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The Daily Illini
Friday January 18, 2013
www.DailyIllini.com
The independent student newspaper at the University of Illinois since 1871
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Vol. 142 Issue 82
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Pension debt rising as Legislature inaction continues BY CHRISSY PAWLOWSKI STAFF WRITER
By the time the Illinois General Assembly is scheduled to take the next step on pension reform Jan. 30, the pension debt will have increased by $376.2 million since lawmakers ended their session on Jan. 8 without voting on a plan to fi x the pension system. That debt continues to grow at a rate of $17.1 million each day,
accruing unfunded liabilities through the interest on the state’s pension debt, according to Gov. Pat Quinn’s office. This adds to the $96 billion in unfunded pension liabilities, currently the highest in the nation, according to the Pew Center for the States. House Bill 98, the refi led pension reform bill that was submitted in the eleventh hour of the previ-
ous term, can’t move forward until the House Rules Committee holds a hearing at the end of the month. Quinn hoped a decision on pension reform would be reached before the Democratic supermajority was sworn in Jan. 9, but the previous assembly adjourned its session before a floor vote took place. House Bill 98 co-sponsor David Harris, R-Arlington Heights, said he was disap-
pointed that the bill was not put to a vote before the assembly’s adjournment. “There was a disagreement ... between the House and the Senate on the best approach to take, and given the very short period of time that we had to work with, we weren’t able to hammer out a negotiated agreement,” Harris said.
See PENSION, Page 3A
“As elected leaders, we have a responsibility to put politics aside and enact a solution that prevents skyrocketing pension costs from squeezing out core services like education, public safety and health care.” PAT QUINN, Illinois governor
Mixed reactions for gun control
You’re getting very sleepy
Proposed law draws criticism, support from local officials DAILY ILLINI STAFF REPORT
BRIAN YU THE DAILY ILLINI
Craig Langworthy, freshman in DGS, squeezes his hands together during an audience participation segment during the Illini Union Board’s Hypnotist Show on Thursday night. Steve Marino, renowned hypnotist, visited the Courtyard Cafe and held a show as part of the Illini Union’s Welcome Back Week.
See GUN CONTROL, Page 3A
Little Rock Nine member to lead MLK celebration Committee hopes to create ‘call to action’ within community BY EMMA WEISSMANN STAFF WRITER
The citizens of Champaign County and members of the University community are invited to come together and honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in the 12th annual county wide celebration of the civil rights
leader’s life and legacy Friday afternoon. “Having the Courage to Overcome the Mountain,” planned by a committee of representatives from the University, Parkland College, Urbana, Champaign and Champaign County, will be held from 4-5 p.m. at the Hilton Garden Inn, 1501 S. Neil St., Champaign. Champaign City Council member Will Kyles, District 1, said he hopes the celebration will lead to a “call for action” within the community. “Inequality still exists, and ‘Overcoming the Mountain’ may not necessarily
“I want a student to feel like they’re more than somebody who pays tribute to our businesses...there’s a lot of opportunities for collaboration.”
be a racial issue, but maybe something in our own life,” Kyles said. “I hope people will have a call to action to do something positive.” He said he also hopes members of the University attend in order to “bridge the gap” between the University community and the public community in the Champaign County, and encourage students to stay in the community after they graduate. “It’s an opportunity to breach two worlds,” Kyles said. “I want a student to
pound targeted an enzyme in the bug, helping those infected to fight it off with their immune systems. “The compound inhibits an enzyme that staph requires to divide,” said Oldfield. “You basically stop them from making the cell wall so they can’t grow and your immune system, if you’re not suppressed, can kill them.” The California team is headed by Andrew McCammon, professor of pharmacology and chemistry and biochemistry. When his team first started out, they singled out an enzyme called FPPS as a possible way to disrupt the bacteria’s cell wall. Oldfield’s team was put in charge of testing various compounds on the enzyme. However, when University graduate student Wei Zhu carried out these tests, he found the compounds were not potent enough. “I first tested FPPS, but it didn’t
STAFF WRITER
A University-led team has discovered a compound that could stem the tide of deadly infections from a drug-resistant bacteria. Although the research has only been with mice recovering from Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, team leader and chemistry professor Eric Oldfield said he eventually wants to get drugs using the compound the team discovered to doctors and patients. This particular strain of Staph infection was responsible for an estimated 18,650 deaths in the United States during 2005 and claimed more lives than HIV/ AIDS, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Oldfield teamed up with a University of California, San Diego group to find a compound aimed at reducing that number. The com-
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See MLK, Page 3A
work very well, so I chose to test a different enzyme, which is UPPS, and it worked,” he said. After going through several compounds, Zhu eventually found the compound that ended up inhibiting UPPS a thousand times better than the leading methods to shut down the enzyme FPPS, according to Oldfield. Victor Nizet from San Diego was given the compound developed by his team to test it on mice, Oldfield said. Nizet carried out two tests with 10 mice infected with MRSA in each. “If they were treated after infection with our compounds, in two sets of experiments, all 20 infected mice that were treated with this compound survived,” Oldfield said.
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Q: What do you think of Obama’s gun control proposals? COMPILED BY CARINA LEE STAFF WRITER
“I think it’s important that we take some action. Especially considering how many large mass shootings there have been recently and then besides those, there have been a lot that people haven’t even heard of, smaller-scale shootings.” MAYANK JAIN, freshman in Engineering
“I truly feel that the gun control bill as it is presented now is overkill. When someone drinks and drives and kills someone, we don’t suddenly pull all the liquor from the shelves and stop people from driving.” ED MCCARTHY, senior in ACES
PHOTO COURTESY OF L. BRIAN STAUFFER, UIUC.
Austin can be reached at akkeati2@ dailyillini.com.
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WILL KYLES,
UI researchers discover compound to combat Staph BY AUSTIN KEATING
President Barack Obama is receiving mixed reactions for the set of gun control proposals he unveiled Wednesday. Written in the wake of December’s Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, Obama’s proposals include a ban on assault weapons, universal background checks and increased access and coverage for mental health care services, according to a press release from The White House. Champaign County Democrats chair Alvin Klein said the move for tougher gun laws is not a matter of limiting the Second Amendment right to bear arms but a matter of protecting the public from gun violence. “Guns are certainly dangerous,” Klein said. “This legislation will do a lot to help us restrict the use of certain weapons. The reason the per-
The drug-resistant strain of Staphylococcus aureus under a microscope. A University-led team has discovered a compound that combats the bacteria.
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