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WEDNESDAY February 26, 2014
GYMNAST EARNS A PERFECT 10
Community-based art initiative encourages creativity in youth
Amber See’s perfect score is only the 3rd in Illinois women’s gymnastic program history
Skateboard decorating prepares locals for art show
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Illini police getting ready for Unofficial the event so the police can “be omnipresent,” Frost said. “People know if you’re going to do things that are unlawful, you’re probably going to catch one of our eyes,” Frost said. “With us, Champaign, Urbana, the state police, we’re all in the campus district on that day.” Unofficial is known as an annual high-risk event that includes student injury, police officials said. UIPD Chief of Police Jeff Christensen said the department is haunted every year that there will be another student fatality, and they do as much as they can to mitigate that potential. “A lot of that falls on (an) individual’s responsibilities,” he said. “The event that appears fun to a lot of participants can turn really ugly just with some bad choices.” Injuries that UIPD has seen in the past include falling off balconies, falling on the ground and battery due to alcohol consumption, Frost said. Multiple students are sent to the hospital each year for drinking-related health problems. “The message we always put out is, ‘Don’t invite that guy or that girl,’” Frost said, referring to people known for making bad decisions. Frost said 70 percent of enforcement action taken is against people who are not associated with the University. “Our students, they know what to expect from us, we know what to expect from them, but when you bring so many people in for this event from outside ... some of them are just here to drink too much and get in trouble,” Frost said. UIPD is holding a meeting on Monday with local law agencies to announce strategies for Unofficial. “What we’re looking for is to keep our community safe, and to do that, it takes a lot of police preparation and hours worked,” Frost said.
BY BRITTNEY NADLER STAFF WRITER
As police begin preparations for Unofficial St. Patrick’s Day on March 7, they can only hope the high-risk student-run holiday will someday come to an end, UIPD Captain Roy Acree said. “It’s on our wish list, but I’m not saying it’s going to end any time soon,” Acree said. “I’m not sure how much control we have.” UIPD has been able to move Unofficial activities out of academic areas, such as University Housing and Private Certified Housing, but the issue isn’t the event itself — it’s the detrimental effects that come with it, UIPD Deputy Chief of Police Skip Frost said. Unofficial was originally heavily promoted by local bars, who benefitted the most from
“It’s on our wish list, but I’m not saying (Unofficial’s) going to end any time soon.” ROY ACREE,
UNIVERSITY POLICE CAPAIN
the event. Police and city government worked together to add restrictions, such as raising the bar entry age to 21 for the day, Frost said. “We moved it to a more decentralized thing where it’s still on campus, but it’s at private parties more so than it is the bars, and now it lives in cyberspace,” Frost said. “It’s one of those things where the students are really keeping this thing going.” Acree prepares for Unofficial for weeks in advance, creating a plan to cover all aspects of
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Champaign County’s highest law-enforcement official, Sheriff Dan Walsh, walks with University of Illinois students to knock on doors across campus to distribute alcohol safety information as part of “Walk as One,” a coalition aimed at preventing injury and fatality as a result of alcohol consumption on Unofficial.
Teaching safety for Unofficial BY CHRIS PULLAM CONTRIBUTING WRITER
The Champaign Community Coalition hosted its second annual Walk as One on the University campus Tuesday. Led by the University Police Department, the Office of the Dean of Students and the Champaign Police Department, about 270 students canvassed the campus to spread alcohol safety information to their peers prior to Unofficial St. Patrick’s Day, which will take place March 7. Michael Martin, sophomore and long snapper for the University football team, participated in the event. He said he thought it was a good way to give back to the community and prepare the campus to be safe. “A few years ago a buddy of mine, his brother got killed on the night of Unofficial, so it kind of hits home,” Martin said. The Champaign Community Coalition hopes to deter alco-
Brittney can be reached at banadle2@dailyillini.com.
hol related fatalities and injuries through the Walk as One. The pamphlet distributed during the event contains information to help students participate in a safer Unofficial, including a tip sheet, a list of penalties and guidelines for developing a “Drinking Plan.” With Unofficial looming, the Champaign County Coalition aimed to knock on 4,000 doors in the area from Springfield Avenue to Gregory Street and Oak to Sixth streets. This is 1,100 more doors than the event targeted the previous year, allowing more participants while targeting a higher student population. “We actually turned people away last year because we just didn’t have any more work for people to do,” said Lt. Jim Clark of the Champaign Police Department. “We probably turned away 75 people last year.” Although the event covered
the majority of campus, fraternities and dormitories were not included in the walk’s scope. These students, as well as those who were not home during the event, should expect to receive an alcohol safety pamphlet via their University email. All students associated with University Housing or local leasing agencies are included in the mailing list. Though Tuesday’s event focused on Unofficial, the Champaign Community Coalition serves the community in multiple ways, including walks advertising Halloween and back-to-school safety. Spurred by the shooting of Kiwane Carrington in 2009, the organization strives to create stronger community ties. “It was created to improve relationships with the community, police and community relations and to just bring the whole community together to work as one group to address
the issues that occur,” Clark said. During a press conference on March 3 at 10 a.m., located at the Champaign Police Department, members of the coalition will discuss the success of the event as well as data from Unofficial 2013. Speakers will include the vice chancellor of the University and Clark, as well as representatives from the University Police, Illinois State Police and the Illinois Liquor Commission. “We will talk about what our plan is, how we are going to address Unofficial as far as the educational component that we are doing (and) the Walk as One,” Clark said. “(Also) we’ll talk a little bit about what our main power commitment is going to be (and) how many officers we’re going to have addressing it.”
