February 17, 2000 / Volume 19, Number 15
News Bureau | Calendar | II Info | II Archives
- Computers present new possibilities, dangers for educators
- Are computers in the classroom good or bad for teaching? Will hooking schools to the Internet save or destroy education? Nicholas Burbules doesn't like these questions, doesn't like the either/or, pro-con, technophile-versus-technophobe debate. As he and co-author Thomas Callister Jr. note on the first page of a new book on the subject, "No one would think today to pose questions such as, 'Are blackboards good or bad for teaching? Do textbooks help children learn?' They are simply part of the way things are."
- Child-adoption laws shortchange long-term caregivers
- Compromises sometimes work and sometimes don't. In the realm of child-adoption laws, a compromise crafted by Illinois to deal with court challenges by biological fathers has contributed to a "legal limbo" where the child loses, a UI professor of law says.
Trustees announce plan for 'Chief dialogue'
Senate members to continue discussions at Feb. 21 meeting
Researchers create out-of-this world film for planetarium opening
'Y&R' scripts, memorabilia on display through March 20
Anthology features lesser known poets as well as icons
UI couples find advantages to sharing same employer
UI adds two more living/learning communities to housing roster
Workplace violence training offered ... WILL airs UIS documentary Feb. 28 ... Apply for travel fund by March 1 ... Play addresses hate crimes ... Activities promote food and fitness ... Sinfonia celebrates American spirit ... Symposium examines Russia ... Youth invited to campus April 27 ... Apply for pre-school by April 1 ... Interdisciplinary event is Feb. 21 ... U.S.-Cuban relations examined ... Citizen Police Academy offered ... Black History Month event s contiune throughout Feburary ... Your View Point
Are computers in the classroom good or bad for teaching? Will hooking schools to the Internet save or destroy education?
Nicholas Burbules doesn't like these questions, doesn't like the either/or, pro-con, technophile-versus-technophobe debate. As he and co-author Thomas Callister Jr. note on the first page of a new book on the subject, "No one would think today to pose questions such as, 'Are blackboards good or bad for teaching? Do textbooks help children learn?' They are simply part of the way things are."
The same is becoming true for computers and the Internet, they argue, in "Watch IT: The Risks and Promises of Information Technologies in Education," published by Westview Press. Burbules is a professor of educational policy studies at the UI; Callister is a professor and chair of the department of education at Whitman College in Washington.
"New technologies in education have become an educational issue, a challenge, an opportunity, a risk, a necessity -- all of these -- for reasons that have little to do with willful choices made by educators," the authors note. Such technologies have become important in work, in society and in "a host of learning opportunities outside of the control of schools."
Educators have no choice but to deal with the issues raised by these new technologies, and with "the good, the bad and the unknown" that comes with them, Burbules said.
"Computers are going to become the basic medium of education -- the basic medium of education -- for a large part of our student population. Schools are either going to deal with that, or they're not going to deal with that, but that's going to happen," he said.
From the authors' "post-technocratic" perspective, these technologies bring with them "a mixture of transformative possibilities and deeply disturbing prospects." Between the good and bad, between the technophilia and the technophobia, "are the much, much tougher choices," Burbules said.
The book looks at issues such as access, censorship, privacy, commercialization, and information glut, all of which, they argue, present educators with complex and contradictory choices.
Technology boosters who see the computer as a panacea in education place too much faith in the technology itself, the authors note. Those who see it as just a tool place too much faith in people's foresight and restraint, not recognizing there will be unintended consequences or that the tool will change the user. Those who would just throw it out risk making themselves irrelevant, Burbules said.
"This isn't just another new tool being brought into the classroom,"
he said. "This is going to have transformative effects on the way schools
are organized, the way classrooms are organized, the ways in which teachers
interact with students. [Computers] raise new issues and new challenges
unlike anything we've faced before. And there's every reason to think that
the educational institutions that we have in this society are going to look
-- in 10 years, certainly in 20 years -- totally different."
Compromises sometimes work and sometimes don't. In the realm of child-adoption laws, a compromise crafted by Illinois to deal with court challenges by biological fathers has contributed to a "legal limbo" where the child loses, a UI professor of law says.
In response to a case involving Richard, a 4-year-old taken from the home of his caregivers by a father he never knew, the General Assembly passed a law in 1995 allowing courts to award long-term custodial rights to prospective parents when the biological father succeeds in blocking adoption.
"While a decided improvement over the alternative of a traumatic change in custody," David D. Meyer wrote in the Arizona Law Review, the statute fell "significantly short of the goal of maximizing the child's welfare." Such an arrangement also left the caregivers in a state of "parental purgatory" where they were "something more than temporary custodians, but something less than true parents." Similar problems were found in other state adoption laws.
The prospect of losing custody of a child -- or coming under repeated legal challenges by a late-appearing biological father -- has led many couples to refuse to adopt U.S. children and to look overseas. (A biological mother generally surrenders her parental rights when she puts a child up for adoption.)
When a biological father contests an adoption, two options are available: Return the child to the custody of the biological father (as the Illinois Supreme Court did in the so-called Baby Richard case) or leave the child in the custody of the non-parents, but without any prospect of adoption.
Meyer advocates a third option: Make the caregivers true parents through a "non-exclusive adoption" approved by the courts. In this model, the adoptive parents would have full status and decision-making authority over the child, but the biological father would retain the right of visitation and communication with the child.
Non-exclusive adoption "would remove the nagging sense of vulnerability and impermanence that characterize many guardianship arrangements," Meyer argued. It also would get around many thorny issues regarding the father's constitutional rights to due process.
In Stanley vs. Illinois, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1972 that Illinois authorities could not summarily take custody of three children just because the biological father was not married to the mother. Since then, judges nationwide have given greater latitude to biological fathers deemed of good moral character who wished to develop a relationship with their offspring.
However, Meyer wrote, the high court has not dealt squarely with the
legal and social ramifications of so-called "faultless fathers"
who are largely or completely unknown to their children when they seek custody.
"The Board of Trustees reaffirmed its commitment to dialogue on Jan. 13, and today's announcement is a tangible expression of that commitment," he said.
Engelbrecht said that the university would retain a senior legal professional to help gather opinion on Chief Illiniwek, symbol of the Urbana campus's athletic teams, and present it to the board in a form that would allow the board to respond to particular points in an organized way.
The first step, he said, will be opinion solicitation. Students, faculty and staff members, alumni and the general public will be invited to submit their opinions in writing.
Submissions may be sent to Dialogue on Chief Illiniwek, P.O. Box 5052, Champaign, IL 61825 or to dialogue@uillinois.edu. The deadline for submissions will be May 31.
The board will hold a Special Intake Session on the Urbana campus April 14. Anyone is welcome to present his or her view.
The senior legal professional will compile all the communications received, including a transcript of the Special Intake Session as well as the letters and e-mails.
The senior legal professional will prepare a three-part report consisting of 1) an executive summary of the various arguments made about this issue from all points of view, 2) a distillation of these arguments into particular points to which the board will reply, and 3) an appendix consisting of the transcript of the Special Intake Session and all communications received. All members of the board of trustees will receive this report Aug. 1, and it will be available to the press and general public.
Engelbrecht said that the board will hold a Special Response Session on the Urbana campus in the fall at which it will respond to the various issues as presented by the senior legal professional. The board also may choose to issue general statements or adopt resolutions at that or a later time.
"This plan should allow all opinions to be heard and allow the board to respond to all of the issues raised during the process. I urge everyone interested in this issue to offer his or her opinion. We'll be listening," he said.
Engelbrecht said that further details about the Special Intake Session would be announced soon.
Information about the special dialogue on Chief Illiniwek can be found on the Web at www.uiuc.edu/dialogue.
TO JOIN THE DISCUSSION
Send comments by May 31 to:
Attend these forums:
Senate members to continue discussions at Feb. 21 meeting
A Valentine's Day Senate meeting contained so much debate that members will meet again Feb. 21 to take care of unfinished business, including revising university statutes that concern the dismissal of academic professionals.
