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SIUC's spring commencement exercises are set for Friday and Saturday, May 9-10.  There are 2,919 candidates for bachelor's degrees, 527 candidates for master's degrees, 87 doctoral degree candidates, 101 law degree candidates, and 23 candidates for associate degrees.  SIUC's graduation ceremonies are open the public, and tickets are not required.  Hedayat Amin-Arsala, an SIUC alumnus and a senior minister of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, will receive an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters during commencement ceremonies for the College of Liberal Arts.  Former SIUC professor David L. Briscoe will receive the SIUC Distinguished Service Award for his work as a scholar and with the community during graduate school commencement ceremonies.  Commencement speakers include a vice president of landscape operations for Green View Companies landscaping; president and CEO of Silicon Laboratories; the former CEO and co-founder of Carbon Nanotechnologies, Inc.; the associate dean for academics in SIUC's College of Education and Human Services; a sports director and long-time voice of the Salukis; and a senior vice president for human resources for Motorola, Inc.  Two other individuals will receive honorary degrees at a future commencement ceremony.  Humanitarian Eunice Kennedy Shriver, long a champion of those with intellectual disabilities and the driving force behind the creation of Special Olympics, will receive an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters.  Academy Award-winning and internationally acclaimed film editor and sound designer Walter Murch will receive an Honorary Degree of Fine Arts.

Lindsey Nixon, a graduate student in the SIUE School of Education, recently was named the 2008 Outstanding Graduate Student Staff Member by the American College Personnel Association's (ACPA) Commission for Housing and Residential Life.  Nixon has had several successes in her role of assistant community director for Family Housing at SIUE.  The FRC was established to offer support to students with families and the families that live in the University's Cougar Village.  The center offers programs for married couples and parents, as well as their children.  Programs are academic, social, creative and educational in nature.

SIUC has launched a new Web-based communications tool aimed at keeping SIUC students, faculty, staff, alumni and supporters informed of the many achievements and positive developments on campus.  The new Web site replaces the weekly Southern Spotlight electronic newsletter with a more sophisticated presentation and wider focus, University officials said.  It also will aim for both on- and off-campus audiences in a bid to fill the need for more SIUC information by both groups.  To access the new Web site, go to http://news.siu.edu/, or go to the SIUC home page, http://www.siuc.edu/ and click on the icon.  The new publication, which will continue temporarily publishing under the Spotlight moniker, will repackage and deliver University Communications' product on the Web.  It will be updated daily.

An “ability to facilitate discussions” among students and his patience in answering students’ questions are some of the reasons Brian Harward, assistant professor of political science at SIUE, recently won the 2008 Teaching Excellence Award.  It is the most prestigious teaching award a faculty member can receive at SIUE.  Harward received a $2,000 prize as part of the recognition determined by the Teaching Excellence Award Committee, which consists of faculty and students.  The committee also awarded Teaching Distinction Awards to two other faculty members: Jack Glassman, an assistant professor of physics, and Steve Brant, an instructor in the Department of Accounting.  They each won $500.  In addition, three other faculty members were given $250 Teaching Recognition Awards — Amelia Siatkowski, an instructor in the School of Nursing; Wendy Cook Mucci, an instructor in the Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice Studies; and Riza Demirer, an assistant professor of economics and finance.  All winners will be recognized at SIUE’s May 10 commencement ceremonies.

An SIUC senior majoring in animal science and zoology has taken second place in an international contest aimed at fostering young scientists.  Jamie M. Douglas of Cottage Hills will receive $1,000 from Alltech, a global corporation specializing in animal and human nutrition, for her paper on the ill effects of fescue poisoning on beef cattle reproduction.  The competition drew more than 700 students from some 80 universities around the world.  Judges considered clarity, validity, originality, scientific thought and understanding, significance and thoroughness in selecting the winners.  Douglas' paper grew out of her experience as an undergraduate research assistant for SIUC animal scientist Karen L. Jones.  Jones has spent much of her career at SIUC studying the effects of a fungus, common in fescue pastures, on the reproductive health of both cows and bulls.

Environmental risk factors, prevention measures and early intervention are the topics of a conference on Alzheimer's disease and related disorders.  It will be offered 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesday, May 13, for health care professionals as well as family caregivers.  A series of presentations will be held at the Crowne Plaza Hotel and Conference Center, 3000 S. Dirksen Parkway in Springfield.  The conference is sponsored by the Center for Alzheimer Disease and Related Disorders at the SIU School of Medicine, one of three state-supported centers in Illinois.  Ron Zec, associate professor of neurology and psychiatry, and Tom Ala, associate professor of neurology and interim director of SIU's Center for Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders, are the course co-directors and presenters.  They will be joined by four guest presenters.  Registration can be done online at www.siumed.edu/cme.  For information, call (217)545-7181 weekdays.

