PUBLICATIONS Inside Illinois Vol. 24, No. 16, March 3, 2005

brief notes

World architectural works
Local photography exhibition
From March 14 through April 8 an exhibition of photographs by James Warfield, the ACSA Distinguished Professor in Architecture Emeritus at the UI, will be on display in the Temple Buell Architecture Gallery of the Architecture Building. The exhibition, “Stone Poems: Architecture and the Land,” explores and celebrates worldwide architectural works that Warfield said, “exemplify the very best in culture, nature, architecture and land relationships.” The images, he said, “are intended to stimulate thought among the educated public as well as to challenge process and product among today’s design professionals.”

Steven and Cathi House, architects from San Francisco, will give a talk at 7 p.m. March 14* in the Plym Auditorium of Temple Buell Hall to introduce the exhibition. The Houses are authors of the book “Mediterranean Villages: An Architectural Journey.” After their presentation, an opening reception for the show will take place. (*Note: Date corrected from print version.)

Excellence in Public Engagement
Nominations sought for campus awards
Nominations for the 2005 Campus Awards for Excellence in Public Engagement are now being accepted. The awards recognize faculty members, academic professionals, staff members, and students who contribute to the university’s commitment to public engagement in exemplary ways.

Each faculty member, academic professional and staff employee honoree will receive $1,500 cash and a $1,500 salary increase. Up to three awards will be made in this category. In addition, up to three cash prizes of $1,500 each will be awarded to undergraduate, professional or graduate students to be used for professional development or to support other educational activities.

A new team category will recognize faculty, academic professionals, staff and/or students who, working as a team, have made a significant contribution to public engagement.

Nominations are due March 14. Guidelines and application materials for both Excellence in Public Engagement Individual and Team Awards can be found online.

For more information, contact Rose Ann Miron at 333-9793.

‘Reinventing Reality’
Engineering Open House is March 11, 12
The 85th annual Engineering Open House will take place from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on March 11 and from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on March 12. One of the largest technological showcases of its kind, it attracts more than 10,000 visitors each year. This year’s theme, “Reinventing Reality,” emphasizes the creative side of engineering. The event is organized by students in the Engineering Council.

Wild and wacky Rube Goldberg machines, robots launching mini basketballs, and more than 130 entertaining and educational exhibits are among the attractions. Visitor guides containing a campus map and descriptions of the activities and exhibits will be available at the EOH headquarters booth in the Digital Computer Lab. All events are free and open to the public.

A major highlight will be the 18th annual W.J. “Jerry” Sanders Creative Design Competition. The contest is sponsored by Advanced Micro Devices and is named for the company’s founder, an Illinois alumnus. This year’s competition features an expanded course and bigger objectives. Student-built, remote-controlled vehicles will fight for possession of mini basketballs, which must be moved from a team’s base and placed in another team’s base. Approximately 23 teams will compete in the contest, which will be held both days in the Kenney Gymnasium Annex.

In addition, there will be a high school design competition. This year’s task is to change batteries in a flashlight and turn it on – all in the weirdest way possible. Approximately 25 teams from Central and Southern Illinois will compete in the contest, which will be from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. March 11 in the Illini Union. Visitors can vote for their favorite machine.

Even younger visitors can participate in the activities and will have an opportunity to test their creativity as they learn about science and engineering. On March 11, seventh- and eighth-grade students will design and build bridges out of spaghetti in the Kenney Gymnasium Annex. A special on-site design challenge will be open to visitors March 12, also in the gymnasium annex.

Spread throughout the engineering campus, more than 130 exhibits will reflect the theme of Engineering Open House. Prepared primarily by undergraduates, the exhibits will demonstrate some of the concepts and creativity behind successful engineering endeavors.

Food and entertainment will be located in “Area 51” at the south end of the Engineering Quad. Student-led tours, highlighting some of the most exciting exhibits and lasting approximately 30 minutes, also will leave from Area 51.

Executive MBA Program Reception
Scholarship available for UI employee
The UI executive MBA program will host an information reception from 5 to 6 p.m. on March 16 at the Champaign Country Club. The executive MBA program is a general management program that grants an MBA degree after successful completion of 18 courses. Participants in the program are experienced managers and accomplished professionals who wish to pursue an MBA degree with minimal disruption to their professional and personal life. Class sessions are held primarily in downtown Chicago’s Illini Center and meet for two full days (Friday/Saturday) every other weekend for 20 months.

