The March 4 student election included a Sustainable Campus Referendum that raised the Sustainable Campus Fee from $5 to $14 per semester. The Student Sustainability Committee allocates the refundable fee, which supports grants or interest-free loans to applicable campus projects. Past projects supported by the fee, which was instituted in spring 2007, include the student farm, which grows tons of produce for the dining halls and offers opportunities for students to learn hands-on about sustainable food production; a student project to make biodiesel fuel out of waste from the dining halls for use in university cars; and the green roof and solar array at the Business Instructional Facility. In order to take effect this fall, the fee increase must be approved by the UI Board of Trustees, who could vote for its approval this summer. Seventy-seven percent of voters supported the fee increase, a higher percentage than on previous environmental referenda passed in 2003 and 2007.
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Life sciences
Minecraft players can now explore whole cells and their contents
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Scientists have translated nanoscale experimental and computational data into precise 3D representations of bacteria, yeast and human epithelial, breast and breast cancer cells in Minecraft, a video game that allows players to explore, build and manipulate structures in three dimensions. The innovation will allow researchers and students of all ages to navigate […]
Arts
February Dance includes works experimenting with live music, technology and a ‘sneaker ballet’
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — The dance department at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign will present February Dance 2025: Fast Forward this week at Krannert Center for the Performing Arts. February Dance will be one of the first performances in the newly renovated Colwell Playhouse Theatre since its reopening. The performances are Jan. 30-Feb. 1. Dance professor […]
Honors
Four Illinois researchers receive Presidential Early Career Award
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Four researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign were named recipients of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, the highest honor bestowed by the U.S. government on young professionals at the outset of their independent research careers. The winners this year are health and kinesiology professor Marni Boppart, physics professor Barry Bradlyn, chemical and biomolecular engineering professor Ying […]