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Crews to study structure, formation of upper oceanic crust On March 9, UI structural geologist Stephen Hurst will leave the land-locked plains of Central Illinois for a monthlong research cruise in the South Pacific. The trip will include numerous dives in Alvin, a submersible deep-sea vessel. Popcorn lovers eat more when given more If you are what you eat, do you eat whatever's before you? Apparently so, at least when it comes to snack foods where size has become a major ingredient in marketing.
Campus prepares for problems associated with Year 2000 Working together to keep teachers from quitting Anthology shows status of black South African women CEA recruits new members with enticements Museum artifacts cataloged, packed in preparation for move Academia 'strong but imperiled,' authors claim in new book Hands-on teamwork serves hospitality management students
Campus prepares for problems associated with Year 2000
Working together to keep teachers from quitting
Anthology shows status of black South African women
CEA recruits new members with enticements
Museum artifacts cataloged, packed in preparation for move
Academia 'strong but imperiled,' authors claim in new book
Hands-on teamwork serves hospitality management students
LAS announces public hearing ... MusiCelli & Company quartet featured ... D's 3 and UI Jazz Band featured ... Economics of UI sports examined ... More benefits options on NESSIE ... Ukrainian celebration March 7 ... Drobny program offers speakers bureau ... Staff award nomination sdue March 12 ... Wheelchair b-ball tourneys March 12-14 ... Exhibition to benefit Allerton ... Women's Studies celebrates 20 years
On March 9, UI structural geologist Stephen Hurst will leave the land-locked plains of Central Illinois for a monthlong research cruise in the South Pacific. The trip will include numerous dives in Alvin, a submersible deep-sea vessel.
Funded by the National Science Foundation, the cruise is focused on investigating the structure and formation of the upper oceanic crust. The work will be done at depths of 2,300 to 3,800 meters below sea level at the Hess Deep Rift, which is about 500 miles west of the Galapagos Islands.
Hess Deep is a large crack in Earth's crust caused by sea-floor spreading, Hurst said. "What's happening is the relatively new crust being created at the East Pacific Rise spreading center is being cut into and rifted apart by the Galapagos spreading center. The result is a huge chasm nearly 4,500 meters deep."
Hess Deep is one of the few places on Earth where the oceanic crust is exposed this way cracked open like a split watermelon. This naturally occurring cross-section offers researchers an opportunity to examine how the crust is formed, and how it is deformed as it is pushed away from the spreading center.
"Diving at Hess Deep in Alvin is like spending a night in a blimp off the side of a cliff in a heavy thunderstorm," said Hurst, a veteran of eight Alvin dives, including one to Hess Deep in 1991. "It's truly an unforgettable experience."
Descending to the floor of Hess Deep takes nearly two hours. The researchers typically spend the time rechecking their equipment and reviewing procedures.
"You can't sit back and enjoy the view," Hurst said, "because there is no view. Sunlight doesn't penetrate the ocean much past the first 100 meters, so for nearly the entire ride down it's dark as night outside."
Although Alvin is equipped with powerful floodlights, they are rarely used during the descent in order to conserve battery power. The need to save power also makes it pretty dark inside the sub.
"There's a faint glow given off by various indicator lights, but that's about it," Hurst said. "So it's dark, it's quiet, and it's cold. At a depth of 4,000 meters, the water temperature is close to freezing, and the cold travels easily through the sub's metal hull."
At the bottom of their dive, the researchers will have about five hours to maneuver the sub, examine their surroundings, and pluck rock samples from the cliff face before the batteries run out, forcing a return to the surface.
"We anticipate completing 15 dives," Hurst said, "during which we will examine the structure of this piece of ocean crust in an attempt to better understand the processes of sea-floor spreading and rift formation."
Hurst is one of three principal investigators for the cruise; the other two researchers Jeff Karson and Emily Klein are from Duke University. Also aboard the surface-support vessel will be a scientific team of 13 specialists, technicians and students, including UI undergraduate Anna Sutton of Oswego.
A sophomore geology major, Sutton will base her senior thesis for which she is currently enrolled on work she is to perform both during and after the cruise.
"On the cruise, I will work on processing images obtained with the side-scan sonar," Sutton said. "This sonar will be towed along the cliff face to identify interesting features for Alvin to investigate."
Sutton also will help prepare the rock samples for future petrological and geochemical analyses to determine their composition. After the trip, she will work on making mosaics of electronic images from both Alvin and Argo (a remotely operated camera sled) and prepare geologic maps of the site.
"I'm very excited about participating in the cruise, and about the possibility of diving in Alvin," Sutton said. "I know space is very limited the submersible only holds three people, one of which is the pilot but I hope I can go on at least one dive."
A certified scuba diver, Sutton is quite comfortable in the water. To test her stamina at being confined in a small space surrounded by inky blackness for several hours, however, she recently spent six hours exploring a cave.
"It didn't bother me at all," she said. "I'm not the least bit claustrophobic."
Nevertheless, she admits to feeling a little nervous about having a mere 2 inches of titanium hull separating her from the crushing pressures found in the ocean depths. Hurst, however, has absolute confidence in the submersible and its experienced pilots.
"Because of the enormous pressures we will encounter, it's not uncommon to see Alvin's hull festooned with net bags full of Styrofoam cups and mannequin heads," he said. "The water pressure squeezes them down to a tiny fraction of their original size, making neat souvenirs of the dive."
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If you are what you eat, do you eat whatever's before you? Apparently so, at least when it comes to snack foods where size has become a major ingredient in marketing.
On Feb. 6, Brian Wansink, a professor of business administration at the UI, took eight graduate students from his Food & Brand Lab on campus to a movie theater in Mount Prospect, Ill. They gave out large and extra-large popcorn containers to people attending a matinee showing of "Payback," starring Mel Gibson. Afterward, Wansink and the students weighed the containers to see how much the moviegoers ate.
People given the extra-large containers ate 44 percent more than those handed the slightly smaller containers.
CBS "This Morning" taped Wansink and his students for a report on the impact of portion size on the weight and diet of Americans. Wansink found that the extra-large size added 120 calories to the average intake of the moviegoer. "If you have it, you'll eat it," he said.
Until now there has been little scientific research on why large packages increase consumer usage. Generally the link was believed to be based on the "scarcity effect" people used more from large packages because they worried less about running out.
Wansink has been testing another theory that people use more from larger packages because the product is perceived as cheaper. Wansink has run five studies using liquid cleaners, cooking oils, spaghetti, bottled water and bleaches. In the first four experiments, consumers were observed at his Brand Lab using different sizes of the same products. The fifth experiment was conducted to prove the lab findings were applicable to the real world. Altogether, 691 adults were tested.
The results were similar to the popcorn test. "People use more from larger packages typically between 9 percent and 36 percent more because, deep down, they perceive that per-unit cost is cheaper in large packages. We further found that increased package size works best with food and household products that are used frequently and are familiar to consumers."
There was, however, an upper limit to the package-usage relationship. "After a certain point, increasing package size will have no effect on usage," Wansink said. This was especially true among products with potentially harmful side effects from overuse, such as bleach.