For the class cohort beginning in fall 2005, the campus will fund one full scholarship for a UI employee. Applicants must submit EMBA application items by May 5 and the scholarship application by May 27.

For those interested in attending the information reception, e-mail emba@uiuc.edu or call 312-575-0900 to RSVP.

Concert and workshop
American Indian storyteller featured
A celebration of American Indian heritage will begin at 2 p.m. March 12 at the Spurlock Museum with a storytelling concert by Cherokee storyteller Gayle Ross. Ross, an award-winning author, has been a featured performer at the Kennedy Center, the Smithsonian Institute and the National Storytelling Festival. Northern Cheyenne performer Larry Lockwood will open the concert with song and drum.

From 9 a.m. to noon, Ross will give a workshop titled “Seeing Red: Beyond the Stereotypes of Native America.” The workshop will take place in the museum’s Rowe Learning Center. Pre-registration is required; teachers will be able to earn UPDU credit.

The concert and workshop are sponsored in part by the Illinois Arts Council and an endowment from Reginald and Gladys Laübin. To purchase tickets for the concert, call the museum at 333-2360. For more information about the workshop or to obtain a registration brochure, call Kim Sheahan at 244-3355.

LGBT panel to answer questions
Ally meeting is March 3
The March Ally Meeting will feature a diverse panel of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered students who will answer questions about their experiences on campus. The panel of undergraduate and graduate students will meet from noon to 1:15 p.m. March 3 in Room 215 of the Illini Union. Refreshments will be provided.

For more information, contact Curt McKay, 244-8863 or Anita Hund.

‘The Dragon Cart’
17th century French opera explored
Susan McClary, professor of musicology at UCLA, will present a colloquium, “The Dragon Cart,” at 4 p.m. March 4. The seminar will be held in the School of Music auditorium in the Music Building.

McClary is the author of “Feminine Endings: Music, Gender, and Sexuality” (1991), on Georges Bizet’s “Carmen.” She was the 1995 recipient of a John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Fellowship.

Her colloquium will observe that ideological pressures often exert control over narrative endings in 17th-century French operas, where plot tensions are resolved and an ideal world is re-established.

Children’s books featured
Local author to speak at IUB
At noon on March 5, the Illini Union Bookstore will welcome author Maureen Hughes, a semiconductor monitor operator at the micro and nanotechnology laboratory. The free reading will take place in the Authors Corner on the second floor of the bookstore, and will be followed by a book signing.

Hughes will discuss four historically based fiction books that target students from the third through sixth grades. The format is ideal for helping students remember more than just the names, dates, and locations of historical events.

WILL-TV
Viewers may vote for favorite Britcom
The sixth annual Great Britcom Vote will take place at 7 p.m. March 12 on WILL-TV. Samples of five British comedies will be broadcast and viewers can call and vote for their favorite show to help program director David Thiel choose the new lineup. The choices: “Are You Being Served?,” “Chef!,” “The Vicar of Dibley,” “Porridge” and “Next of Kin.” Last year, “May to December” was the Great Britcom Vote winner.

Collaboration of Colleagues
2005 Community of Scholars Conference
The 2005 Community of Scholars Conference is set to take place March 14 and 15 in the Illini Union. The annual event is free and open to all UI students, faculty and staff members, postdoctoral students and alumni. The theme of this year’s conference addresses how recent political and cultural changes in the United States have generated policies affecting almost all disciplines, marginalizing certain types of research, but privileging others.

The conference will feature scholars who wish to share their insights about life in the academy and their contributions to their diverse areas of research. In addition, special topic sessions will address cultural, socio-political, and personal issues affecting these scholars. This shift has made it necessary for many scholars to reassess their scholarship to conform to the current political and cultural climate.

The plenary address will be given by Carlos Muñoz Jr., professor emeritus at University of California at Berkeley. Connie Rice, author and activist, will give the keynote address. Those who wish to attend need to register by March 4.

