Illinois in the News

If you cannot view this newsletter, please click here

HEADLINES

Music – Chicago Sun-Times

Gambling – The New York Times*

Estrogenic Signaling – United Press International*

Cell Development – Science Daily (Maryland)*

Jobs Projection – The Daily Herald (Illinois)

Business – iStockAnalyst (Oregon)*

Nocturnal Musings – Science (District of Columbia)

Corn Yield – Agweek (North Dakota)

Illinois Politics – The Voice (Illinois)

Mussels – Rockford Register Star (Illinois)

Marathon Racer – Chicago Sun-Times

*multiple citations

----------

MUSIC

Chicago Sun-Times (Aug. 24) -- Working with their longtime accompanists, Mandy Patinkin and U. of I. music professor Nathan Gunn put together “An Evening With Mandy Patinkin and Nathan Gunn,” which features them in a wide-ranging program of Broadway, opera, Americana, Yiddish and pop selections. Accompanied by pianists Paul Ford and U. of I. music professor Julie Jordan Gunn (Nathan’s wife), Patinkin and Gunn offer solos and duets.

-----

GAMBLING

The New York Times (Aug. 26) -- Questions surrounding a gambling bill that is headed to Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn’s desk have focused on regulation and on how much new casinos could raise for state coffers. U. of I. business professor John Kindt met with Quinn last week along with other gambling opponents to urge him to veto the bill.

Also:

Chicago News Cooperative (Aug. 26)

-----

ESTROGENIC SIGNALING

United Press International (Aug. 25) -- Researchers have developed sensors than can quickly reveal the presence of compounds that would interact with estrogen receptors in human cells. U. of I. scientists say the sensors are capable of detecting both natural and human-made substances that can alter estrogenic signaling in the body. “There are so many estrogenic compounds in our environment, and some of them could be a danger to health,” says chemical and biomolecular engineering professor Huimin Zhao, who led the research.

Also:

Drug Discovery & Development magazine (Rockaway, N.J., Aug. 26)

Nanotechnology Now (Banks, Ore., Aug. 25)

Phys Org . com (Douglas, Isle of Man, Aug. 25)

R&D Magazine (Rockaway, N.J., Aug. 25)

Red Orbit . com (Dallas, Aug. 26)

Science Daily (Chevy Chase, Md., Aug. 25)

-----

CELL DEVELOPMENT

Science Daily (Chevy Chase, Md., Aug. 25) -- University of Illinois researchers are giving a light answer to the heavy question of cell growth. Led by electrical and computer engineering professor Gabriel Popescu, the research team developed a new imaging method called spatial light interference microscopy that can measure cell mass using two beams of light.

Also:

Nanowerk News (Honolulu, Aug. 26)

News-Medical . net (Sydney, Aug. 26)

R&D Magazine (Rockaway, N.J., Aug. 26)

-----

JOBS PROJECTION

The Daily Herald (Arlington Heights, Ill., Aug. 26) -- Illinois Tollway directors Thursday adopted a construction agenda for the next 15 years they say will create 120,000 permanent jobs and 13,000 temporary construction jobs. While projecting construction jobs is fairly straightforward, permanent jobs – some of which are based on expectations of economic development – are a different animal, says U. of I. economics professor Fred Giertz.

-----

BUSINESS

iStockAnalyst (Salem, Ore., Aug. 26) -- Fans of Apple stock think the departure of one of the most successful CEOs in recent memory won’t disrupt the momentum of the company or stock. Research shows companies with founding CEOs tend to outperform and have 10 percent to 20 percent higher valuations than firms without, says Heitor Almeida, a U. of I. professor of finance.

Also:

The Tennessean (Nashville, Aug. 26)

-----

NOCTURNAL MUSINGS

Science (Washington, D.C., Aug. 26) -- U. of I. entomology professor May Berenbaum reviews a new book about insects active at night.

pdf

-----

CORN YIELD

Agweek (Fargo, N.D., Aug. 26) -- U. of I. crop sciences professor Emerson Nafziger is used to seeing yield differences between cornfields, but says this year’s crops are showing more variability than any he has seen in 30 years.

