News Bureau

Who can see what we share? Does our email belong to us? How is technology changing the ways we communicate? Two faculty members from the College of Fine and Applied Arts will address such questions at the college’s Uncorked and On Topic event at 5:15 p.m. Oct. 15 in the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts Tryon Festival Theatre Foyer.

In its first year of commercial operation, the university’s solar farm generated 7,284 megawatt-hours of clean, renewable energy for the campus, successfully meeting expectations. Located at the southwest corner of Windsor Road and First Street, Champaign, the solar farm reduced the campus carbon footprint by more than 6,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide.

The University of Illinois’ Allerton Park will be holding illuminated Winter Wellness Walks Tuesdays-Saturdays from 5-8 p.m. until Jan. 16. The free walk runs from the mansion parking lot through the Avenue of the Formal Gardens and the Brick Wall Garden to the Visitor Center.

“Stranded by the State,” a two-part documentary by Illinois Public Media focusing on the long-term toll the Illinois budget crisis has had on everyday people statewide, will begin broadcasting on public television stations Feb. 14, the day before Gov. Bruce Rauner’s state budget address. WILL-TV in Urbana-Champaign and WEIU-TV in Charleston will air the documentary from 7-8 p.m. on that date. Other public television stations statewide will air the documentary at later dates.

Omega Tau Sigma, the professional veterinary fraternity, will host the 5K Road Race for Animals on Oct 25. Participants may run or walk, with or without a dog.

Interested in meeting writing goals in a distraction-free setting?

The Illinois Sustainable Technology Center will host a free public information session on the Solar Urbana-Champaign’s Solar Group Purchase Program. The information session at the ISTC will begin at noon March 10 at 1 E. Hazelwood Drive, Champaign.

Jay Rosen, a professor of journalism at New York University, will present his lecture “Winter is Coming: The Trump Regime and the American Press” at 5 p.m. Wednesday, March 8, at 1092 Lincoln Hall, 702 S. Wright St., Urbana.

A wet April extended the trend for above-average precipitation in Illinois. This year was the seventh-wettest December-to-April period on record, according to Brian Kerschner, a spokesperson for the Illinois State Climatologist Office at the Illinois State Water Survey, part of the Prairie Research Institute at Illinois.

The Office of Diversity, Equity and Access is now accepting nominations for the annual Larine Y. Cowan “Make a Difference” Awards. The awards honor campus community members who have demonstrated exceptional dedication to promoting diversity and inclusion on campus in the following areas (nomination forms and criteria are online):

Dial-A-Carol is a student-run holiday program at Illinois. Each year, the students of Snyder Hall, a University Housing residence hall, host the event. Anyone from anywhere may call 217-332-1882 and request any holiday tune, which will be sung live by students over the telephone.

Dr. Richard Isaacson and Max Lugavere will discuss “The Role of Nutrition in the Management of Alzheimer’s Disease” at 6 p.m. Sept. 23 in the auditorium of the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology.

Cooler weather has caused soil temperatures to decrease across the state, according to Jennie Atkins, Water and Atmospheric Resources Monitoring Program manager at the Illinois State Water Survey at Illinois.

The Graduate College will host a free screening of “The PHD Movie 2: Still in Grad School” at 6:30 p.m. Feb. 17 in Foellinger Auditorium. The doors open at 6 p.m. The event is open to all graduate students.

The Emmy and Latin Grammy Award-winning family entertainment of Lucky Diaz and the Family Jam Band will perform a free concert at Krannert Center for the Performing Arts at 10 a.m. Feb. 13. 

Stanford University Ecologist Christopher B. Field will deliver the 2016 Charles David Keeling Lecture – “Climate Change: The Road through Paris” – from 7-8:30 p.m. April 14 in Room 100 Noyes Laboratory. A reception will follow.

The University YMCA announces the spring Friday Forum lecture series “Breaking Down Racism: Fighting Racial Injustice in the U.S.”

Applications for the 2017 Alternative Academic Career Summer Workshops for Pre-Doctoral Students in the Humanities – an initiative of the Humanities Without Walls consortium – are now available at the HWW website. These workshops will showcase opportunities beyond the walls of the academy in an uncertain academic job climate. They are a continuation of a workshop series offered in 2015 and 2016 in conjunction with the Chicago Humanities Festival for students from HWW member institutions. In 2017, HWW will sponsor its first national summer workshop for graduate students interested in learning about careers outside of the academy and/or the tenure track system.

The Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies will host its 8th annual Latin American Film Festival Sept. 18-24 at the Art Theater Co-op, 126 W. Church St., Champaign. The festival will screen six recent fiction films and one documentary from different countries of the region.