Action was expected on the faculty nominees to the Athletic Board at the Feb. 14 meeting, but a vote was postponed because the two candidates, Matthew Wheeler, professor of animal sciences and director of the Transgenic Animal Facility at the Biotechnology Center, and Donald J. Wuebbles, professor of atmospheric sciences, were not present to take questions.
Senate faculty member Thomas Anderson, professor of educational psychology and of guided individual study, asked that the item be tabled until Wheeler and Wuebbles could attend to answer questions on their views on the retiring of Chief Illiniwek and other athletic board issues. Anderson said he didn't believe the biographical information about the candidates made clear their stands on those issues. It is not known if Wheeler or Wuebbles will attend the March 20 meeting since they are under no obligation to do so. It's also possible the slate of candidates could change by March.
The vote to table passed 51-42. The senate did approve the nominations of two student representatives, David E. Fletcher of law and Amanda Vinicky, liberal arts and sciences. The chancellor will select one faculty member and one student from the slate of nominees for the positions. Faculty members serve four years on the athletic board; students serve one year.
The issue of Chief Illiniwek was raised again during the meeting when Stephen Kaufman, professor of cell and structural biology, asked Chancellor Michael Aiken whether or not the chief is an "educational issue" at the UI.
According to Kaufman, a UI spokesperson was quoted in a letter to a newspaper as having said that the Chief was an educational issue. Aiken disagreed, saying that the point was accreditation rather than education. Aiken pointed out that the board has agreed to establish a dialogue about the Chief issue, and that a statement explaining how that dialogue will be conducted will be issued within the next few days.
In other matters, the Senate approved the 2001-2002 academic calendar, which includes a one-week fall break the week of Thanksgiving. But that drew some criticism from faculty members who objected to the fact that they were being asked to approve a calendar that has already been printed in the campus Timetable.
Scott Martin, professor of food science and human nutrition and chair of the calendar committee, told the Senate that this kind of late vote likely won't happen again, and that calendars for the next three years will be presented for a vote this semester.
The calendar sets Aug. 22, 2001, as the start date for instruction and final exams will end Dec. 15. The spring semester will begin Jan. 14, 2002, and final exams will end May 10. Commencement will be May 12.
Some faculty members objected to the Aug. 22 start date, saying it was too early in the fall, and one objected to classes starting mid-week, rather than on a Monday.
In other matters, the Senate tabled action on a proposal concerning students' General Education requirements. The proposal from the General Education Board suggested that students be required to have six hours, rather than nine hours, in each of the following areas: natural science and technology; humanities and the arts; and social and behavioral sciences.
About 10 years ago, the Senate approved General Education requirements that called for the nine-hour requirements in each of those areas to be imposed. But the General Education Board now recommends continuing with the six-hour requirements in those areas, citing for one reason a shortage of faculty members to teach the additional courses needed. The GEB also suggests that increasing requirements could have an adverse impact on students, such as raising the total number of graduation hours, and limiting the number of electives students could take in some programs.
"It's sad to see this come before the Senate this way," said Richard Schacht, professor of philosophy and a Jubilee Professor of Liberal Arts and Sciences. "This is a retreat from the vision we had in 1989."
Schacht said the attitudes of too many students are professionally oriented, and that the UI should continue to counter with an emphasis on the broader education offered through general education courses.
Several others spoke about their concerns for the change and Provost Richard Herman suggested the matter be tabled for further study from the General Education Board members.
And lastly, in a somewhat confusing exchange at times, Senate members agreed to a resolution that directs the nine Urbana campus delegates to the University Senates Conference to re-instate some language into a proposed amendment for "Sanctions Other than Dismissal" for faculty members in the University Statutes.
This amendment has bounced back and forth from each of the three university campus senates to the University Senates Conference and as one faculty member said, it has the potential to "go on and on indefinitely" before an agreement is reached. Monday, the Senate directed its delegates to reinsert language that provides for due process hearing procedures and that addressed other language issues. The resolution also calls for the delegates to seek the advice and help of law professor Matthew Finkin. In addition, the resolution asks that the USC submit its final version for approval by the three senates.
The meeting will continue at 3:10 p.m. Feb. 21 in Foellinger Auditorium, when members take up a similar revision in statutes concerning terms of employment and dismissal for academic professionals.
Researchers create out-of-this world film for planetarium opening
While collaborating on a dramatic digital sky show that promises to dazzle audiences at a newly constructed planetarium in New York City with never-before-seen images of the universe, UI art and design professor Donna Cox wasn't quite herself.
To her colleagues -- most of whom worked simultaneously with her in real time at remote locations -- Cox appeared on their workstation monitors in the form of a disembodied, animated yellow smiley-face icon. Likewise, her colleagues morphed into icons of their own, otherwise known in the vocabulary of the wizards of virtual reality as avatars.
In reality, Cox herself was at the UI's National Center for Supercomputing Applications, in the virtual reality lab known as the CAVE. There, outfitted in VR glasses and magnetic tracker wand, she worked hand in hand with members of the National Computational Science Alliance's cosmology team. Team members included Mike Norman, who like Cox, was at the supercomputing center; Brent Tully at the University of Hawaii; Jeremiah Ostriker, Princeton University; and research scientists at the American Museum of Natural History in New York. The glue linking them all together and enabling them to render animations from huge datasets representing galaxy clusters and other astronomical bodies was a software program called Virtual Director. The tool was developed in 1994 by Cox and two other artists: NCSA's Robert Patterson and Marcus Thiebaux of the Electronic Visualization Laboratory at the UI at Chicago.
The result of the collaboration involving Cox, Patterson, the cosmology team and software specialist Stuart Levy is a four-minute visualization segment, which Cox said gives audiences the sensation of " 'flying' -- from Earth, out of the Milky Way, through observed galaxies and into the superstructure beyond." The visualizations are part of a 17-minute opener for Hayden Planetarium programs using the Digital Dome System, the showcase of the museum's new Frederick Phineas and Sandra Priest Rose Center for Earth and Space, a 333,500 square-foot exhibition and research facility scheduled to open Feb. 19.
The space show was created using astronomical data provided by Tully, along with computer simulations from Ostriker and postdoctoral researcher Paul Bode. Data from the planetarium's own database as well as those of NASA and the European Space Agency also were incorporated.
Cox said the virtual fly-through captured in the animation represents "a snapshot view of today's universe." And that snapshot reveals just a small section of the big picture. "We're still looking through the hole in the fence and seeing only a part of the elephant," Cox said.
With the completion of the grand-opening show, Cox and collaborators are moving forward with a new project: directing real-time programs at the planetarium from NCSA's CAVE. In the meantime, she is "in the throes of production" on another project -- an HDTV production called "Mapping the Universe," which will air in October on the PBS "Nova" series.
More information about collaborations using Virtual Director -- including images and movies -- is available on the Web at http://virdir.ncsa.uiuc.edu/virdir/universe.
Avatars provide virtual identity
Is it a bird? No! Is it a plane? No! Is it Superman?
Wrong again it's just UI education specialist Umesh Thakkar's Star Wars fighter-pilot avatar, "flying" through the 3-D space of colliding galaxies in the CAVE virtual environment at the Beckman.
For those still scratching their heads, keep reading here comes the primer:
"In the world of Virtual Reality, an avatar is the incarnation of the human in virtual space," according to language from a class assignment Donna Cox hands out to students enrolled in the two-course series, Art/Graphic Design 332 and 333. In other words, she adds, an avatar is "the visual representation of the person as a symbol in a synthetic computer graphics world."
