University of Illinois, Chicago: News
Brundage Scholarships Available to University of Illinois Students
Full-time University of Illinois students at the Chicago, Springfield, and Urbana campuses, including incoming freshmen, graduate and transfer students, may apply. Grant-in-aid recipients may be eligible for Brundage scholarships under specified conditions. Academic and athletic competence will be considered over financial need.
Undergraduate and transfer student applicants must rank in the top 25 percent of their college, and incoming freshmen must rank in the upper 25 percent of their incoming class. Graduate and professional students must be in good academic standing.
Students must also have demonstrated "special athletic ability" in an amateur sport. However, their participation must have been for personal development, rather than as preparation for professional athletics. Previous winners represent a wide variety of sports from archery and tennis to swimming and wheelchair basketball. Last year, 15 winners were awarded $2,400 each.
Scholarship applications can be submitted online at www.usp.uillinois.edu/brundage. Paper applications will not be distributed.
The deadline for submitting completed applications is Feb. 12.
The late Avery Brundage, a 1909 U of I graduate, competed in the 1912 Olympics and later served as president of both the U.S. and International Olympic committees. He established the scholarship in 1974, with a $343,000 endowment to the University of Illinois Foundation. Over the past 36 years, 794 scholarships with a total value of $983,200 have been awarded. Brundage maintained his interest in the University through service as a member of the University of Illinois Foundation, President's Council and Citizen's Committee.
[Additional media contact: Gayle Layman, director of university-wide student programs, (217) 333-2030, layman@uillinois.edu]
Undergraduate and transfer student applicants must rank in the top 25 percent of their college, and incoming freshmen must rank in the upper 25 percent of their incoming class. Graduate and professional students must be in good academic standing.
Students must also have demonstrated "special athletic ability" in an amateur sport. However, their participation must have been for personal development, rather than as preparation for professional athletics. Previous winners represent a wide variety of sports from archery and tennis to swimming and wheelchair basketball. Last year, 15 winners were awarded $2,400 each.
Scholarship applications can be submitted online at www.usp.uillinois.edu/brundage. Paper applications will not be distributed.
The deadline for submitting completed applications is Feb. 12.
The late Avery Brundage, a 1909 U of I graduate, competed in the 1912 Olympics and later served as president of both the U.S. and International Olympic committees. He established the scholarship in 1974, with a $343,000 endowment to the University of Illinois Foundation. Over the past 36 years, 794 scholarships with a total value of $983,200 have been awarded. Brundage maintained his interest in the University through service as a member of the University of Illinois Foundation, President's Council and Citizen's Committee.
[Additional media contact: Gayle Layman, director of university-wide student programs, (217) 333-2030, layman@uillinois.edu]
Published Date: November 13, 2009
UIC Developing New Way to Identify Contents of Botanicals
The University of Illinois at Chicago has received a two-year, $1.2 million federal grant to develop a new method to identify the contents of botanical dietary supplements and how they work.
The research, under the leadership of Guido Pauli, associate professor of pharmacognosy, will use nuclear magnetic resonance and mass spectrometry to more quickly and accurately identify the correct plant materials used for production and provide more reliable assays to ensure botanical quality and safety.
The new methodology will initially test 10 of the top 20 most widely used botanicals. Among them are soy, red clover, garlic, ginkgo, Echinacea, St. John's Wort, ginseng, green tea and black cohosh. The approach, Pauli said, will be innovative to botanical reference standards and will transform the current system of identifying natural health products.
"Our new approach to quality control will allow us to measure several parameters of herbal quality simultaneously," Pauli said. "This not only supports the more holistic approach of using botanical supplements, but can also become a protective measure for the consumer looking for products that are safe to use."
Nearly one in 10 people use botanicals, and 40 percent of Americans -- and 12 percent of children under 18 -- use complementary and alternative medicine, according to the 2008 National Health Statistics Report. U.S. adults spent nearly $34 billion out of pocket on complementary and alternative medicine products, classes and materials, and on visits to complementary and alternative medicine practitioners in 2007, the report said.
The grant is funded by the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, one of the National Institutes of Health. Pauli's co-workers at UIC include Shao-Nong Chen, Birgit Jaki and Marc Wang, research assistant professors; David Lankin, research associate professor; and Tanja Gödecke, post-doctoral fellow.
For more information about UIC, visit www.uic.edu
The research, under the leadership of Guido Pauli, associate professor of pharmacognosy, will use nuclear magnetic resonance and mass spectrometry to more quickly and accurately identify the correct plant materials used for production and provide more reliable assays to ensure botanical quality and safety.
