he gives the Center for Advanced Study Annual Lecture on Oct. 25.

Many know Robert Zuppke (1879-1957) as Illinois’ longest-serving football coach, whose teams won or tied for four national championships and seven conference championships between 1913 and 1941. But he also was an in-demand motivational speaker, a syndicated sports writer, co-author of a popular sports comic strip and an accomplished and prolific artist.

The University of Illinois Wind Symphony will present its “Orange and Boo” concert at 3 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 30, in Foellinger Great Hall in the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts.

Student groups offer camaraderie, opportunities to lead

Startup develops wearable systems for road safety

Underrepresented students make the most of fellowships in animal biology

Student group leads in membership, awards and enthusiasm

Resources await at the Center for Wounded Veterans in Higher Education

TED Talks have nothing on Illinois Athletic Director and Illinois alumnus Josh Whitman

U of I team designs “bark park”

By the time this issue of Postmarks is in your hands, we'll be well into the fall semester at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Paralympic medalist and U. of I. graduate Tatyana McFadden will serve as the grand marshal of the 2016 Homecoming Parade, which takes place Friday, Oct. 28 from 6 to 7 p.m.

Descriptions of the white working-class often paint a one-dimensional picture, whereas the reality is more complex, says Illinois sociology professor Monica McDermott, the author of “Working-Class White.”

John B. Claar ... Eileene E. Foil ... Willie V. Johnson ... Joseph Rotman

A U. of I. journalism alumnus who is now the newsroom attorney for The New York Times got some unexpected online attention last week. The focus of that attention was his response to an open letter from Donald Trump’s attorney, demanding the paper retract and apologize for a story. McCraw’s brief letter to the attorney, published on the Times site, went viral on social media and shot to the top of the paper's most-read content. In an interview, he talks about the letter, his job and what he learned at Illinois.

About 90 local schools will welcome award-winning authors and book illustrators as part of the University of Illinois’ 2016 Youth Literature Festival.

James Canull ... Brenda Faul ... Dixie Nell (Mayol) Heath ... Richard P. "Dick" Kesler ... The Rev. Dr. Steven Robert Shoemaker

The University of Illinois’ family leave policy was revised recently to remove a teaching requirement for tenure-track faculty members after the birth or adoption of a child.

Chelsea Guillen, the early intervention ombudsman for the Early Intervention Training Program at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, will serve as a statewide ambassador to spearhead use of newly recommended practices for the care and education of young children with disabilities. Guillen joins a group of 16 experts chosen by the Early Childhood Technical Assistance Center at the Frank Porter Graham Child Development Institute.

The fifth annual Materials Research Laboratory Biological Conference will be held Nov. 2-3 at the laboratory on the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign campus.

The annual All Employee Expo will take place Tuesday, Oct. 18, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Illini Union, 1401 W. Green St., Urbana, in rooms A, B and C.

A new research project led by University of Illinois recreation, sport and tourism professor Matthew Browning intends to explore how urban forestry affects health care spending, and then build a free online modeling tool city arborists can use to estimate their communities’ potential rate of return on their investments in parks and other natural elements.

William Patrick "Bill" Myers ... Guy E. Shumard

University of Illinois art professor Conrad Bakker's interest in Henry David Thoreau, and in the artificiality of objects, led him to create a sculpture of Thoreau's cabin.

The 60,000 square-foot, state-of-the-art facility will cultivate interdisciplinary design thinking and will foster innovation in undergraduate and graduate curricula in multiple colleges.

The Illinois School of Architecture’s Master of Architecture degree program is among DesignIntelligence Quarterly’s “Top 25 Programs 2016-17 According to Hiring Professionals.” The ranking of National Architectural Accrediting Board-accredited degree programs appears in DesignIntelligence’s third quarter 2016 issue. DesignIntelligence compiles the rankings from a survey of professional practitioners who hire and supervise graduates of architecture programs.

The Audiology Clinic at Illinois is offering free hearing screenings through Nov. 18. Screenings appointments may be scheduled by calling 217-333-2230. The clinic does not schedule appointments via email.

The polarization and dysfunction in Congress has spread in recent years to the voting public, says professor Thomas Rudolph, but it’s more about simply disliking political opponents than differences over ideology.

The Champaign Park District invites the community to celebrate the 25th year of the Tribute to Olympic and Paralympic Athletes monument on Saturday, Oct. 1, at noon at Dodds Park.

Beverly Louise Casey ... Dawn Ellen Corey ... Berniece A. Lincoln ... Marilyn V. Lynch ... Jesse Robinson ... Gloria A. Von Behren

Qian Chen, an assistant professor of materials science and engineering, has been named to Science News SN10: Scientists to Watch. Chen is coaxing nanomaterials to self-assemble in new and unexpected ways to mimic the machinery that living cells have already perfected. 
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University Primary School, the laboratory school of the College of Education, will host an open house for the community on Wednesday, Oct. 19, at Children’s Research Center, 51 Gerty Drive, Champaign.

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign researchers and instructors have the opportunity to learn about the information technology services that are available to them by attending the Faculty Technology Summit. The event will take place in Illini Union Rooms A, B, and C on Wednesday, Oct. 5, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Six Urbana campus faculty members have been named University Scholars and will be honored at a campus reception Sept. 26 from 4:30 to 6 p.m. in the ballroom of the Alice Campbell Alumni Center, 601 S. Lincoln Ave., Urbana.

