UIS celebrates Black History Month

By Janee Mitchell - Feature Writer

“We should emphasize not Negro History, but the Negro in history. What we need is not a history of selected races or nations, but the history of the world void of national bias, race hate, and religious prejudice,” said Carter G. Woodson as derived from Danielle Hollister’s Bella Online.
Woodson is known as the father of Black History Month and various sources agree Woodson’s Black History Week created today’s Black History Month. Woodson chose Black History Week the second week of February because it honored the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass.
Douglass and Lincoln are two well-known people in the fight for African American equality. Over time, Black History Week have evolved into Black History Month, showcasing birthdays and important events in the lives of many important African Americans throughout history.
When Woodson spoke those words perhaps he did not realize Black History Week would evolve into Black History Month and become celebrated everywhere, including the UIS campus. UIS is living up to Woodson’s words through its recognition and display of “the Negro in history.”
UIS celebrate Black History month in many ways; including a rendition of Harriet Tubman and the underground railroad, Black movie month films such as Sankofa and Baby Boy, Fun with Swahili Story Hour, Strange fruit film and discussion, and a Lunch for the Soul.
Students Against Sexual Stereotypes and Inequality hosted a black and gay film series in conjunction with the Sexual Orientation and Public Policy course. The black and gay film series occurred Thursdays during Black History Month in conference room E in the Public Affairs Center.
The black and gay film series highlights the lives of gay and lesbian African Americans throughout history and their accomplishments. The series has already shown “Black is… Black Ain’t” and “Living with Pride: Ruth Ellis at 100.” The series will present the last film, “Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin,” on Feb. 24.
The Office of Multicultural Student Affairs hosted a slew of Black History Month programs this year with its very own black movie series running Fridays from 6-10 p.m. in the Lincoln Resident Hall Great Room. The final film, “The Color Purple,” will be presented Feb. 25. OMSA also hosted the Lunch for the Soul and displayed Black History Month facts and important African Americans on their website in celebration.
UIS provided a vast array of Black History Month celebrations surpassing its expectation and now at the close of the month it will co-sponsor “An Evening with Dick Gregory” with Lincoln Land Community College and SIU School of Medicine. The event will be hosted off-campus at the SIU School of Medicine Feb. 25 from 7-9 p.m.
The university displayed its support of Black History Month with a variety of on and off-campus presentations with African American Readings, films and informational sessions held by Brookens Library off campus and the various celebrations and presentations presented by the library and other offices and departments of the university on campus.
Students unable to attend the various Black History Month events did not escape the impact of the month. Daily doses of African American History and key African Americans in history have been sent throughout the month in the form of campus-wide emails.

By Janee Mitchell - Feature Writer

 The Chancellor’s Academic Professional Excellence Award recipient will be announced in April. Candidates for the CAPE award are academic professionals who have been nominated for the award by members of the UIS community. The Academic Professional Advisory Committee will be accepting nominations for the CAPE award through Feb. 28.
It was stated in the original CAPE Award creation document that the establishment of the award would be a combined effort of APAC and Chancellor Ringeisen. Nominations for the CAPE award are given through the APAC website and the CAPE award recipient will be announced by the Chancellor.
The nominees are given to APAC, who then said they would give a list of three finalists to the Chancellor, who decides the winner. Andy Egizi, program coordinator of the online LIS program, said the awards committee is comprised of both volunteers and recruits from the five districts of the University of Illinois campuses.
This year’s committee, according to APAC’s website, is Andy Egizi, district 1; Adriel Ippolito, district 2; Carly Shank, district 3; Barbara Cass, district 4; and Kathryn Kleeman, district 5. The awards committee members themselves will not be eligible for the CAPE award this year, since they are judging the finalists to be sent to the Chancellor.
APAC said on their website, the “award will recognize one outstanding AP who will be judged on three criteria: work projects, professional development and affiliations, and contributions to one’s unit.” APAC also said on their website that the academic professionals can be nominated by any member of the UIS community and academic professionals can also nominate themselves. The nominators are asked to provide information on their nominee’s professional development and affiliation, work projects and contributions to their unit on the CAPE award nomination form.
The CAPE award is relatively new here at UIS. It made its debut in 2004 with its first recipient being Barbara Ferrara, interim executive director of the center for state policy and leadership.
Perhaps the next CAPE award Recipient will be as honored when the second CAPE award is announced April 7, 2005, during the Annual Recognition of Achievements Reception in the PAC restaurant at 4 p.m. The award recipient will receive $500 for their department and $500 for themselves.
Egizi said, “some APs are doing above and beyond their work” and the CAPE award is to recognize them. He also said the CAPE Award is “more recognition than incentive.”
The awards committee will be meeting at the end of February to decide the academic professionals they will require additional information of. After receiving additional information, the three finalists will be chosen and sent to the Chancellor.

UIS Global Experience Seminar set to explore China
Ceramic Arts will be primary focus

By Ron Felten - General Assignment Reporter

Most students typically shudder at even the mention of summer school. For some, though, the year’s warmer months are a time to explore and expand one’s horizons. With the latter group in mind, the Office of International Affairs has organized an opportunity for UIS students and members of the general public to visit and study in China for two weeks this June.

