Carbondale Calendars and Events
Edwardsville Calendars and Events
East St. Louis Calendars and Events

The 50th Anniversary Alumni Art Exhibition, displaying 50 pieces of artwork from graduates of the SIUE Art and Design program, will run through Friday, Nov. 2, in the University Gallery on the second floor of SIUE’s Morris University Center.  More than 1,300 alumni residing within a 150-mile radius of the University were invited to submit up to two pieces each.  Jurors Dennis Ringering, Phillip Hampton and Dan Anderson — all emeritus faculty of the Department of Art and Design — chose the final 50 pieces of artwork from more than 300 submissions.  A color catalogue of the pieces in the exhibit will be available for purchase for $17.

NASA has tapped Saluki astronaut Joan Higginbotham to soar into orbit again next year aboard the space shuttle Endeavour in a flight aimed at delivering equipment to the International Space Station.  Higginbotham, who participated in a variety of this year's homecoming activities at SIUC, flew her first mission as an astronaut last year as one of seven crew members on the space shuttle Discovery during STS-116.  She served as a mission specialist on the December 2006 flight, operating the shuttle's robotic arm, overseeing experiments and coordinating cargo transfer to the space station.  She also deployed small satellites after the shuttle undocked with the space station.  A Chicago native, Higginbotham graduated from Whitney M. Young Magnet High School in 1982 and earned a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from SIUC in 1987.  She went to work for NASA immediately following graduation and later earned master's degrees in management and space systems from the Florida Institute of Technology, Melbourne.  NASA selected Higginbotham as an astronaut in 1996.

PREVIEW SIUE will be held twice this fall for prospective students and parents.  PREVIEW SIUE is an opportunity for prospective students and their families to see the beauty of the campus, visit with faculty and staff and obtain answers to questions in one visit to campus.  This year, SIUE will conduct its annual open house events on Columbus Day, Monday, Oct. 8, and Veterans Day, Monday, Nov. 12.  An additional day was organized because the number of PREVIEW participants has nearly doubled in the past six years.

SIUC invites every single high school senior in Southern Illinois to a reception and tailgate lunch beginning at 10 a.m. on Oct. 20.  The event ties in with Saluki Family Weekend.  The Southern Illinois High School Student Reception begins at the Hiram H. Lesar Law Building at 10 a.m. with a welcome to campus followed by several informal sessions of interest to local students, such as University Housing, campus ministries and scholarships.  The admissions office has a free Future Saluki tailgate lunch arranged for reception participants and their families following the program.  The SIUC Salukis face the Missouri State University Bears at 1:30 p.m.  Each participating prospective student may request up to three tickets for the football game.  The supply is limited - register early for a better chance at football tickets.  Students and their families can register online at admissions.siu.edu/sireception.htm by Friday, Oct. 5.  Pre-registration is required.

Forever Free: Abraham Lincoln’s Journey to Emancipation, a traveling exhibition that explores why the United States tolerated for so long a harsh labor system, will be on display Oct. 31-Nov. 30 at SIUE’s Lovejoy Library.  Organized by the Huntington Library, San Marino, Calif., and the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History of New York City, in cooperation with the American Library Association, the traveling exhibition is made possible through major grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial Commission, created by Congress and charged with planning the national celebration of Lincoln’s 200th birthday.

An executive from The Walt Disney Company will speak to the College of Business and Administration community at SIUC.  Dan Cockerell, general manager of merchandise operations at the Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World, will be the keynote speaker during the "College of Business Student Services Forum" on Thursday, Oct. 11, at 3:30 p.m. in the Student Center Auditorium.  A reception will immediately follow in the International Lounge.  The event is free and open to college students, faculty and staff.  Jointly sponsored by Disney and the SIUC College of Business and Administration "Student Experience Committee," the event will highlight the college's "student services" campaign.  SIUC College of Business and Administration (http://www.cba.siu.edu) is among the nation's most reputable business schools.  It is renowned for its student centered learning environment, which is driven by an innovative spirit and enhanced by world-class research.

Cynthia Schmidt, associate professor of family health/community health nursing in the SIUE School of Nursing, recently won awards for her scholarly research in pediatric nursing.  Schmidt was awarded an American Nurses Foundation Grant, making her a 2007 Midwest Nursing Research Grant Society Scholar.  Schmidt was also awarded the inaugural Annette and Henry Baich Research Award through the SIUE Graduate School.  The Baich honor is bestowed on a faculty member whose research proposal submitted for internal funding is judged the best of all proposals submitted for a given year.  These awards total more than $11,000.