Wansink set up his Food & Brand Lab, believed to be the only such research facility at a U.S. university, two years ago to examine consumer behavior with commonplace packaged foods and household items.
"Letting people know about the subtle things that influence their behavior helps them become better consumers," Wansink said. "This has been a major objective of my research."
The doomsayers are predicting that when the clock ticks past midnight on Dec. 31, 1999, the world will skid to a calamitous stop.
Others say life won't even skip a beat. But the truth may lie somewhere between the two extremes, according to a university Year 2000 (Y2K) expert.
And on this campus, great efforts are being made to be sure that if there are any skips or skids, they are minor ones. Everything from computer hardware systems to fax machines to accounting systems are being examined to determine if they will still function properly in the year 2000, said Greg Kesner, associate director of the Computing and Communications Services Office.
And just in case, contingency plans for every critical service and mission at the UI are being laid as well, Kesner said. For example, Illinois Power pledges that electrical service to the campus will not be interrupted. But what if something happens nationally upstream from IP that is out of the utility's control?
The UI's Division of Operation and Maintenance is making sure that the Abbott Power Plant is ready to provide service to two-thirds of the campus buildings, Kesner said. (IP directly serves the other third of the campus.)
"In general, I think progress is being made at a good rate," Kesner said.
The Y2K problem, he explained, stems from some computer programs and computer hardware that use only two digits for the year instead of four. On Jan. 1, 2000, some computers will think it is 1900 and may stop functioning properly.
Embedded processors the small computer chips in everything from digital watches to traffic lights to electric power grid controls are another factor that can impact how or if a technology will work. Popular estimates are that of all technology with embedded processors, about 5 percent may be affected by Y2K, Kesner said.
"The tough point is knowing what 5 percent,'' he said.
That has been one of the charges assigned to deans, department heads and unit supervisors and their Y2K Unit Coordinators. They need to determine what essential equipment has embedded processors and then contact the vendors or search the Internet to see if the items are compliant. They also need to determine that the computer hardware and software packages used in their departments have been updated to 2000 compliance. And if they have had any custom software made, that may need to be updated as well if it doesn't properly process dates after 1999.
The problems need to be fixed as soon as possible, Kesner said, because as January approaches there will be even more intense demand for programmers to fix the problems. In fact, a number of key dates will be announced soon as milestones for campus units to have concluded their Y2K assessment, systems and software renovations, and have contingency plans in place.
"I think people are taking it seriously," Kesner said of the campus response. "It's not something people need to panic about, but it is something to adequately review and take appropriate action where required."
"As a campus we began a concerted look at Year 2000 about a year ago," Kesner said. "We pulled together a Y2K Core Team, and we offered a seminar last March or April to technical staff. Since then we've been holding seminars to help people know what the problem is, how to perform the reviews within their departments to assess if or how their operations could be impacted, and to take a look at how they might fix computer hardware or programs.
"Soon we'll start having seminars that focus on contingency planning,'' he said. "What do you do if you did the best you could to find out if there were problems but you missed something? Or you thought you had it all fixed, but you found out that it was actually connected to something else and that something isn't working. The expectation of the UI administration is that even though you believe you have fixed your Y2K problems in critical systems and services, you will still have a contingency plan in case something goes wrong."
There is a university-level coordinating team between the three campuses, and on the Urbana campus there is a Year 2000 Campus Checkpoint Committee headed by Charles Colbert, vice chancellor for administration and human resources, that meets every other week. That committee comprises people who represent key or critical services essential to the campus. In addition, legal counsel is reviewing the liability issues arising from the Year 2000 problem.
"We have a Year 2000 team comprising some of the CCSO staff and also other people on campus who are leading major efforts in their areas, like business affairs," Kesner said. That group includes Andrea Ballinger, Jay Geistlinger, David Zeiders and Mark Hege, from CCSO, and Debbie Cassels from the Office of Business Affairs, as well as various staff from across campus. "We've been meeting weekly over the past year. The collaboration and sharing of information is real helpful. People are mutually supporting one another across campus in this effort it's a wonderful testimony to the esprit de corps on this campus in situations like this."
"There is a lot of activity going on right now. And it is taking a considerable amount of the energy of the campus to look at this, but it is a prudent thing to do," Kesner said.
"Those who make extreme forecasts either way are probably wrong on both sides," he said. "If someone says there is no problem they are living pie in the sky because the fact is problems have already been identified and people have taken steps to fix those. That's why we encourage faculty and staff to perform their Y2K review to assess how the technology they rely on might be affected.
"In terms of the doomsayers who say that everything's going to fall apart and come to a grinding halt, that's also probably not true," he said. "No one knows for certain the extent to which there will be confusion. But there is contingency planning going on throughout the whole country, and the world is attempting to figure out what could happen and make sure that even if some things don't work, there are adequate backups in place."
For more information on the Year 2000 problem and solutions, visit the campus Web site at http://y2k.cso.uiuc.edu.
Teachers will tell you the first year of teaching is the hardest. Yet many teachers must face that first-year challenge almost alone.
It's likely one reason an estimated four of 10 new teachers aren't teaching three years later.
Some educators at the UI and in three Illinois counties, however, are finding that a rare form of university-schools collaboration which pools expertise, resources and the novice teachers themselves can be a key to getting those teachers some of the support they need.
It's called the Novice Teacher Support Project, and April Bailey, a second-year math teacher at Hoopeston Area High School, knows her first year would have been much harder without it. "It was nice to have a place where you could talk with people who are in the same position as you," she said, "and without that, I don't know what I would have done." She has no plans to leave teaching.
Sharon Chubbuck, the UI doctoral student who coordinates the program, said many evaluations after the program's first year came back saying, in effect, "I had no idea how much I would need this." More than half of the 38 first-year participants, including Bailey, have continued into a second year with the program.
The novice-teacher project was formed from a three-way partnership among the UI; two of the state's regional offices of education, covering Champaign, Ford and Vermilion counties; and the school districts in those counties. Teachers' unions also lend their support.
The program centers on Saturday sessions during which teachers get practical advice from experienced educators and university experts, a chance to share their experiences with other first- and second-year colleagues, and time to reflect on their teaching and how to improve it. It also includes a new mentoring program that uses recently retired educators, and this summer will add a summer institute. And regular feedback is built in, through routine evaluations by the participants.
Bailey's principal, Joanne Allard, has played a part in helping to develop the program, partly because she still remembers the "hell" of her first year teaching. "You're just not prepared for the amount of time and emotional and psychic energy that teaching takes," she said.
She also sees particular benefits for smaller districts, like her own, where there are few new teachers added each year, and the district can't justify the time or resources to organize its own support program. "Having a place to go where they're meeting people from all different schools across the three counties gives them the big picture of what new teachers are going through and what teaching is."
A program such as the Novice Teacher Support Project takes on added importance, noted Marty Barrett, the regional superintendent for Champaign and Ford counties, as Illinois and other states anticipate mass retirements during the next 10 years. "When you think about that, when you think about the shortages that we have already begun to see, this program just cries out to be duplicated."
