HOLIDAY GUIDE SEE INSERT
MONDAY December 5, 2016
THE DAILY ILLINI The independent student newspaper at the University of Illinois since 1871
WWW.DAILYILLINI.COM
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Vol. 146 Issue 29
Dakota Access Pipeline denied; campus reacts BY GILLIAN DUNLOP STAFF WRITER
For months, protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline made headlines across the nation. On Sunday, the Army Corps denied easement and announced that the pipeline will be rerouted; however, the location is to be determined. The pipeline is more than a battle between an oil company and local citizens. For Thereza Litu-
March 11
Dakota Access LLC receives final approval to move forward with the pipeline.
ma, sophomore in FAA, it represented a centuries long confl ict between the government and indigenous people. “The images I see from Standing Rock are so painful. It looks like a war zone,” Lituma said. “They’re spraying protesters with water, they’re shooting rubber bullets, people are being injured, and for me, it’s another attack on the indigenous community and silencing our voices for the profit
Sept. 8
Champaign-Urbana area Native American and indigenous organizers and their allies hold peaceful rally in Scott Park.
Oct. 31
BY ANGELICA LAVITO STAFF WRITER
The University is one of countless schools across the country scrambling after a federal court issued an injunction, which delayed changes to the Fair Labor Standards Act’s overtime exemption rule, which was set to take effect Dec. 1. The rule would have increased the threshold for overtime eligibility from $23,660 annually to $47,476 annually. The University reviewed about 1,300 positions, including academic professionals, postdoctoral research associates and civil service employees. It slated some to become overtime-eligible and some to receive salary increases to meet
Dakota Access Pipeline Art Installation and Teach in hosted by Anthropology Leaders at Anniversary Plaza and Noyes Lab.
Nov. 20
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Students for Environmental Concerns host Illinois Stands with Standing Rock victory rally at Alma Mater.
Dec. 7
Dec. 4
Facebook users begin “checking-in” at Water cannons and rubber Standing Rock in attempt to confuse bullets used on protesters law enforcement. by police.
Pay raises uncertain after federal court ruling
focused on two important factors: potentially disastrous environmental consequences and disgracing sacred indigenous land at the Standing Rock reservation. Located in both North and South The Sioux tribe, located in both North and South Dakota, resides on the reservation. “It (was) about money, and (the oil companies) don’t care to look at the
Nov. 29-Dec. 1
CU Stands with Standing Rock fundraising concert held at Urbana-Champaign Independent Media Center.
Actress Shailene Woodley is arrested for trespassing at protest site.
Sept. 16
The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe sues the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
The pipeline was designed to be a 1,172-mile line connecting the Bakken and Three Forks oil production areas in North Dakota to Patoka, Illinois. Essentially, the plan would enable the transfer of domestically produced oil to different refi ning markets in a more cost-effective way, according to the official Dakota Access Pipeline Project website. The controversy around the implementation of the pipeline
Nov. 12
Oct. 10
The National Guard is called in by the governor of North Dakota to provide backup to local law enforcement against the protesters.
July 27
of the oil companies.” The decision to reroute the pipeline away from Standing Rock inspired community members to change an upcoming protest outside of the Alma Mater on Dec. 5 to a victory rally. “The battle is not won yet,” organizer of the rally Mary Jane Oviatt, junior in ACES. “We need something written in stone that the pipeline won’t be happening at all.”
Stand with Standing Rock solidarity event held at the Red Herring.
Army Corps denies pipeline route.
University becomes winter wonderland
the new threshold. The increases would cost more than $3 million, but funding for post-doctoral research associates comes from multiple state and federal sources, according to University spokeswoman Robin Kaler. The University Human Resources Department sent a massmail to faculty and staff announcing the suspension of the salary increases and changes in overtime eligibility while considering the court’s injunction. This may be only temporary, as the University has not decided how it will proceed. Deb
SEE RAISES | 3A
Snow dusted the campus area on Sunday for the first time this winter season.
AUSTIN YATTONI THE DAILY ILLINI
UI RSO funding differs from other Big 10 schools BY ADAM KAZ STAFF WRITER
LILY KATZ THE DAILY ILLINI
Students and faculty alike support the NTFC strikes outside of the English Building in spring 2016.
Alumni’s eco-friendly startup offers cheap, used textbooks BY MICHAEL SEMACA STAFF WRITER
The alumni creators of a new startup believe that they have a solution to help students get cheap textbooks and save the environment. The app, Wigit, is a mobile platform that allows users to rent anything to other local community members. Co-owner Chris Stiegal, who graduated from the University in May, said he and the other founders came up with the idea when they realized how many of their personal items could be reused. “We thought about all the items we have around the house that literally just get thrown away,” Stiegal said. He also emphasized textbooks are a main wasted resource. “I literally threw (my old textbooks) out,” he said. “And
what does that do? They end up in a landfi ll.” Each year, two billion pounds of books end up in landfi lls, Stiegal said. Wigit is designed to be an eco-friendly platform both by promoting reusing textbooks and allowing students to generate income. Instead of throwing away the books, Stiegal said Wigit would allow students to earn money renting out their old textbooks. To further its commitment to the environment, the compa ny hosted a pre launch fundraiser with the Conservation Fund, a leading national environmentalist group. Stiegal said they plan to do more fundraisers in the future with them. “We’re going to end up
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Most Big Ten universities give their student government the task of allocating RSO funds collected from the student body. But at the University, a separate entity is in charge of assigning the tens of thousands of dollars every year. The Student Organization Resource Fee, or SORF, Board is given the responsibility of allocating the monetary resources generated by the resource fee to support RSO programs and activities. So far this year, the board has allocated $148,705.85, according to their website. In terms of funding, the Illinois Student Senate is given approximately $40,000 a year, while the SORF Board is given $5.50 from every student’s tuition, approximately $242,000. While other schools around the country give their student government RSO funding oversight, the University gives those responsibilities to a smaller organization. The student senate has 54 elected student voters; SORF Board has eight elected stu-
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Trevor Noah, Tomi Lahren cross the political aisle in captivating discussion PAGE 4A
The Morrow Plots hold historic importance for the College of ACES PAGE 6A
Bridging the gap
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dent voters and three faculty members. SORF Board proposes the funding to the vice chancellor for student affairs for fi nal approval. However, other schools around the country likely don’t have any system similar to SORF Board. “At other (Big Ten) universities, their governments distribute the money,” said Vice President External of Student Senate Alex Villanueva, senior in LAS. “I would like to say we’re the only ones with a system like ours.” Villanueva said the student senate’s responsibility is to give students a voice rather than allocate funds for RSOs, like the student governments do on oth-
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