LIGHTEN UP THOSE MID-WEEK COLLEGE BLUES
INFO NIGHT Want to work for us? Head to Gregory Hall 100 on Wednesday or Thursday at 7 p.m. to learn more.
WHICH MAJOR IS RIGHT FOR YOU? Turn to Section C to find out right time to choose a major
Students gather Wednesdays for karaoke night
LIFE & CULTURE, 6A
THE DAILY ILLINI
TUESDAY January 28, 2014
11Ëš | 0Ëš
The independent student newspaper at the University of Illinois since 1871
WWW.DAILYILLINI.COM
Vol. 143 Issue 67
|
FREE
Students protest class with petition More than 8,000 people signed their support
Twitter and several student-run University Facebook groups after originally being posted on the Illinois Student Senate’s Facebook page. “At first, I thought it was a really good idea because with the cold temperatures being the way they are now, it’s a big danger for students to be exposed to these kind of conditions,� said Janjay Knowlden, freshman in FAA. “I thought closing the school for one day would be just fine; it’s not worth the safety of students.� Though the petition is not endorsed by the Illinois Student Senate, Student Body President Damani Bolden believes it is a great idea. “(Hill) saw an issue, wanted to address it and went about it in the right way,� Bolden said. Hill began the petition after Bolden reached out to Romano and Ballom and felt that the voice of students were being ignored. “They didn’t listen to the student body president, and our concerns were not heard,� Hill said. “Students make up 40,000 people on the University’s campus, and we are the majority and we were ignored.� Hill chose an online petition as a way to lobby because it is the most “effective, constructive and formal� way to disseminate the case through social media. He said he received several positive messages from students who were glad to not see more negative social media regard-
BY MEGAN JONES STAFF WRITER
Within three hours, more than 7,000 signatures had amassed in an online petition promoting the cancellation of Monday’s classes, citing the extremely strong wind chill and dangerous conditions to be expected. “I was looking at my computer screen and every time I reloaded the page there were 100 new signatures,� said Matt Hill, Illinois student senator and sophomore in LAS. “It was very overwhelming, and I didn’t expect it to go viral that quickly.� Hill posted the petition, which currently holds more than 8,700 signatures, on Sunday at 10:46 p.m. It was sent to Chancellor Phyllis Wise, Dean of Students Kenneth Ballom and Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Renee Romano. “We have such a diverse campus in regards to what location people are from, but I cannot tell you any other time the students have joined together online for one specific cause, besides bringing back the Chief, which I do not support,� Hill said. “We are not lobbying for something controversial, but we are lobbying for safety and health of the community.� The petition spread through
sent tating ill
cel the) ted on ount and Senate
BRENTON TSE THE DAILY ILLINI
Claudia Lennhoff, executive director of Champaign County Healthcare Consumers, Robert Rich of the Institute of Government and Public Affairs and Dr. Bruce Wellman, former CEO and president of Carle Foundation Hospital, speak to a group of students at the auditorium in the College of Medicine about the Affordable Care Act.
