News Bureau

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Award-winning translator Dalya Bilu will deliver a lecture titled "Women's Writing in Israel" on April 19 at the Levis Faculty Center on the University of Illinois campus.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Haiku expert Lee Gurga will lead a workshop on the art of writing haiku, a form of Japanese verse, on April 7 at Japan House on the University of Illinois campus.

A Minute With™... computer science professor Sheldon H. Jacobson

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Six academic professionals will receive 2010 Chancellor's Academic Professional Excellence awards at a reception April 1 at the I Hotel and Conference Center. Academic professionals perform a wide range of critical functions for the campus community and beyond. They provide critical administrative support, support research laboratories and educational programs, and offer important outreach programs throughout the state. Now in its 22nd year, the awards are intended to honor the accomplishments and contributions of individuals in this employment category.

LAN support specialist Michael Hallihan is a self-described “anti-geek” who manages technology needs for the College of Medicine by day and abandons computers by night, when he spends more time working on his house or cooking for his family.

The March 4 student election included a Sustainable Campus Referendum that raised the Sustainable Campus Fee from $5 to $14 per semester.

Champaign and Urbana last year began to offer the community a car-sharing program called Zipcar. The company, which now has about 500 members in the area, allows users to pay for the use of a car only when they need it.

Changes to university statutes and to the campus grade-replacement policy were ratified at the Urbana-Champaign Senate meeting March 29.

Six academic professionals will receive 2010 Chancellor's Academic Professional Excellence awards at a reception April 1 at the I Hotel and Conference Center. Academic professionals perform a wide range of critical functions for the campus community and beyond. They provide critical administrative support, support research laboratories and educational programs, and offer important outreach programs throughout the state. Now in its 22nd year, the awards are intended to honor the accomplishments and contributions of individuals in this employment category.

I write to provide an update on some of our recent activities regarding the campus budget. It is tremendously gratifying to see how much interest and engagement there is across campus in the Stewarding Excellence @ Illinois effort.

Champaign County residents, according to the Illinois BRFSS, meet the standard. The survey shows that 28 percent of Illinoisans don't get any exercise.

The recent murder of three people with ties to the U.S. consulate in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, presumably by gunmen in a drug cartel, has drawn the attention of top U.S. officials. Last week, key cabinet members of the Obama administration met with Mexican president Felipe Calderon to discuss the worsening drug-related violence on the U.S./Mexico border. Anthropology and Latino Studies professor Alejandro Lugo, the author of an award-winning book about working class border life and death in Ciudad Juárez, discusses the causes of, and potential solutions to, the violence that threatens both nations. News Bureau Life Sciences Editor Diana Yates compiled the questions.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Timothy P. Shriver, the chairman and chief executive officer of Special Olympics International, will be the speaker at the 139th U. of I. Commencement on May 16.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - The rock opera "Pink Floyd: The Wall" and the Vietnam War epic "Apolcalypse Now" are the headliners at the 12th annual Roger Ebert's Film Festival, also known as "Ebertfest," April 21-25 in Champaign-Urbana.

A Minute With™... crop sciences professor John Masiunas

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Sabina Alkire, a Champaign native and director of the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative at the University of Oxford, will deliver the annual Marjorie Hall Thulin Lecture on Religion and Contemporary Culture at the University of Illinois.

A Minute With™... Rob Olshansky, a professor of urban and regional planning

Office support specialist Wendy Gooch is in charge of making sure the inner workings of the School of Labor and Employment Relations office run smoothly. Whether she’s coordinating visits from company recruiters or keeping track of student data for the graduate programs, she’s always busy and enjoys her office’s team atmosphere.

At the March 10 UI Board of Trustees meeting in Urbana, UI President Stanley O. Ikenberry introduced the possibility of an accelerated degree program that would let students finish their bachelor's degrees in fewer than four years.

The Allerton Park and Retreat Center near Monticello is doing its part for the environment. Its sustainability efforts include the recent installation of an outdoor wood-burning boiler that heats five park buildings: the visitor's center greenhouse, public restrooms, operations building and two workshops.

At its March 10 meeting, the UI Board of Trustees approved the appointment of 25 faculty members as Center for Advanced Study fellows and associates for the 2010-11 academic year.

Five more review teams are examining another set of campus programs to determine possible cost savings or revenue generation as part of the Stewarding Excellence @ Illinois initiative.