Nearly a decade after the dismantling of apartheid, one group of South Africans is still struggling for recognition. That group, according to UI theater professor Kathy A. Perkins, is black South African women.
The women's voices just became dramatically louder with the publication of "Black South African Women: An Anthology of Plays," edited by Perkins and issued in the United States in January by Routledge and in South Africa by the University of Cape Town Press. The compilation of six full-length and four one-act plays by men and women represents a wide spectrum of women's experiences. Abuse, disappointment, identity, racism and sexism are present in the stories, but so, too, are themes of resilience, resistance, survival and liberation.
"My hope is that this anthology, one of the first to focus exclusively on the lives of black South African women through drama, will contribute to the reader's understanding of the position of these black women," Perkins wrote in the introduction to the book. "This anthology fills a major gap, since the majority of published plays on South Africa focus primarily on men."
Perkins said her familiarity with South African theater dates to 1979, when she met a group of South African exiles who were studying in the United States. Her interest in the arts, culture and politics of South Africa grew in the 1980s, when she worked as a lighting designer on several New York-area productions mounted by South African artists. With revolutionary change sweeping across the South African landscape starting with Nelson Mandela's release from prison in 1990 Perkins said she couldn't help but wonder what role black women were playing in the unfolding drama.
"I began seeking some answers in the dramas of the old and new South Africa, but discovered there were very few plays that dealt with the role of black women, and even fewer written by black women," she said. To uncover those stories, which Perkins was convinced were there, she decided to go directly to the source. In 1995, she made the first of four trips to South Africa to connect with female playwrights and encourage them to share their stories with the rest of the world.
During those visits, Perkins met a number of playwrights whose works were being produced, though not on the same level as work by the playwrights' male counterparts. She also discovered that cultural factors accounted for the women's limited exposure beyond South Africa's borders.
"I learned that in traditional South African cultures, women were primarily storytellers, and, as is typical throughout Africa, the oral tradition dominates in theater. Traditional theater in black South Africa is designed for performing and not primarily to be written and published."
Compounding the playwrights' visibility problems, Perkins said, was that "censorship under apartheid contributed in part to the lack of plays by blacks in general." Actors often possessed only sections of a banned script, to prevent the complete work from reaching government officials, she said.
Members of the Classified Employees Association are encouraging all staff employees and retirees who were members of CEA at the time of their retirement to take advantage of CEA benefits and meetings.
The CEA is nonpartisan, nonunion and nonprofit and is open to all civil service and staff employees regardless of position or classification. CEA holds monthly luncheon meetings with speakers or panel discussions about issues of interest to employees. In addition, CEA distributes a bulletin with timely information for civil service employees, and sponsors a scholarship fund for additional professional training.
The CEA currently has 138 members, according to President Barbara Harned, administrative secretary in the Housing Division.
CEA is offering incentives for new members to join and for current members to recruit other civil service employees during this membership drive. Members who recruit the most new members through March 31 will receive two tickets to a performance at Krannert Center for the Performing Arts and a $20 gift certificate for Intermezzo, the KCPA cafe. New members will have their names put into a drawing for another pair of Krannert tickets and a $20 Intermezzo gift certificate.
The CEA was formed in 1971; membership is $7.50 a year.
"We try to keep our employees informed of what's going on around the UI," Harned said. For example, the group has had speakers from the State University Retirement System, as well as representatives from the UI Employees Credit Union.
A guest speaker from the Benefits Center is planned for this spring, and in June a meeting will feature services available through Printing Services. A picnic is planned for July. The monthly meetings are held the first Thursday of each month at various campus dining halls from 11:45 a.m. to 1 p.m. The meal is $6.90.
The CEA monthly bulletin is available by e-mail or hard copy. The bulletin contains minutes of the CEA meetings and information on the Staff Advisory Council and Secretariat as well as civil service information and information on upcoming events and announcements.
In addition, CEA has a program called the Lorraine Weber Scholarship Fund that provides tuition to members who want to take professional classes through Human Resources Development. The names of two members are drawn each month from September through April for the scholarships.
For more information about CEA, e-mail CEA@illinois.edu or contact Harned at b-harned@illinois.edu or 244-8490.
The task of packing 45,000 artifacts from the UI's World Heritage Museum for the two-block move to the new Spurlock Museum of World Cultures goes way beyond the moving and packing experiences of most people.
For example, the packers are not using cardboard boxes salvaged from the back of the local County Market. And precious 1800-year-old Roman vases are not being wrapped in pages of Inside Illinois.
And you can bet museum officials will not be offering free pizza and beer to anyone who shows up with a pickup truck.
This move is being done with an incredible amount of planning, care, oversight and attention. In fact, a veritable assembly line of white-gloved workers painstakingly takes each artifact through a process that begins with registration and cataloging and ends with it being cocooned into custom-designed packages.
Although the move is just across the Quad to the new museum site on the corner of Gregory and California streets, the artifacts' packaging looks like it could withstand being shot from a cannon to the moon.
"Few people realize how intricate and involved it actually is to move a museum," said Douglas Brewer, museum director. And few museums have had this opportunity, so there are no books or guidelines to follow.
"We've been learning along the way and doing a lot of research and contacting other museums, and sort of extrapolating from their successes and mistakes."
The move into the new $10.8 million Spurlock Museum of World Cultures is scheduled for early 2001. William and Clarice Spurlock of Indianapolis gave the gift of the museum to the UI in 1997.
The 53,000 square-foot stone and brick building, designed by the Chicago architectural firm of Nagle, Hartray, Danker, Kagan, McKay, will provide a home not only for the UI's World Heritage Museum, but will be augmented by artifacts from the Museum of Natural History and anthropology department.
The existing museum, housed on the fourth floor of Lincoln Hall, was cramped for space, lacked parking and visibility on campus. It is closed now for the packing and cataloging,
Since all the items have to be moved anyway, it has proved to be the perfect time to take an inventory of all the artifacts.
"Just like you take account of your house before you move, we're taking this move as an opportunity to recatalog our whole collection," said Christa Deacy-Quinn, curator of exhibits at the World Heritage Museum. "This is our way of making sure we've looked under the beds, so to speak, to make sure everything is out of the museum and accounted for."
The laborious process began about two years ago with the cataloging of the collection into a database. Then in November, the assembly-line work began. Deacy-Quinn demonstrated the steps taken after an artifact is moved from a storage room.
First step is registration, where workers record where the item had been stored, such as Storage Room 58, Cabinet 2, top shelf.
The items are entered into the computer with descriptions of its appearance and function.
A worker checks the artifact number with the handwritten ledger to document the date it was acquired, and if it was a gift, purchase or loan. Geographic information is checked and noted.
All this computer information is logged into the database, along with detailed descriptions and measurements. The colors of the artifact are even matched against a Munsell color chart for accurate records of its appearance, since photos may distort colors. Every single item is photographed. The photos are used for the museum's online catalog.
Next step in the process calls for packaging. Some of the fragile items require custom-made boxes of acid-free cardboard. A museum-quality polyethylene foam is cut to cradle the item, and the cavity of the foam is stuffed with polyfill and covered with a smooth Tyvak paper. Some of the less fragile items are packed with packaged bolsters of packing peanuts. The larger plaster items will be packed in crates.
