On pins and needles Features editor takes a stab at acupuncture FEATURES, 6A
Wednesday January 16, 2013
The Daily Illini
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Vol. 142 Issue 80
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Champaign ends year with surplus
Video games galore at the Illini Union
Recent budget cuts, increase in tax revenues led to excess BY EMMA WEISSMANN STAFF WRITER
Students create device for watering plants BY YELE AJAYI STAFF WRITER
For green thumbs, gauging how much to water a plant can be somewhat of a guessing game. But a new product that a group of Engineering graduate students came up with may hold the solution. The product, called Plant Link, automatically detects when a plant needs water. Students Eduardo Torrealba, Bradley Sanders, Trevor Hutchins and Michael Clemenson and recent master’s graduate Austin Lyons finalized the product Jan. 4. The students have been developing the product since November 2011, when a basil plant Torrealba’s wife received would not grow no matter how much she watered it. “I went to hardware stores looking for a sensor or some type of solution,” Torrealba said. “I didn’t find anything I liked, so I end-
ed up building something I used in the past from my old classes, and I went and got a team together.” Plant Link works by putting two metal leads in the soil next to the plant. The leads send an electrical signal, which is given a value and later transmitted back to a base station. The base station is underground, plugged into the owner’s home router. The results are sent to Oso, a start-up the students created, via the base station, which transfers the results into an algorithm that determines whether the plant needs water. Users are encouraged to use the Plant Link website, which lets them log in and regularly check on their plants. Users have to log in and identify the type of plant they want to moniPHOTO COURTESY OF EDUARDO TORREALBA, CEO OF PLANT LINK tor. Each link is then paired with one plant. Plant Link is a device created by a University student that automatically detects when a plant needs water. The device uses See PLANT LINKS, Page 3A two metal probes to notify customers when to water the plant.
RSOs to see less funding from student fees “The students who are contributing to the SORF fund should be the ones reaping the benefits.” JIM MASKERI, chairman of student organization resource fee board
BY TYLER DAVIS STAFF WRITER
Chairman of the Student Organization Resource Fee board Jim Maskeri wants registered student organizations to be prepared for a decreased availability of funds next year. Maskeri said that four years ago the SORF board came very close to overspending their budget, and the following year, the board made major cuts to their allocations and ended the
year with what Maskeri referred to as a “very large surplus.” Since then, the board has been trying to reduce the surplus and intends on spending until they reach a balance just over $0. “The students who are contributing to the SORF fund should be the ones reaping the benefits,” Maskeri said. This year, the surplus will be fully spent, and Maskeri said he is concerned that next academic year,
student groups will only receive a fraction of the reimbursements they applied to receive in the past, as the SORF board’s standards have been more generous than they would have been otherwise. According to an Oct. 31 report from the Student Fee Advisory Committee, the SORF board requested a $3.51 increase in their fee for fiscal year 2014, increasing the overall fee to
Legislation to preserve Fighting Illini legacy to enter Illinois Student Senate BY TYLER DAVIS STAFF WRITER
Student Body President Brock Gebhardt said he will introduce legislation to “forever preserve” the University of Illinois’ identity as the Fighting Illini at the first Illinois Student Senate meeting of the spring semester. This legislation coincides with conversation on registered student organization Campus Spirit Revival’s efforts to bring a new mascot to the University, which senators expect to be discussed in length Wednesday. Gebhardt said he’s heard concerns from people that the University may be changing its sports teams’ names along with its mascot change. With this legislation, he said he wants to make sure he preserves that legacy.
INSIDE
“In a changing world, we need to honor our past traditions and I think the name Illini is something that unites us all,” he said. “It’s something that brings us all together. I just want to address the concerns that people have that people are worried about losing it.” Senators also expect much public comment around the new mascot decision process. Shao Guo, vice president-internal, said there are no resolutions for action, but he expects many members of the public to comment on Campus Spirit Revival. He said the senate expects students on both sides of the new mascot proposal to come forward, and said ISS can serve as a forum for that discussion. But he disagreed that ISS should take sides in the debate.
“Either way, the ISS is a representative body, and it is my opinion that we should not take a stance on this issue. It’s not our job,” he said. “It is in my belief that student government in this case should be the clearinghouse since there is a divided opinion of students on the new mascot.” Ryan Young, vice president-external, said it will be interesting to see how this process plays out. “Even if there is a vote it doesn’t mean the board of trustees will approve it, or that students and alumni will come to consensus on the new mascot,” he said. “It’s really just a trial process.”
Tyler can be reached at tadavis2@dailyillini.com.
See SORF, Page 3A
Emma can be reached at wessmnn2@dailyillini.com.
Champaign sees 2nd year of surplus Fiscal year 2012 was the second consecutive year the city of Champaign’s general fund saw a surplus, a result of spending cuts and an unanticipated rise in revenues.
Change in fund balance (in millions of dollars)
ROCHELLE WILSON THE DAILY ILLINI
Michael Wright, freshman in DGS, and Ben Cheslow-Kraatz, freshman in Engineering, play “Super Smash Bros.” at the Illini Union on Tuesday as part of the Union’s Welcome Back activities.
The city of Champaign fi nished in the black again this fi scal year, according to its annual fi nancial report released last week. The report showed that Champaign’s $103.5 million in revenue exceeded its expenses of $103.4 million and suggested this was because of an increase in sales and income tax revenues. The general fund balance, which supports dayto-day operations, including police, fi re and public works, increased by $2.9 million. Karen Foster, council member at-large, said the surplus is a result of many budget cuts made in the past four years. “It is huge in the fact that we are not facing the cuts that we’ve been facing the last few years,” Foster said. “We have a little bit of breathing room, and that’s a good thing.” Spending cuts made for fi scal year 2012, which ended June 30, included a reduction in city employment positions and a decrease in infrastructure spending, fi nance director Richard Schnuer said . “(The surplus) really reflects two things,” he announced to the council during the Jan. 8 study session. “Revenues did grow, and all of the difficult cutting of the budget the prior year on the part of the city council increased our fund balance.” The surplus funds are projected to transfer to smaller fund accounts during the 2013 fi scal year to complete various projects for the city, including a $250,000 transfer to the library’s capital fund to replace old carpeting and reupholster furniture. The city’s auditing company, Martin Hood Friese & Associates LLC , gave the report a “clean opinion,” fi nding it to be presented “fairly, in all material respects” and in compliance with U.S. federal accounting guidelines. Although the auditor’s report did not call for action from the council and there were no major changes that needed to be made, this has not always been the case, Foster said. “We are happy that there were no issues between the auditor and the fi nance department,” Foster said. “Sometimes in the past, there have been a few corrections or tweaks that our fi nance department needs to make concerning auditing practices. But this time, they had a clean bill.”
4.0 3.5 3.0 2.5 2.0 1.5 1.0 0.5 0.0 -0.5 -1.0 -1.5 -2.0 -2.5
$3.7 million $2.9 million
-$1.9 million -$2.4 million
2009
2010
2011
2012
years refer to fiscal year Source: City of Champaign’s comprehensive annual reports (2008-2012)
J MICHAEL MIOUX Design Editor
Facebook announces ‘graph search’
JEFF CHIU THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg speaks at Facebook headquarters in Menlo Park, Calif., on Tuesday. Zuckerberg introduced “graph search,” a new service that lets users search their social connections for information about their friends’ interests, and for photos and places.
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