Top C-U health officials address Affordable Care Act BY STANTON POLANSKI STAFF WRITER
On Monday night, the auditorium at the College of Medicine fi lled up with medical students who still had questions about the Affordable Care Act, which was passed March 23, 2010. Professor Robert Rich, of the Institute of Government & Public Affairs; Bruce Wellman, former CEO and president of Carle Foundation Hospital; and Claudia Lennhoff, executive director of Champaign County Healthcare Consumers, explained the nearly 1,000-page piece of legislation to the students in two hours. The act is designed to increase the amount of people with insurance and make insurance more affordable, Rich said. Before the act, an insurance company could drop a customer due to pre-existing conditions. “I can’t tell you how many cases I’ve had over the years — one example comes to mind of a lady who had been falling,� Lennhoff
SEE PETITION | 3A
7LPHOLQH RI SHWLWLRQ VWDWXV WKURXJKRXW WKH QLJKW S P " NBTT FNBJM XBT TFOU GSPN $IBODFMMPS 1IZMMJT 8JTF TUBUJOH UIBU DMBTTFT BOE PQFSBUJPOT XJMM QSPDFFE PO .POEBZ
S P " QFUJUJPO UP DBODFM .POEBZ T DMBTTFT UP iQSPUFDU UIF DBNQVT DPNNVOJUZw XBT QPTUFE PO 4FOBUPS .BUU )JMM T 5XJUUFS BDDPVOU BOE TIBSFE PO UIF *MMJOPJT 4UVEFOU 4FOBUF 'BDFCPPL QBHF
ived
S P 5IF QFUJUJPO SFDFJWFE NPSF UIBO TJHOBUVSFT
more
D P 5IF QFUJUJPO SFDFJWFE NPSF UIBO TJHOBUVSFT
said. After one fall, the lady went to the emergency room. When she got a CT scan, the doctors discovered that she had cancerous brain tumors. After she began her treatments, her health insurance provider decided to bail. “Well then, her insurance company sent her a refund for her last quarterly payment and dropped her coverage,� she said. “She had no place to go — we ended up helping her — but can you imagine being scared for your life and fi nding out your ticket to health care has been canceled?� Lennhoff, who has a “very rare and aggressive� form of thyroid cancer, said people need insurance not only for treatment, but for spotting disease at its initial stages. She said she never would have known she had cancer if it were not for having health insurance and access to primary care. Although the Affordable Care Act expands health insurance
to more people, problems can still fester. Rich said the website for applying for health care has been a disaster, and the country is nowhere near its target mark of newly insured Americans. President Barack Obama also claimed that applicants for health insurance could keep their current plan if they wanted, but Rich said that is not in his power, as that decision is up to the insurance provider. And because the growing tide of newly insured Americans will need to be paid for, future generations will have a challenge in funding universal health care. Still, Rich said the ambitious legislation is a positive move. It’s not a move that has an easy-button to fix, he said. “There are no solutions, only trade-offs,� Wellman said. First year medical student Jennifer Alvarez wondered about how her future as a medical professional would be affected. But Wellman said people
should not steer away from being a doctor or nurse just because of the Affordable Care Act. “People will need you,� he said. “You’ll be satisfied. You’ll be respected.� Even with the website’s hangups and other shortcomings, the act is saving lives that never would have been saved before. “What we’re seeing is a lot of people coming forward who want health insurance — who are getting it for the first time,� Lennhoff said. “Who are excited about being able to have primary care for the first time. Who are excited about being able to have the problems they have been living with for a while addressed when they go a doctor. Who feel like they are now a part of the United States and that they matter because they can get health insurance and take care of their families.�
Stanton can be reached at polansk1@dailyillini.com.
Marijuana proposal met with contention Impending regulations for Illinois’ medical marijuana program disputed BY ELEANOR BLACK STAFF WRITER
In one of the first steps of Illinois’ four-year medical marijuana pilot project, a draft of proposed rules was posted online and has caused contention from medical marijuana supporters. On Jan. 21, the Illinois Department of Public Health posted a 48-page draft of the proposed regulations to show the public how the system may be implemented. Already, some of the proposed rules have been met with complaints. The major concerns include the annual application fee of $150, the timeline of the program’s implementation and the potential decision that will have to be made by qualifying patients with firearms. Though medical marijuana is now legal in Illinois, the program itself likely will not be fully implemented until next year. Applications for medical marijuana patients will not be accepted until September. Dan Linn, executive director of Illinois chapter of the National Organization to Reform Marijuana Laws, said the first year of the pilot program will focus on the rule-making and regulation process. “It’s unfortunate that it takes that long because this is dealing with people’s healthcare and their livelihood, and in all honesty, their survival in some cases,� he said. “Putting the patient applications at the end of the year, I think that gives a little bit more of an hon-
NATHANIEL LASH THE DAILY ILLINI
Chancellor Phyllis Wise received much backlash after sending out an email confirming that classes would be in session Monday.
Despite opposition, UI officials stand by decision Âť Âť Âť Âť Âť Âť Âť 0RUH LQVLGH To read the
BY MIRANDA HOLLOWAY AND BRYAN BOCCELLI
Editorial Board’s take on the controversy, turn to
ASSISTANT DAYTIME EDITOR AND STAFF WRITER
Page 4A.