Very fragile items, like the delicate Roman vases that are nearly 2,000 years old, require the custom-designed boxes and custom padding, as well as an exterior box designed with polystyrene and air cushions for ultimate protection.
The boxes are then sealed and stored in zones in the closed museum. Again, each box is cataloged and recorded, so that it is possible at any time to find any item, packed or unpacked, in the museum.
"We pretty much have determined that these boxes can be dropped from a sizable distance, kicked around, turned upside down, everything - we take it all into account," Deacy-Quinn said. "We don't think they are going to be abused in anyway when they are moved, we know they will be handled with great care, but just in case, we want to make sure our artifacts are protected."
It is painstaking work, she said, with some artifacts requiring as much as six hours' worth of packing time. Not all will require that kind of extreme measure, she said. None of it could be possible without the help of some very dedicated undergraduate students who are helping, she said.
"Our students have a tremendous amount of responsibility," she said. "And without the student help we wouldn't be able to do this. We have maybe 20 to 30 students total. They are the backbone of our museum."
Another benefit from the move is that now an online catalog of the museum's collection is available to anyone who seeks it. For example, a professor in France can visit the Web site and check the catalog, see photos of the artifacts and get pertinent information.
"This is a once in a lifetime event," said Paul Marty, director of information technology.
He designed the systems to manage the 1.5 gigabytes' worth of data. And he is working on a Virtual Museum that will show artifact displays in the new museum before the building is even completed.
"This is an exciting time," said Deacy-Quinn. "This is the pinnacle of my career in the sense that moving a collection is a collection manager's dream. But we've got so much to do.
"We have to make sure that 45,000 pieces move safely and nothing breaks."
If it's true that the devil's in the details, then there's plenty of Beelzebub in a new book about the destructive forces permeating U.S. academia.
In the book, Cary Nelson, an English professor at the UI who in some circles already is regarded as a cloven-hoofed messenger for his steady and outspoken critiques of academia, and Stephen Watt, a professor of English at Indiana University, paint a "detailed portrait of a strong but imperiled institution." It is not a pretty picture.
Based on first-hand experiences, interviews and analysis of current national practices and trends, the authors argue in "Academic Keywords: A Devil's Dictionary for Higher Education" (Routledge) that two pervasive forces the exploitation of workers and the corporatization of academia are pushing higher education to the brink of meltdown.
According to Nelson, the underfunded expansion of the university in the '50s and '60s is "without a doubt the source of the current crisis. Those chickens have come home to roost."
In the authors' scenario, the exploited are the growing ranks of campus part- timers food-service workers, graduate students and faculty members. For them, the bottom line is scandalous: "no security, no benefits, no time for research or reflection, no academic freedom, no prestige and no institutional power." In this economic paradigm, everyone and everything eventually feel the heat.
"Universities are becoming more like athletic shoe companies and less like institutions with transcendent and idealistic values," Nelson said. "They must recover their place in the culture as institutions that are moral and honorable, and that have a commitment to a higher system of values." One of those values, the authors argue again and again, is a commitment to pay workers a fair wage.
Among the book's 47 dictionary items are the usual suspects academic freedom and tenure and doctoral dissertations, as well as new ones that speak to the theme of the book: cafeterias, outsourcing, distance learning, administrative perks and robber baron universities.
"There are some pretty savage critiques," Nelson conceded, such as the entry on sexual harassment or the portrait of a moonlighting professor. One broad critique attacks what the authors describe as the new "ersatz post-secondary commodified education," the University of Phoenix being one of the most notorious examples of the so-called Drive-Thru U model.
The authors also try to show what is remarkable about higher education in the United States.
"We believe that this is the best higher education system in the world, and because of that, we think it would be a good idea not to [fritter] it away."
While sometimes irreverent and sardonic, the book is less about trashing an institution than it is about sending "a wakeup call to people inside and outside academia. Without a major collective effort, higher education as we know it will be over within a decade or two," Nelson said.
Chopping the lettuce is just the tip of the iceberg for these embryonic restaurateurs. They also ladle out the promotional fliers, slice and dice the payroll, dish out the service and digest the paper profits (or losses) afterward.
This is the hands-on philosophy of the UI's hospitality management program that results in a B.S. in food science and human nutrition. Kitchen work lets the students apply their class learning and prepare for careers in the restaurant and hotel industries.
"It's a challenging program," senior Megan Schlau said. "You learn about nutrition, a bit of chemistry and microbiology, and you get a strong background in marketing, accounting and business law. But always you're centered on the food."
For Schlau, from Schaumburg, Ill., that means helping run the Bevier Cafeteria, which is open to the public for breakfast and lunch on the second floor of Bevier Hall.
As the noon hour approaches, the kitchen is a beehive of activity. Karin Engman is ladling out a sample of her spaghetti with white bean sauce. Ted (T.J.) Niedospial is checking reservations and making arrangements for a sit-down dinner the following night. Max Kurman munches on a soft cinnamon cookie.
The class, known as "Quantity Food Management," is designed to give students a taste of every aspect of a commercial food operation. Class members take turns as cooks, cashiers, bakers and clean-up crews. Others plan the menu, order the food, stock the pantry and store the leftovers.
"It takes teamwork," said Engman, a senior from Elgin, whose spaghetti dish is being sampled by a phalanx of student tasters. "Not bad" is the consensus as the tray makes its way to the hot-food line.
Besides the cafeteria, which feeds 200 people a day, the students learn the ins and outs of catering. "We do buffet lunches, sit-down lunches, buffet dinners, plus a lot of receptions and birthday parties on campus and in Urbana-Champaign," Schlau said.
To handle the logistics, Jim Painter, the foods laboratory head, has established a sophisticated e-mail system. Students log on to the computer several times a day and check for notes, new assignments and last-minute changes. The team members are held accountable for the times and tasks assigned to them by the managers.
Preparing and serving the food is only part of their task. All catered events are carefully budgeted and a profit-and-loss statement is sent to Painter. He pulls out a recent catering where revenues totaled $783.81 and the cost of goods sold ("COGS" in accounting talk) was $232.22.
"That's good," Painter remarked. "The industry as a whole has a COGS of 30 percent, and this job came in at 29.6 percent." After deducting for payroll (in this case fictitious because students did the work), linen, marketing and energy costs, the event produced a net income of $96.43, or 12 percent. "I like it," Painter declared.
Student managers fill out a detailed evaluation card for each catering event, and the student workers do self-evaluation forms. Painter reviews the comments with the students individually. Everything is graded, from the placement of utensils to the visual appeal of the food on the plate.
Perhaps the most demanding course is "Fine Dining Management." Here the students run a gourmet restaurant called the Spice Box. Each week a different student is in charge of selecting a five-course menu in consultation with a guest chef from a commercial restaurant.
Each presentation tries to be unique. The Spice Box has served meals based around regions (venison and rainbow trout for a North Woods dinner) and themed after historical periods (Cornish game hen and rolled marinaded beef for Victorian night). The student manager makes plans for suitable decorations and coordinates the promotion.