The new methodology will initially test 10 of the top 20 most widely used botanicals. Among them are soy, red clover, garlic, ginkgo, Echinacea, St. John's Wort, ginseng, green tea and black cohosh. The approach, Pauli said, will be innovative to botanical reference standards and will transform the current system of identifying natural health products.
"Our new approach to quality control will allow us to measure several parameters of herbal quality simultaneously," Pauli said. "This not only supports the more holistic approach of using botanical supplements, but can also become a protective measure for the consumer looking for products that are safe to use."
Nearly one in 10 people use botanicals, and 40 percent of Americans -- and 12 percent of children under 18 -- use complementary and alternative medicine, according to the 2008 National Health Statistics Report. U.S. adults spent nearly $34 billion out of pocket on complementary and alternative medicine products, classes and materials, and on visits to complementary and alternative medicine practitioners in 2007, the report said.
The grant is funded by the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, one of the National Institutes of Health. Pauli's co-workers at UIC include Shao-Nong Chen, Birgit Jaki and Marc Wang, research assistant professors; David Lankin, research associate professor; and Tanja Gödecke, post-doctoral fellow.
For more information about UIC, visit www.uic.edu
Published Date: November 12, 2009
New Book Examines Impact of AIDS on American Politics
A new book by a University of Illinois at Chicago scholar examines how the AIDS epidemic impacted American politics in the 1980s and 1990s and argues that the era was not as politically conservative as it is often characterized.
In "Infectious Ideas: U.S. Political Responses to the AIDS Crisis" (University of North Carolina Press, 2009), Jennifer Brier, UIC assistant professor of gender and women's studies and history, writes how the crisis, in the face of the expanding New Right, influenced American political matters involving health care and foreign policy, reproductive health, gay and lesbian rights and racial justice.
"As the recent debate over health care reform has shown, arguments over the best way to keep people healthy are fundamentally political as well as medical," Brier said.
"In the first decades of the AIDS epidemic, this point was put in sharp contrast as various constituencies -- from AIDS activists to health care service providers to government officials -- argued over what was necessary to deal with, and respond to, the multiple crises produced by the emerging AIDS epidemic," she said.
Contrary to standard historical narratives of conservatism that maintain AIDS served as a rallying point for conservative activists during this period, Brier contends that AIDS divided conservatives.
One example of the discord was between former Surgeon General C. Everett Koop and Gary Bauer, who served as under secretary of education, and later, as chief domestic policy adviser for President Reagan.
Brier writes that the conservatives fought over the role of testing for HIV, the promotion of condom use, and the need for conversations about sexual practices as the best way to change people's behavior.
"While Koop was never entirely successful in implementing policies that acknowledged people's sexuality, Bauer was equally stymied when trying to enact AIDS policies that were driven by his strict definition of morality," she said.
"The disagreement among administration conservatives became even more visible as the Reagan administration entered the global AIDS arena in the late 1980s," Brier writes.
The book includes a look at how AIDS workers, a group Brier defines as those committed to addressing the effects of AIDS, were made up of contrasting entities such as gay and lesbian media, AIDS service organizations, private philanthropies and the U.S. State Department.
Brier argues that their combined efforts helped to shape progressive politics in the 21st century.
Media interested in a review copy should contact Laura Gribbin at lagribbi@unc.edu.
For more information about UIC, please visit www.uic.edu
In "Infectious Ideas: U.S. Political Responses to the AIDS Crisis" (University of North Carolina Press, 2009), Jennifer Brier, UIC assistant professor of gender and women's studies and history, writes how the crisis, in the face of the expanding New Right, influenced American political matters involving health care and foreign policy, reproductive health, gay and lesbian rights and racial justice.
"As the recent debate over health care reform has shown, arguments over the best way to keep people healthy are fundamentally political as well as medical," Brier said.
"In the first decades of the AIDS epidemic, this point was put in sharp contrast as various constituencies -- from AIDS activists to health care service providers to government officials -- argued over what was necessary to deal with, and respond to, the multiple crises produced by the emerging AIDS epidemic," she said.
Contrary to standard historical narratives of conservatism that maintain AIDS served as a rallying point for conservative activists during this period, Brier contends that AIDS divided conservatives.
One example of the discord was between former Surgeon General C. Everett Koop and Gary Bauer, who served as under secretary of education, and later, as chief domestic policy adviser for President Reagan.
