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

SIUC will continue its commitment to the environment during the next 10 weeks as it once again participates in RecycleMania, an annual competition among colleges and universities nationwide to reduce waste and preserve resources.  Andilee Warner, recycling and solid waste coordinator at SIUC, said she was proud but not satisfied with the campus' first entry in the competition last year.  During that competition, SIUC collected the most overall tonnage among Illinois colleges and the University came in second in the Per Capita Classic, which is based on how much recycled material a campus collects in relation to the number of people on campus.  This year's competitors include Augustana College, Lake Forest College, Millikin University, Monmouth College, Saint Xavier University, Eastern Illinois University, Illinois State University and Western Illinois University, among others.  SIUC's recycling program dates back to 1977, but the current program is the result of the Illinois Solid Waste Management Act of 1990, which mandated all state universities develop a recycling plan by 1995.

Jake M. Rose, associate professor of accounting at in SIUC's College of Business and Administration, along with Stewart Leech, professor of accounting at University of Melbourne, have been awarded an Australian Research Council grant, valued at $384,000 over three years, to develop a highly sophisticated expert system for accounting practitioners.  An expert system is a computer system that allows novices to make decisions and judgments like experts.  The grant will make it possible to develop a system that trains novice accounting practitioners to quickly develop expert-like knowledge.  The research will benefit a wide range of professionals including auditors, lawyers, securities analysts and engineers.  Rose is the winner of the 2007 College of Business and Administration Research Excellence Award.

SIUC's annual observance of Black History Month is under way.  This year's event schedule includes a visit from Nobel Literature Laureate and playwright Wole Soyinka, this year's keynote speaker.  Soyinka's address takes place from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 28, in the SIUC Student Center, Ballroom B.  The month-long series of activities follows the theme, "The Origins of Multiculturalism," honoring the "Father of Black History," Carter G. Woodson.  Pamela A. Smoot, assistant professor of Black American Studies, organized the kick-off reception, held Feb. 1.  "There were about two and a half times as many people there as last year," she said, noting that the diversity of the crowd was especially encouraging.  All events are free and open to the public, except where noted.  For more information, contact SIUC's Black American Studies program at (618)453-7147.

A physician at the SIU School of Medicine has been awarded four national grants totaling $578,362.  Dr. Michael R. Pranzatelli, professor of neurology and pediatrics and chief of child neurology, is the principal investigator for all four projects involving pediatric opsoclonus-myoclonus syndrome (OMS).  OMS causes a sudden inability in a child's capacity to talk, sit or walk.  The disease is triggered by a childhood brain tumor called neuroblastoma.  The SIU studies may develop new therapies for OMS in children.  A three-year grant has been awarded by the Thrasher Research Fund to study cytokines as biomarkers and therapeutic targets in paraneoplastic OMS.  The total budget of the grant is $279,836.  A one-year grant has been awarded by Questcor Pharmaceuticals, Inc. to analyze the immunological response to adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH), a drug used in treating OMS.  The total budget for the grant is $144,386.  Another one-year grant has been awarded by Genentech/Biogen IDEC to study how the drug, rituximab, alters inflammation in pediatric OMS.  The total budget for the grant is $99,740.  A third one-year grant has been awarded by the Chicago Institute of Neurosurgery and Neuroresearch Foundation to study lymphocyte cytokine receptors in OMS.  The total budget of the grant is $54,400.

An all-majors job fair at SIUC on Wednesday, Feb. 20, will give students, alumni and interested community members a first-hand look at job opportunities both locally and around the country.  The event, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Student Center Ballrooms, will feature representatives from many potential employers.  The job fair typically draws 75 to 100 employers.  Internships and permanent employment possibilities will be available.  Registration is not necessary and admission is free.  Job seekers should bring multiple copies of their resumes and any other pertinent credentials, and should dress professionally and appropriately.  Students are welcome to attend a resume BLITZ in the north end of the Student Center from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Monday, Feb. 11, Tuesday, Feb. 12, and Wednesday, Feb. 13, if they are in need of a resume critique.  A list of job fair participants, which is updated daily as employers register, is available at http://www.siu.edu/~ucs/events/fairschedule.htm.

Saluki fans have a chance to vote for one of their own.  Parker Somerville, a May 2007 graduate of SIUC's renowned Department of Radio-Television, is one of 16 houseguests on CBS' reality show, "Big Brother 9," which premieres at 8 p.m., Tuesday, Feb. 12.  To help kick off Somerville's quest to be the last remaining houseguest and capture a $500,000 grand prize, the College of Mass Communication and Media Arts is holding a special viewing party in Kellogg Hall.  The viewing party begins at 8 p.m. Feb. 12 in the residence hall's viewing lounge.  The show's premise is a group of strangers live together in a house where cameras and microphones record their every movement 24 hours a day, seven days a week.  Somerville, who is from Springfield, moved to Los Angeles shortly after he graduated and is a member of the paparazzi for the celebrity news and gossip Web site, TMZ, while working to enter the television field.  Somerville was a hard-working student active with both WSIU-TV and the River Region Evening Edition.  He also participated in an internship in C-SPAN in Washington, D.C., in summer 2006.  He was also very involved in the National Association for Black Journalists on campus.

The composers are French but the language is music at the February Chamber Music Society performance, "Soirée Française."  The chamber music group, composed of Southern Illinois University Carbondale School of Music faculty supported by a strong core of community music lovers, presents a "Quartet for Clarinet, Violin, Cello and Piano" by Canat de Chizy and a "Trio for Piano, Violin and Cello" by Ravel beginning at 3 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 10.  The performance is at the group's usual stomping ground, the Carbondale Unitarian Fellowship at 105 N. Parrish Lane.  This performance features Junghwa Lee on piano supported by Eric Mandat on clarinet, Michael Barta on violin and Eric Lenz on cello.  The group formed to help raise both awareness and scholarship money for the SIUC School of Music.

Nathan A. Babian, a sophomore in SIUC's radio-television program, was part of a production team that captured an Emmy last month at the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Mid-South Regional Chapter Emmy Awards in Nashville.  Babian earned an Emmy for his work on a show in connection with the St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital Dream Home Giveaway.  Working with Universal Productions of Southaven, Miss., Babian, 19, said he was co-editor and did audio for the field shoots.  There were two versions of the award-winning show, which captured the Emmy in the "Special Event/Edited" category.  The television shows - a one-hour show and a half-hour show - included interviews with builders and companies that donated supplies for the home, along with interviews and information about the hospital.

Even a tornado couldn't stop Randal Falker and Bryan Mullins.  While storms raged outside the SIU Arena, the Saluki duo calmed its fans' fears with stellar performances, lifting the Salukis to an 80-69 win over a pesky Indiana State team on Feb 5.  Falker played his best game of the season, making 8-of-10 shots from the field to finish with 20 points and 15 rebounds.  Mullins was lethal from the outside, converting 4-of-5 shots from 3-point range and posting 22 points.  Play was halted with 7:39 remaining in the first half when tornado sirens blared throughout Carbondale.  The crowd of 4,311 was told to move to the lower level of the arena as a precaution.  Play resumed after a 25-minute delay.  Next up for the Salukis is a road game against Creighton on Sunday Feb. 10.  Game time is 6 p.m.  The Dawgs return home Wednesday, Feb. 13 for a game with Drake.  Tip off is 7:05 p.m.