Chris can be reached at pullam2@dailyillini.com.
Obama announces Digital Lab partnership with UI DAILY ILLINI STAFF REPORT
President Barack Obama announced the University’s partnership with the $320 million Digital Lab for Manufacturing, a new Chicago-based private lab. “They’re partnerships that bring together companies and universities to develop cuttingedge technology, train workers to use that technology, and then make sure that the research is translated into real-world products made by American workers,” Obama said Tuesday in Washington, D.C. The University is central to
THE DAILY ILLINI FILE PHOTO
An Unofficial reveler tries to keep warm while walking down Green Street during last year’s Unofficial on March 1.
the project. The Digital Lab will work alongside UI LABS, as well as the National Center for Supercomputing Applications for its supercomputing resources. UI LABS is a collaboration of companies, industry partners, universities, government and community partners to shape future economic, business and cultural challenges, according to the collaborative. “This new Digital Lab has the potential to revolutionize the way the United States approaches manufacturing and a major effort will be centered in Illi-
nois,” Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said in a press release. The firm will also work with the College of Engineering. William King, University professor in the department of mechanical science and engineering, will serve as the Digital Lab’s principal investigator and chief technical officer. “We are delighted by the success of the UI LABS application and look forward to joining with other university and industry partners in creating an opportunity for our faculty to contribute their expertise to advanced manufacturing and
the revitalization of the regional economy,” said University President Robert Easter in a press release. The Digital Lab is being funded by the U.S. Department of Defense along with industry, academic, government and community partners and will develop digital manufacturing technologies and commercialize them in hopes to reduce costs for manufacturers. “This is a transformative opportunity to shape the future of American Manufacturing,” said UI LABS Chairman Warren Holtsberg in a press release.
UI senior is 1 of 40 in nation to win Gates Cambridge scholarship BY STANTON POLANSKI STAFF WRITER
Before flying to Seattle on Feb. 1, where a panel of Cambridge faculty awaited her, Michelle Kelley practiced her responses on campus. This panel judged whether she deserved a $50,000 scholarship. But it was the mock interview, the interview she had on campus with local faculty to prepare her, that intimidated her more than her actual interview. “For my first mock interview, they had the Nobel laureate of our physics department on the panel,” said Kelley, a senior in LAS.
“Not only was it the guy with a Nobel Prize in physics, but the Nobel Prize was relevant to the research I did this past summer.” Kelley discovered this month that she was one of 40 U.S. students to nab the Gates Cambridge postgraduate scholarship and one of only 13 students from public universities. She’ll be studying at the University of Cambridge next year with this scholarship. “I was kind of incredulous at first,” she said. “I was really surprised I was awarded to be a finalist because I didn’t think I’d make it that far. I went into the interview thinking: I have around a 50/50
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shot, so don’t be nervous. It was an awesome feeling.” Kelley received the award not only for her work in physics but also for her work in the community. Since experiencing culture shock as the only female in her physics class, it has been one of her goals to change the way girls think about science — her other goal is to become a physics professor. “I’ve never experienced negative sexism — at least not very big situations — but it’s always something that’s looming in the back of my head,” Kelley said. “Oh wow, I’m kind of different and I need to be representative. It adds on a lot
of pressure.” She doesn’t think females should be such a minority in science. With her presence at elementary schools and the Midwest Conference for Undergraduate Women in Physics, she has already began to lift some of the pressure from isolated females in science. “Younger girls don’t see themselves as scientists,” she said. “Hopefully in the next few decades, we’ll see a lot bigger numbers, not only in physics, but computer science and engineering, too.” She is the first University student in five years to win the Gates
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senior in ACES, said she saw Kelley work through the lengthy process. Soriano wondered to herself whether the stress was too much or just normal, but the day after Kelley’s interview, she saw it dissipate. Kelley heard that she had won the scholarship. “I was extremely excited for her,” Soriano said. “I’m proud of what she’s done.” After her year at Cambridge, Kelley plans to return home to the United States and work on earning a doctorate degree in physics.
Stanton can be reached at polansk1@dailyillini.com.
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Cambridge scholarship. David Schug, director of the National and International Scholarships Program at the University, said that some years he has seen seven students apply for the scholarship, while other years he might only have one. But he said he’s surprised more do not apply. For Kelley, the application process started in summer. Schug was able to help her tighten her application, and after five or six drafts, Kelley finally submitted her work. In mid-December, she found out she was a finalist who would be going to Seattle. Her roommate, Kate Soriano, a
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