THURSDAY December 6, 2018
THE DAILY ILLINI The independent student newspaper at the University of Illinois since 1871
WWW.DAILYILLINI.COM
LONGFORM: PART 2
34˚ | 17˚
Vol. 148 Issue 28
Dining halls take lettuce off menu the news and have a standard operating procedure in place for these situations. Once the warning was announced, University dining removed all the romaine lettuce in its possession. “We also work very closely with Central Illinois Produce, they were able to call us and send us an email to let us know about the issue that was happening with romaine lettuce,” Hamilton said. Even though the University had to get rid of all the romaine lettuce in its possession at the time the alert was sent, Hamilton said the University did not suffer a large loss in lettuce inventory. Housing serves a small amount of romaine lettuce to begin with, which meant
BY BENEDICTE MULUMBA YENYI STAFF WRITER
University Housing has eliminated all romaine lettuce from dining halls, and students will not see its return until the spring semester due to a recent E. coli outbreak. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Nov. 26 that public health and regulatory officials in several states, Canada and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration were investigating a multi-state outbreak of E. coli infections linked to romaine lettuce grown in the central coastal regions of northern and central California. Chelsea Hamilton, senior assistant director for communications and marketing for University Housing, said they were not shocked by
SEE LETTUCE | 3A
PHOTO COURTESY OF JOE WILLIAMS
A passive investigation Facilities & Services employees say “nothing has changed” since discrimination investigation Robert Weeks and nowretired F&S Director of Operations Carl Wegel said in an ODEA disposition that Williams’s new worksite did not require a service van, and that budget cuts reduced vehicle use. They said in the disposition that while “the conditions of the satellite shop are not ideal,” it was convenient and practical for storing carpenter supplies. Williams filed a work request with the University Safety and Compliance Division in July 2015 to test the air and put wrapping on the asbestos pipes. A week later, Safety and Compliance Officer Jim Marriott conducted an air quality test outside the room and found there were higher temperatures and humidity levels, but it was not unsafe. In response to emails about the room, then-F&S Safety Director Maureen Banks said Williams could take breaks at the Illini Union across the street. Williams said that due to hip problems and the microwave and fridge placed in Room 10A, he did not do this.
BY AARON NAVARRO CONTRIBUTING WRITER
“I had to kill a snake.”
From April 6 - Sept. 14, 2015, Facilities and Services carpenter Joe Williams had one source of ventilation in the basement of the Materials Science and Engineering building. A small window with a fan in front, right next to a pipe with hanging asbestos, would pump air out. It was there in Room 10A that Williams said he faced daily conditions of cockroaches, black mold, asbestos, rodents, high humidity, high temperatures and flooding from leaky pipes. He said he once had to once kill a snake that crawled out into the workspace. “It was awful,” he said. “The conditions of this place … everything was nasty as h---, but obviously it was meant for someone there to be (working). They put a computer down there, a desk, a big fan. It was extremely hot.” An F&S employee of 29 years, Williams said this room was meant to be temporarily reassigned to him for lunches and breaks, but since all his relevant tools were there, he spent at least two hours each day in the room. He said the reassignment was another act of retaliation by supervisors against Williams due to past ODEA and U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission complaints filed. From July 2014 to April 2015, Williams was out on disability leave due to lingering hip problems. Before his leave, Williams was assigned to a modified van with step boards. After returning to the job in 2015, his van and his tools inside were reassigned and given to other F&S workers. “I lost everything,” he said. “I’m talking 20-plus years of my tools, gone.” With no van, Williams was given a garbage can to push tools around from worksite to worksite. He said later he saw his van in the parking lot of the main shop, unused. F&S Carpenter Foreman
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utilize six months of military time to reach 30 years of work and collect his retirement benefits. He officially left F&S in December 2015. “I found (the settlement) to be unacceptable and an insult to say the least,” he said in an email to The Daily Illini.
The University’s internal investigation
The University’s investigation, which started in January 2016 and had its final report released on Feb. 23, 2017, found two instances of illegal discrimination. A total of 504 employees across F&S were interviewed during the investigation, about half of the total work force. The details on those two instances of illegal discrimination are considered a confidential matter, according to Special Assistant to the Executive Director for Personnel Resources, Diversity and Talent Development Eric Smith. The report established eight recommendations centered around employee oriSEE F&S | 3A
ALYOSHA ROMANOV THE DAILY ILLINI
Lorenzo Molinari, junior in LAS, takes lettuce from the salad bar at Illini Union Dining Hall on Monday. Romaine lettuce has been taken off menus due to a recent E. coli outbreak.
Climate change report calls for local action calculated that the Earth’s climate is diversifying 10 times more rapidly than normal rates. As change continues at a higher rate, Wuebbles said we can attribute this almost entirely to human activity. “There’s no alternative explanation,” Wuebbles said. “It’s not natural cycles; it’s not the sun. So, the only explanation that makes sense from many reports is that human activity is driving the increase of damaging particles into the atmosphere that have an effect on the Earth’s climate.” The report focuses not only on more general national and global impacts of climate change, but also on how different regions like the Midwest would be
BY CLARE BUDIN STAFF WRITER
A new federal report coauthored by a University professor continues a long line of warnings by the scientific community on the impending dangers of climate change. Donald Wuebbles, professor in LAS, has co-authored numerous national and international assessments on climate change along with the recent report. He said the need to fight against its effects has become more urgent over the years. “Climate has changed a lot over the billions of years of the Earth’s existence, but now we are seeing rapid changes that have not occurred since the end of the last ice age,” Wuebbles said. Wuebbles, along with other climate scientists, have
SEE CLIMATE | 3A
INSIDE
PHOTO COURTESY OF JOE WILLIAMS
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Joe Williams’ original home base and his reassigned one in Room 10A in the basement of the Materials Science and Engineering Building. Williams filed complaints for the conditions.
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“I was sick the whole time I was down there and I expressed that over and over again to all University Management. Their gross neglect for my health and safety went ignored by all parties,” Williams wrote in an email. A week after filing a complaint of unfavorable job assignment, discrimination and retaliation with the EEOC, Williams relocated to another building in September 2015. On Oct. 23, 2015, Associate University Counsel Craig J. Hoefer emailed Williams a settlement offer, with $18,500 in payments for Williams to resign from the University by Jan. 15, 2016. The settlement was in response to the EEOC complaint and the pending charge of discrimination. Hoefer wrote in an email the settlement was less than Williams initially requested, but that the University maintains it is a fair offer. At the time of publication, Hoefer did not respond for comment. Williams did not sign the settlement, and used his status as an Army veteran to
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