ILLINI UPSET SPARTANS
PERSON TO KNOW
Illinois wins at Michigan State for first time since 2006
He is a doctoral candidate in wind conducting after 10 years of teaching
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MONDAY March 3, 2014
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THE DAILY ILLINI The independent student newspaper at the University of Illinois since 1871
18˚ | 3˚ Vol. 143 Issue 86
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PHOTO COURTESY OF JEFFREY FRAME
A lightning bolt from a supercell thunderstorm near West Point, Neb, on June 14.
Students invited to severe weather preparedness program
BY JESSICA RAMOS CONTRIBUTING WRITER
During National Severe Weather Preparedness Week from Sunday-Saturday, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is inviting all people to “Be a Force of Nature” by taking part in severe weather preparations in coming months and advocating for others around them to do the same. In taking an active role in preparedness, Illinois Public Media, in conjunction with the University, will host “Becoming Weather Aware: Severe Storm Preparedness with Meteorologist Dr. Jeffrey Frame,” at 7 p.m. on Wednesday at the Beckman Institute. Frame, meteorologist and clinical assistant professor in atmospheric sciences, will cover thunderstorm basics, lightning, flash floods, high winds, hail, tornadoes and promote severe weather safety. Illinois’ severe weather peak occurs during mid to late spring and early summer, Frame said, adding
that it is important for people to refresh their memory or learn what to do when severe weather hits. “The No. 1 thing is being weather aware,” Frame said. “If you don’t hear the warnings you’re not being warned. You won’t be able to take the weather precautions.” Frame recommends paying attention to local forecasts, utilizing websites such as the National Weather Service as well as listening to local or weather radio to stay up to date with warnings. One very important fact to know, Frame said, is the difference between a weather watch and a warning. A watch means there is an elevated risk of severe weather — usually in a portion of several states, for several hours. Nothing has yet been sighted — it is simply a call to attention. A severe weather warning means a storm spotter or radar has detected incoming severe weather. It is important to take shelter in this situation, Frame said, and listen to information provided.
Thomas Betz says he’s probably the only person who hopes the average temperature next weekend is 15 below zero. “And I hate the cold,” said Betz, the director of student legal services. “I’d like to see less partying on Unofficial. I think students should save their money and go to Cancun ... for spring break and enjoy some warm weather while they party a little bit rather than do it here.” However, Betz, who has been with the University since 1986, has experienced each Unofficial and knows that bad weather hasn’t stopped young people from traveling to ChampaignUrbana from out of state to celebrate the event. In fact, he said, of the several hundred city or misdemeanor tickets issued during each Unofficial, “overwhelmingly, most of these cases are from other universities.” Betz says he’s noticed that University students “have been very well-educated on Unofficial. They’re used to the alcohol culture on this campus.” Because non-University students aren’t as familiar with local policies and law enforcement, they tend to run into trouble more often. “Because they’re away from home, they have a different attitude about us and the community ... they get in more trouble than they ordinarily would,” said Steven Beckett, director of the trial advocacy program at the University and “of counsel” to Urbana firm Beckett and Webber. “They don’t see the consequence that our students do,” Betz said. While University disciplinary officials don’t have authority over students from other schools, Betz said, “that information gets shared. People naively think that they’re out of town so they can do as they please — but that’s a big mistake.” The consequences of Unofficial extend beyond the criminal
INSIDE
Police
2A
Candidates running for student trustee met on Thursday night to debate several campus topics. The election will be held through an online ballot Tuesday and
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Wednesday. Lucas Frye, junior in ACES, serves as the president of the ACES Council and a member of Student Alumni Ambassadors. Nick Reinberg, junior in LAS, serves as a member of the Illinois Student Senate and
sits on the subcommittees for Student Debt Awareness as well as the cultural, international and minority Student Affairs.
Megan can be reached at majones5@ dailyillini.com and @meganash_jones.
TUITION INCREASES
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Opinions
NICK REINBERG
LUCAS FRYE “That’s something we cannot necessarily change. We can’t tomorrow say we are going to lower tuition.” He hopes to increase the value of students’ education by compiling a calendar so students can take advantage of more opportunities.
While agreeing that tuition cannot be lowered, Reinberg believes the trustee can stop tuition bumps by voting no. He wants to lobby the state to pay the University back its debt.
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ADDITION OF GENDER CONFIRMATION SURGERY
UNIONIZATION
If trustee, he would vote against the addition, as he said it sets a precedent for the future and how the board evaluates whose medical needs are the most important.
If trustee, Reinberg would vote in favor and said students can opt out of the student health insurance plan.
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He believes unionization would keep student tuition stable; however, he believes that this will take away “some of our most prestigious faculty” and make it harder for the University to hire new faculty, which could hurt student’s education.
