2010-02-01
- The civil rights movement was never as unified as it often has been portrayed, says U of I professor Clarence Lang.That’s because class is often a key missing element in the story, according to Lang, a professor of history and African American studies. Lawyers, educators, and other middle-class...
2010-02-01 - Each year the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences recognizes a handful of staff members and academic professionals for their outstanding contributions to the college and service to others. These individuals, who were nominated by members of the campus community, demonstrate excellence and enhance the image of the college. LAS Academic Professional Award Corinne...
2010-02-01 - Illinois is mired in a deep employment recession that could linger for years unless the state unravels the roots of its nearly decade-long job slump, a new study by a University of Illinois geographer and economist warns. Though lawmakers tout sweeping job-creation initiatives such as a statewide road and...
2010-01-01 - For the first time in the University of Illinois’ 142-year history, it has had to implement mandatory furloughs and other severe cost-saving measures in order to meet payroll in coming months. The measures are the result of a cash crisis that stems from a $436 million backlog in unpaid appropriations from the State of Illinois.In making the announcement about the measures, President Stanley O....
2010-01-01 - Even if you set aside the drug trade and terrorism, the prospects of democracy taking root in the rugged mountains and plains of Afghanistan are “not good,” according to a U of I political scientist. Democracies are generally short-lived anyway, with a life expectancy of about 40 years, political scientists say. But Professor José Antonio Cheibub says...
2010-01-01 - A new study provides “incontrovertible evidence” that the volcanic super-eruption of Toba on the island of Sumatra about 73,000 years ago deforested much of central India, some 3,000 miles from the epicenter, researchers report.The volcano ejected an estimated 800 cubic kilometers of ash into the atmosphere, leaving a crater (now the world’s largest volcanic lake) that is 100 kilometers long and...
2010-01-01 - Six faculty members of the University of Illinois, all in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, have been awarded the distinction of AAAS Fellow by the American Association for the Advancement of Science: Gary S. Dell, Andrew A. Gewirth, Donald R. Ort, Thomas B. Rauchfuss, Philippe Tondeur, and Huimin Zhao.Election as a fellow is an honor bestowed upon members by their peers. This year 531...
2010-01-01 - Origami is the ancient art of folding paper into delicate, intricate creations. But in University of Illinois labs, origami is also a science. Illinois researchers have found a way to fold microscopically thin slices of silicon into all kinds of useful shapes, which could have applications in many areas, including solar energy.Specifically, researchers have found an effective, efficient way for...
2010-01-01 - Rick Undesser’s elbow still ached from the injury suffered in his first judo match of the day. Now, this LAS alumnus was facing the same Russian competitor who had defeated him in that first fight—the same man who had also injured him by over-extending his elbow. Only this time, the gold medal was on the line in the World Masters Judo Championship in Atlanta last August. “My wife said she felt...
2010-01-01 - Advocates say a new Illinois state law signed on December 9, 2009, is a historic step toward campaign finance reform, but a U of I political scientist cautions that it will take one or two election cycles before state residents can accurately judge whether the legislation has triggered any meaningful change—and he’s not holding his breath.“Illinois has...
2009-12-01 - A grade-schooler caught concealing a knife explains, “You get or be got.” A principal wrestles with a child throwing a temper tantrum so violent that they call 9-1-1. A young boy talks about heaven after his classmate is killed by an ambulance. If school administration sounds the least bit dull to you, consider the reality captured by a U of I alumnus who co-produced the acclaimed PBS documentary...
2009-12-01 - Scaling back mail delivery from six days a week to five may be the best bet to stem mounting U.S. Postal Service losses, but could still be a gamble, says a University of Illinois economist who has studied the agency’s persistent financial decline.Seung-Hyun Hong says projected savings from weekday-only delivery could wither if the move chases away...
2009-12-01 - Gov. Pat Quinn made a recent stop to the University of Illinois campus to share good news—that the Lincoln Hall renovation project will be ready to bid to contractors in approximately 30 days, moving along a roughly $63 million effort to turn the nearly century-old landmark into a 21st-century learning environment. The governor spoke on Wednesday, Dec. 2, in the Illini Union, where he was...
