2009-01-01
- Stephanie Drain sounds disappointed when she ponders the fact that most people consider roads merely a means to an end, deserving attention only when a pothole or some other obstruction pops up. To her, roads are dynamic, intriguing, and worthy of a career. The 1995 LAS graduate (BS,...
LAS News Archive
2008-12-01 - 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.The first known public writing of Abraham Lincoln...
2008-12-01 - Talk about being tuned in to your mate. Some unique Chinese frogs can pick out the sounds of their mates in a noisy environment using a newly discovered ability that’s similar to tuning in a radio. LAS researchers have found that a species of torrent frog, Odorrana tormota, can select...
2008-12-01 - They have been called “the cockroaches of bacteria” by the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Certain strains of the Staphylococcus aureus bacteria, better known as “staph,” can be as resilient and as elusive as the common cockroach.To battle these microscopic bugs, LAS...
2008-12-01 - Eight professors in the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences have been named AAAS Fellows by the American Association for the Advancement of Science. They were among 486 members chosen by peers to receive the honor for “meritorious” efforts to advance science or its applications. “These faculty...
2008-12-01 - Graduate student Brianna Lawrence created a Lincoln Hall gingerbread housefor the Department of Political Science’s holiday party on Friday, Dec. 5.She estimated that it took 10 hours to craft the confection made of cherry balls, cinnamon imperials, Necco...
2008-12-01 - In some parts of the world, mosquitoes are a matter of life and death. Every year, nearly 3 million people die of malaria, which is transmitted by mosquitoes. Roughly 80 to 90 percent of those deaths occur in Africa, and the most susceptible are children under the age of five.LAS researchers are in...
2008-12-01 - There were 45 nations in the “Coalition of the Willing” when the U.S. invaded Iraq. Or 46 or 48 or 49. The number depends on which version of key White House news releases you read. Different versions of three releases all appear to be the originals. But the words are different and so are the...
2008-12-01 - Astronomers and physicists call it dark energy—a mysterious force that may or may not even exist. But if it does exist, it could be the reason that the expansion of our universe is not slowing down as Albert Einstein and other scientists expected. The University of Illinois is in the thick of this...
2008-12-01 - Ruth V. Watkins could not be more enthusiastic. On November 13, she was named by the University’s Board of Trustees as the next Harry E. Preble Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, a job she’ll start on January 1st. She’s excited despite the dismal economic outlook and the tight...
2008-12-01 - As a girl in post-colonial India, Rajeshwari Pandharipande learned the sacrifice required for an education. What defines her as a professor is something else she learned at a young age, which she lives by—and is being honored for—even decades later and half a world away in Illinois: The importance...
2008-12-01 - In some LAS classrooms, mastering the subject matter is only half the challenge. In addition to learning the properties of a lightning bolt, for example, or the implications of ancient cultures, students are increasingly being taught how to communicate these ideas to growing audiences. At times,...
2008-11-01 - Certain types of breast cancer tumors are tough to defeat, resisting current treatments. But LAS researchers have discovered a new family of compounds that show great potential in combating tumors that are specifically activated by estrogen. This opens the door to research on new drugs to battle...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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...
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....
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...
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...-
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, ...
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...
