Thanks to the generosity of one of Uni's most enthusiastic graduates, the school raised almost $24,000 this fall to support faculty development. Last month, Uni held an art auction made possible by the donation of 23 pieces of art to the school by 1950 alumna Ellie Stoddard Seibold. Ellie donated the art upon her death in 2002.

The 2009 swim season is drawing to a close, and for the team's four senior captains, that also means the end of their high school swimming careers. Recently, Eunjung Kim sat down with the foursome and asked them to share some of their memories of Uni High swimming.

Last year, Lisa Boyce broke one record after another as she swam for the Uni Killer Whales. Although she isn't swimming for Uni anymore, she's still in the pool racing at the national level. As her senior year unfolds, she's taking on the challenges of heavy practices, competitive meets, and college recruiting.

The 2009 Buddy Walk will take place Saturday at the Champaign County Fairgrounds in Urbana. The Buddy Walk is an annual fundraiser for the Champaign County Down Syndrome Network. The organization's president is SSO secretary/registrar Ellen Lindsey, whose son, Joey, is featured in a promotional billboard.

After Ellie Stoddard Seibold announced in November 2001 that she was giving $100,000 to Uni High, the Gargoyle's Gerry Shih wrote about the gift. We are republishing his article almost eight years later in conjunction with Friday's art auction, "Uni Celebrates the Arts," featuring more than 20 pieces donated by Ellie upon her death in 2002.

Senior Rachel Harmon challenged herself this summer by attending the prestigious Telluride Program at Cornell University. The result was nothing short of life changing. "You will learn something every day," she says, "in the same way that we physically grow every day, and because it happens so often, and it is so gradual, you will not realize the ways in which you have been transformed until you return to measure yourself against a familiar standard."

Nancy Tang is back from her year abroad in Shanghai, China, and eager to talk about her time in one of the world's largest cities. "In every sense, Shanghai is a city at the crossroads," she writes. "The cultural capital of China is where old meets new and East meets West, all blending into a bustling, cosmopolitan city."

Nancy Tang could have been president of the sophomore class during the 2008-09 school year. After all, she had already won the election. But she wound up spending the year living in China's largest city, Shanghai, a municipality of more than 18 million people. Now she's back, and Kahlilah Cooke has the story of her experience abroad.

The start of the 2009-10 school year saw the return of several Uni students who spent last year abroad. In this article, Eunjung Kim, Nancy Tang, and Erika Belmont talk to sophomores Elena Bauer and Sarah Yockey along with senior Nick Zukoski, who tell us about their experiences in Germany, Lithuania, and Singapore, respectively. Look for separate coverage of Nancy's own year in China.

Unlike last year, when Uni had a whopping 12 transfers, this year the school has only two new students (not including subfreshmen). A month into the school year, some of their classmates have already gotten to know Andrew Graham and Nikita Dutta. For the rest of us, here's a brief introduction to Uni's latest transfers.

Ever marvel at the intricacies of honey bee genomes? Biology teacher David Stone sure has, and he's doing all he can to spread the word through his work with BeeSpace. Read on about his involvement with this online look at all things bees.

When some of the best guitarists in the world descended on Champaign-Urbana last week, Uni grad Jake Hertzog ('03) was among their number. Hertzog performed Saturday afternoon at the Krannert Center along with legendary jazz bassist Harvie S. and drummer Victor Jones. Check out the sights and sounds in our audio slideshow.

Last year, Elizabeth Allen overheard Ethan Schiller excitedly mention a scholarship program he was applying to, which would send him on a three-week trip to Germany. So she was not surprised when, a few months later, she found herself scrolling through hundreds of Facebook pictures of Schiller in Germany.

Not many Uni students can say that they were detained by Moroccan soldiers and police this summer — in fact, there's only one. Senior Loic Hostetter and his roommate were taken into custody after one of them took a snapshot of a stop sign near a military base. But all ended well, and Loic now looks back fondly on his five weeks in Morocco.

The Uni chess team had a tremendous season last year, when the team took home state and national titles. The players received plenty of much-deserved attention, but what about the coach? As Uni enters this year as defending state champion, here's a look at Chris Merli, who took over the program in 2000.