The payoff for the students, who also intern for at least 320 hours in hotels or restaurants, is an opportunity for a good job. Beginning salaries are about $25,000 for food and catering managers, and advancement can be rapid for college graduates.
While Engman hopes to use her degree to get into the restaurant business around Chicago, today she is basking in the glory that her spaghetti with white bean sauce has been sold out.
In fact, the lunch crowds at Bevier are large enough to inspire another student to whip up a soybean, brown sugar and ketchup mixture for a possible fajita filling. It won't be making its way to the cafeteria line anytime soon. "A bit sweet," Painter advised.
Bruce Hajek, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at the UI and a researcher in the university's Coordinated Science Laboratory, has been elected to membership in the National Academy of Engineering.
Hajek was among 80 engineers selected for membership in the NAE, which was established in 1964 under a charter from the National Academy of Sciences as a parallel organization of outstanding engineers. Election to the NAE is among the highest professional distinctions in engineering. The current NAE membership includes 1,984 U.S. engineers and 154 foreign associates.
"I am both surprised by and grateful for this honor," said Hajek, whose selection was based on his many contributions to stochastic systems, communication networks and control.
Hajek's research covers a wide breadth of topics. He is internationally recognized for his significant contributions to communication networks (including routing, congestion control, scheduling and dynamic load balancing), to information theory (including broadcast and multi-access channels), to stochastic systems (including stochastic processes, random fields and queuing), and to optimization (including simulated annealing and optimal control).
Among Hajek's many contributions to queuing theory, there is one simple and elegant result for which he is well-known in the network community the proof of the folk theorem that determinism minimizes waiting time in queues. Other important contributions by Hajek include iterative algorithms for dynamic optimal routing, stable algorithms for ALOHA networks, a clean representation for the statistics of scanned images, controlling interactive service stations, and information singularity of stochastic processes.
Hajek joined the UI faculty in 1979. He holds a doctorate in electrical engineering from the University of California at Berkeley, a master's degree in electrical engineering and a bachelor's degree in mathematics from the UI. Hajek is a fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and a member of the American Mathematical Society.
Six professors and four graduate students in the arts, humanities and social sciences at the UI will devote their research during the 1999 to 2000 academic year to topics relating to "Institutions of the Visual."
The 10 have been named Faculty Research Fellows and Graduate Student Fellows, respectively, of the university's Illinois Program for Research in the Humanities. Faculty fellows are released from one semester of teaching to pursue their research. Graduate student fellows receive a $6,000 stipend plus tuition and fee waivers if recipients are not otherwise provided with waivers to pursue their research. All fellows are given office space and limited research support.
The fellowship awards are "the centerpiece of the IPRH," said IPRH director Michael Bérubé, noting that the interdisciplinary program aims to "bring prominence to the arts and humanities at Urbana by making the groundbreaking work of UI faculty and graduate students more widely available and intelligible to diverse campus constituencies, as well as to the general Illinois public, which supports and is served by the university."
Faculty fellows and their projects:
James Hay, speech communication, "Articulated Places: Screen Media and Social Space," explores how institutions of screen media have accompanied, and been instrumental to, the formulation and governing of a new sociospacial arrangement in the United States during the late 20th century.
Anne D. Hedeman, art history, "Notarial and Secretarial Culture, 1365-1483," analyzes the books produced under the supervision of notaries and secretaries in order to map their place in the highly visual culture of the 14th and 15th centuries.
Armine Kotin Mortimer, French, "Paradise on TV: Philippe Sollers and Video Art," explores the connection of video art to language, centering on Sollers' readings of his novel "Paradis," and examines how the vocal production of the reading changes in its visual rendition.
Cary Nelson, English, "The Visual Discourses of the Spanish Civil War," focuses on the international response to the Spanish Civil War's politics and cultural production, with particular emphasis on political posters and photographs.
Julia Saville, English, "Bathing Boys: An Aesthetics of the Male Nude in Victorian Poetry, Painting and Photography," traces the motif of boys bathing outdoors as it occurs from the 1840s until the first decade of the 20th century.
Linda Scott, advertising, "Commercial Canon," focuses on the imagistic language of advertising as a form of visual rhetoric, one that has not only affected people's daily consumption habits but also has profoundly altered people's ability to interpret and produce visual messages.
Graduate student fellows and topics:
Jason G. Karlin, history, "Representing the Nation: Taste, Nostalgia and Aestheticism in Imperial Japan," argues that Japanese aesthetic sensibility is the product of the construction of a collective memory expressed in the longing for the tastes and styles of an earlier period before the invasion of Western influences.
Niranjan S. Karnik, medicine, "International Humanitarian Organizations and Fund-raising Depictions of Children," approaches humanitarianism through the images of children who appear as recipients or exemplars of aid, and the relationship of these images to the organizational dynamics and social forces behind them.
Guisela M. Latorre, art history, "Indians in Mexican Photography: The Rise and Expansion of Post-Revolutionary Discourses on Indigenism," traces the role of the Indian as subject for the photographic gaze in Mexico and the post-colonial debates concerning the position of indigenous populations since the Mexican Revolution.
Lynnea Magnuson, history department, "Go West Young Man and Woman? Gendered Religious Imagery and U.S. Expansion During the 1830s and 1840s," investigates the ways in which the gendered religious imagery at the core of Manifest Destiny ideology did not just commemorate the success of the national political agenda during the 1830s and 1840s, but also propelled that agenda.
Faculty fellows are asked to teach a course in their home departments in a subject related to the theme. They are expected to maintain residency on campus during the award year and to participate in the program's annual conference and related activities, including monthly interdisciplinary seminars. Fellows also present a paper at the annual conference.
Fellows are selected by an advisory committee, which consists of faculty members from the College of Communications, Graduate School of Library and Information Science, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, and the College of Fine and Applied Arts.
IPRH invites speakers of national and international reputation to speak on the year's topic, and it hosts a Distinguished Speaker Series on a topic other than the theme for the year. In addition, IPRH shares its resources with other university units, serving as a major co-sponsor of numerous campus events throughout the year and coordinating its activities with other units whenever possible. Next year's theme will be "Cities." The program themes are generated from the faculty study groups, proposals for which are submitted to IPRH on an annual basis.
Alkire to step down Aug. 20
Richard C. Alkire will step down as vice chancellor for research and dean of the Graduate College on Aug. 20.
"I appreciate Dick Alkire's many contributions to the research enterprise on this campus and to the high quality of graduate education here," said Chancellor Michael Aiken. "I am grateful for his five years of service in a demanding administrative position."
The vice chancellor for research and dean of the Graduate College oversees a research effort totaling $297 million.
As a vice chancellor, Alkire created the Critical Research Initiative and conceived and pushed for the State Matching Grant Fund to provide more resources for research. He created the Research Technology Management Office and recruited its director. Alkire and his colleagues have developed a plan for a technology park at the university. He has brought deans and faculty members together to create a biotechnology initiative and provided leadership in identifying technology needs that led to the creation of a position for a chief information officer for technology issues on the Urbana-Champaign campus.
