May 4, 2000/ Volume 19, Number 20
News Bureau | Calendar | II Info | II Archives
- Africa's rich tradition of mapmaking underappreciated
- Geographer Thomas Bassett wants to put African mapmaking on the map.
- IRA changes that let people withdraw early jeopardize their future
- Twenty-five years ago, Congress created the IRA (Individual Retirement Account) to encourage Americans to set aside a portion of their yearly income in a special tax-deferred account for retirement. But in recent years Congress has passed several tax exceptions that encourage people to "raid their IRAs" for immediate expenses that jeopardize the very savings the IRA was meant to promote, according to a UI tax expert who has conducted an in-depth analysis.
- Light receptor may be key in how animals use Earth's magnetic field
- A blue-light photoreceptor found in nerve layers of the eyes and brains has caught the attention of UI researchers who are seeking the magnetic compass that lets migratory birds and many other creatures find home using the magnetic field of Earth.
- Sea slug's shopping habits dictated by hunger, scientists report
- Conventional wisdom says that if you shop for groceries on an empty stomach you'll spend more than necessary because of impulse buying fed by hunger pangs, while a full stomach makes you a pickier shopper. You're in good company: Sea slugs shop the same way.
Class of 2000: Commencement ceremonies are May 14
Views from windows across campus are as varied as the people sitting in the offices behind the windows. We asked readers to share their vantage points with us. This is the fourth and final installment in our series.
Larry Smarr to take position at UC-San Diego July 1
Study abroad: Students to live other nations' histories from classical period to today
I space exhibition announced ... Communiversity instructors needed ... Documentary reveals Japanese life ... Faculty Exhibition 2000
Geographer Thomas Bassett wants to put African mapmaking on the map.
Toward that goal, Bassett, a geography professor at the UI, has written and provided illustrations for one of the first reviews of indigenous African maps, hoping along the way to dispel some of the major myths about mapmaking in sub-Saharan Africa.
Bassett's review is published in "The History of Cartography: Cartography in the Traditional African, American, Arctic, Australian, and Pacific Societies," Vol. 2, Book 3. In January, the volume received the American Historical Association's Brested Prize for the best English-language book in the ancient and medieval history of Africa, North America and Latin America.
According to Bassett, there has been until now a dearth of studies of indigenous African mapmaking, and that dearth "has served to marginalize the indigenous cartographic record." Several factors have kept African maps from receiving the scholarly attention they deserve, including the longstanding "ethnocentric and pejorative view that Africans did not have the cognitive ability to make maps the same way Europeans did," Bassett said.
Another major factor limiting the study of African maps is the restricted definitions of "map," which "have excluded a range of processes and artifacts from serious study."
As it happens, Africa has a particularly rich tradition of mapmaking. Bassett's inventory of African maps includes cosmographic, mnemonic (for retelling origin myths), body art, rock art, sand, tapestry, village and kingdom maps, and maps solicited by European explorers (rivers, caravan routes).
An example of body-art mapping comes from the Tabwa of the Democratic Republic of Congo, who chart the path of mythical ancestral heroes on the backs or chests of initiates to the Butwa society.
The kingdom of Bamum in western Cameroon in the early 20th century was the site of one of the most ambitious mapmaking enterprises. Lead by King Njoya, the Bamum people developed an alphabet, then undertook a major topographic survey of the kingdom, involving 60 people who made 30 stops over 52 days. "The map's form and content nicely illustrate the political use of maps," Bassett wrote, noting that the king promoted his political goal of consolidating his control by "presenting 'images of rule,' which effectively mask power struggles and create a sense of unity." Even small decorative marks on King Njoya's map "enhance the image of rule."
"Njoya clearly understood the power of maps," Bassett said, "especially their practical value in administrative and diplomatic affairs."
Like those of other traditional cultures, African maps are "social constructions whose form, content and meaning vary with the intentions of their makers," Bassett said. Whether in the arrangement of beads on a board or in patterns on tie-dyed cloth, the "process of selection, omission and positioning is influenced by the mapmaker's desire to influence specific social and political situations."
Twenty-five years ago, Congress created the IRA (Individual Retirement Account) to encourage Americans to set aside a portion of their yearly income in a special tax-deferred account for retirement.
But in recent years Congress has passed several tax exceptions that encourage people to "raid their IRAs" for immediate expenses that jeopardize the very savings the IRA was meant to promote, according to a UI tax expert who has conducted an in-depth analysis.
"It is time to get back to first principles," Richard L. Kaplan, a UI law professor, wrote in a recent issue of the Elder Law Journal. The changes go against the original intent of the law and create "inappropriate temptations" to use retirement money for immediate consumption.
The original law imposed a 10 percent penalty on withdrawals made before the IRA holder was 59 1/2 years old. As a result, tapping an IRA for pre-retirement expenditures was an expensive source of funds.
Since then, Congress has waived the 10 percent penalty for certain activities. Kaplan is especially critical of the rule permitting the withdrawal of up to $10,000 in IRA funds to buy a home. According to a sample calculation, a 35-year-old who takes $10,000 out of an IRA account to buy a house will lose nearly $200,000 in eventual retirement funds -- "truly a case of short-term gain offset by long-term pain."
Similarly, withdrawing IRA funds to pay for college tuition is a poor investment strategy. "With all the education-specific tax incentives already in place, educational costs hardly seem to warrant an IRA penalty exception, particularly one that might jeopardize an IRA holder's retirement security," Kaplan wrote.
A final exception to the 10 percent penalty applies to medical expenses. This provision was passed by Congress in 1996 in the wake of the failure of Congress to pass the Clinton administration's universal health care program.
"Encouraging people to raid their IRAs to deal with the problem of uninsured Americans is an inadequate approach to the societal dilemma of Americans who are not covered by health insurance plans," he said.
Kaplan recommended that Congress repeal the recently enacted provisions before "they harm prospective retirees," especially in light of the historic low levels of savings now found in American households.
