U.N. Club at UIS receives global award

The University of Illinois Springfield Model United Nations Club received one of the Model U.N.'s highest global awards recently in New York City.

The UIS delegation was one of 17 to win an Outstanding Delegation Award at the 2010 conference, which ended April 3. More than 400 international colleges and universities competed at the event.

Model United Nationals is a conference that simulates a U.N. meeting.

"We've been participating for over 25 years in the National Model U.N. Conference, and this is the top award we've got so far," said Driss Elakrich, head delegate.

The award was featured in a April 15, 2010, article in the State Journal-Register.

Download a PDF of the article:
20100415-SJR-UN-Club-at-UIS2.pdf

UIS students overcome obstacles to take top honors

Life is finally returning to normal for Alfred Komolafe, a Nigerian-American UIS student forced to miss the opportunity of a lifetime, representing his school at the National Model U.N. in New York. He was not allowed to board the plane at the airport after being informed his name was on the federal no fly list.

Komolafe worried his absence would impact the team's performance, so before they left him at the airport he handed over a binder filled with all the research he'd prepared.

Despite a lot of long days and sleepless nights trying to learn the new material, the team won top honors. The team was awarded the Outstanding Delegation Award for their efforts.

The Model U.N. team was featured in a April 13, 2010, report by WICS-TV.

Watch the story on News Channel 20's website

Nigerian-American UIS Student Denied Boarding by AA

A UIS student was set to represent his college and his country in the National Model U.N. in New York, but instead he was forced to return home alone after being denied boarding at the airport.

Alfred Komolafe, a political science major was questioned by police and the FBI after trying to board an American Airlines flight this weekend.

The university had purchased tickets for Komolafe and 15 other students months ago, with no indication of any problems until the group arrived at Lambert International in St. Louis.

Komolafe was interviewed by WICS-TV 20 for a report on March 30, 2010.

Watch the story on News Channel 20's website

Illinois student not allowed to board plane at Lambert

A college student told News 4 he was not allowed to board a plane at Lambert International Airport. He said later he was investigated by the F.B.I.

Federal agents refuse to say why they questioned the man over the weekend. The student said he believes he was a victim of discrimination.

Alfred Komolafe spent months preparing for his trip to New York. He was planning to participate in the Mock United Nations delegation with 15 classmates from the University of Illinois-Springfield, but when he tried to get his boarding pass, he was detained.

Komolafe was interviewed by KMOV-TV St. Louis in a report that aired on March 30, 2010.

Watch the story on KMOV's website

Local residents trying to reach relatives in Chile

Veronica Espina, a professor at UIS who grew up in Chile, also has ties to Santiago.

“I would say 90 percent of my family lives in Santiago. If it wasn’t for Facebook, I would be panicking,” Espina said. “I’ve heard from sisters, cousins and aunties, my family is well.”

Espina also has a few family members in Concepcion.

“I was really worried about them, but then I remembered that in February, people leave the city to vacation. They were someplace else, so they are OK,” Espina said.

Espina was featured in a March 2, 2010, article in the State Journal-Register.

Download a PDF of the article:
20100302-Central-Illinoisans-Chile.pdf

UIS Hopes to Gain International Appeal

In an effort to increase enrollment from students overseas UIS is hosting a group of EducationUSA advisers who come from 5 different countries around the globe.

"By brining international students here they connect with our students, they're involved in our courses, they're helping to internationalize the curriculum," said Dana Atwell, UIS ESL Coordinator in the Office of International Programs.

The international visitors were featured in an November 2, 2009 report by Heather Hubbs of WICS-TV 20 Springfield.

Watch the report online:
http://www.wics.com/newsroom/top_stories/videos/wics_vid_839.shtml