PUBLICATIONS Inside Illinois Vol. 23, No. 12, Jan. 22, 2004

brief notes

Extra! Extra!
It takes news to make news
And that’s what Illinois colleagues are doing, every day.

Sign up for Illinois in the News to see for yourself.

Illinois in the News is a daily e-mailed compilation of news stories – from newspapers, journals and the electronic media – highlighting the work of UI faculty and staff members, and it includes a roundup of the day’s news in higher education.

Earlier this month, for example, a light-emitting transistor designed by electrical and computer engineering professors Nick Holonyak and Milton Feng made news in Germany, the United Kingdom and in dozens of newspapers nationwide. Animal sciences professor Jan Novakofski, an expert on mad cow disease, was cited by ABC “World News Tonight,” Agence France-Presse, Reuters, the Gulf Daily News in Bahrain, the Taipei Times, and by news services in Mauritius and elsewhere.

And consumer research by Brian Wansink, a professor of business administration, was highlighted in numerous newspapers, including the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Baltimore Sun, Los Angeles Times and Miami Herald.

To subscribe to Illinois in the News, send a message to news@illinois.edu.

Intensive English Institute
Hosts needed for spring semester
The Intensive English Institute is recruiting local families to host visiting Korean college students during the spring semester.

The students, from Konkuk University in Seoul, will study English language and American culture for an entire semester at IEI. They will be on campus from late January to early May.

Although the students will live in campus residence halls, they would benefit from opportunities to interact with members of the community outside the classroom, said Dawn MacLellan, host coordinator.

Hosts – whether single people, couples or families – spend a few hours a week with one or more of the students, so that the students can practice their conversational English while engaged in everyday activities such as eating, shopping and attending sporting events, concerts and movies.
Hosts consistently report that hosting language students from abroad is gratifying because it allows the hosts to learn about other lifestyles.

Anyone interested in being a host should contact MacLellan at 333-6598 or grimesma@illinois.edu.

Illinois Steward
Illinois calendars available
The Illinois Steward 2004 Calendar is now available. This large-format wall calendar celebrates the natural beauty of Illinois with 15 1/2- by 9-inch photos.

The cost is $12 and includes shipping and handling. Annual subscriptions to The Illinois Steward magazine also are available for $12. Make checks payable to the University of Illinois. Orders may be placed by calling Carol Preston at 333-3650 or order information is on the Web.

Spurlock Museum
Storytelling workshop is March 13
The Spurlock Museum and the Champaign-Urbana Storytelling Guild are sponsoring an American Indian storytelling workshop. “Becoming Part of the Story: Telling American Indian Tales” will take place from 9:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. March 13 in the museum’s Rowe Learning Center. The workshop, given by American Indian storyteller Larry Lockwood, is $30 and pre-registration is required. Continuing Professional Development Unit credit will be available to teachers.

“Becoming Part of the Story” is part of a series of events held in conjunction with the museum’s Focus Gallery exhibit “The American Indian Center of Chicago Celebrates 50 Years of Powwow” that opens Jan. 27. Through images, videos and artifacts, the exhibit highlights the vibrant sights and sounds of this American Indian arts and culture celebration. On display through June 26, the exhibition is co-sponsored by the American Indian Center of Chicago.

For more information, call Kim Sheahan at 244-3355 or visit the museum’s Web site.

University Primary School
Enrollment beginning for 2004-2005
University Primary School, an early childhood gifted education program that serves preschool, kindergarten and first-grade children in a project-based curriculum, will be accepting applications for enrollment through March 19 for the 2004-2005 academic year.

An informational meeting about the program will take place from 7 to 8 p.m. Feb. 4 in Room 26 of the Children’s Research Center, 51 Gerty Drive, Champaign. Child care will be provided.

Children must be 3 years old on or before July 1 for the pre-school classroom and 5 before Sept. 1 to be considered for kindergarten enrollment.

For more information, call Nancy B. Hertzog, director, at 333-3996, or pick up an information packet in Room 98 of the Children’s Research Center.

Physics Colloquium
Science and art explored by lecturer
Charles M. Falco, the chair of condensed matter physics and professor of optical sciences at the University of Arizona, will be the featured speaker for the Physics Colloquium at 4 p.m. Jan. 29 in 141 Loomis Laboratory of Physics. “Optics at the Dawn of the Renaissance” looks at the science of optics and the history of art.

Recently, renowned artist David Hockney observed that certain drawings and paintings from as early as the Renaissance seemed almost “photographic” in detail. Following an extensive visual investigation of Western art of the past 1,000 years, he made the revolutionary claim that artists even of the prominence of van Eyck and Bellini must have used optical aids. However, art historians insisted there was no supporting evidence for such a remarkable assertion. In his talk, Falco shows a wealth of optical evidence for this claim, which Hockney and he subsequently discovered during an unusual, and remarkably productive, collaboration between an artist and a scientist.

Audiovisual and multimedia technology
Technologies Showcase to be Jan. 30
On Jan. 30, Classroom Technologies, a division of CITES (Campus Information Technologies and Educational Services) will host the Presentation Technologies Showcase from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. in Illini Rooms A, B, and C in the Illini Union.

For many years, the showcase, previously known as the OIR-Engineering Services Product Show, has provided faculty and staff members an opportunity to try new audiovisual equipment, experiment with upcoming technologies and speak with experts. More than 30 vendors will be at the event with products including audience response systems, cameras, LCD monitors, projectors and videoconferencing systems.

A campus projector agreement was recently finalized by CITES ClassTech, the Purchasing Division of the UI Office of Business and Financial Affairs, and Midwest Computer Products Inc. The agreement offers Proxima and InFocus projectors at a discount for campus units, as well as for university employees. Other services also are offered through the agreement. Many of these projectors will be on display at the showcase.

There is no admission fee and advance registration is not required. For further information, visit the CITES ClassTech Web site.

Survey Research Laboratory
Free survey research seminars offered
The Survey Research Laboratory is offering three intermediate seminars on survey research methodology this semester on the Urbana-Champaign campus. The series is free to university faculty and staff members, and students. Attendance for each seminar is limited and advance registration is required. Participants may register for one, two or all three seminars. Each seminar, led by senior SRL staff members, will be from noon to 1:30 p.m.

To register, send e-mail or call 333-4273. When registering, include your full name, e-mail address, department and whether you are a faculty or staff member, or student. Registration will be on a first-come, first-serve basis. Notes for individual seminars will be available from the SRL Web site just prior to each seminar. More detailed descriptions of seminars also are available on the Web site.

A basic understanding of survey research methods is recommended as a prerequisite.

Dates and topics:

• Feb. 4: Selecting Socioeconomic Measures for Survey Research, Room 196 Lincoln Hall.
• Feb. 13: Questionnaire Design Clinic, Room 196 Lincoln Hall.
• March 3: Secondary Analysis of Survey Data, Room 196 Lincoln Hall.

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