University Primary School is now accepting enrollment applications for the 2017-18 academic year. The school is the College of Education at Illinois lab school, serving children preschool through fifth grade in a Reggio Emilia, project-based curriculum.

The Child Development Laboratory, 1105 W. Nevada and 1005 W. Nevada, Urbana, is accepting applications for the 2017-18 school year. Full-day child care programs for children ages 6 weeks to 4 years are in session Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on a year-round basis. 

A new documentary film, “Starving the Beast,” will be shown in a free screening Thursday, Dec. 1, at 7:30 p.m. at the Art Theater Co-op, 126 W. Church St., Champaign.

Children’s reggae artist Aaron Nigel Smith and his band will perform a free family concert at 10 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 4 in the lobby of  Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, 500 S. Goodwin Ave., Urbana.

The University Library will host Ariel Waldman, who will give a lecture titled “Hacker’s Guide to the Galaxy” at 4 p.m. March 1 at the Alice Campbell Alumni Center, 601 S. Lincoln Ave., Urbana. A reception will follow.

The statewide average temperature for May was 61.9 degrees, 0.8 degrees below normal, according to Illinois State Climatologist Jim Angel with the Illinois State Water Survey, part of the Prairie Research Institute at the U. of I. A few locations in Illinois reached 90 degrees, including Moline and Springfield. In mid-May, several locations reported temperatures below freezing, including Mount Carroll with 29 degrees.

The statewide average temperature in April was 44.7 degrees, 7.9 degrees below normal, according to Illinois State Climatologist Jim Angel at the Illinois State Water Survey, part of the Prairie Research Institute at Illinois. It was the second-coldest April on record, dating back to 1895, and beaten only by 43.1 degrees set in April 1907.

The average temperature for June in Illinois was 72.8 degrees, 0.9 degrees above normal, according to Illinois State Climatologist Jim Angel with the Illinois State Water Survey, part of the Prairie Research Institute at Illinois.

The Illini Union Office of Volunteer Programs is sponsoring its annual Thanksgiving Basket Drive to provide families with a basket of nonperishable food items and a $25 gift card, which can furnish a Thanksgiving meal. The entire Illinois campus is invited to participate. The drive will run through Nov. 16.

On Thursday, April 19 at 4 p.m., Spurlock Museum of World Cultures at Illinois presents the talk “University of Illinois Wheelchair Athletics: A Tradition of Excellence.” Adam Bleakney, the head coachof men's and women's track, field and racing, and Stephanie Wheeler, the head coach of women’s basketball, will discuss the program’s roots, its legacy and its continuing leadership and success in wheelchair sports. 

A new documentary premiering on the Big Ten Network features three extraordinary women at the University of Illinois. “Making Their Mark” will air on BTN on Friday, Sept. 25 at 8 p.m. CDT, following the Illinois-Maryland women’s volleyball match. The 30-minute program profiles athlete Jean Driscoll, entomologist May Berenbaum and computer artist Donna Cox.

 The statewide average precipitation in Illinois for October was 4.94 inches, 1.70 inches above normal, and the 10th-wettest October since 1895, said Illinois State Climatologist Jim Angel of the Illinois State Water Survey, part of the Prairie Research Institute at Illinois.

Who was Robert Allerton, the creator of the English-style country house, grounds and sculpture park in central Illinois? Author Maureen Holtz will share insights about the life and estates of Allerton, called “Chicago’s Richest Bachelor” by the Chicago Tribune in 1906. The event is Thursday, May 17, at Spurlock Museum of World Cultures at Illinois, 600 S. Gregory St., Urbana. Allerton’s Monticello, Illinois, estate, now owned by the U. of I., is listed as one of the state’s Seven Wonders, and his Kauai, Hawaii, estate, Lawai-Kai, is now a botanical garden.

Amazon will host an AWSome Day for U. of I. researchers from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. May 11. The event will take place in the Training Room of the Atkins Building, 1800 S. Oak St., Champaign, in the Research Park. The goal of this event is to help researchers and their staff members understand Amazon Web Services.

Bree Newsome, the community organizer and activist who removed the Confederate battle flag from the South Carolina Statehouse in 2015 after the Charleston shootings, will be the keynote speaker for this year’s iUnite Week.

Her talk, titled “Tearing Hatred from the Sky,” will be presented Tuesday, Sept. 20, at 7 p.m. in rooms A, B and C at the Illini Union, 1401 W. Green St., Urbana. The event is sponsored by the Office of Inclusion and Intercultural Relations, Inclusive Illinois and the Illini Union Board. The event is open to the public.

Newsome established herself as a touchstone of empowerment for disenfranchised people around the world when she tore down the Confederate flag  in the name of social justice and equality. A graduate of New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, Newsome blends her artistic talents with her activism, encouraging audiences to transform society into a world where the lives and contributions of all individuals are recognized equally.

The Champaign Park District invites the community to celebrate the 25th year of the Tribute to Olympic and Paralympic Athletes monument on Saturday, Oct. 1, at noon at Dodds Park.

Faculty and staff members, students and other stakeholders are invited to the Strategic Plan town hall meeting from 3-5 p.m. Nov. 18 in the auditorium of the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology.

Nev Schulman, of MTV’s “Catfish: The TV Show,” will speak at the Illini Union I-Rooms at 7 p.m. Sept. 24 as part of the Illini Union Board Lecture Series.

Illinois experienced wide temperature swings in November, with colder-than-normal temperatures canceling out the warmer-than normal days. By month’s end, November was slightly cooler than average in Illinois, according to Illinois State Climatologist Jim Angel at the Illinois State Water Survey, part of the Prairie Research Institute at Illinois.

Information provided for news media interested in covering the Day of Service on the U. of I. at Urbana-Champaign campus Saturday, April 6. Hundreds of volunteers will package 28,000 pounds of food for delivery to families in need throughout eastern Illinois.

University Primary School, the laboratory school of the College of Education, is hosting an open house for the community Thursday, Oct. 19. The school is located at the Children’s Research Center, 51 Gerty Drive, Champaign.

The School of Literatures, Cultures and Linguistics will offer a unique learning opportunity in the form of its Intensive Foreign Language Instruction Program for winter 2016.

“’Before the sun is set ...’: Imagining Granada between light and lines,” an exhibition of works on paper by architect Jose Vazquez representing the architecture, landscape and city of historic Granada, Spain, begins Monday, March 4, at 5:30 p.m. in Temple Hoyne Buell Hall, 611 E. Lorado Taft Drive in Champaign.

The Office of Volunteer Programs is co-sponsoring the Campus and Community Food Drive with the Eastern Illinois Foodbank, iHelp and Student Alumni Ambassadors on Saturday, Sept. 24 and Tuesday, Sept. 27.

This year’s collection goal is 3,000 meals, with every 1.2 pounds of food equaling one meal. The state of hunger in Illinois is alarming: 22 percent of children live in poverty, 33 percent of the population is in poverty or very close to it, and 7 percent are in extreme poverty.  In Champaign County, 40,848 people live in poverty.

“This year, we are modifying what was previously known as Cans Across the Quad,” said John Race, program advisor for the Office of Volunteer Programs. “We are excited about this new format and think it will be more accessible for people to participate in and meet our goal.”

Participants should bring nonperishable packaged or canned goods. Meats and fish, complete meals, fruit and peanut butter are the most requested items. The Eastern Illinois Foodbank will collect all donations at the end of the event and distribute the contributions to food shelters across the county.

Drop-off times are Saturday from 8:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on the Quad and from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Alice Campbell Alumni Center. On Tuesday, donations will be accepted at the Alice Campbell Alumni Center from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The Quad is located directly south of the Illini Union, 1401 W. Green St., Urbana. The Alice Campbell Alumni Center is located at 601 S. Lincoln Ave., Urbana. Cans that are dented, rusted or expired cannot be accepted.

Soil temperatures were above normal in mid-November, according to Jennie Atkins, the Water and Atmospheric Resources Monitoring Program manager at the Illinois State Water Survey, part of the Prairie Research Institute at Illinois.

Brazilian music educator and scholar Juliana Cantarelli Vita presents a lecture and recital on Afro-Brazilian percussion genres, Saturday, March 30 at 7 p.m. at Spurlock Museum of World Cultures, 600 S. Gregory St., Urbana.

Soil temperatures are increasing after a cooling period the second week of June, according to Jennie Atkins, the Water and Atmospheric Resources Monitoring Program manager at the Illinois State Water Survey, part of the Prairie Research Institute at Illinois.

Film-related panel discussions have been announced for the 18th annual Roger Ebert’s Film Festival, coming April 13-17 to Champaign-Urbana.

The Critical Conversations on Native Imagery Advisory Committee releases its report on a series of campus events that discussed the use of Native imagery on the Urbana campus.

The $44 million Multimodal Corridor Enhancement project, designed to improve access for all modes of transportation on campus and neighboring areas including Green Street, Armory Avenue, White Street and Wright Street, will begin work in early March. New streetscape improvements, a transit-boarding island on Green Street, reconfigured Illini Union vehicle entrance and parking, all-way pedestrian crossings and protected bicycle lanes are some of the features designed to improve travel links from Campustown to downtowns in Urbana and Champaign. All businesses will be open and reachable throughout the project.

This weekend, Illinois alumni, students and staff will gather to celebrate 20 years of the First Year Campus Acquaintance Rape Education (FYCARE) Program, a nationally renowned mandatory sexual assault prevention workshop for first-year students.