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March 4 2015 VOLUME 34 / NUMBER 23 For the community of the University of Illinois at Chicago uicnews.uic.edu 2 CLINT BORUCKI CAN MAKE ALMOST ANYTHING 3 LOOK OUT! ROAD CONSTRUCTION RAMPS UP HAPPY RETURNS Alumni ‘circle back’ 5 more on page 7 CELEBRATING WOMAN OF THE YEAR ROBIN MERMELSTEIN 11 ENERGY, ENTHUSIASM AND BAMBOO INSIDE: CAMPUS NEWS 4 CALENDAR 8 PEOPLE 9 STUDENT VOICE 11 SPORTS 12 PUZZLES 10 Facebook / uicnews Twitter / uicnews YouTube / uicmedia Flickr / uicnews Instagram / thisisuic Shelly Hall Triplett, class of ‘69 and former cheerleader, leads the way with Sparky. — Photo: Roberta Dupuis-Devlin 2 uicnews.uic.edu I UIC NEWS I MARCH 4, 2015 send profile ideas to Gary Wisby, [email protected] PROFILE CLINT BORUCKI Prop master extraordinaire By Jonathan Black —UIC Alumni magazine Let’s play a game: You’re blindfolded and taken to a secret location. When the blindfold is removed, you find yourself surrounded by dozens of items, such as a giant tube of toothpaste, the Japanese monster from the movie “Gamera,” a life- size 3-D sculpture of Chiana from the TV series “Farscape,” Notre Dame champion- ship rings the size of garage doors, an even bigger plastic 50th anniversary Burger King Whopper, military weapons, and shelves full of dragons and fake pigs. Where are you? In the Acme Design workshop of Clint Borucki, of course. “We do just about anything you can “If you can think of it, we can make it,” says Clint Borucki, a 1988 industrial design graduate and founder of Acme Design. That think of, with just about any material,” includes a skull model of the Spinosaurus, a carnivorous dinosaur bigger than T-Rex. — Photo: Lloyd DeGrane says Borucki, a 1988 UIC graduate with a bachelor’s in fine arts. “If you can think of it, we can make it.” very unusual dinosaur. Borucki is an engaging, boisterous, chose to outsource all business to China, That’s easy to believe while on a tour of That would be the 50-foot-long, life- fast-talking entrepreneurial wizard. but Borucki did exactly what his promo his subterranean workshop in Elgin. The size replica of Spinosaurus — a carnivo- His favorite quote is from Walt Disney: sheet promises: “leap tall buildings and rise maze of oversized rooms is crowded with rous brute that was even bigger than “It’s kind of fun to do the impossible.” to the next challenge.” He now employs 10 fearsome machines that look like a cross T-Rex. The extraordinary find was pieced As such, Acme’s single-page promo sheet people full time. between cement mixers and Xerox copiers together by a couple of University of Chi- lists capabilities that include 3-D print- To appreciate Borucki’s whimsical side, on steroids, and produce props for films, cago paleontologists working with an in- ing, vacuum forming, molding and as well as his passionate devotion to detail, trade displays and video games. They’re ternational research team and the casting, as well as “underwater basket follow him through what amounts to a manned by tech-savvy workers who also National Geographic Society. Borucki weaving.” secret door leading past the last of his are obsessive craftsmen. was the guy who created a 3-D skeleton Borucki’s career began somewhat noisy, dust-filled basement rooms and into “My favorite rant is how people will go of the creature’s massive skull. The more modestly when he graduated from the cheery, sun-filled replica of … a to a Chevy dealership and pay $138 an results were featured on the cover of Oct- UIC with a degree in industrial design ’50s-style diner! hour to get their oil changed and think ober’s National Geographic magazine and started a furniture-making business While one blinks in disbelief, Borucki we’re outrageously overpriced at $75 an and in a Nova special that aired on PBS in his Glendale Heights garage. explains, “I’m a dork and really like diners. hour,” Borucki says. “But with five people in November. But the garage couldn’t contain his We made the booths and the counters and working on a project, [the cost] can spiral “We’d done some work at the dinosaur ambitions for long. Soon he turned to all the backing. The soda fountain is the out of control real fast.” lab at the University of Chicago,” Borucki the world of models, props and proto- real deal. The short reason is we needed a Acme Design celebrated its 20th anni- says. “When they determined they’d be types. He grew his business so success- space for people to eat lunch and a place to versary this past fall. Borucki capped the able to do a life-size model of the Spino- fully that Acme Design had to undertake showcase our capabilities. milestone with a visit to Washington, saurus, we were ready because we had a major expansion and move to Elgin. “Just imagine. You could have a supper D.C., and the