Kaplan's article is titled "Retirement Funding and the Curious Evolution of Individual Retirement Accounts." The Elder Law Journal is published by the UI College of Law.
A blue-light photoreceptor found in nerve layers of the eyes and brains has caught the attention of UI researchers who are seeking the magnetic compass that lets migratory birds and many other creatures find home using the magnetic field of Earth.
The receptor -- cryptochrome -- is known to play a prominent role regulating an animal's day-and-night rhythm. Now, UI scientists reported in the February issue of the Biophysical Journal that chemical experiments and computational modeling indicate that cryptochrome may be the site of a neurochemical reaction that lets birds, for example, process visual clues from the magnetic field and stay on course.
"Animals as diverse as migratory birds, salamanders, salmon, or hamsters use the geomagnetic field for orientation," said Klaus Schulten, holder of the UI Swanlund Chair in Physics and professor at the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology. "We know how such a compass works in bacteria, and we know that the magnetic compass ability is widespread in animals. But it has been a mystery how magnetoreception is achieved in higher animals."
Typical biomolecules interact with Earth's magnetic field too weakly to alter the course of their chemical reactions. In earlier experiments, Schulten had shown that certain chemical reactions involving so-called radical pairs can be influenced by weak magnetic fields, like that of a door magnet. Previous research had identified only cases in which bacteria as a whole, filled with magnetic particles, are being oriented like compass needles for swimming in the right direction.
Schulten's team, including doctoral student Thorsten Ritz, found theoretical evidence that a biochemical reaction involving cryptochromes can be influenced by an Earth-strength magnetic field. The computations were based on fundamental physics as described by the complex equations of quantum mechanics. The National Institutes of Health and the Roy J. Carver Charitable Trust funded the work.
Migratory birds and other animals, in many cases, cannot distinguish between north and south based on magnetic information alone. They can only detect the angle of the magnetic field lines with the horizon, which, Schulten said, is explained through symmetries in visual modulation patterns.
If radical-pair reactions in cryptochromes were connected by photoreception to the vision of animals, the magnetic field would modulate visual sensitivity, Schulten theorized. Animals would "see" the geomagnetic field by superimposing onto its visual images information about the field's direction.
Behavioral biologists tested Schulten's theory. They found that many magnetic responses require light, and that the orientation of some animals was erratic when exposed to monochromatic red light. Such findings strengthened the theory, Schulten and Ritz said, because radical-pair reactions require light above a certain energy threshold.
"The visual modulation patterns that we found show surprising agreement," Schulten said. "The hunt for the elusive magnetoreceptor is not over, but we have provided a new, promising track."
Conventional wisdom says that if you shop for groceries on an empty stomach you'll spend more than necessary because of impulse buying fed by hunger pangs, while a full stomach makes you a pickier shopper. You're in good company: Sea slugs shop the same way.
When hungry, the slugs (Pleurobranchaea californica) may ravenously attack even dangerous prey. With a full stomach, however, they actually turn away from and avoid potential food, scientists report in the March 28 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Such avoidance behavior is important for marine snails, because any time spent eating puts them at risk for being prey themselves.
The research was designed to study the mechanisms of decision-making, said Rhanor Gillette, a professor of physiology and neuroscience at the UI. Foraging animals and shopping humans should make decisions that produce the greatest benefit at the least cost. In this case, Gillette's team asked if degrees of appetite affected the readiness of snails to attack or avoid available prey. Responses were measured by the concentrations of food chemicals at which they would bite or turn away.
"What we've found in studying this very simple sea slug, with a very simple body form and a very simple brain, is that its behavior is organized hedonically, much like ours," he said. "If an animal's internal state changes, its responses to food and pain stimuli change, too. It is as if they make decisions based on a sliding scale of pleasure and pain. This is surprising for a simple invertebrate. Previously such behavior was thought to be exclusive to higher vertebrates."
Hungry snails tempted with the betaine -- a chemical found in most marine invertebrates that stimulates predators -- were quicker to strike than less hungry snails. Higher concentrations of betaine eventually induced biting by the satiated snails, but in general the less hungry snails withdrew their heads, turned and moved away from the food source.
Hungry snails also were more likely to try to attack a noxious acidic stimulus, researchers found. However, satiated snails avoided the noxious stimulus, and even hungry snails with previous exposure were more likely to avoid it. "This could reflect the need of the starving sea slug to pay a higher cost for a meal, if it had to overcome the defenses of prey unwilling to be eaten," Gillette said.
(To see a snail learning to avoid noxious prey, go to www.life.uiuc.edu/slugcity/movies.html. Click on "One Trial Learning.")
"We may have been looking at a very fundamental structural organization that will be found in the behavior of most foraging animals," he said. "Animals tend to make wise decisions when they forage, and they do so whether or not they have lots of brain power."
The 129th Commencement of the UI at Urbana-Champaign will be held in two ceremonies May 14 at the Assembly Hall.
The speaker at both ceremonies will be former U.S. Sen. Paul Simon of Illinois who will receive an honorary degree, as will five other people.
At the 10:30 a.m. ceremony, candidates in the colleges of Applied Life Studies, Communications, Law, Liberal Arts and Sciences, and Veterinary Medicine; the Institute of Labor and Industrial Relations; the School of Social Work; and the Graduate School of Library and Information Science will receive degrees.
Candidates in the colleges of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences; Commerce and Business Administration; Education; Engineering; and Fine and Applied Arts will receive their degrees at the 2 p.m. ceremony.
Doors will open at 9:30 a.m. for the morning ceremony and at 1 p.m. for the afternoon ceremony. After all students and their guests are seated, remaining seats will be available to the public. Shuttle buses will stop at various locations on campus, including Assembly Hall, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
All students who have earned bachelor's, master's, doctoral and professional degrees and advanced certificates during the preceding year are honored at the UI's annual commencement.
Simon, who retired from the Senate in 1997, is a professor at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, where he teaches political science and journalism. Before beginning his career in politics, he was the nation's youngest editor-publisher. At 19 he revitalized the Troy Tribune in Troy, Ill., near St. Louis.