Patricia Robertson, current director of student volunteers and service learning, pauses for a picture while climbing the Great Wall of china. "Looking at anything that vast and knowing people is a very daunting experience" Robertson said.

The Tour China Global Experience Seminar will run from May 31 – June 16 and will be led by Bob Dixon, a professor emeritus of visual arts. The trip will focus primarily on China’s ceramic arts, which Dixon said have largely helped to define how the country has come to be known.
“The history and culture of China are tied closely to the ceramic arts,” Dixon said, “but I don’t encourage just those interested in ceramics to [participate in the trip]. We will be focusing on ceramics but we will also visit universities, silk factories, historical sites that deal with the terra cotta soldiers, the Great Wall, Tiananmen Square, tea gardens and Yaoli, a historical town where Mao Zedong and Chiang Kai-shek first met.”
Some other planned highlights are Shanghai, Yixing, Jingdezhen (“the Porcelain Capital of the World”), Xian and Beijing.
Dixon, who has traveled to China by himself at least seven times since 1995, said last year was the first time he went with an organized group from UIS.
The cost of the trip this year is $3,400, which does not include tuition and university fees but does include travel to and from China, travel within China (all trains are booked for first class cabins) and hotels, which are three and four stars.
Becky Yaeger participated in the Tour China trip last year and said it was a great experience. “I’d never been to China before, but I had lived overseas for two years,” Yaeger said. “I went [on the Tour China trip] specifically to see the terra cotta soldiers and I was thoroughly, thoroughly impressed. I think only the Grand Canyon compares.”
Yaeger said she could understand how some might feel anxious about traveling abroad for two weeks with people they don’t know but said her experience was quite pleasant. “Some people may be a little intimidated [by the strangers],” Yaeger said, “but everyone is there for essentially the same reasons and everyone’s in this big adventure together.”

Members of the UIS Tour China trip visited the Terra Cotta soldiers in Xian, China. "Seeing the Terra Cotta soldiers is a profound experience - all of them are handmade and all the faces are different," Robertson said.

“It’s a trip of a lifetime,” Yaeger said. “And even if you’ve been to a place before, things are always changing. You could go over and over again and never see the same thing twice.”
Dixon said that while the trip is open to everyone, applications from UIS students will be considered first. Dixon also said that students can participate in the Global Studies Experience for school credit, but should consult with their particular academic programs for more information. Students wishing to receive four hours of GSE credit, however, may work directly with Dixon.
Dixon said there is presently no concrete deadline to sign up for the trip but that any potential participants will have to submit half of the total cost for the trip by March 14. “I would also encourage students to contact financial assistance to see if there’s any help available from them,” Dixon said.
Dixon added that any individual presently considering the Tour China trip should immediately look into obtaining a passport.
Anyone interested in receiving more information or application materials should contact Dixon at 206-7302. Students interested in any of the other study abroad trips organized by the Office of International Affairs should contact that office at 206-6678.

Police Beat

Compiled By Tom Cronin

Feb. 9, 8:28 p.m. – Officers located a vehicle near Brookens that the Springfield Fire Department was looking for on campus.
Feb. 9, 10:34 p.m. – A theft report was taken in reference to some clothing that had been taken from the Larkspur Court laundry room.
Feb. 14, 6:57 a.m. – After receiving a call from a building services worker, an officer was dispatched to University Hall to investigate an individual believed to be sleeping on the floor in one of the rooms. The individual had left prior to the officer’s arrival. A search was conducted, but the person was not located.
Feb. 14, 6:57 a.m. – An accident report was taken for a possible hit-and-run accident that occurred in Lot A.
Feb. 15, 11:05 p.m. – After receiving a request to investigate a loud party from the resident assistant on duty for east campus housing, officers were dispatched to Larkspur Court. The officers discovered numerous minors consuming alcohol at the party. They were cited and released.
Feb. 15, 11:05 p.m. – While investigating a loud party in Larkspur Court, officers discovered one individual with a warrant from Macoupin County. The subject was arrested and transported to Sangamon County Jail.
Feb. 16, 12:57 a.m. – A smell of marijuana was reported in Lincoln Residence Hall. An officer was dispatched, but could not locate the source of the odor.
Feb. 17, 10:25 p.m. – Dispatch received a call reporting that someone had spilled chemicals on himself or herself in the Health and Sciences Building. The subject had called a relative, but the connection was lost. The relative requested that UIS Police locate the subject. The subject was located later and was not injured.
Feb. 18, 7:23 a.m. – A property damage report was taken after a Clover Court resident called to report car tires that had been slashed.
Feb. 18, 2:52 p.m. – A report of aggravated battery was taken regarding an incident that happened in the food service area.
Feb. 19, 3:14 p.m. – Officers were called to a Bluebell Court apartment for a domestic dispute. The suspect had left the area.

UIS Celebrates Black History Month

CAPE Award Ceremony Approaching

UIS Global Experience Seminar set to explore China

Police Beat