unveiling of the company’s just purchased new equipment used for In 2012, the company lost its major club in your basement. Or the bar from greatest triumph: the reconstruction of a making large-scale items, like dinosaurs.” client, the Bradford Exchange, which ‘Star Wars’ or Wrigley Field.” “When your larger message is you only need “Schadenfreude. The feeling of joy derived “We don’t pay attention to diversity just be- five weeks to become a teacher, it demeans, it from the misfortunes of others, that cause it’s convenient. It’s truly at our core.” reduces, it oversimplifies what it is that makes you realize that your life is not so teachers ought to be doing and what they do.” bad after all.” College of Education dean Alfred Tatum on why UIC is the best choice for the Obama Eleni Katsarou, clinical professor and director Zizi Papacharissi, professor and head of com- Presidential Library, Feb. 22 Washington Post of elementary education, on the decrease in munication, on why viewers continue to enjoy recruits for Teach for America, Feb. 26 reality TV, Feb. 25 Pacific Standard magazine WTTW “Chicago Tonight” MARCH 4, 2015 I UIC NEWS I uicnews.uic.edu 3 Byrne Interchange construction ramps up By Sam Hostettler — [email protected] Construction work is ramping up again on the express- ways around UIC — and it is expected to continue over the next 12 months with numerous detours and traffic modifications. Commuters driving to and from UIC, particularly the east side of campus, should expect significant delays, said Michael Landek, executive associate vice chancellor for administrative services. Changes to the construction proj- ect may occur daily, so caution should be used when walk- ing or driving through work zones. Construction of the “flyover” connecting the inbound Dan Ryan Expressway (I-90/94) with the outbound Ei- senhower Expressway (I-290) is scheduled to begin Satur- day and continue until July 2016. Existing expressway ramps will be closed and the number of lanes will be re- duced. Water main work in Harrison Field (at the corner of Halsted and Harrison Streets) is scheduled to begin im- mediately pending city approval. The campus is developing plans to accommodate students moving out of residence halls at the end of the semester. Here’s a list of upcoming Illinois Department of Trans- portation projects: THE FLYOVER The Byrne Interchange, facing southwest. Construction of the “flyover” connecting the inbound Dan Ryan with • Inbound ramp from the Dan Ryan to the outbound the outbound Eisenhower is scheduled to begin Saturday and will continue until July 2016. Eisenhower will remain open but shift to a temporary roadway. • Inbound ramp from the Dan Ryan to inbound Con- gress Parkway will be closed. Traffic from Roosevelt Road • Right lane of the inbound Dan Ryan will be closed Ryan will be reduced to one lane in each direction. IDOT will be detoured to Jefferson Street, from Jefferson Street from the Stevenson Expressway (I-55) to Roosevelt Road. has not determined the four weekends for shutdown. to Harrison Street, and Harrison Street to Wells Street. • Inbound and outbound Stevenson ramps to the Dan • Ramp from Roosevelt Road to Congress Parkway will Ryan will be reduced from two lanes to one. BRIDGE PROJECTS be closed. Traffic will follow the Jefferson/Harrison/Wells • June 1: lane switch for the Halsted Street Bridge over INTERCHANGE SHUTDOWN detour. Traffic from the outbound Eisenhower will be de- the Dan Ryan toured from Roosevelt Road to the west to Ashland Ave- The entire Jane Byrne Interchange will experience a • August: completion of CTA Blue Line Station and Peo- nue, and north to Van Buren Street. near-total shutdown during four weekends in the summer ria Street Bridge/Pedestrian Walkway over the Eisenhower • Ramp from Taylor Street to the inbound Dan Ryan or fall while beams for the flyover are installed. During • late fall 2015: completion of the Halsted Street Bridge will be closed. Traffic will be detoured north on Jefferson those weekends, all lanes of the Eisenhower and Congress • late fall 2015: completion of Harrison Street Bridge Street to Adams Street. Parkway will be closed and almost two miles of the Dan over the Dan Ryan. CUPPA offices move Relocation due to building damages By Anne Brooks Ranallo — aranallo@ uic.edu Most units of the College of Urban Planning and No classes were relocated, since CUPPA class- Public Affairs moved last week to temporary offices rooms are in the adjoining Art and Exhibition Hall. in the Student Residence Hall on the west side of A CUPPA student services center and faculty/stu- campus. dent meeting spaces were set up in the building and The Survey Research Lab moved to the Student a small computer lab is in the works.

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