Simon then began his political career in the Illinois House of Representatives in 1954. Eight years later he was elected to the Illinois Senate before being elected lieutenant governor in 1968.
In 1974, Simon was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives and served Illinois' 22nd and 24th congressional districts for 10 years before beginning his 12-year career in the U.S. Senate. He made a bid for the Democratic nomination for president in 1988.
Simon will receive an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Public Administration.
Also scheduled to join Simon in receiving honorary degrees:
James W. Carey will receive an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Letters for his contributions as an author, educator and administrator. Carey, a professor of international journalism at Columbia University and former dean of the UI College of Communications, has been an analyst of the media's role in society, and his commentaries on American civil life have become some of the most influential in communications studies.
Susan Daniels will receive an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Public Administration. As deputy commissioner for disability and income security for the Social Security Administration, Daniels helped develop the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Work Incentives Program, which gave Americans with disabilities the opportunity to return to work.
Luis Leal is an internationally recognized scholar of Chicana/Chicano literature, as well as Mexican and Latin American literature and culture. His pioneering work has brought the concerns of these communities into mainstream America. A retired UI professor of Spanish, Italian and Portuguese, Leal has written more than 30 books and 300 articles, which have helped to define the Greater America field of study. He will receive an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Literature.
Gordon E. Moore, who will receive an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Science, is credited as one of the leaders in the semiconductor industry. Moore, chairman emeritus of Intel Corp., was one of the founders of Fairchild Semiconductor Corp., where his research efforts developed planar technology for transistors that paved the way for the growth of integrated circuits, electronics and computers.
Karen Keskulla Uhlenbeck is often credited with transforming the study of geometry, signified by the many mathematical theorems that bear her name. Her work in nonlinear analysis, geometry and topology in the fields of mathematics and physics has made her one of the most distinguished mathematicians in the world. A professor of mathematics at the University of Texas at Austin, Uhlenbeck will receive an Honorary Degree of Doctor of Science.
Three Alumni Achievement Awards will be presented by the UI Alumni Association at the commencement ceremonies. Receiving the awards:
Linda K. Bunker, a professor in the Curry School of Education and associate dean for graduate programs and admissions at the University of Virginia, pushed for equity among genders in sports at Virginia, including scholarships for female athletes. She earned bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees from the UI and 12 varsity letters competing in basketball, tennis and field hockey.
Alfred Y. Cho is recognized as the co-inventor and principal developer of a revolutionary process called molecular beam epitaxy, which is used all over the world to manufacture electronic and opto-electronic semiconductor chips. He graduated from the UI with bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees, and then worked at Bell Laboratories, eventually becoming the director of semiconductor research, a post he holds today. He received an Honorary Doctor of Engineering Degree from UI in 1999 and was awarded the National Medal of Science in 1983.
Sheldon F. Good is the founder of the nation's largest real estate auction firm. He has held various national and international positions, including becoming the first American president of the International Real Estate Federation in Paris in more than a decade. In recognition of that service, he was awarded the Gold Medal of the City of Paris. Good received a bachelor's degree from the UI and was named the Illini of the Year by the Alumni Association Chicago Illini Club in 1998.
Alan M. and Phyllis Welsh Hallene, 1951 UI graduates, will receive the Alumni Association Distinguished Service Award for their longtime commitment to the UI through volunteer and philanthropic efforts. The two met at the UI and have continued to serve as advisers and advocates for the university. Their contributions to the UI helped build the Hallene Gateway, which serves as the eastern entrance to campus. Alan Hallene received the Alumni Achievement Award in 1985.
Among other planned activities in honor of the graduating class, the UI Symphonic Band will give a free concert for graduates, candidates and their guests at 8 p.m. May 13 in the Great Hall of the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts. Tickets are not required.
All graduating students and their guests are invited to a reception hosted by UI President and Mrs. James J. Stukel and Chancellor Michael Aiken from 8 to 9:30 a.m. May 14 in the gardens of the president's house, 711 W. Florida Ave., Urbana. Academic attire is encouraged.
Additional commencement ceremonies have been scheduled by many individual UI units. All take place on May 14, except as noted:
Colleges
Schools
Departments
Center
Institute
Congratulatory programs
Initiation program
Commissioning program
Views from windows across campus are as varied as the people sitting in the offices behind the windows. We asked readers to share their vantage points with us. This is the fourth and final installment in our series.
After 20 years at the UI's Urbana-Champaign campus and 15 years as the director of the National Center for Supercomputing Applications, Larry Smarr announced April 26 that he has accepted a professorship at the University of California, San Diego. His wife, Janet Smarr, also has accepted a position at UCSD. They will begin their new positions July 1.
The Smarrs raised two sons in Champaign-Urbana, and now that the youngest is about to start college, the time seemed right to evaluate new opportunities.
"With this impending turning point in our lives, Janet and I have thought a lot about the future," Smarr said. "I have come to realize that after 20 intense years of building at UIUC -- creating first NCSA and then the National Computational Science Alliance -- that I need some time for renewal. During the last few years I have turned down a number of very interesting job offers, but, finally, the UCSD offers for both of us just seemed like the right point of departure. It will allow us to continue the close family ties to our sons and give us the personal challenges of new surroundings and new intellectual opportunities."
Smarr will join the UCSD computer science and engineering faculty, where he will collaborate with a wide range of academic researchers and private-sector companies that work on the frontiers of development of the global information infrastructure. Janet Smarr, a UI professor of comparative literature, will become a faculty member in the UCSD department of theater and dance.
"Larry Smarr has made enormous contributions to the university and this community. He and his team have literally helped define the new high-tech world we live in and put the UI at the center of the information revolution," said Provost Richard Herman. "We are very fortunate that one of those contributions was to build a very strong team at NCSA and the alliance that is ready to address the exciting challenges of the next few years."
On March 2, Smarr, who founded NCSA in 1985 and the alliance in 1997, assumed the new role of alliance strategic adviser. This change freed him of his management responsibilities of the alliance and NCSA.
