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| Judge Michael McCuskey | College of Arts and Sciences’ alumnus Michael McCuskey (B.S. '70 Political Science) has been appointed by Governor Rod Blagojevich to the Illinois State University Board of Trustees effective immediately and running though January 17, 2011. McCuskey has a distinguished legal career. After graduating from St. Louis University School of Law in 1975, he became a partner in the law firm of Pace, McCuskey, and Galley in Lacon until 1988, when he was elected Circuit Judge of the 10th Judicial Circuit. In 1990, he was elected to the Third District Appellate Court where he served until 1998, when he was sworn in as a U.S. District Judge for the Central District of Illinois.
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| Christopher De Santis | Christopher De Santis, Associate Professor of English, completed a three-year literary odyssey this summer with the publication of his new book Langston Hughes: A Documentary Volume. The editioninterweaves De Santis’ critical, biographical, and contextual narrative with reprints of many of Hughes’ major and lesser-known poems, essays, and short stories; excerpts from longer texts; and facsimile reproductions of manuscript drafts and letters between Hughes and well-known writers, publishers, musicians, and intellectuals. “The project is exciting for many reasons,” said De Santis, “not the least of which is that it promises to democratize the study of Langston Hughes. Manuscripts and photographs previously available only to a few scholars would now be accessible to anyone with a library card.”
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Communication student filmmakers:
Jeff Blackburn, producer,and
Kris Racine, director of
A Matter of Innocence | Illinois State University's Innocence Project, a campus organization that critically reviews cases of death row or life sentence inmates who feel they have been wrongfully convicted, recently received validation for its efforts when a federal judge threw out a first-degree murder conviction and ordered the release of Dale Helmig of Missouri. Helmig has been imprisoned for nearly a decade for the murder of his mother. Students and faculty in the Project took up the Helmig case after the facts indicated that there was no physical way he could have been present at the murder scene. They then worked with the Student Television Workshop to produce a film focusing on the case titled A Matter of Innocence: The Dale Helmig Story.
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| Forensics Team | The defending national champion forensics team started off the season by winning the first big tournament of the year held September 24-25 at Truman State University in Kirksville, Missouri. The tournament hosted over 30 schools with up to 70 competitors in some events.The team placed ahead of University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire (2nd place) and University of Nebraska (3rd place). The team also faired well at a tournament sponsored by Purdue University. Fielding a small squad of only nine members, the team placed second to a 48-member Western Kentucky University squad. "These students should be commeded for their dedication to the team and to the University," said Larry Long, Executive Director of the School of Communication."This is a very early tournament in the season, and the level of focus and competition they presented should definitely be recognized."
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Professor Carlos Parodi and
speaker Laura Balbuna-Gonzàlez | Laura Balbuna-Gonzàlez, Illinois State University Minority Scholar in Residence, recently presented three lectures on campus concerning female participation in terrorist organizations. Balbuna-Gonzàlez’s talks focused on women members of the Peruvian terrorist movement Sendero Luminoso, or “Shining Path,” active throughout the 1970s, 1980s, and early 1990s. Balbuna-Gonzàlez stated that the Peruvian example is exceptional because women not only made up fifty percent of the organization’s membership but also consistently held leadership positions and combatant roles. She argued that while the women—many of whom were highly educated professors—participated in equal numbers and with equal status as the men, most were forced to give up their families, careers, and feminine characteristics in order to conform to the standards of the terrorist organization.
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| Dr. Doris Houston | Doris Houston joins the School of Social Work as an assistant professor.Previous to coming to ISU, she served as the Coordinator of Research Programs at the Center for Prevention Research and Development at the University of Illinois. Building upon her decade of experience at the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, Dr. Houston’ research interests include issues of adoption, foster care, policy development, and grant writing. She earned her bachelor’s degree in 1983, her master’s degree in 1998, and completed her doctorate in 2003, all from the University of Illinois.
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