Explore ACES

By: Alyssa Mannion

"What people don't realize is that you can make a career out of feeding cattle," said John Erdman, Assistant Dean of Nutritional Sciences. "And that's just one direction you can take here in the College of ACES."

This past weekend, the College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences (ACES) had activity days where the public could explore the academic and career-path opportunities provided within the college. Such areas of study offered at the College of ACES include bioengineering, community development, economics, human nutrition, plant breeding, resource ecology, and pre-veterinary studies. Each of the undergraduate majors set up their own exhibits at the event. Though the event is primarily aimed toward high school grads or college transfer students, there were many families enjoying the hands-on exhibits.

The Department of Animal Sciences was set up in an indoor pen near the Natural Resource Building. Animals such as cows, horses, chicken, snakes, and ferrets could be held. Visitors could milk a cow, hold a snake, feed horses, and watch chicks hatch. There were also multiple exhibits set up with information about clubs and job opportunities.

In the Rodeo Club, members can go trail riding and participate in rodeos. The club raises money for Generations of Hope, a non-profit organization for foster children. The president of the club said that a person does not need to know a thing about horses or rodeos. You just have to be interested to become a member.

As Erdman expressed earlier, there are a lot of opportunities provided within the College of ACES that people do not necessarily realize. Just cows and chickens alone have endless career paths beyond farming. With chickens, for example, a person can go into environmental research, nutrition research, and cancer research. The National Institutes of Health even declared the chicken its official model for ovarian cancer because chickens have similar menstrual cycles to humans.

Livvie Nealy, a student in the Department of Animal Sciences, said she hopes to find a career in dairy genetics to determine what genes make up the best type of bull or cow. She grew up on a small farm in Cullom and has been around animals all of her life. Her love for animals obviously made the College of ACES a perfect fit here the University of Illinois.

A Minute with May

By: Rae Markwell, Julie Yoo
Journalism 199 students Rae Markwell and Julie Yoo interviewed entomology professor May Berenbaum during the 27th Annual Insect Fear Film Festival, held on Saturday, Feb. 27 at Foellinger Auditorium on the University of Illinois campus.

Here's what the "queen bee" of the festival had to say, along with sights and sounds observed during the event.

J199 students get first crack at field reporting

By Eric Steckling

Most students would be out reveling in the Green Street nightlife or taking it easy at their dorm or apartment on a Saturday night.

But on Saturday, Feb. 27, students from the Science & The Media class were hard at work, reporting on the 27th annual Insect Fear Film Festival held at Foellinger Auditorium.

Armed with video cameras, audio recorders, and notebooks, the students set out asking experts, community members, random bug lovers, and even...each other... about everything the festival had to offer.

For most students, it was their first time acting as a live journalist out in the field.

"It was a pretty cool experience. I never knew some people loved bugs so much," student Robbie Lowe said.

While a lot of people may be timid about being assigned to interview complete strangers, the students took the crowd and patrolled the room looking for interviews. 

The students then had to turn around and blog about their experience, choosing to write about bugs, an art contest and the head of the entomology department, along with a number of other topics.

One of the most impressive skills displayed by this group of freshmen is that they picked up quickly on how to interact with subjects, reporting on different exhibits while trying them out at the same time.

Insect Fear Film Festival

By Kiana Hickman
The 2010 Insect Fear Film Festival was held on February 27. More than half the audience was with someone younger than the age of fourteen. Most parents were there because it was an event that got the kids involved. Indeed they were involved. Many of the children entered the drawing contest they have every year. It was difficult getting in the doors. People were all over the place.

As I walked through the crowded hall of Foellinger Auditorium I was surprised to see hundreds of people. Some stood at the table touching the different insects. Others stared and commented on the pictures the kids had drawn. Many were seated waiting for the film to start.

I pushed my way through the crowd and smiled at the excited red-haired little boy who bounced up and down as he sat on his fathers shoulders. I managed to get out of the crowd and walk over to the two, who introduce themselves before I could even speak. Charles Kostro and his son, Joshua, are from the area and come to this event every year. Joshua loves beetles and isn't afraid of bugs. Charles said, "We enjoy the show."

