2009-05-01 - The generosity of our alumni and friends has made it possible to recognize excellence in our talented faculty, including the following new professorships and chairs in the 2008-09 academic year:Ralph Nuzzo, G. L. Clark Professor of ChemistryHuimin Zhao, Centennial Chair in Chemical and Biomolecular EngineeringEvan Delucia, G. William Arends Professorship in Integrative BiologyKara Federmeier,...
2009-05-01 - By now we’re all aware of the flaw in your basic fairytale. That is, a fragile woman breaks down in the face of adversity, and her only hope is a rational, steely eyed man. Hillary Clinton may have lost the Democratic primary, but after centuries of acceptance it’s safe to say that stereotype is under review. What Mark Micale uncovered, however, challenges the male side of that stereotype. The...
2009-05-01 - The next six weeks will be better than a journey to Oz for storm chaser and U of I meteorologist Glen Romine. Instead of riding a Kansas twister over the rainbow, he and graduate student Isaac Hankes are part of an international team of researchers—some coming from as far as Finland and Australia—that hopes to learn just what gives tornadoes their deadly...
2009-05-01 - May graduates take note. In addition to spiraling stocks and mass layoffs there’s one other hurdle to landing a job after college: Facebook. When it comes to finding employment, the less you reveal about yourself—that is, beyond the basic information contained in a good resume—the better, according to preliminary results from a psychology study. Employers deluged with personal information both...
2009-05-01 - Researchers at the University of Illinois have developed a membrane-penetrating nanoneedle for the targeted delivery of one or more molecules into the cytoplasm or the nucleus of living cells. In addition to ferrying tiny amounts of cargo, the nanoneedle can also be used as an electrochemical probe and as an optical biosensor. “Nanoneedle-based delivery is a powerful new tool for studying...
2009-05-01 - For every star in the universe, there are 1 billion bacteria here on earth. In the human body alone, you can find 10 times more bacterial cells than there are total human cells in the body. “The number is so big that I can’t even wrap my mind around it,” says LAS microbiology professor William Metcalf, who has long been fascinated...-
2009-05-01 - The students in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences have claimed prestigious national awards. Aimée Carbaugh, of Urbana, a junior at the University of Illinois, is among 21 students nationwide to receive a Beinecke Scholarship. The award, valued at $34,000, is to be used toward graduate study in the arts, humanities, or social sciences. Illinois is...
2009-05-01 - By Vernon Burton Dr. Burton is a professor emeritus of history, sociology, and African American studies at U of I and is the author of Age of Lincoln.On April 11, 1865, just two days after Robert E. Lee surrendered to Ulysses S.Grant, Lincoln addressed a gathering crowd from the White House balcony....
2009-05-01 - After 25 years of leading LAS graduation convocation processions, John Lynn is accustomed to playing bagpipes in the spotlight. He rather likes it; he can’t count how many graduates have taken their picture with him, and with at least a dozen songs committed to memory (and upwards of 60 when he plays more often) it’s safe to say he loves the music. Lynn is quick to claim he’s merely a “competent...
2009-05-01 - In learning their field, some geology students follow the same model as study abroad, but instead of seeing the mosques of Cairo, they hike mountain ranges and sleep in the Sonoran Desert. During spring break, Stephen Marshak, professor of geology, and his Geology 415/515 class left the books behind and traveled west to study geology firsthand. Marshak...
2009-05-01 - Hernando de Soto, the Peruvian economist, did an experiment in the 1980s in which he tried to find out how much time it would take to start a new business in Peru. He discovered that it took 256 working days just to obtain the 11 necessary permits—and two of the permits could only be obtained with bribes. As a result of such bureaucratic barriers, the Peruvian economy was forced underground and...-
2009-05-01 - Hillary learns about Illini football (remember this is pre-2008 Rose Bowl)“I must confess, though, that after I accepted the invitation to speak here, I learned that this campus has two commencement ceremonies, both of which take place in this arena—one, this one; and another, later in the afternoon. We have a number of graduates of the University of Illinois in Washington and at the White House...
