MONDAY September 23, 2019
THE DAILY ILLINI
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Vol. 149 Issue 9
University plans for second solar farm BY LUIS VELAZQUEZ STAFF WRITER
A $20 million contract to create and build a second solar farm, Solar Farm 2.0, near the University was recently signed. Once completed, Solar Farm 2.0 will create the amount of electricity used in 2,000 average American homes. The 54-acre solar farm will be built near the north side of Curtis Road, between First Street and the Canadian National railroad tracks by Neil Street. Under the 20-year contract, Sol Systems, LLC will be designing, building and operating the 10-megawatt solar array and will sell the energy to the campus at a fixed rate of $45.99 per megawatt hour each year. Discussions of a new solar farm started in 2017, according to a Facilities & Services press release. The site selection was approved in 2018 and Sol Systems, LLC was chosen as the official vendor in February. The farm is designed to help the University meet clean energy targets outlined in the Illinois Climate Action Plan or ICAP,
which means by fiscal year 2025, solar installations on campus property generate 25,000 megawatt hours per year. Currently, the initial 21-acre solar farm on campus produces 7,000 megawatt hours per year. “Solar Farm 2.0 will save money for the campus, compared to purchased gridelectricity,” said Mohamed Attalla, executive director of Facilities & Services. “We expect to save $300,000 next year alone. It will benefit the entire Urbana campus budget.” Attalla said he believes the first solar farm has been successful, both as a notable step toward using clean energy and as a demonstration of what other organizations, businesses and homeowners can do. People from all around the world have visited the current solar farm, which has enough energy of about 700 typical American homes and was first approved in 2012. “With over 25 million kilowatt-hours of on-campus solar production each year, the University of Illinois will be in the top three American universities using
on-site renewable energy,” Attalla said. The other institutions ranked top two for using renewable energy are the University of California campuses and the University of Missouri. Sean Reeder, assistant vice president of the Office of Capital Programs and Utility Services, said the University is committed to increasing the use of renewable energy and moving toward a carbon-neutral campus. One major goal for iCAP is for the University campus to be carbon-neutral by 2050. Lesly Ortega, sophomore in LAS, was unaware of the current and future productions of the solar farm. However, Ortega is relieved the University is taking ecofriendly action. “We need as much action to protect our environment as possible,” Ortega said. “I think this decision from the University would not only help the environment but RYAN CHOW THE DAILY ILLINI how the institution functions too.” The Solar Power Panel Farm near First Street and Windsor Road has been in operation since December 2015. The University has recently agreed to a contract on creating a new solar farm.
lvelaz20@dailyillini.com
LSAT becomes digital-only exam BY GRACE MALONEY STAFF WRITER
On Saturday, the Law School Admission Test underwent one of its biggest changes in decades: It took a new digital form on a tablet. After a successful initial launch in July in which half of pre-law students took the paper version and half took the digital version of the LSAT, the Law School Admission Council decided the LSAT will no longer be administered as a paper exam. “For the past several years, the Law School Admission Council has been evaluating various pathways to digitally transform the LSAT with the goal of evolving the experience to increase accessibility,” said Troy Lowry, senior vice president of Technology Products and chief information officer at the Law School Admissions Council, in an email. “The recent scandal involving college admissions is a good reminder that our continued vigilance in this area is warranted.” Russel Schaffer, senior communications manager from Kaplan Test Prep, said the University has one of the largest number of pre-law students in the country. “The days of paper and
pencil, the testing format that college students are most familiar with, are over,” Schaffer said. Kaplan’s senior manager for instructional design, Glen Stohr, authors the Kaplan e-book. Stohr has been an LSAT teacher for over 20 years and has taught thousands of students preparing for the exam and law school. “This is without a doubt the biggest change to the LSAT in over 25 years,” Stohr said. The paper-and-pencil tests were administered four times per year. The new digital test will be administered nine or more times per year. “It will be faster and easier for them to process scores because they don’t have to ship score sheets back to a certain location and run them through a machine,” Stohr said. Stohr said he believes students will value the change. Before, if a test taker missed one test date, he or she had to wait three months before testing again. The test is now administered on a Microsoft Surface Pro tablet and is more secure, Stohr said. “The only thing on the tablet is a proprietary soft-
