CHICAGO - Lt. Governor Sheila Simon will give the commencement address on Friday for the City Colleges of Chicago Class of 2013. Nearly 4,000 students are expected to earn an associate's degree this year - the largest number in more than 20 years.

Simon will highlight the accomplishments of seven graduates who overcame obstacles to earn associate degrees that link them to in-demand jobs or bachelor's degree programs. Her featured students include a teenage mother turned valedictorian, a high school dropout turned Field Museum biologist, and an undocumented immigrant who learned Braille and English en route to a degree.

"Just as the City College system is reinventing itself, its graduates are reinventing themselves and making a difference in our communities," Simon said.  

In her first year in office, Simon visited each of the state's 48 community colleges in an effort to increase the proportion of adults with a college credential to 60 percent, up from the current 41 percent, by 2025.

DATE: Friday, May 3

TIME: 4 p.m.

PLACE: UIC Pavilion, 525 S. Racine Ave., Chicago

ROCK ISLAND, IL (05/02/2013)(readMedia)-- Thirty-seven students at Augustana College, in Rock Island, Ill., recently were elected into the college's Phi Beta Kapp chapter. This national academic honor society recognizes scholarly achievement, character, integrity, and independence of mind. Members are elected by faculty. Election is less a reward for past success than a recognition of exceptional promise for future growth and achievement.

Among the students honored:

Manisha Kumar, a senior from Davenport, Iowa, majoring in biology and pre-medicine.

Douglas Peters, a senior from Port Byron, Ill., majoring in neuroscience and biology.

Moselle Singh, a senior from LeClaire, Iowa, majoring in anthropology.

Astrid Tello-Rodriguez, a senior from Milan, Ill., majoring in psychology.

Anna Tunnicliff, a senior from Bettendorf, Iowa, majoring in history.

The new Phi Beta Kappa members will be formally honored on campus and introduced at the Senior Honors Convocation on Saturday, May 18, at 12 noon, in Centennial Hall (3703 7th Ave., Rock Island).

Phi Beta Kappa was founded in 1776 and celebrates and advocates excellence in the liberal arts and sciences. It has more than half a million members and chapters at 283 American colleges and universities. Invitation to membership is a reflection of outstanding achievement. Only about 10 percent of the nation's institutions of higher learning have Phi Beta Kappa chapters, and only about 10 percent of the arts and sciences graduates of these institutions are selected for Phi Beta Kappa membership.

About Augustana: Founded in 1860, Augustana College is a selective four-year residential college of the liberal arts and sciences. Augustana is recognized for the innovative program Augie Choice, which provides each student up to $2,000 to pursue a high-impact learning experience such as study abroad, an internship or research with a professor. Alumni include 140 Academic All-Americans, a Nobel laureate, 14 college presidents and other distinguished leaders. The college enrolls 2,500 students and is located along one of the world's most important waterways, the Mississippi River, in a community that reflects the diversity of the United States.

(DES MOINES) - Gov. Branstad is ordering all flags in the state to be flown at half-staff from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday, May 3, 2013, to honor Vietnam War Aviation Antisubmarine Warfare Technician Donald P. McGrane of Waverly, Iowa, who was set to be laid to rest today at Arlington National Cemetery.  

McGrane had been missing since July 19, 1967.  

The governor's directive applies to all U.S. and state flags under the control of the state. H.R. 692, signed in 2007, requires federal government agencies in the state to comply with the governor's executive order that the U.S. flag be flown at half-staff in the event of the death of a member of the Armed Forces.  

Flags will be at half-staff on the state Capitol building and on flag displays in the Capitol complex, and upon all public buildings, grounds, and facilities throughout the state. Individuals, businesses, schools, municipalities, counties and other government subdivisions are encouraged to fly the flag at half-staff for the same length of time as a sign of respect.

For background on Donald P. McGrane, please see the below release from the Department of Defense:

Sailors Missing From Vietnam War Identified

The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced today that a Navy pilot, missing from the Vietnam War, has been accounted for and will be buried with full military honors along with his crew. 

Navy Lt. Dennis W. Peterson of Huntington Park, Calif., was the pilot of a SH-3A helicopter that crashed in Ha Nam Province, North Vietnam. Peterson was accounted for on March 30, 2012. Also, aboard the aircraft was Ensign Donald P. Frye of Los Angeles, Calif.; Aviation Antisubmarine Warfare Technicians William B. Jackson of Stockdale, Texas; and Donald P. McGrane of Waverly, Iowa. The crew will be buried, as a group, on May 2 at Arlington National Cemetery. 

On July 19, 1967, the four servicemen took off from the USS Hornet aboard an SH-3A Sea King helicopter, on a search and rescue mission looking for a downed pilot in Ha Nam Province, North Vietnam. During the mission, an enemy concealed 37mm gun position targeted the helicopter as it flew in. The helicopter was hit by the anti-aircraft gunfire, causing the aircraft to lose control, catch fire and crash, killing all four servicemen. 

In October 1982, the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (S.R.V.) repatriated five boxes of remains to U.S. officials. In 2009, the remains within the boxes were identified as Frye, Jackson, and McGrane. 

In 1993, a joint U.S./S.R.V. team, investigated a loss in Ha Nam Province. The team interviewed local villagers who identified possible burial sites linked to the loss. One local claimed to have buried two of the crewmen near the wreckage, but indicated that both graves had subsequently been exhumed. 

Between 1994 and 2000, three joint U.S./S.R.V. teams excavated the previous site and recovered human remains and aircraft wreckage that correlated to the crew's SH-3A helicopter. In 2000, U.S. personnel excavated the crash site recovering additional remains. Analysis from the Joint POW/MIA Command Central Identification Laboratory subsequently designated these additional remains as the co-mingled remains of all four crewmen, including Peterson. 

DoD scientists used forensic tools and circumstantial evidence in the identification of the remains. 

For additional information on the Defense Department's mission to account for missing Americans, visit the DPMO website at www.dtic.mil/dpmo or call 703-699-1420.

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CHICAGO - May 2, 2013. As the state's point person on education reform, Lt. Governor Sheila Simon today issued the following statement in support of Senate Joint Resolution 32 sponsored by Sen. Andy Manar (D-Bunker Hill)

The resolution creates the General Assembly's Advisory Committee on Education Funding, which will review the state's system to fund education. The committee will issue recommendations by Feb. 1, 2014 that are aimed at reforming state funding of education in order to make it more equitable and boost student success.

"Under the current funding structure, students' learning opportunities are influenced by zip code, perpetuating a system of haves and have-nots. We need to ensure that educational opportunity is available to every student, everywhere in the state, so we can build a skilled workforce and help our economy grow.  

"I encourage members of the General Assembly to pass Sen. Manar's resolution, which will help us take a comprehensive look at our education funding system and could find areas where we can strengthen and expand the opportunities offered to our future leaders."

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