Emmys trivia: Test your Illinois State alumni IQ

Jane Lynch, Sean Hayes and John Malkovich

Former Redbirds Jane Lynch, Sean Hayes and John Malkovich. (Lynch photo via Creative Commons license Flickr user greginhollywood) The 64th annual Primetime Emmy Awards are Sunday night, so the STATEside crew thought it would be the perfect time to test your Illinois State alumni IQ. After all, Illinois State alums (many from the College of

Alum jumps into politics with run for Congress

Running unopposed is good news for any candidate, but for Timothy Wolfe ’78, it was especially welcome. That’s because the first-time congressional candidate is also an accountant, and a contested March primary would have overlapped with tax season – his busiest time of year. “I was able to put off starting campaigning until after April

This Week in Illinois State history: September 19, 2012

Vidette archives

Every week, we use STATEside to take a look back at the recent and not-so recent past, using the archives at the Vidette. If you recall any of the campus happenings referenced in our This Week in Illinois State History feature, feel free to post in the Comments below.

Circus legacy found inside Milner Library’s ‘Vault’

Aerialist Standing on Trapeze

There aren’t a lot of places on the Illinois State campus where, at 9 a.m. on a weekday, a visitor has to be buzzed in through a locked door to reach a room called “The Vault.” This is where Maureen Brunsdale and Mark Schmitt ’96 call home. They run Milner Library’s Special Collections and Rare

Family Weekend 2012: Your best tweets, posts, photos

Family Weekend Twitter photo

Parents and siblings who made the trek to Illinois State University for Family Weekend had plenty to tweet about. A double-overtime football win over Eastern Illinois was just one highlight on a packed Family Weekend schedule, coordinated by the Student Community Outreach Office of the Dean of Students Office. Here’s a recap of what students

Watch President Bowman’s State of the University speech online

Al Bowman at SOTU

Illinois State President Al Bowman will deliver the annual State of the University address at 2 p.m. Thursday in the Center for the Performing Arts Concert Hall. The address will be streamed live and will later be available here on STATEside and our YouTube page. You can also follow along with the speech on our

This Week in Illinois State History: September 13, 2012

Illinois State students on the Quad

Illinois State students on the Quad for the first-year 9/11 anniversary on September 11, 2002. (Vidette file) Every week, we use STATEside to take a look back at the recent and not-so recent past, using the archives at the Vidette. If you recall any of the campus happenings referenced in our This Week in Illinois

Horticulture Center shows off sinister side of plants

People at Horticulture Center

Standing tall at Illinois State’s Horticulture Center is the castor bean plant, a fast-growing suckering shrub with dark-reddish purple leaves. It’s a beautiful plant. And it can also kill you. The seeds from the castor bean plant are poisonous to people, animals and insects. That’s because the toxic protein in the castor bean is ricin.

Alum’s iPhone hack makes him tech celebrity

Illinois State alumnus Peter Lamonica with phone

Peter Lamonica ’07 became a tech mini-celebrity last fall when he cracked the iPhone’s Siri voice-recognition program, racking up 440,000 views on his YouTube “how to” video and landing on Wired.com and other sites. But the most entertaining part? That was when Kevin Jonas – yes, from The Jonas Brothers – started following him on

Alum becomes ‘hero teacher’ in school shooting

Illinois State alumnus Derrick Schonauer

Derrick Schonauer ’12 is being called a hero for subduing a student who fired a gun during school Friday, but he’s not spending much time basking in the limelight. “I won’t be taking any questions today, because I need to get back to my kids,” the College of Applied Science and Technology graduate told reporters