"The alliance and NCSA have achieved the reputation that they have because of the hard work and the vision of Larry Smarr," said Dan Reed, who took over the helm as alliance director in March. "We are fortunate that we will continue to have Larry's input and insight even as he moves to a new position on the West Coast."
With his announcement of a more complete framework for his future activities, Smarr made it clear that he will continue his close working relationship with the campus, NCSA and the alliance.
Specifically, Smarr will remain involved in these areas:
"I believe that UIUC has the right team in place to create the changes that will lift the campus and the community that surrounds it," Smarr said. "I look forward to contributing to that worthy goal, and I truly appreciate all that the university has done to make Champaign-Urbana a productive place for Janet and me, NCSA and the alliance."
This summer, the history department at the UI won't just be teaching history, it will be making it by sending four groups of professors and students abroad -- to Cuba, France, India and Russia -- and in the process doubling its typical summer overseas course offerings.
John Lynn, a professor of military and French history, is leading 15 students in "The History of France From Roman Times to Today," using, he said, "the country itself as our classroom by visiting sites in Paris, the Loire Valley, Normandy and the Argonne. Paris is, of course, the heart of France -- in a sense Washington, D.C., and New York rolled into one," Lynn said, "but it has also been the political and cultural engine of Europe in the past, from the invention of the Gothic style to absolutism, the Revolution to the artistic outpouring of the late 19th and 20th centuries."
In addition to the history, Lynn said, he hopes his students learn about the French people and the country as it is today. The way the course is planned, his students "won't live in a bubble of tourist buses, watching the show outside as it if were on television."
Mark Steinberg, professor of Russian history, is taking 12 students to St. Petersburg, Russia. He notes how "exceptionally interesting and important" a time this is in Russian history, since "Russia is in the very midst of its painful, complex and exciting transition from a state-dominated authoritarian socialism to something quite different, though what this will be is still far from clear."
Steinberg hopes students will discover "the way a place, especially a modern city, can be a window into other times -- vitally alive with the past, memories of the past and attempts to re-imagine and rewrite that past. St. Petersburg is the birthplace of Russia's modern history and the symbol of its complex relations with the world -- a city filled with images, stories, memories and ghosts."
He hopes that spending time in Russia "will make a country that may seem so different and so abstract -- known to the students only through news reports, political arguments, rumors and imagined landscapes and cultures -- very tangible and immediate, but also even more complex."
The department's push is part of a "greater concentration on international studies and an effort to 'globalize' the experiences and perspectives of undergraduate students," said department chairman James Barrett. It also is part of a larger joint effort by the UI College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and the Study Abroad Office, which in the last year has increased summer overseas participation by 47 percent.
"This one program in LAS has increased opportunities for undergraduate course work abroad by nearly 20 percent," said Charles Stewart, an LAS dean, "providing an opportunity for an ever-larger number of undergrads for whom a standard year or even semester abroad cannot be easily managed."
UI history professors Blair Kling and Joseph Love are teaching courses in Panchgani, India, and Havana, respectively. Other UI course sites this summer: Vienna, Austria; London and Stratford, England; Barcelona, Spain; Dublin, Ireland; Avignon, France; and Beijing, Shanghai and Xian, China. Most courses run May 15 to June 9.
The Krannert Center for the Performing Arts has announced its schedule for the 2000-2001 season. As one of the nation's leading performing arts institutions, Krannert Center will present artists who are noted for their creativity and their ability to touch the core of humanity in the upcoming season.
The Marquee Season will open in September with a weeklong tribute called "Blues Roots Honks & Moans." Solo vocalist Bobby McFerrin of "Don't Worry, Be Happy" fame will start the week with his brand of comedy and music. Jazz icon Herbie Hancock will explore "Gershwin's World" with his ensemble, followed by the Muddy Waters Tribute Band. Capping off the week will be the "shout band" gospel traditions of Twinkie Clark and The McCollough Sons of Thunder and the PopAction dance style of STREB, who will explore the theme of "Action Heroes" with singing and dancing.
Krannert's Marquee Great Hall Series will be host to five concerts featuring symphony orchestras and solo performers from around the world -- including pianist Garrick Ohlsson and soprano Renee Fleming. The Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra will present a classic repertoire by Berlioz and Stravinsky. The Dresden Staatskapelle Orchestra will showcase an all-Richard Strauss program. Krannert also will host the Bolshoi Symphony Orchestra and 1998 Tchaikovsky Competition gold medalist Denis Matsuev as well as the London Symphony Orchestra with Sara Chang as soloist.
As part of Krannert's Marquee Chamber Music Series, six world-famous ensembles will perform. Ohlsson returns as a solo act with the Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. And solo pianist Imogene Cooper will play with the conductorless Orpheus Chamber Orchestra. Pianist Andreas Haeflinger joins the Tackas Quartet for Dvorak's Piano Quintet. Quartet music by Mendelssohn, Barber and Brahms makes up the Emerson String Quartet's program. TASHI -- a string quartet and clarinetist Richard Stolzman -- will present the "Quintet for Clarinet and Strings." And the complete sonatas for violin and piano by Beethoven will be presented over three days by Young Uck Kim (violin) and Menahem Pressler (piano).
The Marquee Sunday Salon Series presents solo artists and chamber music on the way to becoming the revered musicians of the new century. These performances will include the Eroica Trio, cellist Jan-Erik Gustafsson, the Peabody Trio and the Krannert Debut Artist.
Additional music events appearing at the Krannert Center offer a variety of experiences from around the world. Sitarists Ravi Shankar and his daughter, Anoushka Shankar, will present the classical music of India. The sarode/tabla duo of Ali Akbar Khan and Zakir Hussain also will present Indian music. The Black Watch (Pipes, Drums, and Highland Dancers) and The Prince of Wales's Band will deliver thrilling performances. Veriovka Ukrainian National Dance Company will present its country's traditional choral singing and dancing traditions. The Afro-Cuban All Stars will present lively Cuban music and the Bang on a Can All-Stars present stimulating contemporary musical selections in their part jazz sextet, part classical ensemble, part rock band style. Composer/pianist Terry Riley will join the Paul Drescher Ensemble Electro-Acoustic Band, before offering a solo cabaret on the stage of the Foellinger Great Hall. Finally, pianist, film and stage composer, entertainer and musical ambassador Marvin Hamlisch will perform.
