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

It's the finale of the finals.  The Saluki Finals Finish wraps up the semester in style at the SIUC's Student Recreation Center Dec. 9-11.  The ninth annual event, a free affair, gives students a chance to prepare body and mind for final exams in a variety of ways from 6 p.m. until midnight each day.  Students can study for finals, enjoy free food and beverages, take time out to relax and de-stress a bit, socialize, work out and more.  SIUC faculty and staff volunteers will serve refreshments.  Featured foods include sub sandwiches on Sunday, pizza on Monday and tacos and burritos Tuesday.  Some faculty will offer study sessions for their classes during Saluki Finals Finish.  The recreation center's facilities will be open for use all three evenings too.  The popular event typically draws several thousand students looking for the chance to relax and have down time during finals week.

A cooperative agreement offering a doctoral program in engineering science through the SIUE School of Engineering and the College of Engineering at SIU Carbondale will begin during spring semester.  For more information about the cooperative program, contact Oktay Alkin, (618) 650-2541, or e-mail: oalkin@siue.edu.  Details of the program, including application materials and instructions, also are available through the Web: http://www.siue.edu/engineering/phd/index.shtml.

Fall commencement ceremonies for SIUC are set for 9:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 15, at the SIU Arena.  There are 2,088 candidates for degrees, including: 1,750 candidates for undergraduate degrees, six candidates for law degrees, 288 candidates for master's degrees and 44 doctoral candidates.  The morning ceremony includes the following colleges: Agricultural Sciences, Applied Sciences and Arts, Business and Administration, Education and Human Services and Engineering.  The afternoon ceremony includes the Graduate School, the School of Law and the colleges of Liberal Arts, Mass Communication and Media Arts, and Science.  Chancellor Fernando M. Treviño will preside over both ceremonies.  Tim Southey, president of the Agriculture Alumni Board of Governors and an SIU Alumni Association life member, will speak during the morning ceremony.  Doris Rottschalk, president of the SIU Alumni Association and also a life member, will speak at the afternoon ceremony.  The ceremonies are free and open to the public and tickets are not required.

For the second year, the Enterprise Rent-A-Car Foundation is funding an incentive program for the SIUE School of Business, recognizing students who are active in one of the School’s 16 student organizations.  The Enterprise Rent-A-Car Student Award will acknowledge and honor the work and dedication of student participants in these student organizations.  Through a competitive selection process, the Student Organization Award, which includes a $2,000 stipend for first place, will be awarded to the outstanding student organization for the year.  In addition, each month, the Student Organization Leader of the Month Award will be presented to an outstanding student within one of the School’s student organizations.  They will be recognized with a $50 stipend and certificate.

It has been 46 years since John Jacques Lambert began attending classes at SIUC.  But the Belgian native has never forgotten the opportunities SIUC created for him.  And now he and his wife, Elsa, want to return the favor.  John, a native of Belgium and a 1963 MBA graduate, and Elsa, from Argentina, both have thrived in the land of opportunity.  John J. is director of international operations for Chicago Blower Corp. Elsa has made her mark as president of American-Levant Inc.  The Wayne residents have been married for 38 years.  And John said it all started for him at SIUC.  The Lamberts are making a seven-figure monetary commitment that will range anywhere from $1 million to $1.5 million for scholarships.  Recipients must hail from Southern Illinois and can major in any field of study.

Thanks to the generosity of AT&T Inc., students in the SIUE School of Nursing’s Student Nurse Achievement Program (SNAP) will have brand new laptops this spring semester.  The organization gave the School $13,500 to purchase the laptops, which will be given to students who have been identified to take part in SNAP.  Representatives from AT&T recently held a news conference on campus to honor the School of Nursing, as well as the Madison County Arts Council, which received a $6,000 grant for technological advancements to enhance its office management.

The fall 2008 semester at SIUC will see the first recipients of a new scholarship in the School of Art and Design - the Art History Endowment Scholarship.  To earn one, of course, prospective art historians must first apply - application deadline is Feb. 1, 2008.  The scholarship is one more step in using a 2005 private donation of $781,000 to promote art history, as the anonymous donor intended.  Scholarships are valued at up to $7,000 over a four-year period.  Undergraduates may earn a bachelor's degree in art specializing in art history.  Graduate students may earn a graduate certificate.  Art historians find careers in such obvious places as museums and universities, as well as less obvious careers as artist representatives, appraisers, antique and art dealers and specialists in art law.  For all the details about how to apply for this scholarship, see http://fao.siu.edu/scholarships/sch_search.php .  It is open for incoming freshmen and transfer students.

A delegation from Henan University of Science and Technology — located in Luoyang, Henan Province, the People’s Republic of China — has signed a preliminary agreement with the SIUE School of Engineering to explore cooperation in the areas of joint research, faculty exchange and student exchange.  The delegation was on campus recently to meet with Professor Keqin Gu, chair of the SIUE Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Engineering Dean Hasan Sevim and SIUE Provost Paul Ferguson.  Henan’s President Wang Jianji also met with SIUE Chancellor Vaughn Vandegrift to sign a preliminary memorandum of understanding (MOU).