Insect Fear Film Festival Fun for All

By Matt Olsen

February 27th was an exciting night filled with countless insects and other arthropods. The 27th Annual Insect Fear Film Festival at Foellinger Auditorium featured an insect petting zoo, an art contest for children, and two films about arthropods, Ice Crawlers and The Black Scorpion.

One of the festival’s main attractions was the 1957 classic The Black Scorpion. The film is about a gigantic scorpion wreaking havoc on a Mexican village.

When asked about how realistic the film was, Dr. May Berenbaum chuckled and said, “What’s less than not at all?”

The main lobby was packed with people of all ages but was especially crowded with young children. Kids flocked to the insect petting zoo to examine lubber grasshoppers, hissing cockroaches, and horseshoe crabs. Gwynn Puckett, a graduate student in the Department of Entomology, worked the petting zoo for most of the night.

“The petting zoo is really good at showing kids insects aren’t threatening,” Puckett said.

Puckett held one lubber grasshopper in her hand, while another rested on her shoulder, and explained what made the insect unique. The lubber, scientifically named Romalea guttata, is a particularly large species of grasshopper that is unusually calm. Its quiet nature makes it ideal for experimentation, Puckett said.

Four-year old Jack Minor said the grasshopper was his favorite insect, but that he would not pet it.

Jack’s father, John Minor, said he was very impressed by the festival. “It’s a great time. I’ll bring the kids, let them see the bugs. They love them,” Minor said.

Insect Fear Film Festival Impressions

http://oliverbobadilla.blogspot.com/

Art draws kids to festival

At the Insect Fear Film Festival held at Foellinger Auditorium three-hundred and sixty entries were submitted to the Art Contest, the largest amount of entries the entomology faculty has seen since they first began the contest.

One of the winners from the elementary level attended the Insect Fear Film Festival to be recognized for her accomplishment. "Once we found out about the Insect Fear Festival from Maren's teacher, we could not miss it," said Laura Larkin, Maren Markin's mother. Maren is a second grader from Carrie Busey Elemtary School. "Her teacher submitted the best drawings, and Maren's ended up getting second."

Maren said she likes insects because "they have been around for so long." Maren is not afraid of insects, but she does not like grasshoppers or cockroaches. She said the rest are fine.

Charles Kostro and his son, Joshua Kostro, come to the film festival every year. “It is something interactive for the kids to do,” said Charles. He said they really like beetles.

A close ratio of adults to children attended the festival. Most who attended were either there with their children, or wanted to learn the history and evolution of bugs.

UK Scientist Shows Off Specimens

By: Nicholas Stathopoulos

The University of Illinois Champaign-Urbana’s Foellinger Auditorium lobby was packed Feb. 27, although this time, some audience members were as old as the dinosaurs.

The 27th annual Insect Fear Film Festival was held at the U of I Foellinger Auditorium. The festival featured face painting, an insect petting zoo, and movies of creepy crawling insects to wrap up the night.

The festival attracted many scientists from a wide variety of places, including the United Kingdom.

Sam Heads, research scientist from the Illinois Natural History Survey and native of the United Kingdom, was present at the festival.

Heads was showing off several fossils he has collected, including ones from the Dominican Republic and Brazil.

The most captivating fossil Heads had was a 20-million-year-old cricket enclosed in a rock of amber.

“The piece of amber has been polished and prepared so you can see through it and shine a light through it,” Heads said.

The cricket specimen was also placed under a microscope so individuals could see the insect in great detail.

“If you have a look through the scope, you’ll be able to see some exceptional details of the specimen there,” Heads said.

Heads was also showing other fossils of insects that were preserved in limestone, although these were not under microscopes for magnified viewing. According to Heads, these fossils were 110 to 115 million years old.

“(This) falls well within the age of the dinosaurs,” said Heads. “So when the dinosaurs were wandering around, doing what dinosaurs did, these guys were still hopping around, singing, just as they do today.”

