THURSDAY September 27, 2018
THE DAILY ILLINI The independent student newspaper at the University of Illinois since 1871
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Vol. 148 Issue 10
Corn disease threatens farmers’ yield BY HEATHER SCHLITZ ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR
expects to see a few cases where farmers lose almost half their harvest to the disease. Kleczewski said tar spot, common in damp tropical climates, was first identified in Illinois in 2015, when heavy rainfall likely caused its explosion across the U.S. Kleczewski said tar spot is the most severe corn disease in Latin America, and with persistent rainfall this year, the disease has erupted across Illinois and the midwest. Kleczewski hopes to be able to develop a corn plant resistant to tar spot. If tar spot proves uncontrollable, he said the team may develop online maps to help farmers identify whether their crops are at risk of contracting the disease. Far from identifying a cure for tar spot, Kleczewski said the researchers are still trying to identify what’s causing the lesions. Farmers have applied fungicide to their crops in the hopes of preventing tar spot with mixed results. Despite applying the same product at the same time, some fields became infected with tar spot, while others did not. Kleczewski said he thinks the reason is because the spores arrive in the fields at different times, but doesn’t understand what causes the spores to be released, or how far they travel. “Especially after this year, people in the northern part of the state are concerned about it. The industry is asking questions every day. There are a lot more questions than answers,” Kleczewski said.
Nathan Kleczewski has been fielding phone calls and Twitter mentions, sometimes more than a dozen a day, from farmers asking him if the black flecks and lesions on their corn plants are symptoms of a new disease: tar spot. Kleczewski, professor in ACES, has been trying to unravel the causes of tar spot, which is a fungal disease that can reduce corn harvests by more than 30 percent. As of last Friday, Kleczewski has used the responses from farmers and growers to identify 18 Illinois counties in 2018 that have been hit by tar spot, including Champaign County. “There’s a lot of concern out there because we don’t know a lot in terms of what the pathogens are doing, how to control it and what people’s options are,” he said. The black spots and accompany ing brow n lesions likely result from a combination of two fungi and can spread rapidly through the leaves and husks, killing the plant quickly, Kleczewski said. “It’s in virtually every cornfield in northern Illinois,” said Jim Donnelly, technical ag ronomist for DeKalb Brand Corn and Asgrow Seed Company. “It’s worse mostly because of its ability to spread pretty rapidly as well as the fact that the vast majority of hybrids out there are fairly susceptible. That combination has allowed that disease to move and increase very quickly.” Donnelly said he typically sees a 10 percent reduction in yield, but schlitz2@dailyillini.com
MARIUM KUREISHY THE DAILY ILLINI
Monarch butterflies travel through campus during their annual migration to Mexico in the fall. The species saw a decline in population over the last few years, but it has recently stabilized and recovered in numbers.
Monarch butterflies migrate through Illinois BY MARIUM KUREISHY CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Observant students walking around campus lately may have noticed an abundance of black-and-orange monarch butterflies, which are passing through Champaign-Urbana on their annual fall migration to Mexico. Sara Verma, sophomore in Education, said although
she’s seen many butterflies in the garden outside the Krannert Museum, there are fewer this year than she remembers from last year. According to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, the North American monarch population plunged from an estimated one billion in the 1990s to a record low of 34 million in 2014.
Since then, it has made a recovery to an estimated 109 million in 2017, according to the National Wildlife Federation. Groups on campus and in the Champaign-Urbana community are working to preserve the shrinking monarch population. Red Bison, a registered student organization focus-
ing on ecological restoration, is part of the effort to protect and preserve habitats for pollinators and insects, such as monarchs. They plant wildflowers and native plants, which monarchs use as food sources. The Anita Purves Nature Center, a facility under the SEE BUTTERFLY | 3A
Coal ash pollution persists in Vermilion River Locals send aid, relief to
Hurricane Florence victims
Organization searches for alternative solutions
BY THERESE POKORNEY ASSISTANT DAYTIME NEWS EDITOR
As the East Coast recovers from the damage and flooding caused by Hurricane Florence, local organizations and volunteers have been providing aid to those dealing with the aftermath. Amber MacGrath, disaster program manager of Red Cross of the Quad Cities, said while flooding continues in the Carolinas, Red Cross volunteers from Champaign County have been providing shelter, meals and comfort onsite to support the victims of the hurricane. “About 90 volunteers from central Illinois have been deployed in different parts of the Carolinas and will usually stay for three weeks,” MacGrath said. “We currently have two people from Champaign County in North Carolina.”
BY OLIVIA WELSHANS STAFF WRITER
Annamae Dziallo has fond memories of the Vermilion River. She remembers taking trips to Kickapoo State Park, skipping rocks on the river and bonding with members of Students for Environmental Concerns. However, she can’t help but think about the three coal ash pits located just upstream, leaking toxic chemicals and pollutants into Illinois’ only national scenic river. Dziallo is the leader of Beyond Coal, an initiative within Students for Environmental Concerns that aims to stop fossil fuel companies from sponsoring the University. Coal ash, the source of the pollution, is what is left over after coal is burned. It contains toxic metals and chemicals that can cause birth defects, cancer and brain damage in humans and harm wildlife, said Pam Richart, co-founder of the Eco-Justice Collaborative, a Champaign-based nonprofit that raises public awareness of environmental issues. Dziallo said this issue should be brought to students’ attention, especially
PHOTO COURTESY OF ECO-JUSTICE COLLABORATIVE
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Rebecca Vining, president of Students for Environmental Concerns, said she was concerned the disregard of the coal ash pollution will negatively influence how students view the environment. “The way people see nature and how it is presented to them is the way they are going to contin-
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ue to treat it,” Vining said. “We have a bunch of students all using this area and how they see it treated is how they are going to grow up and treat nature.” The ash pits, the remnants of the now closed Vermillion Power Station, are located in the middle SEE WATER | 3A
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Coal ash seeps into the Vermilion River. Despite containment efforts, pollution continues to plague the national scenic river.
those that have taken trips to Kickapoo State Park, which is downstream of the coal ash pits and just a few miles east of campus. “In central Illinois, there are not many water bodies that are accessible to students on campus. I think it is pretty important that we keep their health and integrity intact,” Dziallo said.
Hurricane Florence made landfall on Sept. 14 south of Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina, as a Category 1 storm; however, the floodwaters have continued to destroy homes. According to a Red Cross report, the hurricane dumped an estimated 10 trillion gallons of water across the Carolinas, enough to fill 15 million Olympic-size swimming pools. Preliminary information suggests between 8,000 to 10,000 homes may have suffered major damage or were destroyed during the storm. Deb Goettig, one of the paid Red Cross staff from Champaign, has been volunteering to provide aid to people staying at shelter sites in North Carolina for nearly 15 hours a day since Sept.12.
Martin’s presence felt in secondary
Pygmalion artist discusses C-U roots
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