The Daily Illini: Volume 143 Issue 83

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INSIDE Freshmen lead Illinois men’s basketball to victory against Nebraska with a 60-49 win. Page 1B

LIGHTS, CAMERA ACTION: GET READY FOR THE OSCARS

Ellen DeGeneres inspired the campus to be a community

This Sunday marks the 86th Academy Awards. Who are your picks?

THURSDAY February 27, 2014

Columnist Nicki Halenza: We should keep this going

LIFE & CULTURE, 5A

OPINIONS, 4A

THE DAILY ILLINI The independent student newspaper at the University of Illinois since 1871

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Champaign Co. administers gay marriage licenses early BY ELEANOR BLACK AND BRYAN BOCCELLI STAFF WRITERS

PHOTOS COURTESY OF H.O.M.E.S.

Tradition Dairy was built by A.J. Bos near Warren, Ill., but never became operational. The barns were removed, the concrete broken up, and that facility is now covered in corn. Above is a picture of one of a leachate pond associated with the facility.

Study backs tougher farm restrictions Enviornment Illinois advocates for tightening waste regulation in Illinois BY AUSTIN KEATING ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR

Jim Francis owns a cow and calf farm in Jo Daviess County. It’s been in his family for more than 60 years, and he intends on passing the farm on to his son when he retires. He considers himself one of many farmers who practice “responsible husbandry that preserves our precious natural resources for the generations that follow.� One of the most important aspects of this to him is responsibly storing and applying waste to fields and not letting it get into Illinois waterways. That’s why in 2008, he and many other community members grew concerned over their possible new neighbor — a massive industrial dairy farm called Tradition Dairy, which would house about 14,000 cows. “They were talking about finding a home for 250 million gallons of manure,� he said. “That’s a whole lot different than saying

grandpa had 50 cows on his farm.� The waste management plans of the facility were brought into question and, after an investigation launched by the county, it was discovered that, if the facility had been built as it was planned, it would have resulted in a “little less than 80,000 gallons per day of manure seeping into our groundwater.� This is because the plans included lagoons, or clay-lined basins, and the landscape type of the area under a regulatory law for these facilities called for an above ground storage facility. Also, the waste storage facilities weren’t large enough to hold the amount of manure, so there would have been spills and overflows during rainfall. “As a member of the Illinois Farm Bureau, we just want to (foster) growth in the livestock industry in Illinois, but not at the expense of our fresh water supply,� Francis said. “We’re not supportive of irresponsible operators

at all.� The Illinois Attorney General reached a settlement with the company, and the facility was then deconstructed in 2010. But other large farms, an estimated 500 according to Illinois EPA, are in operation. And some of these are operating “irresponsibly,� said Lisa Nikodem, the campaign director at Environment Illinois. A study published by Environment Illinois on Feb. 20 advocates for tightening regulations for these facilities because, according to the Illinois EPA, more than 672 miles of streams and 25,000 acres of lakes in Illinois have been polluted by animal waste from factory farms through spills, run-offs and other environmental hazards. In addition to this, since 2002, the Illinois Attorney General’s office has brought legal cases against at least 80 factory farms for water pollution violations, according to the study. Mainly, Environment Illinois is aiming to support current proposed regulations by the Illinois Pollution Control Board. The rules were opened to public comment last year and closed on Jan. 31. Of the 1,900 comments the board

University researchers study flood BY MEGHAN WEBBER CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Police

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SEE MARRIAGE | 3A

“Now you merge the line to the civil union line and the marriage line ... It was little things but it was validating. It was the state saying, ‘Hey, in our eyes you have the same relationship as a straight couple ...’� MARISSA MELI

COLLEGE OF LAW STUDENT

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BY CLAIRE HETTINGER PHOTO COURTESY OF PRAVEEN KUMAR

In May 2011, the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers flooded due to a manual breach of the levees of the Birds Point-New Madrid Floodway in southeastern Missouri. This is the aftermath that University civil engineering and geology researchers analyzed in their recently released study. This flood was induced by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in order to prevent a much more treacherous outcome of extreme upstream and downstream flooding of the Mississippi River.

“A flood like this hasn’t happened since 1927, so it was a once-in-a generation flood.� ALLISON GOODWELL

GRADUATE RESEARCH ASSISTANT

“A mark of the significance of flood in general is that it was the first time that all three of the U.S. Army floodways were uti-