Families also will find several diverse theatrical presentations being offered during the 2000-2001 Krannert Center season. The explosive, percussive sensation STOMP will entertain for four performances and The King Stag -- featuring the costumes, masks and puppetry from Julie Taymor, the director/designer for Broadway's "The Lion King" -- will delight audiences. Thrill-seekers won't want to miss "Dracula: The Music and Film." This performance pairs the 1931 Universal Pictures film classic starring Bela Lugosi with music composed by Philip Glass and performed live by Glass and the Kronos Quartet. The Anglo-Saxon epic poem "Beowulf" will be presented in bardic tradition by Benjamin Bagby to the accompaniment of his six-string lyre.
At the climax of the season will be Dennis Cleveland, the first operatic talk show, a multimedia event engineered by Michael Rouse. As patrons enter Krannert's Tyron Festival Theater, they will walk onto the set of the fictional "Dennis Cleveland Show," complete with video monitors, TelePrompTers, and camera people showing live close-ups and audience reactions.
Four dance events also are included. The Moscow Festival Ballet will present two classic ballets: "Giselle" and "Don Quixote." Ralph Lemon will bring Part II of his Geographic Trilogy -- three full-evening performance works that investigate an apparent collision of cultures and a search for personal and artistic identities. Local musical artists from the UI Chorale and Sinfonia da Camera accompany two performances by the Mark Morris Dance Group. Doug Varone and Dancers will also perform.
Resident Productions
The UI department of dance season includes four events, beginning with November Playhouse Dance, a rich mosaic of dance by faculty members, students and guest artists. Their most ambitious undertaking of the season, Festival 2001, will present premieres by resident faculty artists and guest choreographers, and masterworks from the vast dance repertoire. Newly commissioned work by internationally known choreographer Tere O'Connor will be featured. Additionally, the work of graduating Master of Fine Arts candidates will be presented in Studiodance I and a juried presentation of choreography by undergraduate and graduate dance students will be presented at Studiodance II.
The UI department of theater opens its season with "Stories From a Garden," a work based on Oscar Wilde fairy tales. Tony Kushner's Pulitzer Prize-winning work "Angels in America, Part One: Millennium Approaches" will be presented by director Henson Keys. The play, recommended for adult audiences, uses AIDS as a metaphor for the conflicts tearing at American society at the turn of the millennium. A little-known, but delightful Tennessee Williams play, "Stairs to the Roof," will enjoy its 21st century premiere at the Krannert Center. The department of theater also will present "The Insect Comedy," "The Colored Museum" and Shakespeare's "The Two Gentleman of Verona."
The UI School of Music will offer three operatic events that will showcase the talents of its student singers and instrumentalists. The Johann Strauss classic "Die Fledermaus" (The Bat) will open the season, followed by Mozart's "Le Nozze di Figaro" (The Marriage of Figaro) and a workshop evening of 20th-century opera in April.
For more information on Krannert productions or to receive a copy of the season brochure contact the Krannert Center ticket office at 333-6280 or (800) KCPATIX (527-2849) or TTY 333-9714, for patrons who are deaf or hearing impaired. More information also is available at the Krannert Center Web site, www.kcpa.uiuc.edu/kcpa/.
Four UI students will receive the Goldwater Scholarship, which is awarded to undergraduate students who excel in the study of mathematics, the natural sciences or engineering.
This year's scholarship recipients are David A. Fike of Hawthorn Woods; Benjamin R. Marks of Skokie; Jared J. Mehl of Belvidere; and Erik R. Stauffer of St. Charles.
Fike is majoring in physics and astronomy with minors in geology, international studies (German) and mathematics. He plans to earn a doctorate in microgeobiology. Mehl is majoring in physics with a 4.0 grade-point average (on a 4.0 scale). He intends to earn a doctorate in physics. Marks is majoring in biochemistry and plans to obtain joint Ph.D./M.D. degrees and then to study cancer. Stauffer is studying electrical engineering with a 4.0 grade-point average. He plans to earn a doctorate in signal processing and communication.
The four UI students were among the 309 Goldwater Scholarship recipients chosen from 1,176 nominees. The one- and two-year scholarships cover the cost of tuition, fees, books, and room and board up to a maximum of $7,500 per year.
The federally funded Goldwater Scholarships were authorized by Congress in 1986 in memory of the late U.S. senator and former presidential candidate Barry M. Goldwater. They are awarded to students who will be college juniors or seniors in the following scholastic year.
The Urbana-Champaign Senate has strongly endorsed a resolution that "insists" the campus administration establish a child-care center on the Urbana campus like those at the UIC and UIS campuses.
The resolution received what appeared to be a unanimous show of hands on the Senate floor at a reconvened meeting May 1 in Foellinger Auditorium.
Heidi Von Gunden, professor of music and chair of the committee that studied the issue for three years, said the child-care needs have been studied and proposed to the administration by a variety of committees since 1970. She praised the administration's recent decision to expand the campus Child Development Lab to serve more children, but said the expansion still leaves the Urbana campus short of accommodating parents on campus.
Von Gunden pointed out that UIC has two child-care facilities and UIS has one. Urbana has the Child Development Laboratory that is focused on educational research rather than the needs of the students, and faculty and staff members. She said the campus needs a child-care center that offers evening and flexible hours and that serves children and infants, she said.
Many senate members spoke in support of the resolution, although there was some dispute about the original resolution's phrasing that said the senate "demands." The word "urges" was considered, but members finally settled on "insists."