Sculpture, drawings and installation work
New I space exhibition opens March 4
Starting March 4, two new exhibitions will feature sculpture, drawings and installation work at the Chicago gallery of the UI. The I space gallery is open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, and will feature the new exhibits through April 2. An opening reception is scheduled from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. March 4 at the gallery, 230 W. Superior St.

The first of the exhibitions, “Diane Simpson: New Sculpture + Drawings,” features recent sculptures and drawings, most from the Chicago-based artist’s “apron series.” The geometric sculptural works, fashioned from painted aluminum and other materials such as linen and plastic mesh, have been described by Chicago artist Richard Rezac as “multifaceted in their origin and construct, and in their suggestiveness to viewers.”

Also to open is “Laurie Litowitz: A Little Mexican Mural and Other Things.” This exhibition highlights the artist’s knack for combining new materials with traditional craft techniques – such as quilting – to create colorful, mural-like constructions ripe with multicultural references. The resulting work blurs the line between fine art and craft and serves as a visual commentary on popular culture.

IPRH Reading Groups
Proposals requested for ’05-06
Each spring, proposals for the Illinois Program for Research in the Humanities reading groups are accepted for the following academic year. Awards are made for up to $1,500, and the funds are made available to reading groups to support operational expenses. Proposals are encouraged from both new and existing groups.

Reading groups may be formed around any topic or theme, and do not need to be coordinated with the IPRH theme for the year.

Groups that focus on readings of seminal texts and/or works in progress by the groups’ members also are invited to submit proposals for consideration. The goals of a reading group should include encouraging collaborative studying in the humanities and across disciplines, and investigating questions of sufficient breadth to draw scholars from a reasonably diverse array of intellectual traditions.

Applications are due in the IPRH office, MC-057 by 5 p.m. March 30.

For additional information or questions, contact Christine Catanzarite at 244-3344.

Exploring the world of research
Beckman hosts open house March 11-12
The Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology will host an open house from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. March 11 and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. March 12.

The institute is an interdisciplinary research organization devoted to basic research in the physical sciences, computation, engineering, biology, behavior and cognition. This year’s open house will feature displays and demonstrations of current institute projects and facilities. The projects include a self-aiming camera, a flight simulator and a disco ball that induces temporary blindness. In addition, a tribute to the late Arnold O. Beckman, “A Legacy of Discovery,” will feature memorabilia from his life, including a working pH meter, one of his most famous inventions.

The event is open to the public, and the Beckman Café will be open for meals, snacks and beverages.

Need help integrating technology into teaching?
CITES EdTech offers workshops
CITES Educational Technologies is offering a variety of seminars, workshops and training opportunities to instructors who wish to integrate technology into their teaching.

The How and Why Series, lead by EdTech staff members, will feature several advanced workshops. On March 29 and April 5, “Using Your Web Design Skills in Illinois Compass” will be presented. On March 31 and April 8 there will be a workshop on “Making Grading Easier.” The final workshop in this series, “How to Create Your Own Custom Textbook,” will take place on April 6 and 12. All workshops will take place in at 21 Illini Hall.

The “Teaching and Learning With Technology” brownbag series will feature award-winning faculty members who will discuss how they have successfully used online and other digital technologies to improve their teaching. The talks are held every other Friday from noon to 1 p.m. in Room 241 Everitt Lab. On March 16, Cheryl Bullock of the Center for Teaching Excellence will lead a discussion on an innovative polling tool called the iClicker. This tool is being tested by faculty members and students in large classes. Ann Bishop from the Graduate School of Library and Information Science will speak on March 31 about the Inquiry Labs project. This project uses online technology in the service of inquiry learning teaching methodology.

There also are other scheduled training sessions and extensive documentation on teaching and learning with technology at the CITES EdTech Web site. Visit for more information about these opportunities, or e-mail questions.

Second Sunday concert
Saxophone quartet performs March 13
The Brevé Mocha Saxophone Quartet will perform for the March 13 WILL-FM Second Sunday Concert at 2 p.m. at the Krannert Art Museum and Kinkead Pavilion in Champaign. The concert will be broadcast live on WILL-FM 90.9 9 (101.1 in Champaign-Urbana) with host Michael Rothe.