Grammy Award-nominated trumpeter Russell Gunn will be the guest artist at a jazz festival honoring the music of renowned trumpeter Miles Davis — a graduate of Lincoln High School in East St. Louis — at 5 p.m. Saturday, May 3, in Meridian Ballroom, on the first floor of SIUE’s Morris University Center.  At 10 a.m. that day, local high school bands will take part in jazz clinics conducted by noted saxophonist and clinician Ron Carter as well as trumpeter and educator Anthony Wiggins, who also came out of the Lincoln High music program where Carter was director.  Wiggins and Gunn, who also graduated from Lincoln, are cousins.  Gunn also will conduct a clinic at 1 p.m.  The SIUE Jazz Studies program, in the Department of Music, is conducting the festival that will feature performances by SIUE Jazz faculty and the SIUE Concert Jazz Band.

They may look like the offspring of a tent and a Quonset hut, but SIUC's new dairy barns save money, make money and expand both research and teaching opportunities for the College of Agricultural Sciences.  Erected last December at the dairy on McLafferty Road, the two buildings replaced old-style stall housing, a small research barn and a feed shelter, all dating from the '60s and '70s.  Made of translucent, heat-blocking fabric stretched over steel frames, the new barns went up in no time at all.  The fabric will cut summer cooling costs, blocking the sun's penetrating rays and allowing excess heat to escape.  Even more important, it lets in a lot of light.  The barns offer a variety of learning experiences for students enrolled in animal sciences courses and a new veterinary technician program and especially for the student laborers who keep the dairy running day to day.

When they say Touch of Nature Environmental Center's Wild Outdoor Week is W.O.W., they really and truly mean it's a week of wows.  It's an action-packed adventure camp July 21-25 for youth entering grades six through nine at SIUC 3,100-acre site.  Located along the shores of Little Grassy Lake, the camp is the perfect locale for the center's Underway Adventures Program experience, emphasizing learning and personal growth through outdoor adventure.  W.O.W. is rock climbing, canoeing, caving, hiking, teambuilding, the ever-popular high ropes course and swimming galore.  The Illinois Caverns, Panthers Den, Giant City State Park and Touch of Nature provide spectacular venues for all the action.  Just 20 youths can participate, with registration on a first-come, first-served basis.  Registration closes May 30 or when the camp is full.  For more information or registration, contact Travis Geske, outdoor program leader, at (618)453-1122, ext. 238 or by e-mail at travisg@siu.edu or look online at www.ton.siu.edu.

SIUE Assistant Professor of Primary Care/Health Systems Nursing Rick Yakimo is recipient of the International Society of Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurses (ISPN) Research Award.  Yakimo has been a member of the SIUE faculty for three years.  According to the society's Web site, "ISPN awards provide an opportunity for the association to formally recognize some of the many outstanding contributions of psychiatric mental health nurses throughout the world.”  Yakimo is a member of the ISPN, the American Nurses Association, and the Hospice and Palliative Care Nurses Association.  In addition to his most recent award, Yakimo was elected a distinguished practitioner in the National Academies of Practice last fall.

A rare and special book is now part of the collection at SIUC's Morris Library.  John LaPine, SIUC alumnus and owner of Printers Row Fine and Rare Books in Chicago, presented to the library a first-edition printing of the first book of verse published by a black poet.  Phillis Wheatley's "Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral" appeared in print in 1773.  LaPine describes the volume as a "landmark" in world literature and in black history.  Phillis Wheatley was born in the Senegal-Gambia area of Africa and came to Boston in 1761 as a slave at the age of seven.  Serving as an attendant for the wife of prominent tailor John Wheatley, Phillis reportedly possessed extraordinary language skills.  She penned her first poem at the age of 13 and a Newport, R.I., newspaper first published her writing in 1767.  However, no Boston printer would publish her poetry so, with the assistance of the Wheatleys, she contacted a London printer, resulting in this book's publication in 1773.  LaPine has collected books since the age of eight and been proprietor of Printer's Row Fine and Rare Books since 2003.  He earned bachelor's degrees in political science and in German at SIUC in 1988. 

Former SIUC quarterback Nick Hill and offensive tackle Darren Marquez have signed free agent contracts with NFL teams.  Hill agreed to terms with the Chicago Bears and Marquez signed with the Indianapolis Colts.  Both signed three-year contracts with their respective organizations.  A native of Du Quoin, the 6-2, 214-pound Hill started all 14 games for the Salukis in 2007.  A first-team all-Gateway Conference pick, he completed 258-of-361 passes for 3,175 yards with 28 touchdowns and seven interceptions.  Marquez, also a first-team all-Gateway selection, started 13 games for SIUC in 2007.  He hails from New Orleans, La., and stands at 6-4, 280 pounds.

SIUE’s Kaitlin Colosimo (Orland Park) and Mallory Ruggles (Nashville, Ill.) are the Great Lakes Valley Conference Softball Pitcher and Player of the Week, respectively.  The duo helped the 22nd-ranked Cougars go 6-0 against GLVC foes last week and earn the No. 2 Seed in the upcoming GLVC Softball Tournament.  SIUE secured a pair of 1-0 victories at UM-St. Louis on Monday before pulling out a couple of doubleheader sweeps at Bellarmine and Northern Kentucky over the weekend.