A faculty member at the SIU School of Medicine in Springfield has been awarded a two-year federal grant from National Cancer Institute.  The grant is for the study of how a normal protein called Aldose reductase-like-1 (ARL-1) interferes with the successful treatment of liver cancer.  The project has a total budget of $317,900.  Hepatocellular carcinoma is a rapidly increasing type of human cancer and is ranked as the eighth leading cause of cancer death in the United States.  It is widely resistant to drugs used in chemotherapy.  The research will determine how ARL-1 allows cancer to resist chemotherapy.  The principal investigator for the project is Dr. Deliang Cao, assistant professor of medical microbiology, immunology and cell biology and member of the SimmonsCooper Cancer Institute at SIU.  Cao's research, which previously has been funded by the American Cancer Society, now totals $1 million.  His research focuses on the role of ARL-1 in the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of liver and colon cancer.

A campus group is making it simple to honor or remember a special person this Holiday season.  For a minimum of $5, SIUE’s Religious Center is offering a lighted bulb to honor a special person on its seasonal tree, as part of its annual holiday tree campaign.  Launched during the 2004 holiday season, the campaign is a way for the Religious Center to raise money to keep offering its programs and services to students at no charge.  The Religious Center is open from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday.  Donations may be made during a visit to the domed center adjacent to visitors’ Parking Lot B, or mailed to the University Religious Center, SIUE, Edwardsville, IL 62026-1059.  Contribution forms may be printed from the Religious Center Web site, http://www.siue.edu/religion/.  For more information, contact the Center, (618) 650-3246.

SIU, in conjunction with Kaskaskia College, has opened another SIU System Service Center aimed at helping students achieve their higher education goals.  The center, operating on the KC campus in Centralia, will better integrate and expand education opportunities for area students by streamlining cooperation between the college and the SIU system.  The KC site is the seventh and final site planned for various local colleges in Southern Illinois.  Earlier this year, officials opened service centers at Shawnee Community College in Ullin, Rend Lake College in Ina, Olney Central College, Southeastern Illinois College near Harrisburg, John A. Logan College in Carterville and Southwestern Illinois College's Red Bud campus.  The new centers represent an innovative partnership between the University and area colleges that will help students pursue their goals in several ways, said SIU President Glenn Poshard.

The No. 3 will no longer be in service for SIUE Women’s Basketball.  Misi Clark (Paris) had her jersey retired at a recent halftime ceremony.  Clark, the all-time leading scorer at SIUE, was a three-time All-American and led the Cougars to three NCAA Tournament appearances.

The Southern Illinois Children's Choir presents its annual holiday concert, "Child of Light," beginning at 3 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 8, at SIUC's Shryock Auditorium.  The children's choir is made up of four ensembles, all of which will perform at this concert with a total of about 55 children singing.  The program includes traditional Christmas carols and holiday songs as well as selections from Handel, Holst, Beethoven, Purcell and others.  A special feature is guest soloist SIUC School of Music graduate student Ricardo King performing with the choirs on "True Light," a song based on the popular children's song, "This Little Light of Mine."  Tickets are $5 for general admission, $3 for students.  Tickets are available at the SIUC Student Center Ticket Office and, on the day of the concert, they are also available at the door.  A reception follows the concert.  The Southern Illinois Children's Choir is organized under the SIUC School of Music's community and preparatory program.  It is supported in part by SIUC School of Music, Carbondale Community Arts and a grant from the Illinois Arts Council.

Elizabeth Valenti (Overland Park, Kan.) and Kelly Limpert (St. Charles, Mo.), both key members of SIUE’s run to the NCAA Division II Women’s Soccer Championships, have been honored as All-Americans by Daktronics.  The duo helped SIUE to a 13-5-1 record this season, including a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Division II Tournament’s Great Lakes Regional.  Valenti was named to the third team, while Limpert was selected to the honorable mention team.

The Saluki football team will face the Blue Hens of the University of Delaware at 3 p.m. Saturday for the right to advance to the national championship game, which will take place in Chattanooga on Dec. 15.  Kick off is at 3 p.m. at McAndrew Stadium.  Tickets are on sale at the SIU Ticket Office.  For information, call (618)453-2000.  The Dawgs advanced to the semi-final game after defeating UMass, 34-27, on Dec. 1.

SIUE Men’s Soccer players Zach Bauer (St. Charles, Mo.), Greg Crook (Columbia), and Randy Roy (St. Louis) have been selected All-American by Daktronics.  The trio of players helped the Cougars to an 11-4-3 record, including a No. 20 NCAA Division II NSCAA/Adidas national ranking.  Bauer was named to the third team, while Crook and Roy were selected to the honorable mention team.