The decision made by University officials to proceed as normal on Monday despite expected cold temperatures was met with backlash from select students on Twitter. Most of the content targeted Chancellor Phyllis Wise after she sent out a mass email to the campus community Sunday night, notifying everyone that the University would hold classes the next day. Campus spokeswoman Robin Kaler said the University will never shut down completely because it is a residential campus. There will always be employees around, working in residence halls, on experiments or in police operations. The Campus Emergency Oper-
ations Committee met and made the decision about 10 minutes before the email was sent, Kaler said. “We did not think there was a threat to the safety of our students if they dressed for the weather and took appropriate measures to get where they needed to go,� she said. Though it is possible for temperatures to reach a point that would warrant canceling classes, Monday’s temperature did not reach that level, Kaler said. It wasn’t long before the University’s decision was quickly shot down by University students via Twitter.
Âť Âť Âť Âť Âť
SEE COLD | 3A
DAILYILLINI, DAILYILLINISPORTS
INSIDE
Police
2A
Âť Âť
|
est answer to the patients as to the timeline of this program.� Claudia Lenhoff, executive director of Champaign County Health Care Consumers, believes that the proposed regulations — particularly the background check — treat potential medical marijuana patients unfairly. “Those things are just barriers, and they basically treat the patient as if the patient may be a criminal,� she said. “The fact of the matter is, there are other drugs currently prescribed now that are far more highly controlled that don’t impose those kind of requirements on patients.� Under the proposed regulations, patients must go through a fingerprint-based background check in order to apply for a medical marijuana registry identification card. They must pay for this out of their own pocket, and anyone who has been convicted of a drug felony will not be eligible to receive an ID card. Linn said the strict regulations that Illinois has already implemented or proposed were necessary to get the bill passed in the first place. “It was one of those situations where we needed this program to be as restrictive as it is so we could pass this law,� he said. “It’s just now that we have this law, it’s not going to help as many people as it really could have, or help as many people as soon as it could have due to its restrictive nature.� Both Linn and Lenhoff said discussion surrounding the rule that
2A
|
Opinions
4A
|
Letters
4A
|
Crossword
On Jan. 21 the Illinois Department of Public Health released a draft of the proposed rules for the states four-year medical marijuana pilot program.
$150
5A
|
Comics
5A
|
Life
{
A yearly fee of $150 is required to apply for a medical marijuana registry identification card. That fee may be cut in half for patients receiving Social Security disability income. The fee would be $125 for caregivers.
FINGER
PRINTING
A-Z {
{
Patients must undergo an Illinois State Police fingerprint-based background check. They must pay for this themselves using a licensed vendor of an inkless electronic fingerprinting system – the costs range from $30-$60 depending on the vendor.
In 2014, the application process will be split into two groups: qualifying patients whose last names begin with the letters A through L may submit an application for a registry identification card between September 1 and October 31. Those whose last names begin with the letters M through Z may submit their applications between November 1 through December 31. Applications will be accepted year round, regardless of last name, starting in 2015.
FELONY {
You will not be eligible to receive a registry identification card if you have been convicted of a drug felony.
FIREARMS
{
Qualifying patients and designated caregivers may not possess firearms and are not eligible for a Firearm Owners Identification Card or a Firearm Concealed Carry license.
source: Illinois Department of Public Health would prevent medical marijuana patients from owning firearms has been particularly contentious. Aleksander Dapkus, senior in LAS, president of Illini on Target, a recreational shooting registered student organization, said the regulation may have come about due
to stigmas attached to marijuana. “I just don’t see why the two (gun control and medical marijuana) should be related,� he said. “They seem to be different issues, and I don’t think one has an effect
SEE MARIJUANA | 3A
@THEDAILYILLINI
THEDAILYILLINI
@THEDAILYILLINI, @DI_OPINION, @DI_SPORTS Horoscopes
Proposed rules for medical marijuana in Illinois
&
Culture
6A
|
Sports
1B
|
THEDAILYILLINI Classifieds
3B
|
Sudoku
3B