Today marks the 25th anniversary of my employment at the University of Illinois.

It's hard to believe this much time has passed. That first day in 1982 may not seem like yesterday, but maybe it wasn't really a quarter century ago.

The Chicago Tribune's Julia Keller won the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for feature writing for her "gripping, meticulously constructed account" of the tornado that killed eight people in Utica, IL in April 2004. The Pulitzer judges' description is accurate; Keller's three-part series is a stellar work of journalism.

The series can be read here.

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From The Nation comes this excerpt:
In the media spin world, it doesn't matter that Dick Cheney has spoken publicly about his gay daughter or that she attended the Republican convention with her girlfriend and was even shown on TV. It doesn't matter that Mary Cheney, currently managing her father's campaign office, has not only been out of the ( Read more... )

The Chicago Tribune today endorsed Barack Obama to represent Illinois in the U. S. Senate.

( Read the Tribune's endorsement verbatim )

In an editorial that succinctly sums up the candidates' records, and their strengths and weaknesses, the Washington Post on Sunday endorsed John Kerry for President.
( Read the Post's endorsement verbatim )

Woman Disrupts Laura Bush Speech in N.J.

By JOHN P. McALPIN
Associated Press Writer
Published September 16, 2004, 7:10 PM CDT

HAMILTON, N.J. -- A woman wearing a T-shirt with the words "President Bush You Killed My Son" and a picture of a soldier killed in Iraq was detained Thursday after she interrupted a campaign speech by first lady Laura ( Read more... )

Twenty five years ago today, August 19, 1979, I arrived in Champaign-Urbana. I was a scared, shy, sheltered and skinny 18-year-old who was about to enter the University of Illinois. My parents helped me move my belongings in to the dorm, helped me get them organized a bit, and then we bid a tearful farewell.

I had no inkling on that hot sunny ( Read more... )

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While I was busy churning out software and debugging other people's code, Zydeco apparently had a productive day of her own killing mice and leaving them strategically situated for me to find upon my return home after a long day at the office.