Members of the quartet (all UI students) are Michael Holmes, soprano sax; Adrianne Honnold, alto sax; Heidi Radtke, tenor sax; and John O’Brien, baritone sax. Originating as a Graduate Saxophone Quartet at the UI, the quartet has expanded the scope of their performing interests and activities beyond the campus. The ensemble’s members explore the margins of a new musical palette while maintaining a grounded center in the outstanding core repertoire of the past 150 years.

The quartet, coached by UI professor Debra Richtmeyer, maintains an active schedule of performances throughout the region.

WILL-FM Second Sunday Concerts are a joint venture of WILL-FM, the UI School of Music and the Krannert Art Museum.

Celebrity doodles featured
Auction, dinner support wildlife clinic
The fourth annual “Doodle for Wildlife” will feature a sit-down dinner with celebrity guest Kevin Fitzgerald from Animal Planet’s “Emergency Vets.” The event will be from 6 to 10 p.m. April 8 at the Illinois Terminal Building.
Drawings signed by Joan Baez, Dave Barry, Barbara Walters, Robin Williams and the late Jerry Orbach will be auctioned at the event. Special adventure packages, including behind-the-scenes tours of animal attractions, also will be up for bid.

The College of Veterinary Medicine’s Wildlife Medical Clinic is a non-profit, volunteer-run organization that cares for nearly 2,000 sick or injured animals every year. In addition, it helps to train veterinary students and to educate the public about Illinois wildlife.

To make reservations, call 333-2761 by March 31.

March 11 and 12
Regulation of police activities explored
The UI College of Law is sponsoring a conference on the regulation of police activities aimed at fighting terrorism and other forms of international crime. The two-day event will be held at the Max L. Rowe Auditorium of the Law Building on March 11 and 12.

The conference features law professors and sociologists from Europe and the United States, who will assess the dramatic changes in criminal statutes, police powers and intelligence activities in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the United States. Among other issues, the panelists will explore the “difficulties of democratic oversight of more aggressive policing techniques, the implications of new powers for transnational collaboration in fighting crime, and the feedback effect that international cooperation has upon domestic law enforcement.”

Law enforcement initiatives that began in the 1980s and were significantly expanded after Sept. 11 “raise important questions about how the U.S. and Europe can respond to threats while retaining their democratic character and preserving civil liberties,” said Jacqueline E. Ross, the conference organizer and UI law professor.

On March 11, Gary Marx, a sociologist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, will give the introductory lecture. Cyrille Fijnaut, a law professor at the University of Tilburg in the Netherlands, will speak at lunch. The speakers will address papers and discussions on undercover police activities in France, Germany, Israel and Italy.

On March 12, Peter B. Maggs, a UI law professor, will lead the roundtable discussions on undercover policing in Ukraine with five scholars from Eastern Europe, and commentators from UI, the University of Chicago Law School, and other institutions.

In addition to the College of Law, the conference is sponsored by the American Society of Comparative Law, and, at the UI, the Center for the Study of Democratic Governance, Cross-Campus Initiative on Institutions in a Demographically Changing World, department of sociology, European Union Center, International Program and Studies Department and the Police Training Institute.

College of Law
Lecture to discuss moral responsibilities
The College of Law is holding the annual Paul M. Van Arsdell Jr. Memorial Lecture on Litigation and the Legal Profession. The lecture begins at 4 p.m. March 7 in the Max L. Rowe Auditorium of the Law Building. This year’s topic focuses on whether lawyers share the moral responsibility for torture at Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib.

The question of lawyer responsibility is posed in the narrow context of the two wars, but it has far broader implications for the work and responsibility of lawyers in general. Since a lawyer’s job is to give good legal advice, there is a conflict when lawyers are forced to make moral decisions. Doing their job may sometimes conflict with moral codes. This calls into question whether a lawyer can be separated from their actions and advice to clients, particularly when their actions may lead to morally wrongful conduct.

Stephen Gillers, the Emily Kempin Professor of Law at the New York University School of Law, is the featured speaker. Gillers is the author of “Regulation of Lawyers: Problems of Law and Ethics,” a widely used law school casebook. He is also a co-editor of Regulation of Lawyers: Statutes and Standards, and is the chair of the American Bar Association’s Joint Committee on Lawyer Regulation.

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