ware that LSAC designed just to deliver this test,” Stohr said. “If you were to try to swipe one of those, as soon as you get that tablet out of range of its ‘mothership’ computer, there’s nothing on it. A test booklet is less secure.” Stohr said the new digital
starts at the same time,” Stohr said. “You get a popup on the screen that you have to dismiss that says there are five minutes left in the section. I think that’s just a comforting thing for the test to be really super consistent with everybody.” Tablets will also make special testing accommodations easier to manage. “A classic example is one in which you get a large print text for an eyesight accommodation,” Stohr said. “Now, you can simply change the font size on the screen. You don’t have to reprint a different booklet and ship it differently.” The test-makers have also added tools to assist students with techniques they may have used on a paper test, such as a stylus for marking notes and a program that allows the use of the elimination method for test questions. However, Stohr said it is still beneficial to practice with the new digital interface so that it becomes second nature. The technological glitches were small and isolated enough to continue with the launch, Stohr added. “I know there was one place where the tab-
“This is without a doubt the biggest change to the LSAT in over 25 years.” GLEN STOHR KAPLAN TEST PREP’S SENIOR MANAGER FOR INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGN
format will also help make the testing environment more consistent. For example, some proctors could have given time warnings during each section while others may have forgotten or given them late. “Now everybody’s section
SEE LSAT | 3A
Student loan forgiveness program rejects majority of applicants post renovation said. “I think the execution is an issue for sure, and that was one of the things this program clearly had a problem with; 99% of the folks being rejected execution was a problem.” One of the core criticisms of the redesigned program was its confusing and unclear application process. Regardless of eligibility, borrowers are required to have applied to the original PSLF in addition to the expanded student loan forgiveness program in order to even be considered. According to a report from the Government Accountability Office, 71% of the denied borrowers were rejected because they did not submit a PSLF application. “That’s just maddening and also sounded like in this case, they did a very bad job of making people potentially eligible, making them aware,” Pitts said. “On the other hand, if they were going to get rejected anyway I’m not sure which is worse. But the other thing I would definitely say is that making folks aware of these programs, in general, is often a challenge and I think we (at the University) try to make students aware of opportunities like this, but it’s not easy, admittedly.” Discussion of this particular program has not been actively held at the University, Pitts said the more immediate issue of how much money the University provides for students based on merit and financial needs are the primary discussion on campus. “What we really hear about on campus is what
BY YOOJIN SON ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR
The Department of Education rejected 99% of applicants for its Temporary Expanded Public Service Loan Forgiveness program within a year of its renovation. In May 2018, Congress expanded the program to assist those struggling to secure loan forgiveness from the original Public Service Loan Forgiveness created to forgive federal loans for graduates who have worked at least 10 years full-time in certain public service organizations. The expanded student loan forgiveness program was designed to help those ineligible for the original PSLF program; however, progress has been reported unsuccessful. Of the 53,523 applicants, who applied to the expanded program from May 2018 to May 2019, only 661 were accepted as eligible for a program designed to expand its loan forgiveness to more public service workers. As a part of the expansion, Congress appropriated $700 million for TEPSLF. However, only 4%, approximately $26.9 million, has been exhausted. Kevin Pitts, vice provost for Undergraduate Education, said while the program holds positive intentions, execution evokes issues contradicting the original plan. “In spirit, these are a good idea because the students are benefiting from the potential loan forgiveness and then the government or the educational system is benefiting from their contribution,” Pitts
SEE LOANS | 3A
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MADELINE PIERCE THE DAILY ILLINI
Features: Pygmalion festival hosts hackathon
Sports: Illinois drops Big Ten opener to Nebraska
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Students study in the College of Law Library on Friday. On Saturday, the Law School Admission Council administered the LSAT digitally using tablets, replacing the standard paper exam. DAILYILLINI, DAILYILLINISPORTS
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