PUBLICATIONS Inside Illinois Vol. 27, No. 9, Nov. 6, 2008

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Brief Notes

McKinley Health Center

Free flu shots available

Flu shots (influenza vaccine) are now available Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at no charge to benefits-eligible faculty and staff members, retirees and state employees at McKinley Health Center.

UI employees should present an ID with their iniversity identification number and proof of state health insurance. State employees should present proof of state health insurance and one other form of identification. The last four digits of an employee’s Social Security Number may also be requested.

Benefits eligible is defined as a state or university employee receiving health benefits from the state on the basis of their employment and not as a dependent of another staff member. Any active or retired state employee who is enrolled in a state-sponsored health insurance plan is eligible.

Robert Wood

Dancer-choreographer presents exhibition of photos

Artistic director, dancer and choreographer Robert Wood will present selected photographs from his repertory works in an exhibition that opens Nov. 11 at the Illinois Program for Research in the Humanities.

Wood has 25 years’ professional concert stage experience as a soloist and featured artist in several New York dance companies, including his own, Robert Wood Dance New York Inc. Wood also is a George A. Miller Visiting Professor at the UI through the Center for Advanced Study.

The exhibition, “exPoSure: dance and Photography in Dialogue or “emanation: anthropologie of dance in Photography or exPoSure: Emanations of Choreography in Photography,” spans the period 1977-2004 of Wood’s career and features work by photographer Chris Ramirez, of The New York Times; Laura Boccaletti, an American fashion photographer; and Italian photographer Alessandro Botticelli.

The event, at the Humanities Lecture Hall at IPRH, will begin at 7 p.m. and is free and open to the public. It will feature a presentation by Wood, followed by a reception. The exhibition will be on view through Dec. 10.

For more information, contact the program at 244-3344.

Sanda Weigl

'Downtown gypsy queen' to perform Nov. 8

As part of her first U.S. tour, “Gypsy in a Tree,” Romanian-born singer Sanda Weigl will perform at 8 p.m. Nov. 8 in the Illini Union’s Courtyard Cafe. The concert is free and open to the public.

Known by New York City’s avant-garde cognoscenti as “the downtown gypsy queen,” Weigl is internationally celebrated for her potent, contemporary interpretation of Romanian gypsy music, which she learned as a child on the streets of Bucharest.

For the UI performance, she will be backed by her jazz trio: Shoko Nagai, piano, accordion; Kermit Driscoll, bass; and Satoshi Takeishi, percussion.

A former child star on Romanian television, Weigl has an almost theatrical past that also includes political persecution, rock stardom in East Berlin, and – after being declared an enemy of the state – imprisonment and expulsion from that country. In West Berlin, she began a new career in theater, collaborating with some of the world’s most noted directors and performers. Her work at the Schiller Theater led her back to music – to performances in Hamburg with the band from the Robert Wilson/Tom Waits production “The Black Rider.”

After moving to New York in 1992, she has performed at the JVC Jazz Festival, Joe’s Pub, The Kitting Factory and the Neue Gallerie. She was interviewed by National Public Radio host Scott Simon earlier this month on Weekend Edition Saturday.

Weigl’s UI concert is co-sponsored by the Romanian Student Club and New York’s Romanian Cultural Institute.

Science and Archaeology Symposium

Conference on archaeological science

The Program on Ancient Technologies and Archaeological Materials, a division of the Illinois Transportation Archaeological Research Program, will host a regional conference on archaeological science Nov. 7 on the third floor of the Levis Faculty Center.

Archaeological science, or archaeometry, is the interface between archaeology and the natural and physical sciences. This interdisciplinary field encompasses both the study of early technologies (flint knapping, ceramics, weaving, etc.) and analyses of archaeological and art historical materials using modern instrumental techniques.

As the field has grown, new applications in biochemistry, soil science, medicine, geophysical prospection and computer imaging have attracted a host of new specialists in areas such as the reconstruction of early environments and diets by analyzing bones and teeth, tracing the migration of peoples by means of ancient DNA, textiles analysis, site mapping and digital enhancement of ancient writing.

Fifteen-minute papers will be presented and posters will be displayed throughout the day. Topics include an update on the UI mummy project, imaging of ancient Near Eastern cylinder seals at the Spurlock Museum, analyses of ceramics, metals, bone, paleosols, coprolites and archaeometry underwater. The conference runs from 8:15 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. with a 90-minute break for lunch. The conference schedule is posted on the program’s Web site.

For more information, contact Sarah Wisseman, director of the Program on Ancient Technologies and Archaeological Materials, at wisarc@illinois.edu.

Author’s Roundtable series

Tim Dean to discuss upcoming book

A new discussion series sponsored by the Unit for Criticism and Interpretive Theory at the UI is bringing together authors and UI scholars to discuss recent books. The Author’s Roundtable series, which began earlier this semester, gives invited scholars opportunities to discuss their work with a panel of UI faculty members and graduate students in a conversational setting.

