PUBLICATIONS Inside Illinois Vol. 20, No. 5, Sept. 7, 2000

Brief notes

Be afraid!
Computer Fear Film Festival is Sept. 9
The fictional birthplace of the world's first diabolical computer and the home of one of the world's top computer science programs is holding its first "Computer Fear Film Festival."

The UI, home of Hal -- the cyberhero-turned-cyberpsycho from the movie "2001" -- is hosting the inaugural film festival Sept. 9 in Foellinger Auditorium. Nicknamed CF3, the festival seeks to "bring out in the open people's fears of computers -- of robots and hackers, of world domination by computers, of male domination of computer science and of technology replacing or threatening people," said Marsha Woodbury, the festival adviser. "By addressing our fears we can better adjust to the age we live in." Festival events are free and open to the public.

Woodbury, a UI faculty member in computer science, said that the organizers also hope to show the public "not only how many women are in computer science, but also why they are needed, and how welcome others would be." With regard to the movies to be shown, Woodbury said: "Our motto is 'The worse the film, the better' -- although some of these films are pretty darned good."

CF3 will have a different theme each year. This year's theme is robots.

Before and after each feature film, short subjects featuring computer-generated videos and music will be shown, provided by the UI Association for Computing Machinery. ACM is the world's largest computer organization.

A series of events, including panel discussions, will precede the film festival. All free and open to the public, these events, Sept. 8 in 404 Illini Union, include: 9:30 a.m., a film, "Minerva's Machine," and a discussion about women in computer science; 11 a.m., a panel discussion on computer fear. In addition, demonstrations of projects from the UI Engineering Open House will be on display, including "Project Earthlight," by Andrew Wu, and a robotics demonstration by ACM.

The festival, presented by the UI Women in Computer Science and ACM, is a takeoff on a popular annual UI event, the "Insect Fear Film Festival."

"Given that imitation is the greatest form of flattery," Woodbury said, "the CF3 openly borrows from the 'Insect Fear Film Festival,' but instead of playing on our fear of bees, ants and wasps, we focus on our fear of technology, science and change."

CAS/MillerComm
Free lecture series begins
The following is an incomplete list of this fall's Center for Advanced Study/MillerComm lecture series at the UI.

The series, begun in 1973 and supported with funds from the George A. Miller Endowment and various co-sponsoring campus units, provides a forum for discourse on a range of topics spanning the university's many disciplines.

CAS/MillerComm talks are free and open to the public.

• Serge Schmemann, deputy foreign editor, New York Times, will discuss "Russia's Fate: A Journalist's Personal Encounter With His Native Land." (Sept. 11, 7:30 p.m. 407 Levis Faculty Center)
• Susannah Heschel, the Eli Black professor of Jewish Studies at Dartmouth College and the Paul and Ann Krouse Visiting Scholar at the UI, will address the topic "When Jesus Was an Aryan: Collisions Between Jewish and Christian Theologians in Modern Germany." (Sept. 12, 7:30 p.m., third floor, Levis Faculty Center)
  
• Donald Kohn, professor of pediatrics and of molecular microbiology and immunology, University of Southern California, and the director of the John Connell Gene Therapy Program, Children's Hospital, Los Angeles, will discuss "The Ethical and Social Implications of Human Medical Genetics." (Sept. 13, 7:30 p.m., 407 Levis Faculty Center)
• Amy Dean, the president of the Labor Council of South Bay, AFL-CIO, San Jose, Calif., will talk about "Renewing Democracy, Revitalizing Our Communities: Labor's Call for Sharing Prosperity in the New Economy." (Sept. 19, 7:30 p.m., Wagner Education Center, Institute of Labor and Industrial Relations Building)
  
• Arjun Raina, a dancer, actor and writer, will give a lecture-
  demonstration on "Dancing Across Boundaries: Kathakali, Shakespeare and Folk Performances." (Sept. 21, 7:30 p.m., Smith Hall)
• Kevin Dunbar, professor of psychology and director of the Laboratory for Complex Thinking and Scientific Reasoning, McGill University, will give a talk titled "Inside the Scientific Mind: How Scientists Think, Reason and Generate New Knowledge." (Sept. 27, 7:30 p.m., Beckman Institute auditorium

More information is available on the Web at www.cas.uiuc.edu or by calling 333-1118.

"Race, Crime and the Law" author
Baum Memorial Lecture is Sept. 19
Randall Kennedy, a professor at Harvard Law School, will deliver the annual David C. Baum Memorial Lecture on Civil Liberties and Civil Rights. He will discuss how the legal system responds to the use of a racial epithet. The lecture, at 4 p.m. Sept. 19, will be in the Max L. Rowe Auditorium in the College of Law Building.