He said if campus faculty does unionize, he hopes they will not strike. However, if they were to go on strike, he would try to meet with the Union heads.
SEE DEBATE | 3A
UI research aims to convert plastic bags into biofuels BY CLAIRE HETTINGER STAFF WRITER
Each year 31 million tons of plastic goes to the landfill and doesn’t leave. Through his research, Brajendra Kumar Sharma hopes to inspire the addition of another “R” to a familiar phrase: reduce, reuse, recycle — recover. Sharma, head researcher on this project and senior research scientist at the Illinois Sustainable Technology Center, is specifically looking into the ways plastic grocery bags can be recycled into biofuels. Americans use almost 100 billion plastic grocery bags each year, most of which end up in landfills. But if they don’t, then they are found along roads, in trees and eventually, if not disposed of properly, in water ways and then the ocean, Sharma said. His research aims to break down plastic grocery bags into crude oil before converting it to
gasoline, diesel and vacuum gas oil, he said. This process runs at an 80 percent conversion rate, which means eight pounds of material, between 700-800 plastic grocery bags, produce one gallon of crude oil he said. From the converted crude oil, Sharma said researchers can be converted to 20 percent gasoline, 60 percent diesel and the remaining 20 percent is vacuum gas oil. Vacuum gas oil can be used as a base stock for producing lubricating base oils that can have various applications, such as twostroke engine oils, chainsaw oils and other hydraulic oils. He said they have not done specific economic calculations but he would guess that the converted oil will be cheaper than the current methods of extracting crude oil because they are converting the material almost for free from
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Letters
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Crossword
From trash to treasure: Converting bags to biodiesel
1 billion plastic shopping bags are used in the U.S. each year. SOURCE: DR. BRADJENDRA KUMAR
SEE BAGS | 3A
SCOTT DURAND THE DAILY ILLINI
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@THEDAILYILLINI, @DI_OPINION, @DI_SPORTS Horoscopes
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SEE WEATHER | 3A
0RUH RQOLQH
For video of the debate between the two candidates head to DailyIllini.com.
SEE LEGAL | 3A
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“When it comes to building emergency action plans, the idea with those specific plans is to get information out to the employees that work in those buildings to assist all the people with evacuation and/or shelter place issues during the time of an emergency situation,” Short said. A designated map indicating all emergency-prepared buildings on campus is not currently available; however, it is in the process of being created. Over the last 18 months, building floor plans have been created for the 200 buildings on campus that have been assessed. Short said the department has a long way to go until the campus has complete plans.
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STAFF WRITER
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DAILYILLINI, DAILYILLINISPORTS
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BY MEGAN JONES
justice system. “Just because you pay the $330 doesn’t mean it’s over,” Betz said. “It’s the other consequences that come back to haunt.” If Champaign, Urbana, University or state police arrests a University student, Betz guarantees that the report will go to the University Office of Conflict Resolution. “There is a code of conduct for students on campus, and any sort of violation of the law potentially subjects a student to that code,” he said. The nature of the offense can affect a student’s transcript or their ability to stay at the University, he added. Betz stresses to students that consequences can extend beyond the University and affect their adult lives in later years. “In terms of employment and housing discrimination, felony conviction is not a protected class so you can be discriminated against,” he said. “And many states permit discrimination in cases of misdemeanor for housing, depending on the nature of the misdemeanor.” Beckett agreed that there are many different outcomes for students that interact with law enforcement on, or as a result of Unofficial, and that these outcomes depend heavily on the circumstances of the individual incident. Student Legal Services only covers misdemeanor charges, and for any federal charge students must seek other legal council. “There are lots of options and lots of variables,” he said. “The more complex your case gets, the more you need a lawyer.” Before students get to that point, though, Beckett and Betz have advice as to how to interact with law enforcement officials. First and foremost, remain calm and polite with the officer, Beckett advised. “You should refer to the officer
STAFF WRITER
ZZZ 'DLO\,OOLQL FRP
Student trustee candidates face off in debate
Students warned that bad decisions follow into future BY STEFFIE DRUCKER
0RUH RQOLQH To see a photo gallery of recent weather occurances, visit
According to the National Weather Service, each year, Americans experience an average of 100,000 thunderstorms, 10,000 of which are severe; 5,000 floods; 1,000 tornadoes; and an average of 21 and falling deadly hurricanes. Champaign County is considered StormReady, a National Weather Service program that prepares communities with safety and communication skills in the case of an emergency. Communities that are StormReady are more prepared for severe weather events due to advanced planning, education and awareness according to the National Weather Service. The University has an overall campus emergency action plan, guiding overall campus emergency operations as well as building emergency action plans, managed by Sherry Wooten, emergency planning coordinator and University Police Department Lt. Todd Short, director of the Emergency Planning Bureau.
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