Student remembered by friends, advisor

By Heather Shaffer - Editor in Chief

Those who knew Srikanth C. Atluri, the UIS student who died after an apparent suicide on Feb. 24, described him as an outgoing person who was largely involved in the campus community.
Jonathan GoldbergBelle, director of international affairs at UIS, knew Atluri and said he attended many social gatherings on campus and was usually surrounded by a group of people.  “It seemed that he had a wide circle of friends,” GoldbergBelle said.
UIS student Sandeep Pamireddy also knew Atluri and described him as an outgoing person with a humorous personality.  “He often initiated jokes when he was in a group of people,” he said.
Amit Veloor, UIS student who serves as the graduate assistant for international affairs, met Atluri at orientation in spring 2005 and became good friends with him.  He described Atluri as a friendly person.  “He used to call of his friends by the name ‘friendship.’”
Atluri was also involved in many sporting activities on campus.  He participated in cricket, badminton and sand volleyball during his time at UIS.
GoldbergBelle said he interacted the most with Atluri at a cricket tournament on campus last spring.  “He had a unique style of bowling.  He was a spin bowler while most of the others are speed bowlers,” he said.
According to Pamireddy, Atluri was on a team that made it to the final round of that cricket tournament.
Also, The Journal reported on Nov. 16, 2005 that Atluri defeated Ravi Kandukuri in the Championship Match of the Intramural Men's Badminton Singles League. Atluri finished with a record of 4-1, with his only defeat coming from a forfeited match to Kandukuri in the semi-final round.
Atluri was also involved with the Indian Student Organization on campus, though not in an executive capacity.
According to GoldbergBelle, Atluri participated in a couple dances at the International Festival at UIS this fall.  He was one of the dancers in the Punjabi Bangra dance, which was put together at the last minute, according to GoldbergBelle. 
He said that at the first practice he was doubtful that the group would be able to have the dance ready in time for the festival, but the group was very enthusiastic and did come together and pull it off.  “I think Srikanth was very much a part of the reason for them pulling it off,” he said.
Friends also described Atluri as an organizer.  According to UIS student Shravan Avula, Atluri helped obtain a copy of a popular Telugu language movie that played in Brookens Auditorium last semester.
Atluri’s friends and acquaintances gathered for a memorial service held in his honor Thursday.  According to GoldbergBelle, this ceremony was an important opportunity for the public to come together to grieve as well as celebrate Atluri’s life. 
“A ceremony like this brings a certain amount of closure to the mourning process,” he said.
The Indian student population was most affected by Atluri’s death, according to GoldbergBelle, because they are a close-knit group.  Several students within that population are actually from the same hometown as Atluri, he said.
During the memorial, members of the Indian Student Organization at UIS put together a slide show of pictures of Atluri to share with the campus community.
Atluri, 23, was a part-time graduate student majoring in computer science at UIS at the time of his death.  He came to the United States in December 2005 from Hyderabad, India, to attend Oklahoma City University. He then transferred to UIS in January 2005.
GoldbergBelle said it could be weeks or months before the students most affected by this tragedy have closure.  “It is difficult to get a sense of the impact on the campus community right now,” he said.