Brier writes that the conservatives fought over the role of testing for HIV, the promotion of condom use, and the need for conversations about sexual practices as the best way to change people's behavior.
"While Koop was never entirely successful in implementing policies that acknowledged people's sexuality, Bauer was equally stymied when trying to enact AIDS policies that were driven by his strict definition of morality," she said.
"The disagreement among administration conservatives became even more visible as the Reagan administration entered the global AIDS arena in the late 1980s," Brier writes.
The book includes a look at how AIDS workers, a group Brier defines as those committed to addressing the effects of AIDS, were made up of contrasting entities such as gay and lesbian media, AIDS service organizations, private philanthropies and the U.S. State Department.
Brier argues that their combined efforts helped to shape progressive politics in the 21st century.
Media interested in a review copy should contact Laura Gribbin at lagribbi@unc.edu.
For more information about UIC, please visit www.uic.edu
Published Date: November 12, 2009
UIC to Develop Antibiotics Against Potential Bioterrorism Agents
Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago have received a $4 million federal grant to develop new antibiotics to treat anthrax, tularemia and plague.
Anthrax, tularemia and plague are caused by naturally occurring bacteria classified as "category-A" agents that could be used in bioterrorism and biowarfare.
These microorganisms pose a risk to national security because they can be easily transmitted and disseminated, result in high mortality, have potential major public health impact and could cause panic, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
These infections can be treated with current antibiotics, but none is ideal, says Michael Johnson, professor and director of the UIC Center for Pharmaceutical Biotechnology and lead researcher on the two-year grant. Only one antibiotic, doxycycline, can be used to treat more than one of the three diseases, he said.
Worse, it may be possible for terrorists to develop multi-drug resistant strains for all three diseases, Johnson said.
"Our goal is to develop an advanced series of broad-spectrum antibacterial 'lead' compounds that are safe, efficacious and that can be taken orally," Johnson said.
Anthrax infection can occur by absorption through the skin, by inhalation, or through the gastrointestinal tract. If left untreated, the disease can be fatal.
Tularemia, or rabbit fever, has a low fatality rate if treated, but can be incapacitating. It can be contracted through contact, inhalation, ingestion of contaminated water, or by insect bites.
Plague is caused by a bacterium found in rodents and their fleas in many areas of the world. The typical sign of the most common form of human plague is a swollen and tender lymph gland, accompanied by pain. About 14 percent of plague cases in the U.S. are fatal, according to the CDC.
Funding for the research is through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. It is the largest grant UIC has received through the Act and is funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, one of the National Institutes of Health.
Johnson's collaborators include Dr. James Cook, chief of infectious diseases in the UIC College of Medicine; Andrew Mesecar, professor in the UIC Center for Pharmaceutical Biotechnology; and David Case, professor of chemistry and chemical biology at Rutgers University.
For more information about UIC, visit www.uic.edu.
Anthrax, tularemia and plague are caused by naturally occurring bacteria classified as "category-A" agents that could be used in bioterrorism and biowarfare.
These microorganisms pose a risk to national security because they can be easily transmitted and disseminated, result in high mortality, have potential major public health impact and could cause panic, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
These infections can be treated with current antibiotics, but none is ideal, says Michael Johnson, professor and director of the UIC Center for Pharmaceutical Biotechnology and lead researcher on the two-year grant. Only one antibiotic, doxycycline, can be used to treat more than one of the three diseases, he said.
Worse, it may be possible for terrorists to develop multi-drug resistant strains for all three diseases, Johnson said.
"Our goal is to develop an advanced series of broad-spectrum antibacterial 'lead' compounds that are safe, efficacious and that can be taken orally," Johnson said.
Anthrax infection can occur by absorption through the skin, by inhalation, or through the gastrointestinal tract. If left untreated, the disease can be fatal.
Tularemia, or rabbit fever, has a low fatality rate if treated, but can be incapacitating. It can be contracted through contact, inhalation, ingestion of contaminated water, or by insect bites.
Plague is caused by a bacterium found in rodents and their fleas in many areas of the world. The typical sign of the most common form of human plague is a swollen and tender lymph gland, accompanied by pain. About 14 percent of plague cases in the U.S. are fatal, according to the CDC.
Funding for the research is through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. It is the largest grant UIC has received through the Act and is funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, one of the National Institutes of Health.
Johnson's collaborators include Dr. James Cook, chief of infectious diseases in the UIC College of Medicine; Andrew Mesecar, professor in the UIC Center for Pharmaceutical Biotechnology; and David Case, professor of chemistry and chemical biology at Rutgers University.