Students in Cox's class are faced with the challenge of designing avatars that may be added to a whole palette of choices available to scientists and technical specialists working on a variety of research and visualization projects as colleagues in the National Computational Science Alliance. The collaborators communicate in real time by means of high-speed data networks, using a virtual-reality interface called Virtual Director. VD enables gestural motion capture and voice control of navigation, editing and recording in CAVEs and other types of VR environments -- at Beckman as well as at 80 to 100 similar sites throughout the world. Any number of collaborators can use VD from their various locations to communicate with each other and move through a shared virtual space in the form of avatars.
"The avatars indicate the location of the [represented] person in the virtual space," Cox said. "When you fly around in the space, the head part moves around. All avatars have a hand, too, so you can wave at one another."
Avatars can take just about any form -- from simple orange or yellow smiley face icons to Star Wars fighter-pilots, the latter of which, Cox said, are quite popular with the Beckman crowd. For a punch of real-life personality, individuals' photographs can be added to the icons as well.
When assigned to create avatars for a five-way collaboration at the Supercomputing '98 conference in Orlando, Fla., Cox's students "got very, very creative," she said. Student designs have run the gamut from angels, spaceships and "Jetson family mobiles" to flying televisions, squirrels and dogs, and Marilyn Monroe and Elvis icons.
"Nobody wanted to be angels for some reason," Cox said.
While such classroom experience will be invaluable to students who pursue careers in scientific visualization or virtual-reality-based fields, it can also be transferred to other areas. For instance, Cox said, avatars are frequently designed and incorporated into computer games.
Katz, an internationally known authority on childhood education, has been serving as a curriculum consultant for the Children's Television Workshop for several years. She met with CTW staff members to discuss the concepts and behaviors that should be addressed in the curriculum that will touch on a range of topics, including friendship, empathy, negotiation and conflict resolution. Producers are utilizing Katz's expertise in adults' roles in fostering the early development of social competence.
"Most people don't realize that every episode is based on a formal curriculum in which they spell out in advance a detailed plan for what should be learned," Katz said. "Social skills and social knowledge constitute one of the curriculum components, now receiving increasing emphasis in the current season's overall plans."
Although she was not involved in production details such as reading scripts, she did occasionally make suggestions based on viewing the pre-broadcast tapes.
Katz came to the UI in 1968 and has been director of ERIC Clearinghouse on Elementary and Early Childhood Education for 30 years.
'Y&R' scripts, memorabilia on display through March 20
Showcases that typically display rare and priceless Bibles now are featuring scriptures of another kind -- the scripture according to daytime television.
Scripts, story lines, color photographs, bios, reference works and other memorabilia that document the award-winning television series "The Young and the Restless" are on display through March 20 in the UI Rare Book and Special Collections Library. Instead of a catalog, visitors to the exhibit in Room 346 Library can take home an actual script (duplicate copy) from the show.
While not exactly rare -- the Library now has "thousands upon thousands of them" -- the Y&R scripts "are considered modern manuscripts," said Nancy Romero, the Rare Book and Special Collections librarian who put up the display.
The scripts, which have been flowing into the library in bunches over the past few years, are a gift from the show's head writer, Kay Alden, who lives and works in Chicago. When she learned the library was featuring the scripts in an exhibit, she sent along several dozen photographs of past and current actors from the show. Alden joined Y&R as a scriptwriter in 1974, and became head writer in 1998.
Many of the original writers' scripts contain editing marks and other notations in Alden's hand. Other scripts are presented in their final studio version, sometimes with a pink cover sheet, including production information such as tape and air date; cast; sets; phone calls that figure into the plot; and the day's schedule (dry rehearsal, 8-10:30 a.m.; camera blocking and run-through, 10:45 a.m.-2 p.m.; lunch, 2-3 p.m.; notes, 3-4 p.m.; taping, 4-6:30 p.m.). Although written in Chicago, the program is taped at CBS Studios in Los Angeles.
Alden, who with her team has won Emmys for outstanding writing in 1992 and 1997, began shipping the sometimes steamy, always dramatic scripts about the roller-coaster lives of normal American families to the UI when she learned that the Rare Book and Special Collections Library collected TV scripts. When representatives from the University Library went to the Chicago warehouse to pick up the first batch, they were surprised to find not one or two, but 14 boxes.
It is an embarrassment of riches, Romero said, noting that the library's scripts are used in both standard and unusual ways. Typically, scholars use them when researching aspects of popular culture. However, at least one UI professor of English as a second language had his students act out scenes from the show to help them perfect their conversational English.
Another UI professor, Norman Denzin, a major authority on popular culture, compares soap operas to Charles Dickens' 19th century serialized novels, in the sense that "soap operas provide narrative continuity and meaning in daily life. They place attractive people in situations that are glamorous, fantasy-like and also realistic."
Denzin, a College of Communications Scholar in the Institute of Communications Research, also argues that soaps allow viewers to "vicariously live through real-life problems without confronting the problems directly."
"These texts reproduce larger cultural myths concerning patriarchy, family, male-female intimacy, friendship between women, women's sexuality and women as objects of the male gaze. These texts are places to study how whiteness, for example, is constructed and reproduced in everyday popular culture."
The Rare Book and Special Collections Library now has the majority of scripts written since episode No. 44, which aired on May 24, 1973. The show's writers are closing in on their 7,000th script, according to Terry Delgado, Alden's assistant.
"The Young and the Restless" premiered March 26, 1973. Series creator William Bell was a young advertising executive in Chicago when in the 1950s he was approached by Irna Phillips about the possibility of writing for her daytime serial "The Guiding Light." Phillips, a 1923 UI alumna, is considered the mother of TV soap opera. Bell went on to write for "As the World Turns" and co-created "Another World" with Phillips. He became head writer for "Days of Our Lives" in 1966, and brought the show to national prominence. While he originally planned to call "The Young and the Restless" by another name, "The Innocent Years," his concept for the show from the start was to put "a broad base of wholesome, identifiable people in situations that reflected a segment of contemporary life," he said.
Before joining the Y&R team of writers, Alden was a doctoral candidate in communication arts at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. In the late '60s, Alden taught speech and debate at Central High School in Springfield, Mo. Two of Alden's children have appeared in continuing roles on the program their mother writes.
According to Romero, the modern TV soap opera traces its roots to Depression Era Chicago, where the first radio soap opera took hold. Today, it is estimated that some 50 million U.S. viewers watch one or more soap operas every week. The genre was dubbed soap opera because of its early sponsors -- household laundry detergent companies.
Browsing through the exhibit, Caroline Szylowicz, a staff member in the UI Kolb/Marcel Proust Archive and a native of France, observed that even in Paris, American soap operas flood the television airwaves at midday.
"One of the most popular of these," Alden said, "is, indeed, 'The Young and the Restless.' "
Anthology features lesser known poets as well as icons
Cary Nelson expects to catch some flak for his new "Anthology of Modern American Poetry" (Oxford), but he doubts anyone will accuse him of taking the easy way out. Rather, the avowed maverick clearly has taken the road less traveled.
Alongside the often-anthologized and canonized writers and their work, he has included some less-revered, formerly marginalized poets and some difficult and challenging poems -- poems rarely anthologized because of their sting, bruise and bite. By Nelson's own admission, his edited and heavily annotated volume, the first comprehensive anthology of the century just ended, "takes no prisoners and makes no compromises."
A professor of English at the UI, and a thorn under the saddle of the literature establishment, Nelson says that "a high personal standard" guided him in the selection process.
"If I didn't admire the poem, if I didn't believe it was of very high quality, it wasn't getting in," he said, "and it didn't matter to me what group of readers I angered."
Thus, in the new anthology, most 20th century icons are present and accounted for -- Frost, Millay, Sandburg -- but even their widely anthologized poems are juxtaposed with their less-known experimental or controversial works. For example, William Carlos Williams' "wonderfully evocative" short lyrics are paired with a long, little known prose poetry sequence, "Descent of Winter."
