A student group at SIUC is planning a three-day conference highlighting innovation and technology and providing important networking opportunities for hundreds of students and professionals.  The Southern Illinois University Innovative Systems group, a student-run interdisciplinary effort aimed at helping students at SIUC and around the area, has set the conference for Oct. 29-31 at the Engineering Building. The event, titled “SIUIS4,” is a premier professional networking event featuring more than 20 speakers as well as technical presentations, panel discussions, paper symposiums, competitions and workshops, among other items.  For more information and a complete list of presenters/speakers with photos and biographies, go to http://innovativesystems.siu.edu/.  To register for the event, go to http://innovativesystems.siu.edu/ and select "Register" or http://innovativesystems.siu.edu/direct/Register

The SIUE Early Childhood Center (ECC), at the corner of Circle and Northwest University drives on campus, conducted an open house from 1-3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 17, to feature the ECC’s new $2 million, 4,400-square-foot addition and renovation. The renovation and expansion of the ECC allows it to accommodate an additional 30 children, bringing the center to a capacity of more than 90. In the past, the center has had a waiting list of more than 125 but ECC Director Rebecca Dabbs-Kayser said the additional space will not only alleviate some of the waiting list but also allow more efficient use of the center’s floor plan.

The 2009 SIUC Devil’s Kitchen Literary Festival brings in the Halloween holiday in story-telling style.  The annual festival brings established and up-and-coming writers to campus for readings, question-and-answer panels and book signings. The festival is Oct. 29-31. Students on the editorial board of “Grassroots,” the undergraduate literary magazine published through the Department of English, select the writers and organize the event.  The Fine Arts Activity Fee contributes funding to this event. The SIUC Creative Writing Program’s Visiting Writers Series and Crab Orchard Review are also sponsors.

Fourteen faculty members at the SIU School of Medicine in Springfield and Carbondale are the recipients of grants from the National Institutes of Health through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act for their research projects.  The grants, which total $2,606,950, are being awarded to various projects. Some of the grants are for expansion of existing projects and others are for new research efforts.  Most of the awardees are research scientists, working in Springfield and Carbondale. Several are members of the SimmonsCooper Cancer Institute research team. The funds are to be used for hiring personnel and purchasing supplies and equipment.

"Just like (SIUE) is known for its geese, Istanbul is known for its wild dogs,” said Robyn Deterding, matter-of-factly, while discussing a recent trip with the University’s Study Abroad program. She recalled feeding the dogs during the day on the campus grounds of Yeditepe University, where she and the other students in the program studied. Deterding, who is a graduate assistant in the Study Abroad office, is pursuing a master's in the SIUE School of Education in Learning, Culture and Society. A couple years ago, while earning bachelors' degrees in History and Spanish, she took a trip to Barcelona, Spain, as part of the Study Abroad program. She was hooked. During her most recent trip with six SIUE undergraduate students and Lucian Stone, assistant professor of Philosophy, she said she enjoyed eating the cuisine, taking in the scenes and learning about the city's rich cultural past. She and the other students took numerous photos to capture the city's vast aesthetic appeal. "Every mosque had a chandelier, she said. “Every classroom had a picture of (Mustafa Kemal) Ataturk (the Republic of Turkey's first president)." Deterding said her Study Abroad experiences have definitely influenced her direction in life. For more information about Study Abroad opportunities, contact the office, (618) 650-2419, visit www.siue.edu/studyabroad or check out the program's Facebook page. A link to the page is available on the Study Abroad Web site.

For a second year, the SIU School of Law will host oral arguments in four cases before the 5th District Appellate Court.  Appeals court justices will preside over arguments in criminal cases originating in Jackson and Saline counties, and civil cases originating in Monroe and Jackson counties.  Arguments in the first case, a civil case from Monroe County that involves the Columbia School District, begin at 10 a.m., Wednesday, Oct. 28, in the Hiram H. Lesar Law Building courtroom.  A copy of the briefs of all four cases is available for review in the law school’s administration office. Case summaries are at http://www.law.siu.edu/news5.asp.  SIUC law students, faculty and staff are invited. The court sessions are also open to the public, but seating is limited.

The Missouri Valley Conference will honor its past on Friday, March 5, 2010, when The Valley conducts its annual Hall of Fame induction ceremony in St. Louis.  Long-time basketball coach Rich Herrin of SIUC, hoops standout Kyle Korver of Creighton and basketball coaching legend Cheryl Burnett of Missouri State highlight the 13th MVC Hall of Fame class. Korver will be enshrined as a Hall of Fame selection, while Herrin and Burnett are Coaches Wing choices.  For the seventh time in eight years, The Valley will conduct its annual Hall of Fame ceremony as part the State Farm MVC Men's Basketball Championship weekend on March 4-7, 2010.  The 2010 Missouri Valley Conference Athletics Hall of Fame induction ceremony will take place at Scottrade Center in St. Louis on Friday, March 5. The event will begin with an 8 a.m. breakfast, followed by the induction ceremony at 8:45 a.m.

A summer program that has been held for a few years allows faculty from the SIUE School of Business to work closely with students from Fachhochschule Hannover, a university in Hannover, Germany. Mechanical engineering students from Germany spend roughly a month in the U.S. learning about corporate finance, financial accounting, managerial accounting and duties, and taxes in an intensive program. Organized by SIUE School of Business faculty Mary Sumner, associate dean for Executive Education Programs, and Janice Joplin, associate dean for International Programs, the program faculty includes Brad Reed, professor of Accounting, Michael Costigan, chair and professor of Accounting, Rakesh Bharati, professor of Economics and Finance, and Tim Schoenecker, professor of Management and Marketing. The Institute is funded by students' employers, including Volkswagen, Johnson Controls, WABCO, Continental Tire and other Hannover-based automobile industry firms. Through site visits, students learn about U.S. automotive manufacturing practices, marketing trends and competitive industry factors. Sites visited include Mitsubishi in Bloomington; Continental Tire in Mt. Vernon, and the Auffenberg Auto Network. Last summer speakers representing Volkswagen USA, General Motors, Olin Brass, and Autohaus, a St. Louis-based dealership, discussed sales and marketing strategies, industry trends and external factors affecting the automobile industry. The German students also had the opportunity to meet with SIUE students majoring in Business, and SIUE students served as mentors.