Faculty Senate Meeting

The next meeting of the Faculty Senate will be at 4 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 19 in the Union Capitol Rooms.

International Studies To Host Speaker

The Center for International Studies will host three presentations by Ann Biersteker, associate professor of African and African-American studies, associate professor of linguistics, and director of the program in African languages at Yale University. Biersteker will present “Inter-university Cooperation in International and Area Studies” at 3 p.m. Monday, Oct. 25 Stipes Hall 121; “The Importance of African and African American/Diaspora Studies in an Internationalizing University: Choices for a Smart University in our Global Century” at 6 p.m. that same day (Oct. 25) in Morgan Hall 109; and “Funding Opportunities in International and Area Studies” at 11 a.m. Tuesday, Oct. 26 at Stipes Hall 121.

For more information, call 309/298-2426.

Affirmative Action Moves to New Office

Western’s Affirmative Action/Americans with Disabilities Compliance Office has moved its office to 203 Sherman Hall. Affirmative Action Director Cathy Couza and staff Ellyn Bartges and Andrea Henderson can be reached by calling 309/298-1977.

Transfer Announcement

Rebecca Cramer is now the full-time secretary in Women’s Studies, Morgan 203. Linda Hess is the half-time secretary in English and Journalism from 8 a.m. until noon and half-time secretary at the Teaching, Learning, and Technology Center, Tillman 301 from 1 to 4:30 p.m.

The Flynn Effect

Learn more about intelligence and genetics on Monday, Oct. 18 when James Flynn, political science professor emeritus at the University of Otago in New Zealand, presents “The Flynn Effect: Rethinking Intelligence and What Affects It” at 7 p.m. in the Union Heritage Room. Flynn’s lectures are multidisciplinary, raising many issues relevant to political science, economics, philosophy and sociology. He will also speak to various classes Tuesday, Oct. 19.

Future presenters in the psychology department’s colloquium series include: Friday, Oct. 29 – Dennis Molfese, chair and professor of the department of psychological and brain sciences, University of Louisville, “Brain Responses as a Predictor for Emerging Dyslexia: The Basis for Eliminating Learning Disabilities in the Next Generation.” Friday, Nov. 5 – Lori Baker-Sperry, women’s studies, “The Pervasiveness and Persistence of the Feminine Beauty Ideal in Children’s Fairy Tales.” Friday, Dec. 3 – Russell Morgan, psychology, “Improving Your Cognitive Abilities: Could It be as Easy as Swallowing a Pill?”

The presentations are open free to the public. For more information, contact the psychology department at 309/298-1593.

Thompson Lecture Oct. 27

Western’s communication department will present its annual Thompson Lecture at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 27 in the Union Sandburg Theatre. This year’s presentation, “Arguing,” will be presented by Dale Hample, whose research has centered around interpersonal argument and the face to face exchange of reasons. Hample is widely recognized as one of the world’s leading argumentation theorists. He has presented his work nationally and internationally, most recently in Venice at the Wake Forest Argumentation Conference, and has published prolifically in the field’s most significant journals as well as most of the leading journals in the field of communication studies.

SURS Counselors in February

WIU employees who want a retirement estimate April 30, 2009 or sooner and who have not received a retirement estimate from SURS since February 10, 2004 may contact SURS (State Universities Retirement System) to schedule an appointment Feb. 10 or 11, 2005. The confidential appointment will last 30 minutes, and employees will be required to provide information to SURS after scheduling an appointment. To schedule an appointment, contact Karen Maggio at SURS, e-mail kmaggio@surs.org.

Bev Lawyer, or Nancy Sherer, 309/298-1853, can answer questions about the forms. Civil Service employees may also call the payroll office, 309/298-1867, for sick leave information. Non-civil service employees may obtain sick leave balances from the Provost’s Office, 309/298-2216.

Employee of the Month

The Civil Service Employees Council (CSEC) at Western has named Donna Corrie, an administrative clerk in the Small Business Development Center (SBDC), the October Civil Service Employee of the Month.