Walt Whitman's songs of America open the anthology, while Sherman Alexie's "Indian Boy Love Song" closes it. Nelson described Alexie, who was born in 1966 and raised on a Spokane Indian reservation, as "an astonishingly inventive writer." Nine poems by Adrian Louis, a member of the Lovelock Paiute Indian tribe, appear, including "A Colossal American Copulation," wherein Louis uses the "f-word" 35 times in colossal frustration with his native America. "They say there's a promise coming down that dusty road, but I don't see it," his poem ends.
"Having abandoned the celebratory lyricism of some of his predecessors, Louis opts instead to tell harsh truths about both white and Indian cultures," Nelson wrote in his introduction to Louis' poems.
Also among the 750 poems are works, including haiku, of detained Chinese and Japanese Americans. Nelson devotes, in fact, a great deal of space to minority and multicultural poetry.
"I think that it is just hands-down some of the best and most challenging poetry being written."
Nelson also took in poems that discuss topics in American history and politics, another action rare among anthologists. Many of these poems don't simply chronicle events of the past 100 years; they blast them. "There is no better way to learn about the century just ended than to read these poems."
In his introduction, Nelson made an "unashamedly grandiose" claim: that modern American poetry "is one of the major achievements of human culture." He later observed that "Our poets have distilled the best and the worst of America and given it back to us in language that is powerful and unforgettable."
A Web site about the book is at www.english.uiuc.edu/maps.
UI couples find advantages to sharing same employer
No one has a clear idea how many married couples work for the UI on this campus, but most would guess that it's a bunch. From faculty members to academic professionals to staff members, this great institution has often become a wonderful meeting place for romances to develop. And even those who didn't meet here say they've seen few disadvantages to having the same employer. We talked to a few UI couples about the issue and here's what they had to say. We'll feature two more couples in the next issue of Inside Illinois.
Now they have been married six years. They have an 18-month old son, Dantaé, and they are expecting their second child in April. And both Camille and Deryk are quickly rising through the ranks at the UI.
Deryk came to the UI in 1992, starting out with the Illini Union Board and then the registrar's office, and in '94 he moved over to the Division of Athletics where he worked as assistant ticket manager and then academic counselor.
Recently he was promoted to Director of Football Operations, which means he's involved with just about every part of UI football, from recruiting to travel to daily operations.
Camille started at the UI in 1993 in financial aid, worked for Exxon Corp. in New Jersey, after receiving her master's of business administration and then moved back to Illinois and worked in the Personnel Services Office as a labor and employee relations' specialist. In '99 she took a position in the MBA Program, where she was recently promoted to director of marketing, recruiting and admissions.
Deryk also earned an MBA at the UI, as well as a master's in sports management.
Camille admits that when they moved to Champaign-Urbana, they didn't intend to stay more than a few years. They are both natives of New York City, and all their family is back there.
And in the past seven years they've each had several job offers.
"Something is always pulling at us, but something always bring us back," Deryk said. "The more we stay here the more we enjoy it. One of the things I love about it is, I can pop home at lunch to see my son if I want to. And Camille and I can go to lunch together, and we do often. And it's just really beneficial."
"And I guess I've seen the other side," Camille said. "Here I have a seven-minute commute to work, my son is safe, and I don't have to worry about day care. And the community is so supportive, too."
As for sharing the same employer, a state university, they say it couldn't be better.
"I think Deryk and I have a good solid reputation here at the university, and the relationships we've made here are tremendous. There are some wonderful people here and I think they've really made an effort to make us feel like this could be our home,"
"Our friends (out east) keeping asking us if we are ever coming back, and I'm like, 'I don't think so.' We have a wonderful house here and good friends and a safe environment to raise our children."
When Deryk and Camille met for the first time, it was at McDonald's, a hangout spot on the Penn State campus. She was with a group of girlfriends and he was with some fraternity brothers. The group left together to go to a party and Deryk was with one of her friends. He soon discovered his date couldn't dance, but Camille could. So Deryk and Camille paired up and had a great time, she said.
But he didn't call her for two weeks.
Then she saw him on the Penn State Quad and when she talked to him, he didn't remember her. Uh-oh. She laughs that he sweet-talked his way out of that faux pas by assuring her it was only because his mind was buried in football. Deryk played noseguard on the Penn State football team and was a member of the 1986 National Championship team.
But they had a second date and he never forgot her again. They were married in a huge ceremony on Long Island in 1993.
People often ask them, since they are Penn State graduates, if they've become real Illinois fans.
They nod enthusiastically.
"We bleed orange and blue now," Camille said.
Larry is carpenter sub-foreman for the Division of Operation and Maintenance, while Kathy is a secretary IV for the biochemistry department.
"I'd sit on the park bench and eat my lunch and when he'd finish his lunch he'd go out for a walk, so we just started running into each other at noon, and started talking, and then he checked me out and found out who I was," Kathy said.
They still see each other occasionally at work because she works in Roger Adams Lab, and that's one of the areas of campus that he's responsible for as a carpenter.
Larry started working at the UI in 1969, right after he left the Navy. Kathy's been at the UI for 10 years, working in such areas as law, computer science and English.
They live on an acre of land in the country east of Urbana. One of the benefits of both of them working on campus is that they used to be able to drive to work together. Since he's been promoted to a supervisory position, however, he's working different hours so they drive separately.
But the two can see only advantages from being a UI couple. Larry keeps track of the UI sports teams and they like to attend some of the social events at the Illini Union.
In their free time, Kathy says she spends most of her time and energy on their four grandchildren. The couple has five children between them from previous marriages.
Larry likes to fish; they have a pontoon boat that they take up to Lake Iroquois in Ford County or to Raccoon Lake in Indiana. And Kathy likes to spend time in her above-ground swimming pool.
"When she's doing that, that's when I'm usually fishing," Larry said.
They also have spent years learning how to do the two-step, waltz, line dance and other country dances. They're members of the Champaign County Bootkickers and can recall a time that they took lessons one day a week and went to dances two or three times a week.
"We had our [wedding] reception at the C-U Elks Club, and it was great because we had all our Bootkicker friends there, so it wasn't a problem getting people to dance," Kathy joked.
In good weather, the two also like to go to flea markets and auctions. Kathy is always on the lookout for owls for her collection and Larry says he just likes to look for bargains.
Now that they're married, they don't meet so frequently for lunch anymore, Kathy said.
"But sometimes on Friday's he'll get fish sandwiches from Derald's catering truck and we'll eat together," she said.
"I just get a half-hour for lunch," he said apologetically. "So it makes it kind of tough."
UI helps 'trailing partners' find job opportunities
When the UI hires a new academic professional or faculty member, the new hire's "trailing partner" may need help in finding a job. The UI has a program in place to do just that.
About 100 people a year who identify themselves as "trailing partners" seek help from the Urbana's Office of Academic Human Resources department, said Deb Montgomery, assistant director.
The UI doesn't place the partners in jobs, but it does assist them in their job search on campus, she said. Both a web site and a pamphlet contain information on career resources, including the Employment Center Web site, which lists current openings for academic professionals on campus. And the UIUC Faculty Job Registry, lists faculty vacancies.
"We'll talk about openings, about the individual's background, their career interests and our requirements to apply for academic positions," Montgomery said. "We really don't find a position for them, but we can help them to understand the employment process and how they can go about the search here on campus."
If the trailing partner is looking for a faculty position, Montgomery said the partner usually starts the job search with a list of contacts from the potential department.
"Academic recruiting on the Urbana campus is decentralized, and even though a position may not be advertised, we recommend they make contacts in the area of their interests," Montgomery said. "A lot of the units want to have resumes on file so that when a position comes open they have potentially qualified people in the pipeline."
The UI does have an academic couples program whereby new recruits can negotiate on behalf of their partners. In that program, departments that hire a trailing partner receive a financial break. For example, if a recruit is hired, part of the financial negotiations could include the first unit agreeing to pay one-third of the salary for the new hire's partner. Then when the trailing partner negotiated with a department for a job, the Provost's office can agree to put up another third of the salary. There could be a financial incentive to hire the trailing partner, Montgomery explained.