2009-12-01 - For much of her day, Youyon Liang’s world is limited to her chemical and biomolecular engineering lab, where she is hunting for ways to multiply liver cells outside of the body—all part of a quest to discover new treatments for liver failure. To reach this goal, however, her world is much bigger than a single lab. In fact, she is drawing on the best of two worlds: Singapore and the United States...
2009-12-01 - A proposed federal prison in northwest Illinois would lock up a double dose of much-needed cash to chip away at the state’s gaping budget hole, a University of Illinois economist says.J. Fred Giertz says money from selling the largely unused state lockup and the thousands of jobs that would follow would be good tonic for Illinois’ struggling economy, but not a cure. “Obviously, the money from the...
2009-12-01 - John Gaffaney was a 56-year-old psychiatric nurse preparing for deployment to Iraq, where he planned to help soldiers cope with the trauma of war. Before he even left U.S. soil, however, he was gunned down in the November massacre at Fort Hood in Texas—one of 13 victims. In a cruel irony, the suspect, Major Nidal Hasan, was an Army psychiatrist who had been treating soldiers suffering from post-...
2009-11-01 - A recent study by U of I psychologists indicates that amphetamine abuse by adolescents can lead to potentially significant memory loss as adults even long after they’ve stopped taking the stimulant.In animal studies conducted by psychology professor Joshua Gulley and graduate student Jessica Stanis, the findings were most pronounced in short-term or “...
2009-11-01 - One and one still make two, just like they did in the 1800s. The problem, say educators, is that some math classrooms still operate basically the same way they did in the 1800s, too. Enter Math Teacher Link, an LAS outreach program aimed toward bringing math teaching up-to-date with the computer era. For hundreds of years, says coordinator Tom Anderson, math teaching was a static art, with...
2009-11-01 - Confetti filled the city’s skies when Rio de Janiero was named the host of the 2016 Olympics, breaking the hearts of Chicagoans and making Brazil the first South American country to host the games. But like so many things in Latin America, the Olympics raise both hopes and fears. “We are emotionally with Rio,” says Nils Jacobsen, an LAS history...
2009-11-01 - Months after the building closed, the class bells still ring in Lincoln Hall and students still wander in looking for instructors—workers turn back three or four of them a day—but the renovation is officially underway after a ceremony to honor the iconic structure’s past and describe its future. A crowd heard speeches by University officials and learned how Lincoln Hall will look after the...
2009-11-01 - Prior to 1989 you rarely saw photos of the Berlin Wall’s east face. There were plenty of pictures of the western side, what with all the graffiti and Pink Floyd lyrics splayed across it, but the opposite side rarely made the news. For one thing, people who could actually see the east side were forbidden to photograph it.But there was another reason just as simple, says Anke Pinkert, former East...
2009-11-01 - There are many obstacles to success, but who would have thought that praise could be one of them? Psychologist Carol Dweck is so certain of it that she has devoted much of her career warning that a well-meant compliment could be dangerous to a child’s future. Not that there aren’t healthy forms of praise. Dweck, however, a well-known Stanford psychology professor who spent much of the 1970s and...
2009-11-01 - Papaya farmers can be a funny sort. Ask them if they’d rather have a boy or girl, and without hesitation every last one of them will say “hermaphrodite”—if they’re talking about papayas, of course. A plant biologist at U of I is working to grant them their wish. Papayas are male, female, or hermaphrodite, but only hermaphrodites produce the flavorful fruit that’s sold commercially. This is an...
2009-10-01 - Chemists at the University of Illinois have designed a small molecule that blocks an aberrant pathway associated with myotonic dystrophy type 1, the most common form of muscular dystrophy. The new compound, soon to be tested in cells, binds tightly to its target, an abnormally elongated RNA that hijacks part of the normal cellular machinery and brings on symptoms of the disease. The newly...
2009-10-01 - Four LAS alums have each been recognized for his or her body of work—a full career of groundbreaking achievements. But in 2009, a common thread runs throughout these bodies of work—and that is the human body itself. Each of the winners of the 2009 LAS Alumni Achievement Award has delved into the mysteries of the body, from genetics to disease to the human brain.Over 135,000 LAS alumni have the...