Local Champaign Guatemalan collective aims to break down language barriers
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Local Champaign Guatemalan collective aims to break down language barriers

URBANA  – In 2018 Kora Maldonado was in the delivery room at one of the local hospitals. She was translating Qʼanjobʼal for a friend prior to giving birth to her first child. Spanish-speaking interpreters were available through a monitor screen, but they couldn’t understand her Maya Spanish. “I was kind of thinking through that experience…

From muscles to molecules, learn lots about science at the Beckman Institute this weekend

From muscles to molecules, learn lots about science at the Beckman Institute this weekend

URBANA – As I enter the atrium of the Beckman Institute, natural light shines down on dozens of research projects. I walk up to Luis Rodriguez Koett, an engineering Ph.D. student in the Autonomous Material Systems Group. He has a Captain America shield on his table. “This, unfortunately, is very sturdy, very strong. It requires a…

Local Champaign-Urbana tutoring programs aims aid elementary academic success

Local Champaign-Urbana tutoring programs aims aid elementary academic success

URBANA – The iRead and iCount programs provide tutoring for kindergarten and first-grade students who are having difficulties with their math and reading skills. The Champaign Unit 4 School District and Urbana School District 116 are benefiting from the programs. iRead and iCount volunteers spend one hour a week working with students over a two-month…

Pritzker touts funding during visit to Lincoln Land Community College

Pritzker touts funding during visit to Lincoln Land Community College

SPRINGFIELD – Gov. J.B. Pritzker said at a stop in Springfield Wednesday that his budget proposal, with more money for higher education, will provide the largest increase in community college funding in two decades. “Illinois’ community colleges serve as an accelerator for local economies and individual students alike,” he said. “Illinois is poised to make history:…

EIU faculty union contract talks continue, now with a potential strike approved by rank & file

EIU faculty union contract talks continue, now with a potential strike approved by rank & file

Federally mediated contract talks between Eastern Illinois University and its faculty and support staff union are scheduled to resume Monday, April 3. When they resume, officials with the EIU-University Professionals of Illinois chapter (Illinois Federation of Teachers Local 4100) hope the administration will feel more pressure to reach a settlement, following last week’s approval of a strike authorization vote.