Von Gunden said the resolution needed strong language because the issue has a long history of going unnoticed. She said the committee did not want it overlooked for another 30 or 40 years.
Also May 1, the senate approved a resolution concerning faculty salaries and benefits that calls upon the state to reconsider its budgeting priorities and eliminate a widening gap in salaries and benefits between public and private universities. The resolution calls for the senate and UI leadership to make efforts to restore the UI to a competitive position in the academic labor market.
Professor James G. Ward, who chaired the committee that proposed the resolution, said that if an assistant professor decides to teach in private institutions rather than public universities, that professor will earn $1.5 million more over the course of his or her career.
He said there is an unacceptable, widening gap between the compensation to faculty members at public and private universities.
This past year the average increase for Urbana faculty members was 4.6 percent total compensation, according to Earl Grinols, economics professor. But at the University of Chicago, compensations were increased 5.4 percent, and that is on top of the 34 percent more those faculty already receive at the full professor level, he said.
Grinols offered other similar comparisons that pointed out that Urbana faculty members are not keeping up with the salary and benefits offered to their peers. He said if improvements are not made, the UI could become a second-rate institution.
For a while, senators considered amending the resolution so that it included a proposal to extend benefits to same sex or opposite sex domestic partners, but that was voted down. Several senators said they opposed the amendment because that issue had already been advocated by the senate in 1996, and was not appropriate in the proposed resolution.
The meeting Monday was a follow-up to the scheduled April 24 meeting, when senators were unable to complete all the agenda items. Because it was the last meeting of the school year, several issues were brought to the members for action, but senators sent most of them back for more study.
One issue that did get voted upon was a resolution requesting that the UI Board of Trustees invite faculty participation in the trustee meetings.
That resolution specifies that the representative from each campus would be a chair or vice chair of their respective senates. The faculty representatives would have voice privileges but be unable to vote.
Although the resolution passed, some members objected to the representatives being senate leaders and proposed that the faculty at large elect the representatives.
Geneva Belford, professor of computer science and a member of the committee that proposed the resolution, said the committee tried to make the proposal appealing so the trustees would adopt it.
"We agreed that a popularly elected faculty representative to the board of trustees would not fly," Belford said.
Once senates on all three campuses have approved the resolution it will be presented to President James Stukel, who could then take it to the trustees for consideration.
In other matters, senate members sent back to committee a proposal to allow multi-year contracts for non-tenured faculty members and academics. Currently, these professionals are offered renewable one-year contracts.
The proposal to offer contracts of up to three years first came up in 1998 when a UI administrator suggested the multi-year contracts would provide job security to valued employees not on the tenure track. The multi-year contracts also would help the university compete for top candidates with other universities, according to the administration.
"Multi-year contracts will enhance the ability of the university to benefit from professionals whose expertise is invaluable to our mission, our students and our units, such as clinical instructors," according to Provost Richard Herman. "These are individuals whose knowledge is based on their professional abilities, but whose careers have not necessarily had a significant research component."
But some Senate members argue that the policy change could result in tenured positions being filled with less-expensive visiting lecturers and adjunct professors. Herman has offered to create a faculty committee to oversee the hiring to ensure that does not happen.
Although the proposal was up for final approval, the senate voted to send it back to the University Statutes and Senate Procedures Committee.
In a related matter, a proposal that amends university statutes relating to the dismissal of academic professionals also was sent back for further study. That issue has been before the Senate for several months and though it was up for a final vote April 24, members decided they needed more information and opinions from academic professionals before they would vote on it.
Another resolution sent back to committee concerned improving the senate itself. A committee called the Senate Review Commission offered a series of 15 recommendations aimed at improving the senate's credibility and increasing participation of members.
One of the recommendations is that membership no longer be offered to professors emeriti. Others would limit the number of senate committees to 12 and change the representation on the Senate Council.
One of the members of the committee argued that it's time to quit postponing the issues and accept the changes, which all would be brought back for approval in the future anyway.
"Let's move forward," urged student senator Lawrence Tabone. "It's time to weigh in. The people you're asking to be consulted have already been consulted."
Robert Rich, chair of the Senate Council and professor of law and of political science, urged members to approve the resolution. He said the details of it would have to come before the senate in the future anyway.
"This is about making the senate more credible," Rich said. "It outlines the goals and principles to bring that about. But if it's sent back to committee, we're not making any progress toward making the senate more effective and credible."
In other matters, senate members narrowly approved a set of guidelines for approving online degree programs. They also elected Kenneth Andersen to a four-year term on the Faculty Advisory Committee of the Illinois Board of Higher Education. Andersen is a professor emeritus of speech communication.
Richard Wheeler has accepted the position of dean of the UI Graduate College, as recommended by the chancellor and president.
His appointment will be submitted to the UI Board of Trustees for approval at the board meeting in May.
Wheeler is a professor of English whose scholarly work has been primarily in Shakespearean studies. He was the head of the English department for 11 years, and this year is serving as the acting head of the anthropology department.
"I am very much looking forward to working with Richard in the years to come to build and sustain the highest quality graduate programs across campus," said Richard Herman, the provost of the Urbana campus.
Wheeler will replace Tony Waldrop, the vice chancellor for research, who has served as interim dean during the search. The former dean of the graduate college was Richard Alkire, who has returned to teaching and research in chemical engineering.
Wheeler received his Ph.D. and master's degrees from the State University of New York at Buffalo, and his bachelor's from Cornell College in Iowa. He came to the UI as an assistant professor of English in 1969. He became a full professor in 1987 and the head of the department the same year.
He has been on the Incomplete List of Excellent Teachers at Urbana nine
times, and has served on a variety of college and campus committees, and
he has a lengthy list of books and published articles and reviews to his
credit.
Fourteen gifts totaling more than $13 million earmarked for programs at the Chicago, Springfield and Urbana-Champaign campuses of the UI were announced April 28 in Chicago by UI President James J. Stukel at a dinner during the spring meeting of the UI Foundation's Presidents Council.