DAILYILLINI, DAILYILLINISPORTS

INSIDE

SEE FARMING | 3A

The good samaritan: A good deed could save a life in freezing weather

Researchers given chance to compile unparalleled data The largest flood along the Mississippi in 84 years has given University researchers a chance to compile a data set that’s unparalleled in the fields of civil engineering and geology. In May 2011, the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers flooded due to a manual breach of the levees of the Birds Point-New Madrid Floodway in southeastern Missouri. In a Feb. 10 study published in the science journal “Environmental Science and Technology,� University researchers shared their fi ndings on the rare flood, and showed how people in that area can better prepare for floods. “This was a major opportunity to study a large flood, a flood like this hadn’t happened since 1927, so it was a once-in-a-generation flood,� said Praveen Kumar, the project director of the study and a professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University. “Also, we were able to get support from various funding agencies in order to measure various characteristics of the flood. That kind of a data set has never been collected before.�

received, 1,000 were from Environment Illinois members. “I’m optimistic the rules will stay intact, but they’re considering the comments and will propose the next set of rules sometime in the next few months,� Nikodem said. From there, they will go to the Joint Committee on Administration Rules and either get approved by December 2014 or struck down. Nikodem said one of the major points of the rules is a mandate for large farms to supply Illinois EPA with information. This includes details such as: who operates the facilities, how much livestock is kept and the kind of waste storage employed. “Most of the factory farms in Illinois aren’t permitted through the Illinois EPA, so the Illinois EPA doesn’t really know where they are, or how many livestock they have, or doesn’t know anything about their waste storage capacity,� she said. “It’s very hard to enforce them.� Currently when it comes to reporting spills, Illinois EPA doesn’t hear about them unless a

It was 8 a.m., and what began like any other day filled with classes and homework ended with the decision of a lifetime for two University students. Marissa and Laura Meli, both third-year students in the College of Law, were the first couple in line after the Champaign County Clerk’s decision to offer early marriage licenses to samesex couples, thus becoming the second county in Illinois to do so. “It’s really cool that things have progressed this much. I’ve kind of always felt like it would eventually come, but to actually have it be here and be now and be real and to have the license is really cool,� Laura said. On Friday, District Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman ruled that same-sex couples in Cook County would not have to wait until June 1, the date originally set by Illinois legislators, to marry. The couple received their civil union license last February, but the ruling now allows them to go through the same process as straight couples. “Now you merge the line to the civil union line and the marriage line ... It was little things, but it was validating,� Marissa said. “It was the state saying, ‘Hey, in our eyes you have the same relationship as a straight couple getting married.’� Though the ruling did not have a clear effect on other Illinois counties, Gordy Hulten, Champaign County clerk, said same-sex couples across the state should not have to wait to marry. “After consulting with State’s Attorney Julia Rietz, I have come to the conclusion that the rationale of the case applies to all citizens of Illinois and that

Champaign County residents should have no fewer Constitutional rights than those in Cook County,� he said in a press release. Hulten added that given the ruling, refusing to offer marriage licenses to same-sex couples provided no benefit to the county and may potentially result in litigation at the taxpayer’s expense. Marissa said Champaign’s decision was unexpected despite the Cook County ruling. “In Champaign County, Gordy and Julia- and the rest of the staff there — no one was suing them, no one was bringing a case to them — they made that decision because they thought it was the

lized in the same flood. It was a giant test of the whole levee flood system,� said Allison Goodwell, graduate research assistant and lead author of the study. Data collection, as well as collaboration between the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and different departments within the University, played a huge role in the research of the flood. Bruce Rhoads, a professor of geography and geographic information science, also contributed heavily to the study. As an expert on the effects of floods and erosion on floodplains, Rhoads said he “helped to frame the study theoretically within the context of past work on the effects of extreme floods on floodplains, including past floods along the Mississippi River.�

SEE FLOOD | 3A

STAFF WRITER

On clear nights, the starry sky can be seen well while laying flat on the ground and admiring the view. But when the temperature is below zero and powdery snow cradles the head instead of green grass, the scene can be life-threateningly peaceful. At 1:53 a.m. on Feb. 12, the temperature was minus 4 degrees Fahrenheit, with a windchill of minus 17.8 degrees and a wind speed of 6.9 mph, according to wunderground.com. At about that time, Jason Schwartz, sophomore in LAS and Media, was walking home with his friend, Anna Whelan. The campus was empty until they reached the corner of 3rd and Chalmers streets. There, they came upon a man passed out in the snow wearing nothing but a flannel and jeans, Schwartz said. He remembered the recent story he’d heard about the student who officials believe may have frozen to death near the Illinois State University campus, so he knew he had to do something so this man didn’t meet the same fate, Schwartz said.

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SOURCE: wunderground.com, Jason Schwartz

He could not tell how long he had been laying there, in snow angel position, but his face was red from exposure, and snow covered his hair, face and pant legs, he said. “I went over there and sort of woke him up and I was like ‘Hey, are you okay?’ and he didn’t really respond, he sort of muttered a few words,� Schwartz said. The man said he lived in the Theta Chi fraternity house, so Schwartz helped him off the ground and, with the help of Whelan, started walking him home. Schwartz said he figured the man was very drunk. When they got him to stand, he could barely

walk and Schwartz and Whelan supported him. As they walked, the man complained that his face felt numb but didn’t complain of any other injuries. When they reached Theta Chi, about a four minute walk, they opened the door to find no one was around, so they took the man upstairs and made sure he got to his room. Schwartz said the man thanked him a couple of times, saying, “You really didn’t have to do this.� He replied: “No, I really did.� In an earlier interview, Illinois

SEE SAMARITAN | 3A

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