On Dec. 8, Tim Dean will discuss his upcoming book “Unlimited Intimacy: Reflections on the Subculture of Barebacking” (University of Chicago Press, May 2009). Dean is a professor of English and an associate faculty member in the Center for the Study of Psychoanalysis and Culture and the department of comparative literature at the State University of New York at Buffalo.

Barebacking, a term that originated in gay slang and now is used to describe any act of sexual penetration without condoms, is writing “a new chapter in the history of sexuality and of AIDS” through a subculture that produces an alternative approach to kinship and an alternative to normative sexuality, according to Dean.

Responding to Dean’s work will be Matti Bunzl, director of the Program in Jewish Culture and Society and a professor in the department of history, the Gender and Women Studies Program and other units; and Cris Mayo, professor of gender and women’s studies and of educational policy studies.

The talk begins at 8 p.m. in the Music Room of Levis Faculty Center.

Marrow for Tomorrow

Free concert at The Canopy Club

As part of the Krannert Center District, Krannert Center is lending its support for a free concert at The Canopy Club from 4 to 11 p.m. Nov. 9 to raise awareness for the National Marrow Donor Program.

The concert includes The Tons ‘O’ Fun Band (4 p.m.), Doxi (5:15 p.m.), Dr. Wu’s Rock & Soul Revue (6:30 p.m.), Weapons of Mass Disfunktion (7:45 p.m.), Connor Grant (9 p.m.) and Stone Creek (10:15 p.m.).

The program is a “nonprofit organization dedicated to creating an opportunity for all patients to receive the bone marrow or umbilical cord blood transplant they need, when they need it,” according to its Web site.

A simple cheek swab test is all it takes to join the global movement to become a bone-marrow donor and help those looking for a life-saving donor match. During this event, the National Marrow Donor Program will pay the testing cost.

The registry is particularly in need of donors who are black or African American; American Indian or Alaska Native; Asian; Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander; Hispanic or Latino and mixed heritage.

Following the concert, there will be a free showing of “The 40-Year-Old Virgin” starring Steve Carell.

Martirano Award Concert

Graduate student wins competition

Abel Paúl, a 24-year-old graduate student composer at the Universität der Künste in Berlin is the winner of the 12th annual Salvatore Martirano Memorial Composition Award Competition at the UI.

Paúl will have his composition, “fragmentos del vertigo,” performed by the UI New Music Ensemble, Stephen Taylor and Mei-Fang Lin, conductors, at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 18 in the Foellinger Great Hall of the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts.

Paúl, who is originally from Vitoria, Spain, will receive the $1,000 award and attend the concert and present his music at a Composer’s Forum at 3 p.m. in Room 1201 of the Music Building. The forum is free and open to the public.

The program also will feature UI music professor Sever Tipei’s “Dux Markovians With Trees,” with Tipei conducting the ensemble; two electro-acoustic works by UI graduate student composers Daesoon Hwang and Ju Ri Seo; and a presentation of the original video of Salvatore Martirano’s “Underworld” for four actors, four percussion, two string basses, tenor sax and two channel tape. “Underworld” was commissioned by the Fromm Foundation in 1964, and Martirano produced the video in 1982.

The UI School of Music sponsors the Martirano Composition Award competition and concert each year in memory of Martirano, a UI professor of composition from 1963 to 1995, who died soon after retiring. Since it started in 1996, the competition has drawn more than 2,092 entries from all over the world.

American Music Month

Lincoln-themed concerts, exhibits

For the fifth year, November is American Music Month at the UI.

The Urbana campus’ Sousa Archives and Center for American Music will host American Music Month, an annual concert series that celebrates the rich tapestry of American music through a series of themed concerts, lectures, master classes and exhibitions. This year’s theme explores the dynamic traditions of Civil War-era music, and the impact of Abraham Lincoln’s legacy on our musical heritage.

This year’s festivities began with an exhibition titled “Creative Industry Forging New Music Horizons.” Highlighting the evolution of early music instrument design and music composition practices of the 19th and 20th centuries, the exhibition also will feature historical documents, photographs, music manuscripts, sound recordings and artifacts in the center’s newly renovated museum space.

Other activities planned include a performance by Anthony Brown’s Asian American Jazz Orchestra; the grand re-opening of the newly renovated archives and center; the fourth annual Granny’s Porch concert at the Virginia Theatre, with traditional old-time music and dance; and a gala 19th-century dance featuring dance callers, a fiddler and the 10th Illinois Volunteer Cavalry Band in full Civil War-era military dress.

The center is part of the UI Library and the University Archives. It acquires and preserves significant archival records and historical artifacts in multiple media formats that document America’s local and national music history and its diverse cultures, said Scott Schwartz, archivist of the center and organizer of the event.

The center’s collections are used for scholarly research, exhibitions, journalism, documentary productions, school programs, music performances and other research and educational activities. The center actively pursues alliances inside and outside the university community, and, as necessary, financial support.