Kennedy is the author of "Race, Crime and the Law" and teaches courses on freedom of expression and the legal regulation of race relations. Born in Columbia, S.C., he was educated at St. Albans School, Princeton University, Oxford University and the Yale Law School. He writes for a number of scholarly and general interest publications and sits on the editorial boards of The Nation, Dissent and The American Prospect.

KCPA benefits from sale
Costume and prop sale is Sept. 9
Krannert Center for the Performing Arts is hosting its sixth costume and prop sale. The biennial sale features costumes, vintage clothing, furniture and other items. The sale is from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sept. 9 in the Colwell Playhouse.

Proceeds from the sale will be used to upgrade equipment and storage capabilities for the Krannert Center costume and prop shops.

Program in South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies
Film series features South Asia
The Program in South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies, in cooperation with the Unit for Cinema Studies, is offering a film series this fall. "Past, Present and Politics: South Asian Identities" is the first film series at the UI dealing with South Asia and has been organized by Simona Sawhney, professor of comparative literature and of linguistics. The series includes documentaries, comedies and socio-political dramas that focus on various aspects of South Asian identity.

The films are being shown at 7:30 p.m. in Room 66 Library on alternate Wednesdays. Screenings are open to the public and will be followed by discussion.

"Miss India Georgia," a film about a beauty pageant for young Indian women in the American South, will be featured on Sept. 20.

A complete listing of films can be found at www.uiuc.edu/providers/psames/.

Second Sunday Concert
Sasakis to perform Sept. 10
UI trumpet professor Ray Sasaki and pianist Jeanne Dayton Sasaki open the 12th season of WILL-FM's Second Sunday Concerts on Sept. 10. Also performing are two ensembles that include Ray Sasaki — the Tone Road Ramblers and JQ.

Each free Second Sunday concert begins at 2 p.m. at the Krannert Art Museum and Kinkead Pavilion, and also will be broadcast live on WILL-FM (90.9/101.1 in Champaign-Urbana).

The Sasakis will perform "Celebration for Trumpet and Piano," by Thomas Fredrickson and "Suite for Trumpet and Piano," by Alec Wilder. The Tone Road Ramblers will perform Salvatore Martirano's "Thrown," a composition he wrote for the group. Martirano, a UI music professor, died in 1995. The Tone Road Ramblers include Dorothy Martirano, violin; Eric Mandat, clarinet; Ray Sasaki, trumpet; Morgan Powell, trombone; Jim Staley, trombone; and Steve Butters, percussion.

The jazz group JQ will perform "Blues March," by Benny Golson. In addition to Ray Sasaki and Powell, members are Don Heitler, piano; Dan Anderson, tuba; and Bill French, drums. Ray Sasaki also will perform "Beatitudes for Ray," written for him by Powell.

Second Sunday Concerts are a joint venture of WILL-FM, the UI School of Music and the Krannert Art Museum.

Campus GradeBook
Workshops are Sept. 14, 18, 26
Free workshops are being offered for Campus GradeBook, a networked, secure computer program that allows faculty members to maintain their course grades. It also gives faculty members the option of allowing students access to their final grade as well as intermediate scores on homework, labs, exams, etc.

Workshops are offered for faculty members, teaching assistants and staff members who want to use GradeBook. The first workshop will be from 10 to 11:30 a.m. Sept. 14. This workshop will be repeated from 2:30 to 4 p.m. Sept. 18 and again from 1:30 to 3 p.m. Sept. 26. All three workshops will be in 146 Everitt.

To register for the free workshops, e-mail t-keith1@illinois.edu with your name, department and network ID or call Toni Wendler at 333-3490. A network ID is required to set up a practice gradebook for participants to use during the workshops. For more information about GradeBook, visit www.uiuc.edu/ccso/gradebook/.

On the Town
Film series features city life
The Illinois Program for Research in the Humanities (IPRH) is presenting a film series titled "On the Town: The City in Film." All screenings will begin at 4 p.m. in the auditorium (Room 62) of the Krannert Art Museum. The IPRH film series is free and open to the public.

The documentary "Roger and Me" (1989) will be shown on Sept. 27. The "Roger" of the title is Roger Smith, who was General Motors chairman when the film was shot; the "Me" is filmmaker Michael Moore, who embarks on a quest to confront Smith about the GM plant closings in Moore's hometown of Flint, Mich., that left the city and its residents in ruins. The award-winning documentary is full of scathing humor and biting satire.

Other features throughout the semester include "Metropolis" (1926) on Oct. 18; "After Hours" (1985) on Nov. 8; and "Koyaanisqatsi" (1983) on Nov. 29.

For more information, contact Christine Catanzarite at catanzar@illinois.edu or 244-7913. Additional information also can be found on the IPRH Web page at www.iprh.uiuc.edu.

UIECU
Credit union offers workshops
The UI Employees Credit Union is offering the following free financial services workshops to UI employees (credit-union members and non-members).