In addition, the Office of Academic Human Resources department also provides information about the availability of jobs in the community. They maintain a community employers' directory and a file on off-campus job opportunities. Plus, the office has a computer available so people can visit the Employment Center Web site and online career resources during office hours.
These services are offered because of the university's desire to be family friendly and to attract and retain academic employees, Montgomery said.
For more information, go to the Academic Human Resources Web site at http://webster.uihr.uiuc.edu/ahr/default.asp or the Employment Center site at www.uihr.uillinois.edu/jobs.
UI adds two more living/learning communities to housing roster
Today's college students are expecting more from their residence-hall experiences than ever before. And at the UI, student needs are being met through a number of innovative housing plans.
This fall, the UI will roll out two new residential options for students seeking outside-the-classroom experiences that are more closely aligned with their educational interests and goals. The additions are "Global Crossroads: An International Living/Learning Community" and the "Leadership Living/Learning Community."
"These living/learning communities create a seamless campus experience for the students by connecting curricular and co-curricular activities and programs, and by bringing academics into the residence halls," said Deborah Richie, assistant director for academic programs in the UI's Housing Division.
Features of the communities include on-site classes and seminars, advising and referral services, as well as tutors and activities that bring students together with university faculty members.
"The Global Crossroads community was designed to strengthen students' international educational experiences and to help them better understand the international dimension of many world issues," said Earl Kellogg, associate provost for international affairs and director of International Programs and Studies. The program's aim, he said, is "to help students understand that others have different perspectives and not only to understand what others think, but why they think it."
In addition, community members -- students from the United States and elsewhere -- will have the opportunity to enroll in courses with other students from the Global Crossroads Community, follow world events through access to international media, interact with faculty members and campus visitors interested in global issues, and practice foreign language skills. They also will receive assistance in preparing for international internships and study-abroad opportunities.
The program, which will serve 120 residents located on the second and third floors of Saunders Hall, in the Pennsylvania Avenue Residence Halls (PAR), was developed in partnership with International Programs and Studies and the colleges of Agriculture, Consumer and Environmental Sciences; Commerce and Business Administration; Engineering; Fine and Applied Arts; and Liberal Arts and Sciences.
The Leadership Living/Learning Community is designed for students seeking to develop their leadership skills. The new community is being launched in tandem with a more broad-based effort to promote a campuswide leadership philosophy focusing on 11 skills and attributes, among them self-development, communication skills, project and program effectiveness and group dynamics.
Charles Olson, co-chair of the campus leadership development committee and assistant dean of academic programs in ACES, said the committee is building a program based on "the philosophy that leadership is for everyone." In line with that, students opting to live in the community are not required to hold formal leadership roles in any organization. It is open to all students interested in developing leadership skills.
Features of the program, which will house 150 residents on the second floor of Garner Hall, include student self-assessment, leadership skill-building activities, on-site leadership courses and community service projects.
UI'S GROWING LIST OF LIVING/LEARNING COMMUNITIES
UI's Balkan ensemble plans benefit concert
It's been a cold, hard winter so far for Kosovars, many of whom are still living in substandard conditions following their return last summer to bombed-out towns and villages. Conditions remain harsh, as well, for residents of Turkish towns devastated by last summer's earthquakes.
And while news headlines no longer focus much attention on either population's continuing struggle for survival, that doesn't mean they've been forgotten by the world community. In the UI community, a diverse collective of academic units, student groups and others has banded together to lend support to various Balkan relief efforts.
The groups -- which include the Russian and East European Center, School of Music, Hellenic Student Association, Turkish Student Association, Romanian Student Club, Serbian-American Student Organization, Rotary Club of Urbana and Community United Church of Christ -- will host a Balkan Relief Benefit Concert at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 22 in Smith Hall. The concert will feature the music of Balkanalia, the UI's Balkan ensemble, as well as dances performed by a student group. A $5 donation is suggested.
Proceeds from the concert will go to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, and will be earmarked for humanitarian relief efforts in the Balkans and areas of Turkey devastated by last year's earthquakes.
Ruth Fisher, wife of Ralph Fisher, a former director of the UI's Russian and East European Center, is credited with the idea for organizing the benefit.
"I went to a [Balkanalia] concert last spring, and the group was so good, I just thought it was something more people should be aware of," Fisher said. "And at the time, things were just a mess in the Balkan area. We were bombing, and there were unexpected consequences," she said, such as attacks on refugees.
"I felt so bad about our involvement," she said.
Instead of simply lamenting the situation in passive fashion, Fisher was moved to action. She floated the idea of organizing a fund-raising concert past Donna Buchanan, a UI professor of musicology and founder and director of the Balkan ensemble.
Buchanan, whose group had dedicated its spring '99 concert to peace in the Balkans -- "as a sort of an apolitical thing" -- was indeed interested. As part of the spring program, Buchanan said, "we tried to stress the commonalities of the different countries represented."
So when Fisher approached her about organizing a concert devoted to reconstruction and relief efforts, Buchanan said she agreed that the idea was not only a good one from a humanitarian perspective, but because "the philosophy [behind it] plays well into one of the reasons why ethnomusicology was founded in the first place." One cornerstone of ethnomusicology, she said, is "the promotion of cross-cultural communication knowing something about other cultures, like music, helps us communicate better with each other."
The program for the relief concert will include instrumental music and songs from Turkey, Greece, Bulgaria, the Former Yugoslavian Republic of Macedonia and Hungary, as well as an Albanian-Kosovar piece and one from the Dalmatian part of Croatia. Members of a dance troupe affiliated with the UI Hellenic Student Association will perform two numbers set to live and recorded music.
While ethnic, religious and political differences have divided the various groups of people who inhabit the Balkans for centuries, Buchanan said one of the most notable cultural common denominators that continue to link the populations today is the region's musical heritage.
Buchanan points to the long presence of the Ottoman Empire in the Balkans as a central reason why the various populations scattered throughout the region share and have held fast to the same -- or similar -- musical traditions.
"Throughout Ottoman rule -- which essentially ended in 1912 -- individual populations sustained their culture through song," Buchanan said. There are lots of songs about the Ottoman presence -- good and bad."
It is not uncommon, she added, "to find the same tune rendered in locally distinct manners in Greece, Turkey and Bulgaria."
"The Roma, or Gypsies, also have played a role" in the cross-fertilization process, Buchanan noted. "They were the professional musicians who moved from urban center to urban center, from festival to festival, from wedding to wedding. Wars have had a lot to do with it, too."
The songs, rhythmic patterns and musical instruments vary slightly place to place and within various ethnic populations, but share more commonalities than differences.
"For instance," she said, "asymmetrical rhythmic patterns are pervasive throughout the Balkan region. Another similarity is narrow interval harmonies, that is, pitches that are close together -- like do and re -- which, to the Western ear, sound like dissonance when heard together. And then there's the use of drone, or a sustained pitch, which becomes the accompaniment to the melody.
"Yet another commonality is that pieces can be rendered either in an urban or rural style," she said. While the urban style often combines Western instruments, such as the violin and clarinet, with indigenous folk instruments, the rural style relies totally on indigenous instruments.
"Those include a variety of string instruments, many of which produce a rich, resonant sound and have rounded backs and long necks with various numbers of strings. Among them are the tambura, a strummed lute with eight strings in four double courses (four pairs of two strings), and the santur, a hammered dulcimer with Persian and Greek origins.
Other instruments typically present in any Balkan music ensemble include percussion instruments, such as the dumbek, a drum with an hour-glass-shaped base of ceramic or metal that is held between the player's legs or under the arms; frame drums, which Buchanan described as "essentially tambourines without the jingles, that come in different sizes and thicknesses"; a big, bass-type drum alternately called a tupan or davul. Tambourines are frequently played as well.
Balkan wind instruments include the bagpipe; the zurna, a double-reed ancestor of the oboe; and flutes of various sorts, including whistle flutes that are blown vertically.