International Women's Day

By Janee Mitchell - Feature Writer

From the Greek heroine Lysistrata initiating a sexual strike against men to end the Peloponnesian War to the Parisian women who marched on Versailles calling for “liberty, equality and fraternity” during the French Revolution to the many women today active in various leadership roles, women have always sought an equal voice in society.  International Women’s Day, celebrated today, is a 95-year old tradition of recognizing the achievements and advancements of women.
International Women’s Day was first celebrated in Austria, Denmark, Germany and a few other European countries on March 19, 1911.  German women selected this date because on that day in 1848, Prussian king Frederick William IV promised women the right to vote. 
In the next 95 years, IWD inspired men and women alike to become advocates for women’s rights and led to significant improvements in labor legislation, women’s suffrage and gender relations.  It seeks to inspire women on an international level to assume leadership roles in political, economic, social and cultural spheres. 
IWD has also been a driving force in providing support and motivation to women in developing and third world countries to empower themselves and become voices in their communities.  The United Nations has particularly strengthened IWD’s mission by organizing four global women’s conferences, which served as a way for women to network and rally together to demand women’s rights and increased political participation.  The UN’s involvement has since been concentrated specifically into promoting legal measures, mobilizing public opinion and international action, providing training and research for women and directly assisting disadvantaged groups.
In celebration of International Women’s Day, Dr. Zakia Salime, a prominent scholar on global perspectives on women, will be presenting “Feminization of Islamist Women and the Power of Women’s Rights tonight at 7 p.m. in Brookens Auditorium. 
Salime, an assistant professor of sociology at Michigan State University, is author of numerous publications focusing on the issues of women’s political participation, gender and global development policies and transnational feminism.
Salime, who holds two doctorates in sociology and a master’s degree in women and gender in international development from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, founded the Women’s Center in Fez, Morocco, and has taken part in several United Nations conferences.  She is currently writing a book on women’s Islamist and feminist movements in Morocco and how they have been shaped by neo-liberal policies and the war on terrorism. 
“We are very pleased to bring Dr. Salime to speak on such a timely topic,” said Lynn Otterson, director of the Women’s Center.  “In the past few years, people in our nation have been turning our attention to the world of the Islamic peoples. We seek to learn and understand. For many of us, an understanding of the roles and rights of women seems to be at the core of differing views. The Center for State Policy and Leadership and the Women's Center became very interested in Salime's work when we saw that she has been an activist as well as a researcher and scholar on how women in her native land of Morocco are using the religious (shari'a) law to frame and increase their civil and economic rights.”
The program, hosted by the Center for State Policy and Leadership and the Women’s Center and co-sponsored by the Office for the Vice-Chancellor of Student Affairs, is free and open to the public.  For more information, contact the Center for State Policy and Leadership at (217) 206-6576.

Women's Center and WIC offer two awards

By Janee Mitchell - Feature Writer

The Women’s Center and Women’s Issues Caucus are accepting nominations for two awards, the Ninth Annual Naomi B. Lynn Award and the Second Annual Women’s Issues Caucus Student Award.
According to the Women’s Center’s Web site, the Lynn award “recognizes an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to the environment for women” on the UIS campus.
Lynn Otterson, director of the Women’s Center at UIS, said the Lynn award is open to students and faculty. However, due to the level of achievement necessary for receiving the award, it is rarely given to a student. In fact, the only student to ever win the Lynn award was Veronica Espina, who is now a faculty member at UIS in Foreign Languages.
Otterson said this particular award really means something because of the people who win it.
Otterson said the award will be given out during an award ceremony in the Women’s Peace and Friendship Garden, which is located on the UIS campus near the police station, later this year.
In honor of the winner, a creative addition will be made to the garden in their name. Previous winners have been honored with wind chimes, birdhouses, trees and other interesting things that can all found in the garden. The winner will also receive a plaque.
The Lynn award is named after Naomi B. Lynn, a former chancellor of UIS, who will be presenting the award to this year’s winner.
Because the Lynn award is hard for students to get, the students wanted an award that would be comparable.
Nicole Evans, current president and communications director for the Women’s Issues Caucus, said the WIC Student Activism Award was started when former WIC President Candi Clouse came up with the idea. “When she brought it to the group it was agreed upon and created,” Evans said.
The student activism award is modeled after the Lynn award and meant to recognize students who have made positive contributions.
 “It is very important to limit the eligibility to students only because when you compare activism among students to activism among faculty or staff it is amazing to see students, in addition to their academic responsibilities, work so hard and dedicate so much time,” Said Evans. “They are undoubtedly deserving of this type of recognition and award.”
So far only one student, Clouse, has received the student activism award. She said the award is “great because it recognizes students who have dedicated their time and talents to gender issues on campus through activism, which is an integral part of what WIC stands for.”
Evans said the student activism award is open to all “UIS students, regardless of gender, who have made significant contributions in gender issues on campus through activism,” emphasizing that men are eligible as well.
The winner of the student activism award will be announced later in the semester and be honored at the garden award ceremony. They will receive $200 and a plaque.
The money for the award comes from the proceeds of the annual Vagina Monologues production and other fundraising activities.
Assistant Editor Stephanie Orr contributed to this story.

Students remembered by friends, advisor

International Women's Day

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