Nationally known guest speakers, comedy, special exhibits, a candlelight vigil and more will mark Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender (GLBT) History Month at SIUC in October.  GLBT History Month, like the other cultural celebrations held at SIUC - Latino Heritage Month, Native American Heritage Month, Black History Month, Women's History Month and Asian American Heritage Month - is open to all and all activities are free.  Sponsors of the 2007 GLBT History Month are: GLBT Resource Center, Saluki Athletics, Saluki Rainbow Network, Triangle Coalition, Department of Cinema and Photography, Department of Sociology, Department of Speech Communication, Student Health Center-Wellness, Carbondale Unitarian Fellowship program committee, Women's Studies, Undergraduate Student Government, University Christian Ministries, University Housing, Office of Diversity and Equity, Latino Heritage Month Committee and Student Development- Multicultural Programs and Services.  For more information about GLBT History Month or any of the special activities, contact Paulette Curkin at (618)453-6804 or via e-mail at pcurkin@siu.edu or Carl Ervin at (618)453-5714 or by e-mail at cwervin@siu.edu.

MCN: The American Journal of Maternal Child Nursing named a collaborative work by Cynthia Schmidt and Laura Bernaix, both SIUE School of Nursing associate professors of family health/community health nursing, the MCN Paper of the Year in the research category.  Children’s Perceptions of Nurses and Nurse Behaviors, based on their research at Children’s Memorial Hospital in Chicago, was one of two works chosen by the publication for national awards — one for research and the other for practice. 

National Security Agency certification of a program within SIUC's School of Information Systems and Applied Technologies means program graduates now qualify for employment within secure federal government agencies.  The agency's Committee on National Security Standards, a group whose membership includes representatives of 21 federal government departments and agencies, recently accredited and certified the University's information security and networking system administration curriculum.  Students working toward a bachelor's degree in information systems technology can earn the specialized certificate by successfully completing a specific series, including 15 hours of elective courses in networks and security.  The NSA, FBI, the armed services and numerous other government agencies and contractors recognize the certification.  SIUC students have earned national recognition already in the science of cyber defense.  The University's Collegiate Cyber Defense Team won the Midwest Regional Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition in 2006 and placed fourth in the national contest.

Richard Yakimo, assistant professor of primary care/health systems nursing in the SIUE School of Nursing, recently was elected a Distinguished Practitioner in the National Academies of Practice in Nursing.  He will be presented the National Academies of Practice Medallion during a Nov. 3 banquet in Arlington, Va.

Linda Toth, professor of pharmacology and associate dean of research and faculty affairs at the SIU School of Medicine, has received the 2007 Charles River Laboratories' Excellence in Refinement Award.  The award was presented at the 6th World Congress on Alternatives and Animal Use in the Life Sciences in Tokyo in August.  Toth was chosen to receive this award for "a body of research that improves both the understanding and practice of refinement alternatives."  Refinement refers to methods aimed at minimizing pain and distress for laboratory animals.  Miao Chang, a doctoral candidate in medical microbiology, immunology and cell biology at the SIU School of Medicine, has been awarded the 2007 Elsevier New Investigator Award.  The award was presented at the 13th annual meeting of the International Federation of Placenta Associations in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, in August.  It is presented to a new researcher with the best oral presentation in pregnancy research.

Nicholas Till, of Springfield, a graduate student in the SIUE School of Nursing, is a Nurses Educational Funds Inc. (NEF) scholarship recipient.  The national organization advances the profession of nursing through the promotion of graduate education.  Till will receive a $2,000 scholarship, joining an elite group of 11 Master’s candidates from across the U.S. who also received the award.  Ann Popkess, an instructor in primary care/health systems nursing in the School, is recipient of a $4,000 national scholarship recognizing her academic achievements and leadership potential.  As one of 15 doctoral degree candidates across the country receiving this prestigious award, Popkess is a doctoral candidate at the Indiana University School of Nursing.  NEF has awarded more than $1.5 million to nurses who have gone on to become deans, directors, administrators and researchers in the nursing profession.

The 5-0 football Salukis take on Youngstown State at McAndrew Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 6.  The Homecoming contest begins at 2:30 p.m.  The 5-0 Salukis are ranked No. 6 in the latest coach poll and No. 7 in the latest Sports Network Poll.  The Dawgs' next game is at Northern Iowa on Oct. 13.  Kick off is at 4:05 p.m.  The Salukis return to McAndrew Stadium on Oct 20, for a 1:30 p.m. Family Weekend contest with Missouri State.  Call the Saluki Ticket Office at (618)453-2000 for ticket information.

Tyron Woodley has been named the assistant coach for the SIUE wrestling program.  Woodley comes to SIUE from Missouri, where he spent the last two seasons on the Tigers’ staff.  SIUE will be competing in its final year of NCAA Division II wrestling this season and will begin a Division I schedule during the 2008-2009 season.

SIUE midfielder Correen Roark (Hazelwood, Mo.) is the Great Lakes Valley Conference Women’s Soccer Player of the Week.  The sophomore led the Cougars to league road wins over No. 7-ranked Northern Kentucky and Bellarmine.  SIUE has a GLVC-leading four-game winning streak and holds an overall record of 7-3-1.