2008-11-01
- 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.In 2007, the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum in Springfield, Ill., acquired a copy of a priceless 1858 ambrotype of a lost daguerreotype...
2008-11-01 - Ninety years from now, the Chicago fire could be a good description of the heat on the street, not just a reference to the blaze that destroyed the city in 1871. By the year 2100, depending on carbon dioxide emissions, the average annual temperature in Chicago could rise by anywhere from 3 to 8 degrees Farenheit, according to findings in the recently released report Climate Change and Chicago...
2008-11-01 - Studying abroad is no vacation—even in Vienna. For the 38-plus years that students have spent a semester or two in the Viennese capital as part of one of U of I’s longest-running study abroad programs, the Austria Illinois Exchange Program (AIEP), they’ve had the kind of eye-opening experiences that have literally changed their lives...
2008-11-01 - Election season is just behind us and the conventional wisdom is that candidates have been handing out promises as freely as candy on Halloween—promises they have little intention of keeping. But a new University of Illinois study reveals that Senate and House candidates of both parties do a good job of backing up their promises once in office. “Many believe that campaigns have devolved into...
2008-11-01 - One of today’s hottest websites when it comes to global warming is The Cryosphere Today, produced by the Polar Research Group in the Department of Atmospheric Sciences. Devoted to conveying the ever-changing state of polar ice caps, the site includes daily ice concentrations dating back 30 years, charts to show how ice coverage deviates from normal...
2008-11-01 - Even in the final days of the 2008 presidential campaign, polling was inescapable. Politicians rely on private polling commissioned by their campaigns to measure voter preferences, while voters rely on public polling to keep track of the horse race. Research by University of Illinois economist Dan Bernhardt found that candidates’ private polling...
2008-11-01 - The many wonderful cultural and social events hosted by the college each year would not be possible without the time and support of the LAS Alumni Association Board. These 12 devoted alumni volunteer their time in indentifying possible events and in helping to bring this great programming to you. They also serve as ambassadors for the college within their communities and select individuals who...
2008-11-01 - Two vibrant programs in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences are enjoying the university equivalent of an 18th birthday this fall as they become academic departments. Far from being newcomers, the promoted units—the Department of Religion and the Department of African American Studies—have long carried on much like a department, with related faculty...
2008-11-01 - The credit freeze is showing signs of thawing, says LAS economist Anne Villamil. Villamil points to the London Interbank Offered Rate, or Libor, which is the interest rate that banks charge each other for three-month loans. “Libor has dropped to the lowest level in four years and is tangible evidence that the credit crisis is easing,” she says.Just...
2008-10-01 - The naming of University of Illinois as the nation’s “most wired” university came as no surprise to the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, where technology advancements have assisted instruction in a variety of departments from chemical sciences to English. In its October issue, PC Magazine, along with ...
2008-10-01 - A massive Wall Street bailout won’t stave off a recession, but it will ease a creeping economic meltdown that threatened to slice into jobs, retirement savings, and access to credit across the country, a U of I economist says. Anne Villamil says the $700 billion rescue plan approved in a second House vote is essential to undo a mounting credit...
2008-10-01 - With the presidential campaign coming down to its final weeks, the national political environment is more tightly contested than it has been since the 1880s, according to a political science professor in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. For the past few campaigns, Democratic and...
2008-10-01 - Media bias from both the left and right has become increasingly profitable and could affect election choices in 2008, according to three LAS economics professors, Dan Bernhardt, Stefan Krasa, and Mattias Polborn.Biased media boost ratings and profits by tailoring news to give conservatives or liberals what they want to hear, the researchers say. “...
2008-10-01 - Got a major? Need a minor? Come see displays on many of the 150 majors and minors available to you at U of I. It's a great opportunity to discover a field you may not have known existed yet is just right for you! Departmental advisors and faculty members from majors, minors, and special programs from across campus will be present with informational handouts and giveaways. Representatives from the...
2008-10-01 - Brigit Pegeen Kelly, a professor in the Department of English, has been recognized by the Academy of American Poets for a career of distinguished poetic achievement. She is the 2008 recipient of the Academy of American Poets Fellowship, which in the past has gone to poets such as E.E. Cummings, Robert Frost, Gwendolyn Brooks, Carlos Williams, and...
2008-10-01 - It turns out that an ingredient in dandruff shampoo contains more potential than just clearing up scalp problems—it also may help unlock secrets of the oceans and serve as a key indicator about the future of life. Tom Johnson, associate professor of geology, and other scientists at the University of Leicester in England are using selenium to investigate...
2008-10-01 - Scientists have long been uncertain how a particular bacterium, responsible for many cases of ulcers, can survive in such an inhospitable environment as the human stomach—a place with a pH somewhere between that of lemon juice and battery acid. But LAS researchers have now begun to reveal answers that may have implications for drug treatments.About half of the world’s population is infected with...
2008-10-01 - 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.This year commemorates the bicentennial of Abraham Lincoln’s birth; and while that rightly is getting much press, it is also the sesquicentennial of the...
2008-09-01 - Larry Dalkoff is a man of few words, by choice and manner revealing just a few tidbits about his life since he graduated from the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences in 1970. Type his name into the Google search engine and you’ll find him just once. That one hit, however, might grab your attention. It’s results from the Southwestern USA Natural amateur bodybuilding competition, in Tucson, Ariz...
2008-09-01 - Two biomedical researchers in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences will have significant, additional support behind their efforts after being named Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) investigators. Phillip A. Newmark, a professor of cell and developmental biology, and Wilfred A. van der Donk, the William H. and Janet Lycan Professor of Chemistry, were among 56 scientists chosen...
2008-09-01 - Members of the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences addressing the threat of climate change and shrinking ecosystems believe they've found a potentially powerful new ally in some of the oldest institutions—churches. The first fruits of this unusual alliance came in June, during a STEWARDship (Sustaining The Earth With Allied Religious Denominations) workshop on the U of I campus, where...
2008-09-01 - New research challenges a growing trend toward holding kids out of kindergarten until they're older, arguing that academic advantages are short-lived and come at the expense of delaying entry into the workforce and other costs. The findings show older kindergartners fare better academically largely because they learn more before starting school, not because age improves aptitude, says Darren...
2008-09-01 - When the bell rings to signal the end of a class, the corridors of Lincoln Hall are now eerily silent. No throng of students filing down the staircase from the theater nor emptying out of the classroom. Fall 2008 was supposed to kick off the long-overdue renovations of Lincoln Hall. But due to budget battles in Springfield, the $55.1 million remodeling is again on hold. "Maybe in January or late...
2008-09-01 - Without ATP, life as we know it would end. Any time something in your body, such as a hormone, moves from one place to another, you use ATP, or adenosine triphosphate. Now, for the first time, LAS researchers have simulated a key step in the cellular recycling of ATP, shedding new light on one of the most vital biochemical functions in the human body.In fact, this is the first time that...
2008-09-01 - Discovering and creating new drugs has always been a slow leg in the never-ending fight against disease. A researcher in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, however, is being recognized for his work in simplifying the process and potentially getting new, promising discoveries to patients sooner. Martin D. Burke, a professor of chemistry, is one...