For more information about UIC, visit www.uic.edu.
Published Date: November 10, 2009
Celebrating Renovated, Eco-Friendly UIC Building of the Future
The successful makeover of Lincoln Hall, a venerable classroom building on the University of Illinois at Chicago campus, will be marked by a re-opening ceremony Nov. 19 from 3:30 to 5 p.m., followed by self-guided building tours.
UIC Chancellor Paula Allen-Meares and Provost R. Michael Tanner invite students, faculty, staff and the public to view this 1960s-era Walter Netsch structure that has been transformed from its original raw-concrete Brutalist style into a functioning, contemporary "green" building, complete with energy-efficient glass walls, geothermal climate controls and other eco-friendly improvements.
The two-year, $13.7-million renovation was completed on budget, and opened in time for the start of UIC's 2009-10 academic year in August.
Lincoln Hall is linked to two sibling structures, Douglas and Grant halls. Grant was the first to undergo modernization two years ago and is home to the Sandi Port Errant Language and Culture Learning Center and the UIC Writing Center. Renovation on Douglas Hall is expected to begin next May.
Heating and cooling costs for the renovated buildings are reduced by the use of geothermal wells that act as heat pumps. The only energy needed is electricity to drive the pumps, and electrical costs are expected to be reduced after solar panels are installed on Lincoln's roof.
Other features of the renovated Lincoln Hall include automated shading control, daylight harvesting, and use of natural building materials. The building's 25 common-use classrooms are equipped with state-of-the-art technology, new acoustic treatments for better sound, ergonomic and movable furniture, and informal student learning spaces, called oases.
UIC is applying to the U.S. Green Building Council to award Lincoln Hall "silver" status as a registered Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED, building -- the first on UIC's campus. The renovation was designed to meet LEED standards.
The project was funded largely through undergraduate student fees known as the Academic Facilities Maintenance Fund Assessment. Other funding came from the Office of Campus Learning Environments and general campus funds.
Renovation and construction of so-called "green buildings" is one component of a larger plan drafted by the campus's Office of Sustainability to reduce UIC's greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent from 2004 levels by mid-century. The plan also calls for using more clean and renewable energy sources, transitioning to cleaner vehicles by adding hybrid and flex-fuel cars and trucks to the university's fleet, encouraging employees to walk, bicycle, use public transit or carpool to work, and increasing recycling and waste-reduction.
For more information about UIC, visit www.uic.edu
UIC Chancellor Paula Allen-Meares and Provost R. Michael Tanner invite students, faculty, staff and the public to view this 1960s-era Walter Netsch structure that has been transformed from its original raw-concrete Brutalist style into a functioning, contemporary "green" building, complete with energy-efficient glass walls, geothermal climate controls and other eco-friendly improvements.
The two-year, $13.7-million renovation was completed on budget, and opened in time for the start of UIC's 2009-10 academic year in August.
Lincoln Hall is linked to two sibling structures, Douglas and Grant halls. Grant was the first to undergo modernization two years ago and is home to the Sandi Port Errant Language and Culture Learning Center and the UIC Writing Center. Renovation on Douglas Hall is expected to begin next May.
Heating and cooling costs for the renovated buildings are reduced by the use of geothermal wells that act as heat pumps. The only energy needed is electricity to drive the pumps, and electrical costs are expected to be reduced after solar panels are installed on Lincoln's roof.
Other features of the renovated Lincoln Hall include automated shading control, daylight harvesting, and use of natural building materials. The building's 25 common-use classrooms are equipped with state-of-the-art technology, new acoustic treatments for better sound, ergonomic and movable furniture, and informal student learning spaces, called oases.
UIC is applying to the U.S. Green Building Council to award Lincoln Hall "silver" status as a registered Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED, building -- the first on UIC's campus. The renovation was designed to meet LEED standards.
The project was funded largely through undergraduate student fees known as the Academic Facilities Maintenance Fund Assessment. Other funding came from the Office of Campus Learning Environments and general campus funds.
Renovation and construction of so-called "green buildings" is one component of a larger plan drafted by the campus's Office of Sustainability to reduce UIC's greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent from 2004 levels by mid-century. The plan also calls for using more clean and renewable energy sources, transitioning to cleaner vehicles by adding hybrid and flex-fuel cars and trucks to the university's fleet, encouraging employees to walk, bicycle, use public transit or carpool to work, and increasing recycling and waste-reduction.
For more information about UIC, visit www.uic.edu
Published Date: November 09, 2009