Alkire supported the work of the Task Force on Graduate Education and is working with Graduate College staff members to implement the task-force report.
"I am grateful for the opportunity this position has given me to work with a number of outstanding scientists, scholars and university leaders," Alkire said. "I take pride in the objectives I have accomplished, but there is more to do and the organization is on track to do it. We have a plan with long-term objectives that are linked to the [campus's] 'Framework for the Future' and that are integral to the heart of the university."
Alkire, a professor of chemical engineering, received his doctorate from the University of California at Berkeley in 1968. He joined the UI faculty in 1969. He is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and of the National Academy of Engineering.
brief notes
The proposal to transfer the department of biochemistry will be addressed first, from 1 to 2 p.m. Immediately following, the discussion will shift to the reorganization of the biological sciences and related proposals.
Raymond Leuthold, professor of agriculture and consumer economics, is the hearing chairperson.
For the hearing, preference will be given to representatives of a recognized organization and people who have requested to speak in advance. Following these speakers, the floor will be opened to others, with a two-minute time limit per individual, up to the time allotted for each item.
Copies of the proposals may be obtained at http://kingbird.las.uiuc.edu/las/ or by contacting the Office of the Senate or the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.
The free concert features MusiCelli & Company with Hungarian-American cellist Laszlo Varga, who performs around the world as a soloist, recording artist, master teacher, conductor and arranger; Laurien Laufman, UI professor of violoncello; Charles Wendt, University of Iowa professor of violoncello; and Barbara Hedlund, principal cello of the Champaign-Urbana Symphony, Danville Symphony, Opera Illinois, the Baroque Artists of Champaign-Urbana (BACH) and String Society Artists. The pianist for the performance will be Edward Rath with the UI School of Music; the oboist will be UI graduate student Alina Wattenberg.
The concert will be broadcast live on WILL-FM (90.9/101.1 in Champaign-Urbana) with host Roger Cooper. On the program are "Quintet for Oboe and Strings," K. 407, by Mozart; "Requiem," by David Popper; "Sonata in G," by Anton Kraft; and "Prelude in E minor," by Frédéric Chopin. Other pieces will include "Sarabande" from "Pour le Piano," by Claude Debussy and two pieces for four cellos, by Joseph Jongen.
Swing dancers from Central Illinois, including many UI students, will participate in the program, taped in the WILL television studio.
In the two-hour program, produced and directed by WILL-TV's Tim Hartin, the D's 3 will sing "Muskrat Ramble," "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy," "Tuxedo Junction," "Bounce Me Brother With a Solid Four," "Near You" and many other numbers.
The UI Jazz Band, conducted by UI Jazz Division head Thomas Wirtel, will perform with the D's 3 and also do several numbers without the singers. On the band's play list are two numbers written by Wirtel, "Anand" and "The Cracked Record," a spoof on the swing classic "In the Mood."
The trio, which performs updated swing tunes of the '30s, '40s and '50s, got its start in 1994 in a high school variety show. The trio was such a hit that the three women were asked to sing at community events. One day, Becky Duncan spotted an ad for talent auditions placed in the local newspaper by a Nashville talent scout. The scout was so impressed with the sound of the trio that he signed them to appear on a Nashville talent show, after which a producer asked them to record an album. That recording, "American Treasures," won five awards from the Academy of Independent Recording Artists, including Album of the Year, Group of the Year, Song of the Year and Vocal Performance of the Year. Since then, they've recorded two more albums, "Near You" and "Sing! Sing! Sing!"
Dickey said the reports will focus on the reasons sports programs are taking in more money, the philosophical justification for an athletic program, how the budget has affected gender equity programs and how football drives the athletic department budget. The reports also will examine whether there's really a relationship between winning athletic teams and the ability of the university to raise funds.
The changes that can be made electronically include applying for coverage, changing coverage amount, changing dependents or beneficiaries and canceling coverage. For the tax-deferred retirement program, employees may change their contribution percentage (as long as it is within the contribution limits determined by the IRS) and their contribution allocation between the current 403(b) companies to which they are contributing.
The NESSIE Web page is located at http://nessie.uihr.uillinois.edu. To make the changes mentioned earlier, go to the benefits section.
Vera Samycia, a noted egg artist of Chicago, will demonstrate the art of Ukrainian Easter egg decoration at 1 p.m. Following the demonstration, information and displays on Ukrainian culture including food, costumes and music will be shared by the Ukrainian Student Association. At 3 p.m., Samycia will conduct a workshop giving participants hands-on experience in decorating their own eggs. Audience members will have the opportunity to purchase egg-decorating equipment.
The demonstration and displays are open to the public. The workshop is limited to 30 pre-registered participants. The fee for the workshop is $10. All workshop participants must be at least 11 years old.
Michael Shapiro, who is director of the Drobny program, will discuss "Jews in the Medieval Christian Imagination" at 7:30 p.m. March 17 and again at 9:30 a.m. March 18 at the Bernard Weinger Jewish Community Center, 300 Revere Drive.
In his teaching and research Shapiro specializes on Renaissance, modern Jewish and American ethnic minority literatures.
The Drobny program offers the services of 10 UI faculty members who can speak to synagogues, churches, libraries and other interested groups on a variety of topics concerning Jewish culture and society. Their expertise ranges from Jewish languages and literatures to the newest ideas in the fields of cultural anthropology.
For a list of speakers and their topics, contact Mindy Basi at the Drobny Speakers' Bureau, 333-3219.
The Junior tournament will include 16 teams playing 32 games over the three days. The Regional tournament will include the UI Fighting Illini Wheelchair Basketball team (currently ranked third in the country), the Casa Colina Condors and the Cleveland Wheelchair Cavs competing for a chance at making the NWBA Final Four Tournament.
Games will be held at Huff Hall and the Intramural-Physical Education Building (IMPE) beginning at noon March 12, and ending with the championship game at 1 p.m. March 14. The Fighting Illini will play at 11 a.m. March 14 at Huff Hall.
For more information or if you are interested in volunteering, contact Maureen Gilbert at 333-4607.
"Allerton: Then and Now" will feature rarely seen historical photographs of Allerton, along with Kanfer's Allerton collection. The gallery will donate a generous portion of the proceeds of any Kanfer image, including framing, purchased during the exhibition to the Allerton Fund, which supports restoration projects within the park as well as educational and visual enhancements.
Purchases also may be made through the gallery's Web site at www.kanfer.com. Web purchases also will benefit Allerton.
The morning will be devoted to discussion, the afternoon to entertainment, including readings, and the evening to a Homecoming Dance, complete with live band. A "Feminist Fair" will run throughout the day.
Ada Nivia Lopez, a member of the UI Board of Trustees, will be the keynote speaker during the lunch. Her topic is "Progress and the Unfinished Agenda."
All of the events will be held at the Levis Faculty Center. Everything except the lunch is free and open to the public. However, those who attend do not have to purchase lunch to listen to the keynote speech.
In 1992, Lopez became the first Latina to be elected to the board. She has worked in education for more than 25 years as a teacher and administrator, and she is considered a leader in bilingual education and educational reform.