Corrie was recognized by her nominators for her continued dedication to the center and its efforts. “The program has expanded and developed because of Donna’s initiative to maintain the quality of the center, and her attention to detail is the reason the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity Small Business Division requested that Western’s SBDC be a test site for software programs,” according to her nominators. Corrie was also instrumental in organizing and setting up the office during its recent move to the new Western Illinois Business and Technology Center in the former former porcelain manufacturing facility, PPC, located off East Pierce Street in Macomb.

Corrie began working at Western in August 1988 as a secretary III in the Regional Development Office.

“Imprisioning America’s Future” Oct. 19

Salim Muwakkil, award winning journalist and political commentator, will present “Imprisoning America’s Future” Tuesday, Oct. 19 at Western. The 7:30 p.m. presentation and discussion, held in the Union Heritage Room, is open free to the public. A reception will follow.

A senior editor at In These Times (www.inthesetimes.com) magazine and an Op-Ed columnist for the Chicago Tribune, Muwakkil will argue “that the mass incarceration of African-Americans is a social catastrophe...a dynamic that debilitates and distorts black community life at every level.  It siphons youthful energy and agency out of the community and into an expanding corrections complex....”

For more information, contact Janice Welsch at jr-welsch@wiu.edu or J.Q. Adams at jq-adams@wiu.edu.

Naturally Seven at WIU Oct. 27

The New York gospel and R&B group Naturally Seven, hailed by critics as “deep, intense and brilliant,” will perform at Western Wednesday, Oct. 27.  The 7:30 p.m. concert, sponsored by the Bureau of Cultural Affairs, will be held in the Union Grand Ballroom.

Tickets — $12 for public and $8 youth at the Hainline Theatre Box Office. A pre-show Soul Food Tour dinner will be offered for an additional $20. For more information or to make reservations, contact the box office at 309/298-2900 weekdays from noon until 5 p.m.

Music Performances Oct. 19, 20, 22

The College of Fine Arts and Communication (COFAC) Recital Hall will be the site of concerts Tuesday, Oct. 19, Wednesday, Oct. 20 and Friday, Oct. 22. Featured presenters will include trombonist Stephen Parsons (Oct. 19), trumpeter David Greenhoe  (Oct. 20) and the WIU Concert Band featuring the WIU Madrigal Singers and guest conductors James Stegall and Brad Howard (Oct. 22). All of the concerts will begin at 7:30 p.m. and are open free to the public.

Research Grants Seminar Series

Susan Martinelli-Fernandez, philosophy and religious studies, will present “Swimming upstream: Teaching and Research” at 12:45 p.m. Friday, Oct. 29 in Stipes Hall 506. Martinelli-Fernandez will discuss the connection between teaching, research, and grant opportunities at Western.

The Research/Grants Seminar Series is co-sponsored by Faculty Development, College of Business and Technology, and the Office of Sponsored Projects. The series seeks to foster the distribution of scholarly work within the university that focus on research or grant related projects. If you have ideas or suggestions for presentations contact Sue Holzwarth, ss-holzwarth@wiu.edu; Beth Seaton B-Seaton@wiu.edu; Rajeev Sawhney, R-Sawhney@wiu.edu; or James Huesmann, JL-Huesmann@wiu.edu.

Meetings are from 12:45-2 p.m., Stipes Hall 506.  Pizza and soda will be served at 12:45 p.m. prior to the presentations. For purposes of ordering pizza, register by e-mailing ss-holzwarth@wiu.edu.

Future presenters include Richard Musser, biology, on Nov. 12 and Ed Woell, history, on Dec. 3.

Wind Ensemble Concert

The Western Symphonic Wind Ensemble, under the direction of Jon Dugle, will present its first concert of the year at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Oct. 15 in the College of Fine Arts and Communication (COFAC) Recital Hall.

The concert is free and open to the public. For more information contact Western Illinois’ music department, 309/298-1544 or visit www.wiu.edu/music.

Western To Host International Librarians

The University Libraries will host two librarians from Africa Oct.15. Raphael Aregu, acting university librarian, Gulu University, Gulu, Uganda and Paul Mwanzilo, special collections librarian, Egerton University Library, Njoro, Kenya will discuss the state of libraries in Africa from noon to 1 p.m. during a lunch-hour discussion in the Library Staff Lounge Oct. 15. This event is open free to the public.
For more information, call the Library Administration Office at 309/298-2762.