Sights and Sounds of the Insect Fear Film Festival

By: Danny Hahn

This year's Insect Fear Film Festival brought fun and entertaining films, displays, and attractions to throngs of excited veterans and newcomers alike. One of the more popular attractions seemed to be the insect "petting zoo", where guests could hold all sorts of creepy-crawlies and learn a thing or two about them in the process. Visitors perused the various table displays and learned interesting entomological facts that tied into the theme for this year's festival: "prehistoric insects." The IFFF Art Contest submissions were also on display for visitors and proud parents to admire while navigating the bustling and crowded Foellinger auditorium. May Berenbaum, the program director for IFFF, announced the contest winners as well as introduced the main attraction, the insect fear films: The Black Scorpion and Ice Crawlers. Below is a short movie highlighting some of the sights and sounds of the 27th annual Insect Fear Film Festival.

The Insect Film Festival a New Learning Environment for Children

By Dainya Wesley

The Insect Fear Film Festival held on Saturday, Feb. 27, at the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign created an atmosphere of knowledge for children. Excited children of all ages filled the exhibit at Foellinger Hall.

Fossils and insects galore were present for children to learn about. The horseshoe crab, Romaleo Gutlata grasshopper, Madagascar cockroach and a number of fossils visited this past weekend’s festival.

“This is an experience that children do not typically get in the classroom,” said the mother of Jack Minor.

Jack was one of the many students in awe of the insects and enthusiastically browsing the exhibits. The insect artwork competition not only displayed numerous elementary school students artistic abilities, but their understanding of the insects and fossils as well. The third grade elementary student Spencer Walden submitted artwork for festival. His eagerness to find out who won the competition leaped from his face.

The festival workers' knowledge of the insects was impressive. The children absorbed the facts about the critters while having the opportunity to interact with them.

The children brave enough held and touched the insects. The children not interested in having direct contact with the insects were able to view from afar and get their faces painted.

Bug Passion

By: Braden Thompson

Passionate about studying bugs? This was something that, at one point, I could not comprehend. I thought they were just bugs. I entered the Insect Fear Film Festival with this belief, but it would soon change.

The doors had not yet opened so it was a perfect time to interview people running the event. The first person I interviewed was Nils Cordes. Little did I know that this would be the interview that changed my mind.

I felt that this interview was going to be very awkward, that is, until I asked Nils what he specialized in with his entomology studies. His eyes immediately lit up with excitement. He could not stop talking about his studies about social insects (mainly bees and termites). There were many things that he said that I did not comprehend fully, but I could see the inspiration he had in his work. This was the biggest thing I came away with from the event.

Nils Cordes’ interview was the one that I remember the best, but it certainly was not unique. Every person who was working the event that I interviewed had the same expression on his face when being interviewed - a look of genuine enthusiasm. This is more than a job for them. It is a passion, and it happens to be their career.

Their career is something that they want to share. It is the whole point of the Insect Fear Film Festival. It appears the festival is to inform the public about insects, but the more I think about it I realize that it is for the entomology students to express their passion. What is the point of having a passion that is hidden? Kids swarmed the “petting zoo” and face paint areas with wide grins, and the grins were the same as the students working the event. Maybe that is what a passion is; being a kid at work. It turns from work to fun.

Nils Cordes paints a visitor's face. (photo by Oliver Bobadilla)

Bugs and Scientists

By John Mayida
“Insect Fear Film Festival” on Saturday, February 27, 2010, was one successful event in the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. The Foellinger Auditorium was jam packed with adults and children with one thing in common -- the love and fear of bugs. The theme of the 27th consecutive “Insect Fear Film Festival” was Prehistoric Insects. There were display cases filled with insects and other critters ranging from a few recent years up to millions of years old for this event.

Scientist Sam Heads, discussed his research at the University. As an entomologist, he studies insects. We found him with a powerful microscope and he introduced us to what was being scoped. He showed a very small piece of limestone that looked like a tiny piece of yellow paper. This limestone amber is preserving a fossil cricket 20 million years old. "This limestone is early cretaceous limestone from Brazil and is 110 to 115 million years old, which is well within the age of the dinosuars. So when the dinosuars were wondering around doing what dinosuars did... these guys were still hopping around and singing like they do today," Heads said.