Events include:
o 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., Music Room, panel discussion, "Whither Women's Studies: Interdisciplinary and Beyond," moderated by Sonya Michel, director of the Women's Studies Program and UI professor of history.
o 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., second floor, Feminist Fair, information, artworks, products and displays from more than 20 local artists, businesses and organizations.
o Noon to 2 p.m., third floor, lunch with keynote speaker Ada Nivia Lopez.
o 2 to 5 p.m., entertainment with local artists: readings by poets Mary Weems, Wendy Heller and Gale Walden; music by Artemis, Angie Heaton and Freaze.
o 8 to 11 p.m., second floor, Homecoming Dance with The Mary Clark Revue, cash bar, dance contest and selection of Homecoming queens and kings.
For more information, contact Women's Studies at 333-2990.
job market
The Office of Academic Human Resources, Suite 420, 807 S. Wright St., maintains the listings for faculty and academic professional positions. More complete descriptions are available in that office during regular business hours. Job listings are also updated weekly on its Web site at: webster.uihr.uiuc.edu/ahr/ahrjobrg.asp. Any other information may be obtained from the person indicated in the listing.
faculty
Civil and Environmental Engineering. Assistant professor, environmental microbiology and engineering. PhD in environmental engineering or microbiology or a closely related discipline required. Should have training and research experience in biological process modeling and have sufficient background in experimental work. Expertise and research interests applicable to the study of diversity, structure and function of microbial communities in engineered and natural environments are essential. Available: Jan. 6. Contact Animal Sciences, 116 Animal Sciences Lab, MC-630. Closing date: May 31.
Crop Sciences. Assistant professor, maize functional genomics/genetics. PhD in a relevant area of life or plant sciences required. Postdoctoral training or equivalent experience and demonstrated ability in modern genomic technologies and maize genetics desired. Available: Aug. 21. Contact T.R. Rocheford, 333-9643, trochefo@illinois.edu. Closing date: April 15.
Crop Sciences. Assistant/associate professor, nematology. PhD in plant pathology, entomology or a related discipline with proven expertise in nematology required. Must possess demonstrated ability to design, conduct and report independent research. Available: Aug. 21. Contact G.R. Noel, 244-3254, g-noell@illinois.edu. Closing date: May 14.
academic professional
Affirmative Action, Office of. Coordinator of compliance. Bachelor's degree and at least four years' experience in Americans With Disabilities Act compliance or other disability-related field required; master's or professional degree in a related field preferred. Should have demonstrated working knowledge and experience with ADA and Sections 503 and 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 and their application to a state university setting. Must have demonstrated knowledge of Affirmative Action-Equal Employment Opportunity principles and procedures and their application to persons with disabilities. Available immediately. Contact Brad Hedrick, 333-0885. Closing date: March 16.
Campus Recreation, Division of. Media communications specialist. Bachelor's degree in design, advertising, marketing or design-related field and experience in Macintosh computer systems and in advertising and promotions required. Must possess technical background in Apple hardware and software. Should be fluent in Quark Xpress, Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop and have working knowledge of HTML and/or Web design software. Available: June 1. Contact Robyn Deterding, 244-6423, rdeterdi@illinois.edu. Closing date: when position filled.
Campus Recreation, Division of. Assistant director, fitness. Bachelor's required,
preferably in exercise physiology or related field; master's preferred. Must have at least one year's related experience including personal training, fitness testing and exercise prescription. ACE, AFAA, ACSM or CSCS certifications preferred. Available: June 7. Contact Robyn Deterding, 244-6423, rdeterdi@illinois.edu. Closing date: April 2.
Cell and Structural Biology. Research specialist in life sciences. Bachelor's degree required; master's degree in biology, biochemistry or related field and prior experience with molecular biology, biochemical techniques, histology, microscopy and cell culture preferred. Available: March/April. Contact Joyce Woodworth, 333-6118. Closing date: March 19.
Computer Science. Program administrator. Bachelor's degree required. Must have experience with office computing applications such as MS Office and other software for images, Web, drawings and databases. Available immediately. Contact Barbara Armstrong, 333-6454, barb@cs.uiuc.edu. Closing date: March 24.
Grants and Contracts Office. Resource and policy analyst. Bachelor's degree, preferably in accounting, finance or general business administration, and a minimum of three years' experience in a position requiring utilization of financial and administrative skills in a complex business, academic or government environment, preferably at an institution of higher education required. Knowledge of sponsored program post-award administration within an academic environment and an understanding of university business procedures desired. Available immediately. Contact Kay Williams, 333-4880, kayw@illinois.edu Closing date: March 26.
Illinois Natural History Survey. Assistant/associate professional scientist. PhD and research experience required. Extensive knowledge of research programs in research area essential. Must possess and maintain a record of frequent publication in peer-reviewed, nationally recognized scientific journals. Experience working on large systems (freshwater or marine) desirable. For associate, must also have received tenure from an academic institution or passed the equivalent promotion review at a relevant government agency or have demonstrated equivalent qualifications. Available: July 1. Contact David Philipp, 244-5055, philipp@illinois.edu. Closing date: March 1.
Information, Technology and Communication Services. Visiting media/communications specialist, systems development. Bachelor's degree, two years' experience developing Web sites, and experience using Web site development tools such as HotMetal and Microsoft FrontPage required. Must have experience in graphics design using tools such as Adobe Photoshop and have a thorough knowledge of the Hypertext Markup Language (HTML). Available immediately. Contact Floyd Davenport, 333-9519. Closing date: March 5.
International Student Affairs, Office of. Assistant director. Bachelor's degree required; master's in college student personnel, counseling or related area preferred. Should have experience in international student affairs and willingness to act as an effective student advocate. Overseas experience desirable. Available: Aug. 1. Contact Assistant Director Search Committee, Office of International Student Affairs, 510 E. Daniel St., MC-396. Closing date: April 30.
Physics. Director of budget and resource planning. Bachelor's degree in business or related field and five years' experience in higher education administration related to budgeting, physical operations and resource planning required. Must have knowledge of the campus business operations, organizational structures and administrative systems. Should have experience in accounting practice. Available: April 1. Contact Miles V. Klein, 333-3760. Closing date: March 12.
Water Survey, Illinois State. Assistant professional scientist. Bachelor's degree in computer, geography, earth or natural resources sciences and a minimum of 2 years' experience using the ARC/INFO GIS Software system required. Operation and appropriate application of the ARC/INFO and ARCVIEW GIS software packages, including map/graphics composition skills, knowledge of GIS user and system requirements are essential. Should be familiar with MS-Windows, including Excel and UNIX workstation software. Available: May 1. Contact Human Resources, Illinois State Water Survey, 2204 Griffith Drive, MC-674, 333-0448. Closing date: April 9 or when position is filled.
Water Survey, Illinois State. Assistant/associate professional scientist. Master's degree and three years' experience required or PhD in physical or environmental science, environmental engineering or related field required; degree in chemistry, meteorology, environmental science or environmental engineering preferred. Three years' experience working with environmental data sets, experience with spreadsheets, databases, graphics and statistics desired. Available: June 1. Contact Human Resources, Illinois State Water
Survey, 2204 Griffith Drive, MC-674, 333-0448. Closing date: April 15 or when position filled.
staff
Personnel Services Office, 52 E. Gregory Drive, Champaign, conducts open and continuous testing for civil service classifications used on campus. More information is available by calling 333-2137. Or visit its Web site at: www.pso.uiuc.edu.