The council is the university's highest donor recognition program and is administered by the UI Foundation, the university's private gift fund-raising arm.
Individuals and charitable organizations were recognized for their contributions to Campaign Illinois, the ongoing universitywide fund drive. Campaign Illinois gifts as of March 31, 2000, totaled $1.38 billion. The fund drive, which had an original goal of $1 billion, was extended last year to build the university's active endowment to $1 billion. More than $920 million in active endowment has been recorded. The active endowment has increased more than 3 1/2 times since the UI began counting Campaign Illinois donations in 1991. Income from the endowment has grown from less than $10 million in 1991 to nearly $24 million in the past fiscal year.
Four gifts were designated for programs on the Urbana-Champaign campus:
In addition, the Roy J. Carver Charitable Trust of Muscatine, Iowa, has provided new gifts totaling more than $2.5 million for the College of Engineering and the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences on the Urbana-Champaign campus. Carver funding will support research by Paul Selvin in the department of physics and by James Slauch in the department of microbiology. Most of the Carver funding will support endowed fellowships in the College of Engineering.
Carver Fellowships, among the most prestigious awards, recently were offered to 15 students for the 2000-2001 academic year. Carver Fellows honor Roy J. Carver, a 1934 UI graduate who founded the Carver Pump Company, Carver Foundry and Bandag, the world's largest producer of tire retread materials and equipment. The Carver Trust has provided more than $3.3 million in support of programs at the UI.
"Increment of One" features Canadian-born artist Micah Lexier's most recent explorations of themes such as time, volume and life span. "Pink Works: Selected Paintings 1994-2000" highlights the work of Chicago artist Lorraine Peltz, who often has incorporated pink into her paintings during the past seven years.
The show is the fourth in a series of I space exhibitions that focus attention on a specific aspect of the work of established Chicago artists.
I space gallery hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Communiversity is a program of non-graded, non-credit classes offered through the University YMCA to the general public. Classes are taught by people who have a special skill or interest they want to share with others.
Course topics include but are not limited to arts and crafts, dance, exercise and movement, languages, martial arts, music, social issues and many others.
If you would like to teach a class, contact Patrick Oray, 337-1514 or e-mail pboray@prairienet.org or stop by the University YMCA at 1001 S. Wright St. and pick up an application. The deadline for applications is May 12.
The Media Production Group of the UI's Asian Educational Media Service turned the diary into a film, "Makiko's New World," which transports viewers into the almost-forgotten world of urban Japan a century ago. David Plath, UI professor emeritus of anthropology, produced and designed the film.
WILL-TV will air "Makiko's New World" at 6 p.m. May 14. The program blends historical photos and film footage with pictures from family albums and dramatized re-enactments of events Makiko recorded in her diary.
In November, the documentary was awarded the Silver Prize at the Asahi Newspaper's Competition for Films and Videos on Japan and was the only non-Japanese entry to win a prize.
So, check your excuses at the gallery door, and be prepared to crack open your mind wide enough to glimpse the possibility of a fresh perspective. Here's just a sample of the art that promises to disturb and dazzle, comfort, amuse and amaze -- all at the same time.
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.
Agricultural and Consumer Economics. Faculty, agricultural law (rank open). J.D. required. Available: negotiable. Contact Darrel Good, 333-4716 or d-good@illinois.edu. Closing date: June 15.
Crop Sciences. Assistant/associate professor (plant pathology). PhD in plant pathology or a related discipline and ability to develop and deliver excellent individual and team extension education programs required. Available: Jan. 1. Contact G.H. Heichel, 333-9480. Closing date: July 1.
Crop Sciences. Assistant/associate professor, soybean cyst nematode management. PhD in nematology or in a pest-management or related discipline with extensive training and experience in nematology required. Must be able to provide evidence of abilities or accomplishments in the planning of, obtaining external funding for, and carrying out broad-based programs in research in SCN management within the soybean production system. Available: Jan. 1. Contact G.H. Heichel, 333-9480. Closing date: Sept. 1.
Food Science and Nutrition. Faculty (rank open). PhD in food science, engineering or related field with demonstrated research and teaching experience required. Industrial or postdoctoral experience desired. Available: Aug. 21. Contact William E. Artz, 333-9337 or w-artz@illinois.edu. Closing date: June 8.
Human and Community Development. Visiting teaching associate. Master's degree in agricultural education or related field and experience with student-recruitment activities and student organizations/student club adviser required. Available: Aug. 21. Contact Joe Harper, 333-3790 or jgharper@staff.uiuc.edu. Closing date: May 12.
Physics. Head. PhD required. Should have an international reputation in research and a strong interest in developing the research and teaching programs of the department. Available: Aug. 21. Contact James J. Coleman, 333-2555. Closing date: July 15.
University Library. Visiting assistant professor/visiting assistant music librarian. Master's degree, one year's experience in academic music library, knowledge of music reference sources, experience creating and maintaining Web pages required. Available: July 1. Contact Richard Griscom, 244-4070 or griscom@illinois.edu. Closing date: May 25.
University Library. Faculty, library administration (open rank)/mathematics librarian. Master's degree in library science and at least 2 years' successful professional library experience in an academic, research or special library; library experience in the literature of mathematics, statistics or a related field; and knowledge of current information technology applied to a library environment required. Available: Aug. 21. Contact Susan Edwards, 333-5494. Closing date: June 15.
University Library. Visiting assistant professor, library administration/visiting assistant music librarian. Master's degree and a minimum of one year's experience in an academic music library required. Must have knowledge of music reference sources and experience creating and maintaining Web pages. Available: July 1. Contact Richard Griscom, 244-4070 or griscom@illinois.edu. Closing date: May 25.
Continuing Education. Marketing director. Master's degree and 2 years' experience in marketing required; PhD preferred. Knowledge of financial management and advertising production processes, experience with multiple media for advertising, media and public relation skills and proficiency with database and spreadsheet programs and Web-based promotion also required. Experience in marketing of continuing higher education, including graduate degree programs, credit courses, noncredit programs, conferences, institutes, workshops, budget management related to distance education and program development, collaborative programming and partnerships and managing mailing lists. Available: July 1. Contact Gloria Buhrmester, 333-4258 or gbuhr@illinois.edu. Closing date: June 2.