All workshops begin at 7 p.m. and will be at the Credit Union, 2201 S. First St., Champaign. Reservations are required. Call 278-7768 or e-mail membfinsrv@uiecu.org to make reservations.

The Testing Center
Proctor pool helps instructors
The Testing Center is offering a proctor pool program, designed to assist professors or graduate students who need additional help monitoring undergraduate exams. Proctors are graduate students hired only to help monitor exams. Under no circumstances are they to be left alone or left in charge of an exam.

The free program is designed to work on a first-come first-serve basis and proctors are limited. Requests for proctors must be received at the Testing Center at least two weeks prior to the exam date. For further information, contact the Testing Center at 333-3706.

The program is funded by the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs.

Board of Trustees
Hearing to review women's status
As part of its review of the status of women within the university, the board of trustees will hold a hearing from 8:30 a.m. until noon Sept. 15 to receive comments from campus constituencies about the status of women on campus. It will be in the Illini Union's Pine Lounge.

Anyone wishing to make comments to the trustees on this subject may obtain a registration form at the board of trustees office (Room 352, Henry Administration Building), or online at www.uillinois.edu/trustees/index.html. Registration forms must be completed and returned to the board office, submitted online, or returned by fax (244-2282) before 5 p.m. Sept. 11.

Questions should be directed to the board of trustees office, by fax or e-mail to womenhrg@uillinois.edu.

New global culture explored
Ford series begins Sept. 13
Faculty members and graduate students are invited to participate in this semester's Ford Seminar series, offered Thursdays from 9 a.m to noon in 101 International Studies Building, beginning Sept. 13.

The theme of this year's faculty/graduate seminar (FAA/LAS 492), coordinated by musicology professor Tom Turino, is "Transnational Cultural Industries and Local Sites of Artistic Production." History professor Poshek Fu coordinates a similar program for undergraduates.

Faculty members and graduate students from throughout the campus are encouraged to participate in the seminars on a drop-in basis throughout the semester.

Lectures and discussions will be focused on a wide range of topics related to the worldwide exportation of popular cultural styles from the United States and Europe, which underlie the current identification of a new "global culture." Specifically, the seminar will investigate the impact of transnational culture industries on local artists, artistic practices and products through comparative regional case studies. Participants also will explore the concrete processes by which distinctive local cultural styles enter transnational markets and the transformation of artists, art forms and markets through these conjunctures.

Throughout the academic year, the seminar series will be augmented with a number of cultural activities, such as film showings and concerts, which are open to the public.

Upcoming seminar topics include "Unsettled Business: Rumor, Scandal and the Intercultural Space on the Australian Aboriginal Art Market," presented Sept. 13 by New York University anthropology professor Fred Meyers; and "Zimbabwe Music and the World Music Market," on Sept. 20, led by Turino and Forward Kwenda and Erica Azim of the musical ensemble MBIRA.

MBIRA will perform a free concert at 8 p.m. Sept. 22 in the Music Building auditorium.

The annual seminar is part of an ongoing program administered by the Office of Institutional and Faculty International Collaboration, with financial support from the Ford Foundation, International Programs and Studies, the Office of the Provost and the colleges of Fine and Applied Arts and of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

For more information about subsequent Ford seminars and activities, check the calendar pages of future editions of Inside Illinois.

Urbana professor one of three featured artists
I space features stone sculptures
Stone sculptures -- old and new -- are the focus of two exhibitions on view Sept. 7 through Oct. 7 at I space, the Chicago gallery of the UI's Urbana-Champaign campus.

"Sheela-na-gig: Tracing the Walled Women" brings together the work of three artists who traveled throughout Ireland on a quest to research and respond to the grotesque-looking stone architectural figures that embellish the exteriors of that country's churches and castles, as well as bridges and gates. The Sheela icons, which date to the 11th and 12th centuries, have been described as female counterparts to the gargoyle and are believed to be derived from a medieval fascination with paganism. The exact meaning of the figures is hard to trace; some believe them to be female fertility figures; others claim they ward off evil spirits.

The I space exhibition includes photography, mixed media and installation work by the three scholar-artists: Sarah Krepp, an Urbana professor of painting; Veronica Nicholson, a free-lance photographer and artist from Burren, County Clare, Ireland; and Jo Yarrington, a professor and chair of the department of visual and performing arts at Fairfield University in Connecticut.

Also on view at I space through Oct. 7 is "Sculpture and Drawing," by Canadian contemporary artist Ted Rettig. The exhibition will feature two ovoid, carved stones; an installation piece featuring a cubic stone and wooden boxes arranged in a circle; as well as four prints and a selection of drawings.

An opening reception for both exhibitions is scheduled for 5 to 7 p.m. Sept. 8 at the gallery, 230 W. Superior St., Chicago.

I space gallery hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.