Also present more often than not, Buchanan said, is the ubiquitous accordion, "which pops up all over the place" beginning with its introduction in the early 19th century.
A later import to Balkan music ensembles is brass, which when incorporated into Balkan music is typically played in an indigenous style.
The UI ensemble, which incorporates many of these instruments, is a relative newcomer on the campus music scene. Buchanan, who joined the UI music faculty three years ago following stints at New York University and the University of Texas at Austin, formed the group just last year. Its members include music and ethnomusicology students as well as non-music students, some of whom have ethnic roots in the Balkan countries.
"They are all really good musicians, and are a very hard-working ensemble. I'm very proud of them," Buchanan said. She is quick to add that "we don't bill the group as 'authentic' per se, but rather as an ensemble that tries as best as it can to approximate the sound of a traditional Balkan ensemble."
"This is an extracurricular activity for all of the members it's something they enjoy doing and want to learn more about."
More information about the benefit concert is available on the Web at www.uiuc.edu/ro/RomClub/Balkan.
"Bee" movie lovers will have a honey of a time Feb. 26, at the 17th annual Insect Fear Film Festival at the UI. The focus for the entomological film extravaganza will be one of nature's most helpful but frequently feared creatures -- bees.
"Bees are extremely familiar. They are a pre-sold antagonist," said May Berenbaum, head of the entomology department. "Bees have among the most sophisticated repertoires of behavior of all invertebrates. They are in many cases cued by chemicals and thus easily manipulated, not only by beekeepers but also by filmmakers. Bees also are cheap and available."
Enter the low-budget film industry, which has used bees in both big and little screen horror stories. Never mind that in nature bees are responsible for such useful products as honey, royal jelly and propolis (a substance that protects against harmful bacteria, viruses and fungi). They also pollinate about 33 percent of foods destined for human consumption. On film, bees are evil.
This year's made-for-TV lineup will feature two feature length films:
Two sci-fi television shows also will be featured: "ZZZZZ," an "Outer Limits" story that first aired in January 1964, starring Phillip Abbot and Joanna Frank. Intellectually advanced bees mutate one of their own into a beautiful female entomologist, whose mission is to mate with a researcher to create a strain capable of destroying all humans; and "Herrenfolk," a 1996 "X-Files" episode starring David Duchovny, Gillian Anderson and Roy Thinnes. Mulder visits a Canadian ginseng farm, finding cloned children (one is his long-lost sister) who gather pollen to support an enormous bee colony.
Doors will open at 6 p.m. at Foellinger Auditorium for viewing exhibits, including honey-tasting, a bee "waggle dance" demonstration and an observation hive. Admission is free. Between the films, a variety of bee-related broadcasts will be aired, including cartoons, commercials and segments of variety shows featuring bees.
Berenbaum started the festival as a way to educate people about insects and entomologists by focusing on the inaccurate and often ridiculous attributes given to them in films. Visitors are told what to expect -- the mistakes of insect anatomy and dumb dialogue -- before each film is shown.
IPRH Fellowship Awards announced
Cities can be many things to many people: They are centers of culture, architectural marvels and sometimes even catalysts of decay - in short, they capture the world at its best and at its worst.
For that reason, the Illinois Program for Research in the Humanities chose "Cities" as its theme for this year's Fellowship Awards. The IRPH has named eight professors and six graduate students fellows from among more than 50 applicants who submitted a proposal relating to the theme.
Faculty fellows and their projects:
Graduate student fellows and their projects:
Fellows are provided office space at IPRH. Professors are released from teaching for a semester, and graduate students are given a stipend.
Three UI researchers named AAAS fellows
Three UI researchers -- Robert M. Fossum, Hugh M. Robertson and Peter G. Wolynes -- are among 283 scientists who will be recognized Feb. 19 as new fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science during the association's annual meeting in Washington, D.C.
Fellowship recognizes "efforts toward advancing science or fostering applications that are deemed scientifically or socially distinguished," according to the association. With more than 143,000 members, the AAAS is the world's largest general science organization. The association, which was founded in 1848, publishes the weekly journal Science and has been naming fellows since 1874.
Fossum, a professor of mathematics, is being recognized for his continued contributions to ring theory and for more than 15 years of outstanding service as secretary of the American Mathematical Society. He earned his bachelor's degree in mathematics in 1959 from St. Olaf College and his doctorate in mathematics in 1965 from the University of Michigan. Fossum joined the UI faculty in 1964 and has written more than 40 papers in professional journals.
Robertson, a professor of entomology, is being honored for performing pioneering research in molecular evolution and for making important discoveries on the horizontal transfer of transposons between extremely distantly related species. He earned his bachelor's degree in zoology and biochemistry in 1976 from the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa, and his doctorate in zoology in 1982, also from the University of the Witwatersrand. Robertson joined the UI faculty in 1987 and has written more than 50 journal articles.
Wolynes, a professor of chemistry, of physics, and of biophysics, is being recognized for his fundamental studies of chemical physics, including reaction dynamics, the glass transition and protein folding. He earned his bachelor's degree in chemistry in 1971 from Indiana University and his doctorate in chemical physics in 1976 from Harvard University. Wolynes joined the UI faculty in 1980 and holds the James R. Eiszner Chair in chemistry. He has written more than 210 journal articles.
William Warfield, professor emeritus of music, narrates the program that was produced by the television office of UIS. The documentary includes period photographs and recordings of interviews with people who lived through the riot.
The riot began on the evening of Aug. 14, 1908, and resulted in six deaths. The homes of 40 black families were destroyed, as well as 15 black-owned businesses. Some Jewish business owners also were victimized by the rioters who even attempted, unsuccessfully, to set fire to the Abraham Lincoln home.
Nationally, there was a public outcry that such an incident could occur in Lincoln's hometown and, partly as a result of the riot, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People was formed in 1909.
The half-hour documentary was produced by David Antoine, UIS television production coordinator, and funded by the city of Springfield. Experts interviewed in the program include Cullom Davis, UIS professor emeritus of history.
The program also will air at midnight Feb. 26 and Feb. 28.
Award guidelines and applications are available by contacting Institutional and Faculty International Collaboration, 321 International Studies Building, or by calling 333-1993. A requirement before funds are awarded is that matching funds, from any institutional source, be secured. A conditional award may be made if the applicant's request for matching funds from other sources is pending or in preparation.
Funds are supplied by the Midwest Universities Consortium for International Activities Inc. (MUCIA), the Office of the Vice President for Academic Affairs, International Programs and Studies (Urbana), and UIC's Office of External Education.
Inner Voices Social Issues Theater is sponsored by the Counseling Center, McKinley Health Center and the department of theater. Inner Voices performances at the Armory Free theater are in association with the department of theater and are partially funded by SORF.
All performances are free and open to the public.
"Energy Unplugged: Fuel Up With the Right Stuff" will kick off the month from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 5 to 7 p.m. March 1 in the lobby of IMPE. The event will feature information, activities, refreshments and door prizes. Other events throughout the month will be held at the SportWell Center, IMPE and other campus recreation facilities. More information is available by calling 244-0261 or on the Web at www.campusrec.uiuc.edu and www.uiuc.edu/departments/mckinley.
Gershwin's jazzy Piano Concerto in F comes to life with Enrique Graf at the keyboard. Graf, a native of Uruguay, has appeared in major halls throughout Asia, Europe, South America and the United States
Ian Hobson, UI professor of music, leads the orchestra with Copland's "El Salon Mexico" and "Fanfare for the Common Man" as well as "Fanfare for the Uncommon Woman," Joan Tower's provocative challenge to Copland's piece. Sinfonia also premieres "Sinfonia Concertante." Composed by longtime local resident and composer Robert Kelly, the piece is dedicated to Sinfonia. Benjamin Lees' "Scarlatti Portfolio" completes the concert.
Prior to the concert, at 7:20 in the Krannert Center lobby, students of the Marilyn Krummel Piano Studio will perform. This completes Sinfonia's fifth season of the Student Performance Project.