More information is available on the Web at www.library.uiuc.edu/sousa/ or by calling 244-9309.

Campus open house

How to teach and learn with technology

An open house on Teaching and Learning With Technology will be held at the Illini Union between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. Nov.17.

The event, which is co-sponsored by Campus Information Technologies and Educational Services, the Office of Continuing Education and the UI Library, is intended to help faculty and staff members explore the latest technologies available on campus to enhance the pedagogical process. It also provides attendees with an opportunity to interact with staff members who can help adapt technologies to courses and programs.

Demonstrations of various technologies, a resource area to interact with staff members who assist faculty members with effective uses of technology, and networking opportunities will be available.

The noon brown-bag keynote address on “The Era of Ubiquitous Learning,” presented by UI professor Nicholas C. Burbules, will provide an opportunity for deeper exploration of the impact of technology on teaching and learning. 

This event is open to the public; refreshments will be served. A detailed schedule and list of the technologies that will be showcased is on the Web at www.conferences.uiuc.edu/learningtech. For more information, call 333-2880.

Inner Voices

Performances address body image

INNER VOICES Social Issues Theatre presents: “Freeze! Body Police … Any Image You Project May Be Used Against You!” with free performances Nov. 18 through Dec. 4.

The presentation will be a powerful, poignant and humorous look at the forces that shape the concepts of body image in two, one-act plays: “Eleanor,” by Julia Sullivan and “Buy This Play,” by Eric Roth and Charles Menchaca.

Performance dates: Nov. 18 in the Peabody Private Dining Hall; Nov. 19 in the Busey-Evans Residence Hall; Nov. 20 in Allen Hall Main Lounge; Dec. 2 in the Lambda Chi Alpha House, 209 E. Armory; Dec. 3 in the Illinois Street Residence Hall; and Dec. 4 in the Florida Avenue Residence Hall. Beginning at 8 p.m., each performance is followed by a discussion with audience members. For more information call 244-5919.

INNER VOICES Social Issues Theatre is sponsored by the Counseling Center, McKinley Health Center and the department of theatre.

Annual heating transition

F&S asks campus community for help

Facilities and Services is beginning its annual transition from cooling to heating, which can take up to several weeks to ensure all buildings are properly converted and regulated.

Turning on the heat at the UI is not as simple as flipping a switch. F&S employees work three shifts, 24 hours a day, to get the systems running. Steam heating, especially in older facilities, must be brought up slowly, and once running, kept constant. Cooling down and heating up numerous times can cause system failures. When the system is running, adjustments will be necessary to properly regulate the buildings.

If uncomfortable situations are encountered during this time, remember many research projects involve animals or high tech equipment – both of which are more sensitive to temperature fluctuations than people – and must be responded to first. Nevertheless, F&S will make every reasonable effort to attend to human comfort in a timely fashion.

Remember, if windows must be opened to regulate temperature, close them upon leaving.

Student Sustainability Committee

Proposals requested by Nov. 17

The UI Student Sustainability Committee requests proposals to help determine how to distribute its annual $560,000 budget in self-imposed student fees.

The committee is a campus organization whose purpose is to “explore the options for the use of student fees for sustainability and alternative energy generation and evaluate the feasibility of projects being discussed with the professional assistance of engineers in the Division of Facilities and Services,” according to its Web site.

Students pay a $2 Student Clean Energy Technology Fee and a $5 Sustainability Fee that funds sustainability, energy efficiency and renewable energy projects. The committee requests project proposals related to sustainability.

Project proposals are due Nov. 17 and applications will be accepted spring 2009. Additional information about the committee, including the complete request for proposals, can be found on its Web site, http://illinois.edu/goto/ssc.

Four reduced-service days

Plan now for the holidays

Civil service and academic professional employees are reminded that there are four reduced-service days during this year’s holiday schedule.

Employees have two floating holidays that can be used any time from July 1, 2008, until June 30, 2009, which can be used to cover two of the four reduced-service days.

Departments are strongly encouraged to begin planning for this period and to discuss these plans with employees. Employees should review their leave balances available for usage during the reduced-service days. An exact list of the holidays and reduced service days for December and January can be found at: www.pso.uiuc.edu/holiday_schedule_2008-09.htm.

Questions regarding reduced-service days may be directed to Corbin Smith, manager of labor and employee relations, at 333-3105, or Sharon Reynolds, associate director of academic human resources, at 333-6747.

Public Square

Open forum aims to enrich discourse

The campus community is invited to the Public Square, an informal open forum at the Illinois Program for Research in the Humanities, on Nov. 12.

The program planners hope the forum becomes a series of discussions throughout the year, so that members of the campus community can engage in open conversation over wine and cheese about ideas, projects, interdisciplinary exchanges and new possibilities that will enrich humanities scholarship and discourse at the UI.

The first Public Square will be held from 4 to 6 p.m. at IPRH. For more information on the program’s upcoming events, log onto www.iprh.uiuc.edu/calendar_of_events.htm.

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