Biotechnology Center. Research specialist in life sciences. Bachelor's degree and experience in molecular biology required; master's preferred. Available: May 22. Contact Mark Band, 244-3930. Closing date: May 8.
Intercollegiate Athletics. Assistant men's gymnastics coach. Bachelor's degree required. Available: June 1. Contact Yoshi Hayasaki, 333-7973. Closing date: May 15.
Operation and Maintenance Division. Geographical information systems specialist. Bachelor's in geography, cartography, planning, GIS required. Must have general knowledge and experience with personal computers, GIS, FIMS, AutoCad, Arc/Info and ArcView. Available immediately. Contact Ron Reinhart, 333-0923. Closing date: May 22.
Physics. Teaching laboratory specialist. Bachelor's degree in physics or related scientific field required. Available: June 21. Contact Bernie Dick, 333-4460 or bdick@illinois.edu. Closing date: June 7.
Planning and Budgeting, University Office for. Resource and policy analyst. Master's degree and prior experience in data collection and assessment, statistical analysis and information management required. Must have knowledge and experience in information technology and management information reporting and experience in use of Web-based applications and database applications (preferably in a networked, client/server environment). Available immediately. Contact Judy McCoy Lindauer, 333-6600. Closing date: May 26.
Project Planning and Facility Management, Office for. Staff associate (landscape architect). Bachelor's degree in landscape architecture and the ability to perform design studies and graphic presentations, working drawings specifications and cost estimates required. Must be able to prepare computer-generated documents and a working knowledge of computer presentation software and AutoCAD is desired. Available immediately. Contact Ann Swearingen, 244-4049. Closing date: May 30.
Spurlock Museum. Specialist/collection manager. Bachelor's degree and 5 years' museum-related experience or a master's degree with 2-3 years' experience required. Available immediately. Contact Douglas J. Brewer, 702 S. Wright St., MC-450 or darobbin@illinois.edu. Closing date: July 1.
Spurlock Museum. Specialist/museum registrar. Bachelor's degree and 5 years' related experience or a master's degree with 2-3 years' experience required. Available immediately. Contact Douglas J. Brewer, 702 S. Wright St., MC-450 or darobbin@illinois.edu. Closing date: July 1.
Supercomputing Applications (NCSA). Research programmer, specializing as a technical consultant (one or more positions). Bachelor's degree in computer science, engineering, science or related field and strong working knowledge of Java, C, C++, Fortran, XML, CGI or HTML required. Available immediately. Contact NCSA Human Resources, 605 E. Springfield Ave., MC-476 or 265-0619, or career@ncsa.uiuc.edu. Closing date: May 24.
Supercomputing Applications (NCSA). Network engineer, computing and communications division (one or more positions). Bachelor's degree in computer science, electrical engineering or related field and two years' relevant experience required. Must have training in the management and support of individual technologies such as network management or UNIX system administration and experience with TCP/IP or similar routed network protocols. Available immediately. Contact NCSA Human Resources, 605 E. Springfield Ave., MC-476 or 265-0619 or career@ncsa.uiuc.edu. Closing date: May 12.
Supercomputing Applications (NCSA). Research programmer, data, mining and visualization division (one or more positions). Bachelor's degree, preferably in computer science or related field and working knowledge of Java, XML, C, C++ and database programming required. Must be trained in efficient programming skills and development methodologies; have experience with scientific data modeling; familiarity with the design and implementation of Internet protocols such as HTTP, Z39.50, CORBA and RMI; and experience with Web programming, HTML and a variety of applications. Available immediately. Contact NCSA Human Resources, 605 E. Springfield Ave., MC-476 or 265-0619 or career@ncsa.uiuc.edu. Closing date: May 25 .
UI Press. Marketing specialist (publicity manager). Bachelor's degree and minimum of 2 years' experience in academic marketing or book publishing required. Must have experience in publicity/public relations. Available immediately. Contact David M. Perkins, 1325 S. Oak St., MC-566. Closing date: May 22.
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: Mary Ann Gonka is assistant director for health professions and science career information at The Career Center. Her main responsibility is to work with students who are interested in health professions such as physical therapy, occupational therapy, physician's assistants, dentistry, pharmacy and optometry. She also works with some pre-med students.
Clinton Atkins, 90, died April 22 at Carle Foundation Hospital, Urbana. He taught in the civil engineering department from 1947 to 1956.
Richard Dalton, 65, died April 23 at his home in Mahomet. He had been a carpenter at the UI. Memorials: Provena Covenant Hospice Care Program, the Philo Road Church or the American Cancer Society.
Mary Davison, 75, died April 15 at the Carle Arbours, Savoy. She was retired from her position as accountant for the Illini Union. Memorials: Carle Memorial Foundation's Parkinson Disease support group or the Countryside United Methodist Church, Sidney.
Matthew W. Glenn, 75, died April 19 at his home in Vero Beach, Fla. He was the assistant director of the Illini Union until he retired in 1979. Memorials: Hospice House, 1111 36th St., Vero Beach, FL 32960.
Roy M. Hoppe, 77, died April 16 at his home in Champaign. At one time he worked as an operations engineer for the UI physical plant and was a member of the 1941-42 UI football team. Memorials: Carle Hospice or the UI Division of Intercollegiate Athletics Grants-in-Aid program.
Stanley Robinson, 90, died April 15 at his Champaign home. He was named assistant dean in the Division of University Extension and associate professor of management in the College of Commerce and Business Administration in 1948. In 1955 he was named associate dean in the extension department and in 1960 dean of the department. Memorials: Myasthenia Gravis Foundation, National Osteoporosis Foundation or First Presbyterian Church of Champaign.
William Whitten, 61, died April 18 at his Urbana home. He was an electronics technician in the physics department for 30 years.