Tickets are available through the Krannert Center ticket office or by calling 333-6280. Sinfonia da Camera performs under the auspices of the UI in association with the School of Music.
"With the upcoming election, post-Soviet Russia will be led for the first time by someone other than Boris Yeltsin," said Mark Steinberg, a professor of history and director of the center. "At this historic juncture, this timely symposium will explore various aspects of contemporary Russian politics, economy, society and culture with a prospective glance into the future."
Steinberg added that the event may be of particular interest to journalists, teachers and business leaders seeking insights on what to expect in the post-Yeltsin era.
The symposium's keynote speaker will be Michael McFaul, a senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. McFaul co-directs the endowment's Russian Domestic Politics project. He also is a professor of political science and a Hoover Institution fellow at Stanford University, where he specializes in economic and political reform in post-Communist countries.
Other presenters include Vladimir Boxer, a fellow in Harvard University's Strengthening Democratic Institutions project, and Thomas Richardson, a senior economist at the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Boxer co-chaired the winning national election campaign for the Democratic Russia party and managed political advertising for Yeltsin's 1991 presidential campaign. Richardson was the IMF representative in Russia from 1995 to 1998.
More information about the symposium is available on the Web at www.uiuc.edu/unit/reec/symposium00.htm or by contacting Lynda Park at 333-1244 or lypark@illinois.edu.
It's expected that hundreds of thousands of girls and boys across the United States will participate in the national event, which is designed to focus on ideas, dreams and the future.
Participants -- who need not be related to a UI employee, but should have an interest in math and science -- can join members of the SWE for part of the day. Tour and lab demonstrations are scheduled between 1 to 4 p.m. to educate and generate discussion. Planned activities are targeted for participants between the ages of 7 to 17.
Registration is available on the Web at www.uiuc.edu/ro/swe/todtwd.html. The deadline is March 18. Adults are welcome to attend. Children 10 years old and younger must be accompanied by an adult. SWE also will be selling T-shirts that can be ordered when registering.
Suggestions for interesting and interactive laboratories and demonstrations or any questions about the event should be directed to Mandy Mucha at the SWE office at 244-8867 or amucha@illinois.edu.
The students have been charged to study the movement qualities of Buell Hall and design an intervention that will reveal and/or alter some aspect of movement. Rebecca Williamson, professor of architecture; Linda M. Lehovec, professor of dance; and Julius E. Rascheff, professor of art, are coordinating the event.
The installation is being held in conjunction with a lecture of the same title, to be presented at 7 p.m. by Frances Bronet, professor of architecture at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y. The lecture is sponsored by the Paul I. Cripe Endowment with support from the Lorado Taft Lectureship on Art Fund / College of Fine and Applied Arts, the Illinois Program for Research in the Humanities, the departments of dance and landscape architecture, the cinematography and art education programs, the Krannert Art Museum, and STROBE, a student photography group in the School of Art and Design.
"The main thing that sparked interest in this topic was the historic trip to Cuba by an Illinois delegation that traveled there last October, led by Gov. George Ryan, who felt it was time to look toward Cuba with an eye to change," said Terry Iversen, director of the UI Office of Continuing Education in International Affairs, one of three UI units co-sponsoring the conference. High on the delegation members' agenda, Iversen said, was "establishing diplomatic relations and opening Cuban markets -- not only to Illinois agricultural products but to industrial products as well."
As has been the tradition with the annual conferences, which shift each year to different -- and typically current -- topics of interest, this year's conference program will be broad and balanced in scope.
The conference's keynote address, "Cuba and the United States: Time for a New Beginning," will be presented by the Hon. Fernando Remirez de Estenoz, counselor and chief of the Cuban Interests Section, Washington, D.C. Remirez is the former Cuban ambassador to Angola and former head of the international relations department of the central committee of the Cuban Communist Party.
The closing address, titled "The United States and Cuba: A Look to the Future," will be presented by Louis A. Perez Jr. The J. Carlyle Sitterson Professor of History at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Perez has written extensively on Cuban-American history. His most recent book, "On Becoming Cuban: Identity, Nationality and Culture," was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in 1999.
In addition to Iversen's unit, other UI co-sponsors of the conference are International Programs and Studies, and the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies.
More information about conference times, locations, fees and registration is available on the Web at: www.conted.uiuc.edu/ia/index.html, or by calling 333-1465.
The Champaign County Citizen Police Academy is accepting applications for its citizen workshops, in which residents have the opportunity to meet police officers and learn about law-enforcement procedures.
"You see so much on television [about police officers] and most of the time it's a bad example," said Lois Welling, an administrative assistant at the Police Training Institute. "We want to show what it's really like to be a police officer."
The 10-week CPA will meet Thursdays from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. at the Police Training Institute, 1004 S. Fourth St. Sessions begin March 2 and end May 4.
Topics covered include community-based policing, drugs, gangs, domestic violence, DUI enforcement, citizen-police contacts, police use of force and firearms safety. Additionally, participants will tour the Champaign County Jail, METCAD -- the local 911 services -- and have the opportunity to do a ride-along with a patrol officer.
Activities scheduled for the rest of February:
The views from windows across campus are as varied as the people sitting in those offices. Inside Illinois would like you to tell us about the view from your office or laboratory window. Whether you consider the view breathtaking or quirky, send us a brief description of what you see when you look out your window. Perhaps the view changes from season to season or semester to semester. Or you've been in the same office for many years but the view has done anything but remain the same.
We'll share as many views in Inside Illinois as possible and provide photos of some.
Send your campus view to: Doris Dahl, Inside Illinois, 807 S. Wright
St., Suite 520 E., MC-314, or d-dahl2@illinois.edu.
The Office of Academic Human Resources, Suite 420, 807 S. Wright St., maintains listings for faculty positions. More complete descriptions are available in that office during regular business hours. The Employment Center lists the academic professional positions available on all UI campuses at www.uihr.uillinois.edu/jobs. Faculty job opportunity information is updated weekly and can be found on the AHR Web site at: http://webster.uihr.uiuc.edu/ahr/jobs/index.asp. More information about the listings below may be obtained from the person in the listing.
faculty
Agricultural and Consumer Economics. Professor, consumer and family economics (rank open). PhD in consumer and family economics, economics, applied economics, finance or related field required. Record of academic publications, extension programming and classroom teaching preferred. Availability negotiable. Contact Robert Hauser, 333-8859 or r-hauser@illinois.edu. Closing date: March 28.
University Library (law library). Assistant professor of library administration/head of public services. MLS or equivalent degree in library science, JD, and minimum four years' professional law library experience required. Experience in supervision, public services, legal research instruction and record of publication preferred. Available immediately. Contact Janis Johnston, Albert E. Jenner Jr. Memorial Law Library, 142M Law Building, MC-594. Closing date: March 1.
academic professional
Administrative Information Technology Services (Chicago). Technical program manager. Bachelor's degree and extensive large-systems mainframe experience including maintenance, performance, tuning and problem investigation required. Experience involving systems support of CICS and/or the Computer Associates family of products is strongly desired. Available immediately. Contact AITS Human Resources, 50 Gerty Drive, MC-673, aitshr@uillinois.edu. Closing date: Feb. 28.
Administrative Information Technology Services. Visiting research programmer. Bachelor's degree in computer science, management information services or a related technical field and knowledge of microcomputer architecture, LAN, WAN and TCP/IP networking required. Available immediately. Contact Susan Nelson McLain, 333-8635 or aitshr@uillinois.edu. Closing date: Feb. 28.
Broadcasting. Creative specialist/news and information. Bachelor's degree and two years' full-time experience as a news reporter and producer of feature-length material for use in magazine-style information programming required. Ability to type with accuracy required. Ability to drive a car desired. Available: April 21. Contact Tom Rogers, 333-0580. Extended closing date: March 20.