2009-05-01 - Video description Fifteen years ago, Hillary Clinton received an honorary degree from the University of Illinois. The University of Illinois holds a special place in the heart of Veronica Shenshin. Growing up in Finland with Russian ancestry, she felt the effects of old tensions between the two countries even though her family had lived in Helsinki for three generations. When she arrived in...
2009-05-01 - The LAS Alumni Association has selected three new members to join its board of directors. Michael K. Brandt, David H. Hays, and Walter W. Kurczewski will begin their four-year term in May, and will bring diverse professional and educational backgrounds and a collaborative spirit to board efforts to build lifelong connections between LAS and alumni. Brandt (AB ’75, political science), of Savoy,...
2009-05-01 - In radio, program hosts joke that if you’re ever at a loss for words just give the local forecast because everyone stays tuned in for the weather. So you can understand why Eric Snodgrass puts so much emphasis on vodcasting in his atmospheric sciences honors course (ATMOS 120). There are times when his course on severe weather sounds like a lesson in...
2009-05-01 - It’s a bug’s world—at least if you go strictly by the numbers.In 1758, scientists had counted 4,203 species of animals and more than half—2,102—were insects. Today, that number keeps rising by leaps and bounds, with roughly 950,000 species of insects described, says May Berenbaum, head of the Department of Entomology in LAS.Scientific...
2009-05-01 - Show a photo of a toothy-grinned teenager to a shopkeeper in Moscow or Tokyo and they’ll both recognize a happy customer. Ask them why he’s smiling and neither will have a clue as to whether it’s because the bloke’s got money to spend or because he’s just ripped off an I-Pod. The subtle differences that distinguish a friendly smile from, say, a sinister one, or the truth from a lie, can’t be...-
2009-04-01 - A junior majoring in chemistry was one of only two University of Illinois students to win a prestigious Barry M. Goldwater scholarship for the 2009-2010 academic year. The award will help Anthony Mazzotti, of Taylorville, Ill., finish undergraduate studies in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences before attending graduate school. The Barry M....
2009-04-01 - It’s possible that air traffic controllers are being put out to pasture sooner than necessary, according to new findings from LAS psychology professor Arthur Kramer. Because of the intensity of their jobs, air traffic controllers in the United States are required to retire at age 56. But this poses problems because most of the 14,800 air traffic...
2009-04-01 - By Vernon Burton Dr. Burton is a professor emeritus of history, sociology, and African American studies at U of I and is the author of Age of Lincoln. Abraham Lincoln proclaimed early in 1865 that the Emancipation Proclamation was “the central act of my administration and the great event of the 19th...
2009-04-01 - The students in Urbana High School’s math club were challenged in early April to do something they probably hadn’t done since first or second grade. They did coloring. However, this coloring task was being led by an eminent LAS mathematician, Wolfgang Haken, and it involved one of the most famous math problems in history—the four-color theorem. In its...
2009-04-01 - A person’s unconscious attitudes toward science and God may be fundamentally opposed, researchers report, depending on how religion and science are used to answer “ultimate” questions such as how the universe began or the origin of life. What’s more, those views can be manipulated, the researchers found. After using science or God to explain such important questions, most people display a...
2009-04-01 - Is the communication in your relationship a little frosty? It may be that the little things you’re not doing in daily routines are playing a part, says LAS researcher Leanne Knobloch. Things like forgetting to walk the dog or fuel the car or take out the trash. Disruptions you cause in your partner’s routines can affect the quality of conversation, which is separate from your general...
2009-04-01 - A team of 24 researchers from the U.S., Europe, Taiwan, and Japan, and led by University of Illinois scientists, has engineered a new anti-cancer agent that is about 200 times more active in killing tumor cells than similar drugs used in recent clinical trials.The new agent belongs to a class of drugs called bisphosphonates. These compounds were originally developed to treat osteoporosis and...