On October 2 the Illinois Board of Higher Education approved a new Bachelor of Science degree in Renewable Energy at Illinois State University. With the increased price of crude oil and political instability in the large oil-producing regions of the world, the United States has begun to search more seriously for alternatives to fossil fuels. To help meet this need, ISU developed a renewable energy major. It is a broad-based program addressing the social, economic, and technical issues that graduates will encounter in the emerging field of renewable energy. It is based on a foundation of existing courses in several departments but will be strengthened by the development of new courses in the Departments of Agriculture, Economics, and Technology. “This renewable energy program is the first of its kind in the nation,” said David Loomis, Professor of Economics. “We expect a large demand for the graduates of this program.”

English professor Gabriel Gudding and a team of ISU faculty and graduate students are helping residents of a local women's prison, Lincoln Correctional Center, hone their writing skills. Dubbed "The Lincoln Women's Prison Writing Project," this innovative civic engagement project aims at helping participants acquire skills that will help them reintegrate into society upon their release. “Our students at LCC are wonderful,” said Gudding. “They are vibrant, brilliant, thoughtful, attentive, and extremely willing not only to participate in the class but to write works of great vitality, effervescence, and force.” Gudding and his team teach the course as volunteers and are not compensated for their efforts. 

ISU will host its sixth annual Mock Trial Tournament in Bloomington on November 2-4 at the McLean County Law and Justice Center, marking the 20th anniversary of ISU’s intercollegiate mock trial program. The program, which was established in 1987 by Tom Eimermann, Professor of Politics and Government, and alumnus and judge James Knecht, has provided more than 200 ISU students with the opportunity to develop an understanding of what an attorney does in court, develop their advocacy skills, and establish contacts that have helped build their careers. A celebratory reception is scheduled for November 3 from 4:30 to 7 p.m. at the Corn Palace in Bloomington's new coliseum. All mock trial alumni and supporters of the program are encouraged to attend. 

The ISU Debate and Speech teams continue to perform successfully in competition. Earlier this month the Debate Team traveled to Kansas City, where the team of Peter Lawson, a senior majoring in political science, and John Bretthauer, a junior majoring in communication education, advanced to the quarterfinals. This was the second tournament the team has travelled to this year. In both tournaments the Illinois State debate program has advanced a team to the elimination rounds and had an overall winning record. “The squad has worked very hard this year, and it is encouraging to see the hard work pay off,” said Patrick Milott, a senior majoring in philosophy. “The competition at this tournament was very difficult, and it was nice to see us have some success.”

Scott Findley is a new Assistant Professor in the Department of Economics. He earned his PhD from Colorado State University. His areas of specialization are public finance and macroeconomics. Much of his current work focuses on social security and life-cycle consumption theory. A forthcoming publication in Public Finance Review examines how a new type of saving plan can help households cope with the anticipated long-run solvency problems in the United States Social Security program. This year he is coordinating the Department of Economics Seminar Series.