uicnews.uic.edu February 15 2017 Volume 36 / Number 21 uicnews.uic.edu For the community of the University of Illinois at Chicago Researchers of the Year Celebrating UIC scientists advancing knowledge in their fields / pg. 5 Photo: Jenny Fontaine Leaders detail Faculty to Spacial planner 2 - student voice impact of perform in to head urban 4 - campus news budget ‘Ivan the planning, 9 - calendar impasse Terrible’ policy 10 - deaths 3 4 11 12 - sports Facebook / uicnews Twitter / uicnews YouTube / uicmedia Flickr / uicnews Instagram / thisisuic & uicamiridis 2 UIC News | Wednesday, February 15, 2017 LUNARNew Year By Bri Cooper — [email protected] Lunar New Year is a celebra- dents worked together to create tory time in East Asia that brings the filling before wrapping their together family, friends and own wontons. The activity gave loved ones to welcome prosper- residents an opportunity to get ity and good fortune into their behind the scenes and make lives. In Campus Housing’s something simple and delicious James Stukel Towers (JST), resi- for the New Year. dents did just that Feb. 1 by en- Nearly 400 wontons were gaging in fun activities that produced in a single night, and taught them the history and cul- not a single one remained. ture behind this month-long hol- Residents also made paper iday. lanterns to hang in their resi- More than 80 residents came dence hall rooms. together in JST for a night of cel- Red envelopes also were dis- ebration. Residents made their tributed and residents wrote own wontons, Chinese dump- fortunes and “good luck” notes Students celebrate Lunar New Year Feb. 1 with cultural food and paper lanterns in James Stukel Towers. lings that are steamed. Resi- to give to their friends. uicnews.uic.edu UIC News | Wednesday, February 15, 2017 3 Cure Violence rises to No. 12 on list of top global NGOs By Sharon Parmet — [email protected] Cure Violence is ranked 12th in NGO Advisor’s lence acts like a contagious disease, spreading from 2017 report of the Top 500 NGOs in the world, one of person to person as people adopt the behaviors they the definitive international rankings of non- observe in their friends and peers. governmental organizations. Cure Violence has been “Being named as one of the top NGOs in the world among the top 20 NGOs for four consecutive years is truly an honor, and we are happy to share it with our and moved up two places from last year. many partners who are implementing the Cure Vio- Cure Violence uses a public health approach to lence model around the world,” Slutkin said. “We see stop the spread of violence in communities by detect- the ranking as a recognition of the importance of re- ing and interrupting conflicts, identifying and treating ducing violence, especially as it is on the rise in so the highest risk individuals and changing social norms many places; also of the impact of public health meth- — resulting in reductions in violence of 40 percent to ods, which have been so valuable in so many other 70 percent. Cure Violence is effective in lessening fields in helping to address violence.” street and youth violence, as well as family violence, Several external evaluations have shown its ap- cartel, tribal, election and prison violence and is in- proach reduces acts of violence by 40 percent to 50 creasingly being consulted on violent extremism and percent in the first year, and up to 70 percent over a mass shootings. two- to three-year period. Cities around the world have turned to the Cure Vio- “We have shown with our Cure Violence model that lence model to prevent violence — from sectarian vio- the results in reducing violence are immediate once lence in Iraq, to community violence in Honduras, to the program goes into place in a community,” Slutkin prison violence in England. Programs are expanding said. into new communities in Mexico, El Salvador, Guate- Recent research has also shown that when violence mala and Latin America, as well as in the Middle East, interrupters trained by Cure Violence are active in their including Syria. Cure Violence has more than 100 part- own communities, reductions in shootings and killings ners on four continents in more than 40 cities and can be sustained for years — and when those pro- communities. grams are temporarily reduced, violence can re- The organization was founded in 1995 by Gary emerge. Slutkin, professor of epidemiology and global health in “There is a lot of demand for Cure Violence now, “There is a lot of demand for Cure Violence,” says Gary the School of Public Health, and formerly of the World and we hope to be able to meet this demand,” Slutkin Slutkin, professor of epidemiology and global health. (Photo: Vibhu S. Rangavasan) Health Organization. It is based on his idea that vio- said. “That’s our responsibility now.” UIC leaders detail impact of budget impasse By Francisca