Coming events

Hip-hop artist Yung Joc performs at 8 p.m., Wednesday, Feb. 14, at Shryock Auditorium. Tickets are $23. Tickets may be ordered through Ticketmaster at 866/646-8849, at any Ticketmaster outlet, or in person at the SIU Arena ticket office or the Student Center central ticket office.

The Business Placement Center at the College of Business and Administration is holding an Open House on Thursday, Feb. 15, from 3 to 6 p.m., in Rehn Hall room 113. The event is free and open to all CoBA students. There will be free food and a drawing to pick two lucky winners who will each receive a $50 Target gift card. Target and CoBA are sponsoring the event.

Massimo Pigliucci, a professor in the Department of Ecology & Evolution at the State University of New York-Stony Brook, will give the annual Darwin's Birthday Lecture. The event is set for 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 15, in the SIU Law School Auditorium.

Tyler K. Kuebler, an assistant professor in the School of Music, performs a saxophone recital at 7:30 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 15, in the Old Baptist Foundation Recital Hall. Admission is free.

A half-day conference on employing college graduates with disabilities is from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., Friday, Feb. 16, in the Student Health Center Auditorium. The conference is free, but registration is required by calling or emailing Christina Rich at 618/453-4078. SIUC's Office of Disability Support Services and the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute are sponsoring the event.

School of Music Professor and Distinguished Scholar Eric P. Mandat on clarinet and lecturer Ronald E. Coulter on percussion perform a faculty improvisation recital at 7:30 p.m., Friday, Feb. 16, in Altgeld Hall, room 112. Admission is free.

Openings remain for the "Maple Syrupin' Pancake Breakfast and Workshop” from 9 a.m. to noon, Saturday, Feb. 17. A pancake breakfast is followed by a two-hour maple syrup workshop presented by Touch of Nature Environmental Center staff. The cost is $12 for adults; $6 for children 5 to 10 years old. Children under 5 are free. Proceeds will go to helping students attend workshops offered by Touch of Nature's Environmental Education program. The rain date is Feb. 24. For registration and directions call 618/453-1121.

The nationally ranked Saluki men's basketball team faces nationally ranked Butler at 3 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 17, in Indianapolis in an ESPN BracketBuster game. The Salukis are ranked No. 15 in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll, and No. 16 in the Associated Press poll. The game is televised on ESPN 2.

Garland Allen of Washington University in St. Louis is speaking on "The Pragmatics of Social Control: From Social Darwinism to Eugenics and the ‘Control of the Human Evolution,' " at 3 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 17, in Faner Hall Museum Auditorium. Admission is free.

"No Land's Man: A Chapter in the Lives of Dred & Harriett Scott," is presented at 7 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 17, in the Christian H. Moe Theater in the Communications Building. The event is part of Black History Month. Admission is free.

School of Music Director Robert L. Weiss will hold a final concert on his trombone, at 7:30 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 17, in the Old Baptist Foundation Recital Hall. Anita Hutton, assistant to the dean, on piano and organ, associate professor Robert E. Allison, on trumpet, and professor Frank L. Stemper on piano, join Weiss. The group will play music by Anthony Plog, one of the leading composers of contemporary music. The faculty recital is free and open to the public.

One of Chicago's top Blues bands, The Siegel-Schwall Band, performs at 7:30 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 17, at Shryock Auditorium. Tickets are $24; $18 for senior citizens 60 and older and children 15 and younger. Tickets may be ordered through Ticketmaster at 866/646-8849, at any Ticketmaster outlet, or in person at the SIU Arena ticket office or the Student Center central ticket office.

State Rep. Arthur Turner, deputy majority leader of the Illinois House, receives the 2007 Ralph A. Dunn Public Service Award and presents a lecture at 7 p.m., Monday, Feb. 19, in the Student Center Auditorium. Admission is free.