New Board of Trustees appointees: Rauner chooses Jill Smart, Ramon Cepeda Page 3A WEDNESDAY February 25, 2015
THE DAILY ILLINI 5he independent student newspaper at the University of Illinois since 1871
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Vol. 144 Issue 83
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Suburban Express lawsuits continue BY ALI BRABOY STAFF WRITER
PHOTO COURTESY OF VICKI DIXON
Students in a civil and environmental engineering class work on designing water, sanitation and energy systems in Kenya and Uganda as part of a class trip. They visited clinics, tested water quality and met and talked to the people their efforts would help.
Engineering solutions in Africa BY ELYSSA KAUFMAN STAFF WRITER
To Lauren Valentino, graduate research assistant in civil and environmental engineering, experiencing basic struggles firsthand, such as finding access to water and sanitation, helped her realize how “good we have it here.” In mid-February, graduate
and undergraduate students in civil and environmental engineering took trips to Kenya and Uganda to develop systems involving water supply, sanitation and energy. The trip, offered to students enrolled in an environmental engineering lab, CEE449, was led by Benito Marinas, civil and environ-
mental engineering professor. Students taking the class worked in groups to design a system that focuses on learning the needs, resources and struggles of communities in developing countries. Benito described the systems the students designed as meaningful because the class allows the students to inter-
act with the community that they designed the system for. Marinas said the class continues to develop partnerships with the Safe Global Water Institute and the Uganda Rural Community Support Foundation. This year three students
SEE AFRICA | 3A
Mayoral candidates take public’s questions
As Suburban Express continues to file lawsuits against students for contract violations, Annie Mauro is one student who has not given up fighting against the company. Mauro, junior in FAA, has been involved with Suburban since 2013, and the company has dedicated an online page to her, which includes information about Mauro, her brother and mother. On Feb. 22, 2013 Mauro purchased a Suburban Express ticket online to travel to Woodfield Mall from Champaign after her brother’s car would not start. After attempting to get on the bus, Mauro said the driver denied her the chance to ride because she did not have a printed ticket. She then ordered another ticket, this time to Woodridge Jewel, printed it and presented it to the next Suburban bus driver who came at a later time that day. Mauro said she filled out a refund request in February of 2013 for the first bus she never rode, but after not hearing back from Suburban after several attempts to contact them, her mother disputed the credit card charge for the ticket. During winter break of the following year, Mauro was summoned for a court date, held on March 7, 2014. A trial was then held on April 14, 2014, and she was represented by Thomas Betz, directing attorney at Student Legal Services. Mauro won the trial and the full transcript was later posted on the page dedicated to her on Suburban Express’ website. She said her mother is currently contacting attorneys to deal with the online interaction the company has posted against Mauro and her family. According to the Champaign County Circuit Clerk’s website, seven similar small claims lawsuits have been filed by Suburban Express in 2015, all of them on Feb. 3. There have been no small new claims filed by Suburban Express in Lake, Cook or Ford counties in 2015, where the company had previously filed. Between 2012 and
Suburban Express receives “Sheepie Awards”
In its latest issue, the student-run satirical newspaper The Black Sheep showcased its first annual “Sheepie Awards,” chosen by a student survey. Dennis Toeppen, owner of Suburban Express, won in the category “Who has terrorized the UIUC campus most?” with 62 percent of the vote. The company as a whole also won “Worst way to get home” with 66 percent of the vote.
BY MAGGIE SULLIVAN CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Joe Petry, Deb Feinen and Karen Foster are all running for mayor of Champaign. They all advocate change for Champaign. They even have similar visions of what needs to change in Champaign. They just differ on the vehicle to achieve that change. “I think you’ll find we’re a pretty respectful group,” Feinen said. “You won’t hear us talking about each other.” The Republican Women of Champaign County hosted a forum of mayoral candidates Tuesday afternoon at the Champaign County Republican Headquarters. The event was a public forum, designed to allow members of the media and community to pose questions to candidates for mayoral office. While the Champaign mayoral election is technically nonpartisan, all of the candidates present at the forum said they represented the ideals of the Republican Party. Current Champaign Mayor Don Gerard was not in attendance. The forum consisted of questions posed by the public to the mayoral candidates. Each candidate was given a minute to respond to each question and allowed an introduction to speak on their background, why they wanted to run for mayor and their goals for Champaign. Some of the key issues the public posed were ensuring economic growth in Champaign, what role the city plays in determining the location of the new Champaign Central High School, how to address the recent violence, how to better accommodate the non-English speaking and deaf or hard of hearing population of Champaign and how to improve poll numbers and unify the Republican vote. Petry, professor of Economics at the University, said his main concern for Champaign
SEE FORUM | 3A
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Police officers gather around a house on E. Daniel Street, on Unofficial St. Patrick’s Day, Friday, Mar. 7.
Party Patrol issues warnings and frees up police officers BY MAGGIE SULLIVAN CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Sitting in a dark car at 10:00 p.m. Saturday night, members of the Party Patrol division for the night prepared to start their shift. As Angela Annarino, sophomore in AHS and LAS, started the car, Alex Tran, junior in LAS, turned to her and asked, “How many calls do you think we’re gonna get?” Annarino responded, “Two. I’m going to say two.”
Tran turned to Trey Jackson, senior in Business, posing the same question. “Well, let’s see ... it’s a Saturday. Midterms are still going on ... I feel like it might be a decent night. I’ll say four,” said Jackson. Tran nodded, adding, “I’m going to go in the middle. I’ll say three calls.” Annarino pulled the car out of the lot, and the night of patrol began. ***
SPORTS
Illini to take on Hawkeyes
SEE PARTY PATROL | 3A
ALI BRABOY THE DAILY ILLINI
The Black Sheep voted Suburban Express the “worst way to get home” in its “Sheepie Awards.”
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