Ken Beck is the staff musician for the UI's dance department. He first began composing music as a teen obsessed with classical music, but later studied composing at the Conservatory of Music in Boston. He has had a 20-year career in music, ranging from arranging tunes such as "Happy Birthday" for Hallmark musical cards to composing an eight-part musical to accompany a ballet of "Huckleberry Finn."
He spent 12 years as dance musician for a ballet school in Washington, D.C., where he also taught piano. He joined the UI's dance department in January 1998.
You started studying music when you were a youngster?
I got interested in music when I was a teen-ager. I had piano lessons starting at age 8. I had a couple years of group piano lessons and I never practiced. My mom said if I didn't practice I'd have to quit, so I said 'I quit.' And then everybody up the street got guitars and they're all out there playing 'Gloria' on their guitars, so then I got determined that I should be involved in music somehow.
Also about that time there was a seminal experience in a movie called 'Our Mr. Sun,' a science movie with Eddie Albert as the narrator. It had this powerful piece of music in the background. It turned out to be the Ninth Symphony of Beethoven. I had no background in music. Most of my experience was cheesy popular music and hymns. But I was exposed to great music in that film. And so I went out and bought my first classical record. And pretty soon I was obsessed with Beethoven. Absolutely obsessed. I had to have all nine symphonies.
And then I got radical about it. I started letting my hair grow. For those three years of high school, I was Beethoven. I didn't know doodly squat about writing music but I started doing it. I started taking piano lessons again. And I decided I was going to be a musician.
Was it difficult to be a teen-ager in the '70s obsessed with Beethoven?
Oh no. I did away with my friends because I figured Beethoven was a grouchy guy. I read all his biographies. I was terrible. I'm embarrassed by it now. Whatever my personality was I remodeled it as only an adolescent can do. And bit by bit I started looking at expanding into other classical music. Certainly by the time I got to the Conservatory of Music I was still sort of in this Beethoven mode. However, I sobered up rather quickly in the Conservatory because I had gotten myself in way over my head. And I had to use all of my wit and intelligence to try to survive it. And I think I did pretty well. So anyway, there I was a composer.
And at about the same time I discovered dance. I've done plenty of other musical things, but dance has always been the main thrust of my musical career.
What do you do exactly to provide music for dance?
The advantage for the choreographer-teacher in having a live musician is the interaction the musician can make the music fit the exercise exactly, on the fly. That's what I do. And that's the trade I have mastered over this 21 years I've been doing it. You sit there at the piano and the teacher gives the exercise. You watch the exercise and instantly make a masterpiece to go with it. It's an impossible job. It's quite impossible. But every now and then you manage to make a good piece of music fit the exercise.
Really, the art of the dance accompaniment is improvising. There's a lot to it. And everything you know goes into it. You can't fool dancers. Dancers are the best audiences for music. They feel it in their bodies; they have a sense of time that is inexorable.
You consider yourself a composer though, rather than a pianist?
When I got into the Boston Conservatory I could get around on the piano. It's hard to make an honest assessment of what my skill was. I was not a very good player. That's the end of it. I just wasn't. Except they knew I could improvise. I was writing pieces; I was composing. I would have crashed and burned if I thought I was going to be a concert pianist.
What kinds of things have you composed?
The first couple dance pieces I made as a composer were a ballet based on the book 'Huckleberry Finn.' I made a little outline and I started writing, pretending I was Tchaikovsky or something. It was good. It was produced in Kansas City. The first performances were in an outdoor courtyard in a restaurant and it was packed. It was great. I got great press. I was just out of school. I thought 'Man, I am on a roll!' [He laughed]
They're not a bad set of pieces. I've enjoyed playing them lately. And then I started writing for small chamber groups.
Where does this job come in?
I came here the middle of last year. This job happened because even I began to realize that 12 years at a little ballet school and driving around Washington, D.C. as a peripatetic music teacher wasn't really a good thing for a 45-year-old man to be doing. I just realized I was afloat in a sea of life. So I sort of thought I would try to look for a real job.
So do you like being a staff musician at the UI?
Yeah, I do. I do like the job, but it's intense. I put in long days. I'm not just playing for class. I also have started to do production work. I'm becoming familiar with digital audio technology. And I'm composing for dance again.
In Studio Dance II [through March 7 at Krannert], a graduate student choreographer will perform a piece of mine that is top to bottom new music. I play piano and drums. The choreography is called 'Endlessly.'
This is a great school. I like to hike in the mountains and, of course, there are no mountains here, so I wasn't impressed with the topography. But there are rivers and I've taken up kayaking. But the institution itself is awesome. This is an incredible brain trust. This is like one of those Athenian places where a lot of very smart people have gathered and it doesn't really matter what it looks like or what it is because what it is in terms of its importance is way out of proportion to its appearance.
And the dance department itself is excellent. There is a great faculty. They have very good placement. If this is going to be the high water mark of my career as a musician in dance it's a good place for it.
Have you had your 15 minutes of fame yet?
Ummm, no. I want it. And I don't want to have to do anything amoral to get it either. And you know what? If it ever happens to me, I'll be ready for it.
deaths
Hedges earned a bachelor's degree in economics in 1940 from the University of Kansas. He received a master of arts degree in 1950 and a doctor of philosophy degree in 1954 from the UI. He taught insurance and risk management at the UI for 19 years.
He joined the faculty of Temple University, Philadelphia, in 1967. He served as an associate dean for the School of Business for six years and as chairman of the risk management and insurance department for four years.
He served as president of the board of the American Risk and Insurance Association and was a charter member of the Risk Theory Seminar of the association. He was a co-author of the book, "Risk Management in the Business Enterprise," which won the association's Elizur Wright Award for distinguished contribution to the literature in risk and insurance in 1964.
He served as a non-commissioned intelligence officer with the 40th Infantry in the Pacific during World War II.
Survivors include his wife, Jane; two daughters; four grandchildren; and three sisters.
Memorial contributions may be made to Inter-Faith of Ambler, 31 S. Spring Garden St., Ambler, PA 19002; CADCOM, 113 E. Main St., Norristown, PA 19401; Trinity Presbyterian Church of Kensington, Frankford and Cambria streets, Philadelphia, PA 19134; or the First Presbyterian Church of Ambler, Butler and Ridge avenues, Ambler, PA 19002.
Rennier retired in 1981. He served in the Army Medical Corps from 1941 to 1945. He was a member of Holy Cross Catholic Church.
Survivors include his wife, Luella; five brothers; and four sisters.
Memorial contributions may be made to the High School of St. Thomas More, to be built in Champaign.
Wall was a UI staff member for 33 years.
Surviving is a brother.
Memorial contributions may be made to the UI College of Fine and Applied Arts or St. Mary's Church, Freeport.
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign