News Bureau

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Acting out of a sense of both personal trauma and political distress at the scope of the Katrina Hurricane catastrophe and what he calls the "failure of the response," a professor who taught at Tulane University in New Orleans has set up a public online forum to address the disaster.

Using energy for transportation, to power appliances and to make interiors comfortable is nearly impossible to avoid. Although there are energy-saving steps that can be taken, leaving a carbon footprint is inevitable. UI students in a carbon registry class created a website with tools that help in understanding what contributes to carbon output and suggest ways to offset the damage.

Aspiring writers around campus who are yearning to share their thoughts or expertise with the online world now have a quick and easy way to start with the new blog service offered by Web Services.

This is only a test ... Public Affairs will conduct a campuswide test of the Emergency Web Alert System at 10 a.m. Sept. 2 in conjunction with the monthly siren tests. Web pages that have the code embedded will display a test message. The test will last about 10 minutes.

State Sen. Stanley B. Weaver of Urbana and his late wife, Mary Smith Weaver, were honored Oct. 12 for their lifelong dedication to preserving nature and for Sen. Weaver’s many years of public service

The average statewide temperature for the three core winter months of December, January and February was 20.8 degrees. It was 8.2 degrees below average and the fourth coldest December-February period on record, according to Illinois state climatologist Jim Angel at the Illinois State Water Survey at the U. of I.

The dedication of Wassaja Hall began Thursday with the sound of drums and a song sung in Comanche by the OtterTrail drum group, from the Peoria Tribe in Oklahoma. The dedication of the new student residence hall, held in the Student Dining and Residential Program Building due to inclement weather, is a celebration of the legacy of Wassaja, later known as Carlos Montezuma, who in 1884 became the first Native American to graduate from the University of Illinois, said Alma Sealine, the director of University Housing, the first of six speakers at the event.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Benjamin Bradlee, executive editor of the Washington Post through more than two decades, during which the paper broke the Watergate scandal and won 18 Pulitzer Prizes, has been awarded the Illinois Prize for Lifetime Achievement in Journalism.

Light coats and fog have been mainstays on campus in December, and the unseasonably warm weather is not expected to go away anytime soon. According to preliminary data collected by the U. of I.'s Midwestern Regional Climate Center, this fall was the second warmest since 1895, when record keeping began. The National Weather Service’s Climate Prediction Center said the Midwest would continue to see above-normal temperatures in December, January and February.

Photo by Joyce Seay-Knobloch

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For more than a decade, the university has highlighted its world-changing research achievements and discoveries through 31 bronze markers placed across campus.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- People interested in becoming a docent or a volunteer at Allerton Park in Monticello or at the University of Illinois Arboretum are welcome to sign up for a course being offered by staff members of the two facilities.

Nearly 1,100 volunteers helped make and deliver more than 81,000 meals for the Eastern Illinois Foodbank during the area's April 20 Day of Service event.

The 99th annual homecoming celebration at the UI kicks off with the iHelp volunteer project Oct. 2. Faculty and staff members can join students and alumni from around the world in giving back to the local community in the name of Alma Mater. The event is combined with UI student service day Oct. 2.

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Visiting acpros, UI reach agreement for union contract

Chet Utterback has worked at the UI's Poultry Research Farm for 26 years and not once has a chancellor dropped by to ask for his advice.

Champaign Senate's Annual Meeting of the Faculty Oct. 25.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- "VIP Illini Guides" once again will be among the more than 1,000 student, staff and faculty members helping students move in to their UI residence halls this Sunday.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- The number of violent crimes in the University of Illinois crime-reporting area declined in the year ending Aug. 31, statistics released this week indicate.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Ruth Watkins, vice provost and a professor in the department of speech and hearing science, has been named the Harry E. Preble Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, pending approval by the U. of I. Board of Trustees at its Nov. 13 meeting at the U. of I. at Springfield.

Cadet Lt. Col. Erin O’Neil, the cadet battalion commander, stands at attention in front of a formation of cadets gathered during the U. of I.'s Tri-Service ROTC Veterans Day Ceremony on Nov. 11 at the indoor track of the Armory building.

Dan Peterson, who has served in several senior leadership positions at three universities, has been named vice chancellor for institutional advancement at the Urbana campus of the University of Illinois.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Collaborative paintings, photographs, drawings and installation are part of the rich mix of work on view in three exhibitions March 3 through April 1 at I space, the Chicago gallery of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign:

The opportunity to get a flu shot has not flown, but it's gotten a little more difficult.

The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign was ranked 11th among the top 50 public national universities by U.S.News & World Report in rankings released Aug. 19.

Graduate programs across a wide range of disciplines fared well in the 2004 rankings released April 4 by U.S.News & World Report. UI units ranked in the top 10 nationally in the rankings include engineering (5), accountancy (2) and educational psychology (4). This year, the magazine issued new rankings in business, law, medicine, health disciplines, education and engineering. The publication did not issue new rankings in the sciences, social sciences and humanities. For the first time, the magazine ranked master of fine arts programs. How other UI units (and specialties within units) fared in the rankings:

U.S. News & World Report released its rankings of some graduate programs March 11 as part of the 2015 U.S. News & World Report Best Graduate Schools rankings. Civil engineering and condensed matter physics at Illinois both received No. 1 rankings.

In its latest rankings of America's best graduate schools, U.S.News & World Report ranked a number of UI units best in the nation, including the Graduate School of Library and Information Science, the department of accountancy and the department of civil engineering. The issue hit newstands April 3. The magazine does not evaluate all disciplines every year. How other UI colleges, departments and specialties fared:

The UI College of Engineering achieved a No. 4 ranking in the latest edition of “America’s Best Graduate Schools” released by U.S.News & World Report on March 31. Within the college, many programs fared well in the rankings, including aeronautical and astronautical engineering (8), chemical (8), civil (1), computer (4), electrical (4), environmental (2), materials (2), mechanical (6), nuclear (10).

UI graduate programs across a wide range of disciplines fared well in the 2004 rankings released April 1 by U.S.News & World Report. UI units ranked in the top 10 nationally include accounting (4), civil engineering (2), clinical psychology (8), computer engineering (5), elementary education (5), environmental engineering (2), materials science (3) and speech pathology (10).

The U. of I. moved up two places in U.S. News & World Report's 2014 edition of "Best Colleges," released Sept. 10. Illinois is now tied at No. 11 among public universities. The Urbana campus also moved up, five places, in the national rankings, and now is tied at No. 41.

The UI fares well in the latest U.S. News & World Report rankings of America's best graduate schools. The 2009 edition of the magazine's ratings of graduate programs is scheduled for publication April 7-14.

Using blogs in course work helps improve students' writing

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Why is the issue of immigration so contentious in a nation of immigrants? Why do Americans welcome immigrants but also consider them a threat? As Congress considers changes to immigration, what are the policies that make sense?

University parking structures C-7 and C-10 are proof that time doesn't stand still.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture has awarded $5.5 million to fund research that will help alleviate childhood hunger in the United States. Craig Gundersen, a UI professor of nutritional sciences in the department of agricultural and consumer economics, and James Ziliak, of the University of Kentucky Center for Poverty Research, will coordinate a research program on childhood hunger.

By Sharita Forrest, Assistant Editor 217-244-1072 slforres@illinois.edu

A report to the U. of I. Board of Trustees at its Sept. 10 meeting outlining the University Senates Conference's 2015 agenda led to pledges from both groups to work together to better meet the U. of I.'s civic land-grant responsibilities. The conversation comes as new President Timothy L. Killeen works to develop a systemwide strategic plan by next year.

With consumer interest surging in local foods, urban farming and sustainable agriculture, the time is ripe for U. of I. Extension to cultivate Cook County, Illinois.

James H. Moore, U. of I. Foundation president since July 1, said there is much work to be done if the university is to meet its goal of doubling fundraising totals in the next decade.

A new working group is being formed on the Urbana campus to explore issues involving the Global Campus Partnership, Chancellor Richard Herman said at the April 26 meeting of the Urbana-Champaign Senate. As work progressed on the Global Campus, Herman said it became apparent that there is “an enormous desire for this campus to have its own working group” to explore fundamental issues.

The Urbana campus of the UI was ranked No. 13 nationally among U.S. public universities granting doctoral degrees, according to U.S. News & World Report, which released rankings as part of its "America's Best Colleges" issue.

The Urbana campus was ranked ninth among public national universities in the U.S.News & World Report rankings released Aug. 20.

Urbana campus ranked a 'best value'

The UI's Urbana campus has a new address. E-mail address, that is. Since May 13, students and faculty and staff members have been able to use NetID@illinois.edu e-mail addresses. As part of the branding initiative aimed at standardizing the Urbana campus's identity as "Illinois," the campus is transitioning to the www.illinois.edu Web domain. The first step in that process is establishing new addresses for Urbana campus e-mail users.

An Urbana Academic Senate task force has offered what leaders are calling "objective, reasoned" recommendations for an enrollment management plan being developed by university administrators.

Many campus workers say they won’t be taking work sitting down anymore.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -Tests revealed a 21-year-old University of Illinois senior died last week of a non-contagious bacterial infection, campus health officials said today (Feb. 25).

Illinois was founded by a brilliant idea almost 150 years ago. Our foundations were laid with the promise of establishing a beacon of knowledge and service for our state and nation. Today, together, we stand as a university that not only delivered on that promise, but that has redefined the very idea of what a great public research university should be and do.