The festival showed two films about ... you guessed right, BUGS!
"The Black Scorpion" is a black and white movie from 1957 and "Ice Crawler" was made in 2003. These movies made the audience laugh out loud because of all the cheesey acting. Once in a while you would hear a few people gasping.

Besides insects there were drawings and other art entries from students in the community schools. Many of the young artists were there showing their parents and bug lovers what they drew. These kids knew all about their bugs.

Faces of the Festival

By: Caleb Bryant and Matt Golden
On a winter night kids, parents, and students poured into Foellinger Auditorium for a viewing of monstrous scorpions, deadly trilobites, and handheld grasshoppers. The 27th annual Insect Fear Film Festival was held at the University of Illinois this past weekend and people came out to view the variety of bugs, arachnids, and other creepy crawlies. Some came just for the films, some for the petting zoo, and others to see the ancient fossils.

“It’s so cute,” young Keli squealed as she held a cockroach. Children were the main audience for the event.



They walked around with painted butterflies on their faces and actual grasshoppers on their sleeves. They gazed at the “bug petting zoo” with its black scorpions, grasshoppers, and huge horseshoe crabs. Many were fascinated by the insects but others did not take kindly to the bugs. “This one had a very negative reaction to the cockroach,” Chad Euing said, referring to his daughter.

Another great part of the festival was the art exhibit that showcased the artwork of students in the local area. This brought many members of the younger generation to the festival.

Even the parents found the event entertaining. Though some felt they were there only there to be with their kids, many found the festival very enjoyable. They took pictures of the children covered in bugs and some even decided to face their fear and hold the bugs. Some were excited to see the exhibits. “Kids love it, but sometimes you get an adult that is more enthused than the kid,” said bug scope operator Alex Lazarevich.



Also present at the festival were a number of university entomology students and faculty who explained to the festival goers the details of the insects. They walked around covered in a variety of different insects, telling spectators why the grasshoppers don’t fly and the anatomy of horseshoe crabs. Many explained that the “insects” being shown in the film were actually arachnids which belong to entirely different class than insects. They patiently showed off the fossils and models of the insects. They painted butterflies and trilobites on the faces and hands of the children. Some even showed off the famous “bug scope” which magnified the different specimens that elementary students collected.



The event coordinator and creator, May Berenbaum, moved swiftly through the crowd taking questions and making sure everything was going smoothly. Berenbaum has been in charge of running the festival for twenty-seven years and has an impressive resume as head of the Entomology Department at the University of Illinois. The Film Festival was a great way to give the public firsthand experience with insects. “Where else can you get a face painting of a trilobite!” she exclaimed.

What is an Insect?

By: Alyssa Mannion and Monshay Fitzpatrick

The most basic definition of an insect is a small air-breathing arthropod. Insects have three pairs of legs (six legs total) and three body regions--head, thorax, and abdomen. Entomologists, scientists who study insects, would also add that insects have antennae and external mouthparts. As a group (class Insecta), insects are considered the largest group of organisms on earth. Scientists have found and named more than one million species of insects, not to mention the ones that have not been named or discovered yet.

Because they belong to the phylum arthropods within the Animal Kingdom, all insects have exoskeletons or hard outer skeletons that protect and support an organism's body. The "Insect Fear Film Festival" featured two movies on scorpions and ancient trilobites. These creepy crawlers are not considered insects, but science fiction movies make their own definitions. Insects only have six legs while scorpions have eight legs and trilobites had many more. Yet other classes of arthropods include: Arachnida (spiders), Crustacea (crabs), and Myriapoda (millipedes and centipedes). Thus, the film features on scorpions and trilobites were actually quite appropriate because they are found in the same phylum as insects.

While they do have exoskeletons, insects do not have backbones. They are the only invertebrates that are capable of flight. Insects also have incredible vision. Some have thousands of lenses in their eyes, which is called a composite eye. As a result, their field of vision is much wider than that of most organisms.

Insects exist in nearly all types of environments. However, only a small portion can survive in water. Most insects are found in soil, leaf litter, or in rotting logs. Along with this, insects can either be diurnal (active during the day) or nocturnal (active during the night), or a combination of the both. For more information on insects, see:

http://www.news.illinois.edu/news/10/0208festival.html