-----

ILLINOIS POLITICS

The Voice (Macomb, Ill., Aug. 25) -- Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn was forced into court Tuesday to defend eliminating pay for the state’s 44 regional school superintendents. Quinn insists that his actions are the outcome of the prolonged economic recession that has curbed state government’s ability to take in, and therefore spend, money. Jim Nowlan, of the U. of I. Institute of Government and Public Affairs, said since the workers’ pay increases are governed by either a signed contract or statute, the lawsuits likely will come down in favor of the employees, but that doesn’t mean the resources are available to the state to cover the costs.

-----

MUSSELS

Rockford Register Star (Illinois, Aug. 25) -- The Illinois Natural History Survey at the U. of I. is documenting the presence of mussels in Illinois creeks, rivers and waterways.

-----

MARATHON RACER

Chicago Sun-Times (Aug. 26) -- U. of I. alumna Amanda McGrory says she “can’t wait” for the Oct. 9 Chicago marathon race. She is the defending wheelchair champion.

----------

HIGHER EDUCATION NEWS

----------

Chicago Tribune (Aug. 26) -- Is the U.S. attorney’s office going to clean up the Illinois legislative scholarship program before the General Assembly does? It’s beginning to look that way.

-----

Chicago Tribune (Aug. 26) -- The University of Chicago Medical Center says it plans to contribute to a new nonprofit set up by the family of James Tyree, the Chicago financier and Sun-Times owner whose March death was due in part to the hospital’s error.

-----

The Wall Street Journal (Aug. 26) -- A 24 percent jump in Hispanic enrollment lifted the number of Americans attending college in October last year to a new record, both among 18- to 24-year-olds and across all ages. That is the result of a study, released Thursday, which the Pew Hispanic Center compiled on the basis of U.S. Census Bureau data gathered in October 2010. The Hispanic center is part of the nonprofit, nonpartisan Pew Research Center.

-----

The Washington Post (Aug. 25) -- Hurricane Irene is churning its way up the coast, and although it’s still several hundred miles away, everyone is preparing for a stormy weekend with heavy rain. In anticipation of the storm, a few colleges have already changed plans.

-----

St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Aug. 26) -- University of Missouri curators are continuing to meet in private with prospective presidents of the four-campus system.

-----

Diverse: Issues in Higher Education (Fairfax, Va., Aug. 26) -- While many Indian citizens complain they are forced to grease the palms of bureaucrats just to get things done, protesting students in New Delhi say the path to higher education in India is allegedly paved with bribes.

-----

Diverse: Issues in Higher Education (Fairfax, Va., Aug. 26) -- Members of the higher education board in Louisiana questioned whether Southern University needed to declare a financial emergency for its main campus and complained that school leaders hadn’t consulted them about the plans.

-----

Diverse: Issues in Higher Education (Fairfax, Va., Aug. 26) -- For many of the professors and K-12 teachers who traveled to James Madison University in Virginia from Texas, Illinois and Georgia to study the literary works of poet, playwright, activist and scholar Sonia Sanchez, their journey also represented a pilgrimage.

-----

Today’s Top Stories From the Website of Inside Higher Ed:

* Could the rise of e-textbooks mean the end of markets for less expensive rentals and used editions?

* The University of Texas chancellor’s plan to improve accountability and productivity receives praise from several directions, a rarity in the state these days.

* Some scholars reveled, while the unlikely setting for a large disciplinary meeting – Las Vegas – revolted others.

* Sage Colleges will offer a first-of-its kind, entirely online program for autistic students.

	About this e-mail: Illinois in the News is a sampling of citations from regional, state, national and international media. Citations are not drawn from the local media because it is assumed the audience for Illinois in the News has wide access to local newspapers and electronic media. Please pass along Illinois in the News to others you think might find it useful. Some Web links are short-lived by design of the publisher. In most cases, articles are archived on the publisher's website and can be retrieved electronically. Access to some sites may require registration. Some articles may be archived on sites that are fee-based, and some articles may have re-distribution restrictions. If you have a problem accessing an article, please contact the News Bureau at 333-1085. In some cases, first-time users of a publisher's website may be asked to register or to subscribe to it. News Bureau Home subscribe \| unsubscribe to this eNewsletter.