Cell and Structural Biology. Research specialist in life sciences. Bachelor's degree required in biology, biochemistry or related field; master's degree preferred. Prior experience with molecular biology, biochemical techniques, histology, microscopy and cell structure preferred. Available immediately. Contact Joyce Woodworth, 333-6118. Extended closing date: March 30.
Chemical Sciences, School of. Placement and student services director. Bachelor's degree required. Previous experience in placement, advising and/or personnel work, and background in sciences and/or engineering desired. Available: June 1. Contact Thomas Rauchfuss, School of Chemical Sciences, 106 Noyes Laboratory, Box D-1, MC-712. Closing date: March 15.
Computer Science. Research programmer. Bachelor's degree in computer science or related field and two years' experience, including one year's experience in relevant systems administration required. Available immediately. Contact Barb Armstrong, 333-6454 or barb@cs.uiuc.edu. Extended closing date: March 29.
Continuing Education (Chicago). Visiting head of Chicago programs. Bachelor's degree with seven years' direct higher education experience or master's degree and three years' experience in higher education administration or faculty experience in program development for traditional and non-traditional students required. Doctorate and teaching and research experience including understanding of and experience in the Chicago higher education market preferred. Available: April 21. Contact David Schejbal, 244-1235 or frivera@illinois.edu. Closing date: Feb. 28.
Coordinated Science Laboratory. Research programmer (PC system administrator). Bachelor's degree in computer science or related field and two years' experience managing PC system administration including ability to configure hardware and software systems and upgrades required. Experience with Windows 95, Windows NT and Novell Netware desired. Available: March 15. Contact Virginia Winckler, 333-2515 or vwinckle@illinois.edu. Closing date: Feb. 29.
Crop Sciences. Research specialist in agriculture, plant pathology. Bachelor's degree in agriculture or related science required. Available immediately. Contact Donald White, 333-1093 or d-wite@illinois.edu. Closing date: Feb. 21.
Crop Sciences. Visiting research specialist in agriculture, crop sciences. Bachelor's degree in agronomy or relevant area of agriculture required. Six years' experience farming, or three years' experience in small-plot field research, experience in operation, maintenance and repair of field equipment, pesticide application/weed management and experience with computers required. Possession of or ability to obtain Illinois Public Pesticide Applicator License also required. Available immediately. Contact Stephen Ebelhar, (618) 695-2790 or sebelhar@illinois.edu. Closing date: Feb. 29.
Food Science and Human Nutrition. Media/communications specialist (publications). Bachelor's degree required; preferably in communications-related area. Editorial experience including project management desired. Knowledge of word-processing, database, desktop publishing, print and Web publishing conventions for text and images preferred. Available immediately. Contact Clare Hasler, 333-6364. Closing date: Feb. 23.
Housing Division. Resident director, undergraduate residence halls. Bachelor's degree and residence hall experience required; master's degree in college student personnel or closely related field and at least one year's experience with residence hall staff preferred. Available: March 10. Contact Michael Herrington, Office of Residential Life, 1203 S. Fourth St., 300 Clark Hall, MC-548. Closing date: March 10.
President's Office (Chicago). Chancellor. PhD, significant administrative experience and rank of full professor required. Available immediately. Contact Peter Buttrick, UI Office of the President, 414 Administration Office Building, 1737 West Polk St., Chicago, IL 60612-7228. Closing date: April 30.
Psychology. Head academic adviser. Master's degree in counseling or related field and two years' advising experience required. Available: March 1. Contact Edward Shoben, 333-0632. Closing date: March 15.
Student Financial Aid. Assistant to the director. Bachelor's degree and successful experience in student financial aid administration and supervising student financial aid staff required. Master's degree in student personnel administration or related field is preferred. Experience working with underrepresented student population desired. Available: April 3. Contact Chairperson, Consultative Committee, 244-2024. Closing date: March 10.
Supercomputing Applications, National Center for. Research programmer. Bachelor's degree in computer science or related field and knowledge of XML, Perl, Java, CGI required. Experience with Web programming and HTML, including Java and SQL as it relates to Portal projects also required. For more information, www.ncsa.uiuc.edu/SRC/employ.htm. Available immediately. Contact: NCSA Human Resources, Search # 6943, 152 Computing Applications Building, MC-476 or career@ncsa.uiuc.edu. Closing date: March 1.
UI Press. Associate director, editorial. Bachelor's degree required; master's preferred. Must have 10 years' experience in scholarly publishing, proven ability to acquire successfully in American history, and managerial experience. Available immediately. Contact Willis Regier, UI Press, 1325 South Oak St., MC-566, or uipress@uillinois.edu. Closing date: March 6.
UI Press. Assistant editor, acquisitions. Bachelor's degree required; master's preferred. Familiarity with editorial practices and scholarly publishing experience desired. Available immediately. Contact Willis Regier, UI Press, 1325 South Oak St., MC-566, or uipress@uillinois.edu Closing date: March 6.
University Library. Head, human resources. Bachelor's degree and three years' relevant experience in human resource management required; master's degree in personnel-related area preferred. Available immediately. Contact Barton Clark, University Library, 2246A Library, 1408 West Gregory Drive, MC-522. Closing date: Feb. 25.
Vice Chancellor for Research, Office of. Associate vice chancellor for research. Master's degree with five years' experience in university administration required. Understanding of the research mission in higher education combined with knowledge of the Urbana campus preferred. Available immediately. Contact Judy Hansens, 333-0034 or judyhans@illinois.edu. Closing date: Feb. 21.
staff
Personnel Services Office is located at 52 E. Gregory Drive, Champaign. For information about PSO's Employment Information Program, which provides information to those seeking staff employment at the university, visit the Personnel Services Office Web site at www.pso.uiuc.edu. To complete an online employment application and to submit an exam request, visit the online Employment Center at www.uihr.uillinois.edu/jobs.
Interview by: Becky Mabry
JOB: In August, Terry Cole was promoted to senior associate athletic director.
RESPONSIBILITIES: He is second in command to Athletic Director Ron Guenther, who assigns Cole special projects in athletics that range from personnel to academics to budget issues and other challenges.
And I think I'm one of the lucky ones who's been able to engage with some very great athletic directors who had the vision for this place to be the best. Now, we've stubbed our toes along the way, but I think 10 years ago when John Mackovic was hired, we turned the corner as far as our image was concerned. And then when John left and Ron Guenther was hired, he continued on that same path. And now from an athletic standpoint, we're looked at as a very credible athletic department and program. I'm proud to be affiliated with the Division of Intercollegiate Athletics and the UI.
Charles W. Ferris, 83, died Jan. 29 in Pensacola, Fla. Ferris retired from the UI's Division of Operation and Maintenance as building service foreman in 1980. Memorials: Olesten Health Services.
Patricia V. Johnston, 67, died Feb. 1 at her Champaign home. Johnston was a professor of food science and nutritional sciences at the UI from 1961 to 1995. From 1986 to 1995 she also was a professor of nutrition in internal medicine. Memorials: American Cancer Society or the Champaign County Humane Society.
Edward Clinton Kalb, 84, died Jan. 30 at Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Danville. Kalb came to the UI in 1966 as the conference coordinator in the Division of Short Courses and Conferences University Extension. He retired as associate professor and assistant director in 1981. Memorials: East Central Illinois Alzheimer's Association or the Champaign County Humane Society.
John David Lykins, 71, died Feb. 6 at Carle Foundation Hospital, Urbana. Lykins was a researcher at the UI College of Veterinary Medicine from 1965 to 1974.
Nina A. Mansfield, 71, died Jan. 30 at Provena Covenant Medical Center, Urbana. Mansfield retired in 1988 as a library technical assistant at the UI. Memorials: Champaign County Humane Society.
O. Burr Ross, 85, died Jan. 26 at Methodist Hospital, Omaha, Neb. Ross served at the UI from 1958 to 1964 and became head of the animal science department. Memorials: University of Nebraska animal science department.