Cara A. Finnegan, a professor of communication at Illinois, recently received the National Communication Association’s 2016 James A. Winans and Herbert A. Wichelns Memorial Award for Distinguished Scholarship in Rhetoric and Public Address.

Peter Feuille ... Leonard Heumann ... Ruth Marilyn Newman ... William H. "Bill" Peterson

Although Americans overwhelmingly support nondiscrimination protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people, no state has enacted significant new legislation protecting them against discrimination in housing, hiring and public accommodations since 2008, says Robin Fretwell Wilson, the Roger and Stephany Joslin Professor of Law and the director of the Program in Family Law and Policy at the University of Illinois College of Law.

Immigration, migration and refugees – topics that have loomed over both the U.S. presidential campaign and world politics – will be the subject of a two-day conference Monday and Tuesday (Sept. 26-27) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Detailed findings from the Sexual Misconduct and Perceived Campus Response Climate survey, which was administered to University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign students in fall 2015, are available online.

The Office of Volunteer Programs is co-sponsoring the Campus and Community Food Drive with the Eastern Illinois Foodbank, iHelp and Student Alumni Ambassadors on Saturday, Sept. 24 and Tuesday, Sept. 27.

This year’s collection goal is 3,000 meals, with every 1.2 pounds of food equaling one meal. The state of hunger in Illinois is alarming: 22 percent of children live in poverty, 33 percent of the population is in poverty or very close to it, and 7 percent are in extreme poverty.  In Champaign County, 40,848 people live in poverty.

“This year, we are modifying what was previously known as Cans Across the Quad,” said John Race, program advisor for the Office of Volunteer Programs. “We are excited about this new format and think it will be more accessible for people to participate in and meet our goal.”

Participants should bring nonperishable packaged or canned goods. Meats and fish, complete meals, fruit and peanut butter are the most requested items. The Eastern Illinois Foodbank will collect all donations at the end of the event and distribute the contributions to food shelters across the county.

Drop-off times are Saturday from 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on the Quad and from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Alice Campbell Alumni Center. On Tuesday, donations will be accepted at the Alice Campbell Alumni Center from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The Quad is located directly south of the Illini Union, 1401 W. Green St., Urbana. The Alice Campbell Alumni Center is located at 601 S. Lincoln Ave., Urbana. Cans that are dented, rusted or expired cannot be accepted.

The University of Illinois Press announced the debut of a new logo in anticipation of its upcoming 100-year anniversary.

Founded in 1918, the University of Illinois Press publishes 33 scholarly journals and 100 new books per year, distributed worldwide, with 2,500 books currently in print. The Press's publishing program promotes research and education, enriches cultural and intellectual life and fosters regional pride and accomplishments, enhancing and extending the reputation of the University of Illinois.

U. of I. anthropology professor Kathryn Clancy supports a federal legislative effort that would require universities to report – and federal funding agencies to consider – findings that any university professor engaged in discrimination on the basis of sex. 

Bree Newsome, the community organizer and activist who removed the Confederate battle flag from the South Carolina Statehouse in 2015 after the Charleston shootings, will be the keynote speaker for this year’s iUnite Week.

Her talk, titled “Tearing Hatred from the Sky,” will be presented Tuesday, Sept. 20, at 7 p.m. in rooms A, B and C at the Illini Union, 1401 W. Green St., Urbana. The event is sponsored by the Office of Inclusion and Intercultural Relations, Inclusive Illinois and the Illini Union Board. The event is open to the public.

Newsome established herself as a touchstone of empowerment for disenfranchised people around the world when she tore down the Confederate flag  in the name of social justice and equality. A graduate of New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, Newsome blends her artistic talents with her activism, encouraging audiences to transform society into a world where the lives and contributions of all individuals are recognized equally.

Each year, faculty members are invited to submit scholarly and creative proposals for consideration by the Center for Advanced Study’s permanent professors. Faculty members with winning proposals are appointed associates (tenured) or fellows (untenured) and are awarded one semester of release time to pursue their projects in the coming year.

Robert Sapolsky, a science writer, biologist, neuroscientist and stress expert, will present his lecture “Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers: Stress and Health” Thursday, Sept. 22, at 6:30 p.m. at the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, Colwell Playhouse.

A project called the Human Library is designed to challenge stereotypes by bringing people together to talk. A newly formed Champaign-Urbana chapter of the Human Library will hold its first event Sept. 22 as part of the Pygmalion Festival.

Robert G. "Bob" Carlier ... Melvin Thomas "Tom" Davisson ... Danny A. Goad ... Leonard Heumann

The dedication of Wassaja Hall began Thursday with the sound of drums and a song sung in Comanche by the OtterTrail drum group, from the Peoria Tribe in Oklahoma. The dedication of the new student residence hall, held in the Student Dining and Residential Program Building due to inclement weather, is a celebration of the legacy of Wassaja, later known as Carlos Montezuma, who in 1884 became the first Native American to graduate from the University of Illinois, said Alma Sealine, the director of University Housing, the first of six speakers at the event.