On December 27, 2009–one day shy of a month ago–my mother passed away from complications related to a cancerous tumor and the resulting treatment.  She was 69 years old.  And when I saw her semi-conscious for the last time before she died, I barely recognized her. Coping with her death has not been easy–which is […]

As an employee of my alma mater, the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, I, too, will have to take the mandatory four unpaid furlough days–one a month over the next four months. Now, I have no illusions about the catastrophic mess that is the budget of the State of Illinois, and if by me taking four […]