Corona — [email protected] As the state budget stalemate nears its a draft of the fiscal 2017 budget, following the two-year mark, university officials are prepar- same planning assumptions as 2016, will be ing to make additional budget cuts while con- posted. tinuing to diversify revenue streams. Starting in fiscal 2018, additional measures “We have been holding our ground,” Chan- will be taken to address the shortfalls, including cellor Michael Amiridis told community mem- selective budget cuts, which could fall anywhere bers at a town hall held by the Academic between 3 percent and 10 percent. Professional Advisory Committee Feb. 9, “A lot of it depends on the size of the hole we addressing the budget gridlock’s effects, have,” Amiridis said. “but I don’t know for how much longer we’ll Despite the university’s financial situation, he be able to.” noted that UIC will not close. Amiridis and other university leaders ex- “It will continue to grow, it will continue to grow plained that UIC has not received a full-year organically like we have over the last few years budget appropriation since fiscal 2015, and and it will continue to grow through merger ac- even though stopgap funding was approved in quisition, the way we have historically grown over fiscal 2016, sending $180 million to the Uni- the years,” he said. versity of Illinois system, the amount was And student enrollment has actually increased about 27 percent of what the system expected over the last few years. to receive, leaving UIC with a budget shortfall “That’s a saving ground for us,” Amiridis added. of about $125 million. The stopgap partially Recruitment of students from outside of Illi- funded Monetary Assistance Program (MAP) grants, ate chancellor and vice provost for budget and re- nois, including 39 international students in January, is too, but it only provided $170 million statewide, about source planning. “At this time, we have no appropriation one of the university’s revenue streams that adminis- 45 percent of the fiscal 2015 appropriation. for the remainder of the year,” she added. A gap of $75 trators are focusing on, said Susan Poser, provost and To address the shortfall, UIC placed 39 percent of million remains. vice chancellor for academic affairs. She expects that units’ and departments’ state, institutional and student The state has also failed to fund $32 million in MAP the university will establish revenue-producing part- fee accounts in escrow at the close of the last fiscal grants, which UIC has accepted “in good faith, expect- nerships for online programs, and deans have been year; the money is expected to be returned after bud- ing the state to pay us back,” Amiridis said. Without fur- asked to prioritize fundraising. In the future, administra- gets has been approved. ther action from the state, the university has a potential tors would like to pursue public-private partnership For fiscal 2017, UIC has received only about six liability of being short $107 million in fiscal 2017. agreements that could finance the construction of new months of its appropriation, said Janet Parker, associ- Until a state budget is authorized for this fiscal year, campus facilities. 4 UIC News | Wednesday, February 15, 2017 CAMPUS NEWS ‘Ivan the Terrible’ to feature UIC faculty By Carlos Sadovi — [email protected] Yasen Peyankov, associate professor and head of theatre, will perform with the Chicago Symphony Or- chestra and the Chicago Symphony Chorus in upcom- ing presentations of “Ivan the Terrible.” Peyankov, who is based in UIC’s School of Theatre and Music, will serve as narrator, and French actor Gé- rard Depardieu will perform as Ivan. Riccardo Muti will conduct the orchestra and the Chicago Symphony Chorus. UIC adjunct voice faculty Amy Pickering and Klaus Georg, as well as Ashlee Hardgrave, music programs manager/admissions and recruitment in the depart- (Photo: Jenny Fontaine) ment of music, will sing with the chorus. Performances take place at 8 p.m. Feb. 23, 24 and 25 at Orchestra Hall, 220 S. Michigan Ave. “Ivan the Terrible” was a film collaboration between Going bald for composer Sergei Prokofiev and director Sergei Eisen- Yasen Peyankov, associate professor and head of the- atre, performs in “Ivan the Terrible.” cancer research stein that details the bloodthirsty tyrant Ivan IV Vasily- evich, tsar of Russia from 1533 to 1584. By Jackie Carey — [email protected] A native of Bulgaria, Peyankov trained in the tradi- nated for a Jeff for his translation of Chekhov’s “Ivanov.” The Children’s Hospital University of Illinois will tion of Konstantin Stanislavski at the National Academy His film credits include Robert Altman’s “The Company,” host its annual head-shaving event to raise money of Theatre and Film Arts of Sofia and co-founded the and he has appeared in nine television series, includ- for the St.