Units under review, gaps in state funding, furlough days, terminal contracts. No doubt many UI employees are feeling stressed. They should be aware of a valuable resource that can help them deal with the anxiety they're feeling.

A series of break-ins to campus buildings resulting in theft and vandalism has shown the need for faculty and staff members to be alert.

The Assembly Hall will introduce a pilot alcohol sales program this month at select shows targeted toward adults. Alcohol sales will be limited to beer and wine. The pilot program is in effect at Cirque du Soleil's "Alegria," which continues through March 21, and "Cabaret" on April 24.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Four people have been chosen to receive honorary degrees during the 139th commencement of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign on May 16 at the Assembly Hall, 1800 S. First St., Champaign.

 A Minute With™... historian James Barrett

A Minute With™... law professor Robert Lawless

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Six faculty members and eight graduate students from the Illinois campus have been awarded fellowships by the Ilinois Program for the Research in the Humanities for 2010-2011. The fellowships support research and writing over the coming academic year on topics proposed by the recipients.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Two University of Illinois alumni and several faculty members will be among the authors who will present their work and discuss current issues in publishing during the Early Spring Literary Festival at the University of Illinois.

Helen Katz’s UI career began more than 45 years ago when she was a college freshman. She’s glad things have come full circle for her. The office specialist in the College of Education’s department of educational psychology says interacting with students and professors who are learning about learning is what makes her job worthwhile. 

In the face of falling state revenue, budget review teams have begun evaluating the first four areas targeted for cost savings on the Urbana campus. In addition, the Stewarding Excellence @ Illinois Web site is soliciting ideas for approaches to address financial and educational challenges, as well as ways to generate more money.

Krannert Center for the Performing Arts has received a $450,000 0 percent interest loan from the UI Student Sustainability Committee and a $225,000 grant from the Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation to replace 550 lamps and fixtures in its lobby with energy efficient light-emitting diode lights.

At its Feb. 22 meeting, the Urbana-Champaign Senate continued discussion of the budget-review process, and approved a change in university statute language defining the president’s position.

A Minute With™...  Mary Kalantzis, the dean of the College of Education

A Minute With™... law professor Richard L. Kaplan

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Six Urbana campus faculty members have been recognized as University Scholars. The program recognizes excellence while helping to identify and retain the university's most talented teachers, scholars and researchers. The faculty members were honored at a dinner Feb. 15 in Champaign.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - What is the life cycle of your new laptop computer and what's being done to make the flat-panel televisions that are flying off store shelves

Chris Mechling is no stranger to the restaurant business. Her family used to own Chris’ Candy Shop in downtown Champaign. Now, the food service administrator at  the Beckman Café in the Beckman Institute talks about why working at UI is the best job she’s ever had.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Two University of Illinois faculty members have been selected to receive 2010 Sloan Research Fellowships from the Alfred P. Sloan foundation: Yann R. Chemla, a professor of physics, and Karrie Karahalios, a professor of computer science.

Doing its part for the environment, Campus Recreation has altered some aspects of its facility that will save money and energy.

Officials and police at the UI are again working with area police agencies and city and state officials to plan for Unofficial St. Patrick's Day, a commercial event expected to take place March 5.

More than 200 faculty and staff members attended this year’s faculty retreat Feb. 5 to learn more about a skill many are familiar with in research, but not as knowledgeable about as it applies to teaching: collaboration.

CHAMPAIGN, lll. - University of Illinois entomologist May R. Berenbaum is the 2009 recipient of the Public Understanding of Science and Technology Award from the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

A Minute With™...

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - The Moms Association of the University of Illinois has selected Karen Chapman-Novakofski, a professor of food science and human nutrition, as the recipient of the 2010 Medallion of Honor Award.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Tamara Fuller has been appointed director of the Children and Family Research Center at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - The final work composed by Austrian-born pianist Viktor Ullmann prior to his death at the German concentration camp at Auschwitz will be the focal point of a Feb. 17 concert and lecture at the University of Illinois.

A Minute With™... advertising professor Michael Giardina

Illini Union Bookstore Assistant Manager Shirley Barnhart says she has loved every minute of her time at Illinois since she began as an employee in 1965. She’s been in her current position with the bookstore – textbook manager – since 1987. Here, she gives her insight about her job and why book rush never gets old.