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The Daily Illini
Wednesday March 14, 2012
www.DailyIllini.com
The independent student newspaper at the University of Illinois since 1871
BOARD OF TRUSTEES
UNDER CONSTRUCTION Residence Hall No. 3 To be fully completed by Fall 2016
Nugent Hall To be fully completed by Fall 2012
Residence Hall No. 2 To be fully completed by Fall 2013
Pending approval, next phase of Ikenberry Commons project to include 3rd new residence hall BY DARSHAN PATEL STAFF WRITER
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Vol. 141 Issue 117
ampus officials will take the next step in the 14-year, multimillion-dollar Stanley O. Ikenberry Commons construction project, pending the approval of an $80 million phase by the Board of Trustees on Thursday at its meeting in Urbana. As part of a major initiative by University Housing to replace the “Six Pack” residence halls, campus officials will recommend that the trustees approve funding for a third residence hall in the new complex. The next phase in the project calls for building a residence hall at the current site of Forbes Hall, demolishing the Taft and Van Doren halls and installing a new stormwater system for the west playing fields on First Street. The 155,000-square-foot hall — for which construction is scheduled to commence in 2014 and be completed about two years later — will house just under 500 students, said Michael Bass, senior associate vice president and deputy comptroller, at the board’s Audit, Budget, Finance and Facilities Committee meeting on March 5. University officials plan on initially funding the project through University Housing’s
More online: To follow the Board of
Trustees’ discussion of the Ikenberry Commons and other issues, visit www. DailyIllini.com on Thursday.
Hogan’s executive actions up for review The Board of Trustees could review University President Michael Hogan’s actions in executive session Thursday but no action is anticipated, said University spokesman Tom Hardy. Hardy said if the trustees decided to review Hogan as Board of Trustees chairman Christopher Kennedy told reporters last week, they would presumably want to hear from the president about steps he has taken to reach out to faculty since the board’s closed-door emergency meeting on March 5. Since that meeting, Hogan has met with Springfield faculty and issued a Universitywide message saying that he is committed to restoring trust and teamwork. In addition, Hogan is scheduled to meet with Urbana faculty leaders later this month. Kennedy said after the emergency meeting last week that Hogan needed to repair his relationship with faculty or the president could risk losing his job.
» » » » » » » » budget, which is partly composed of student housing fees. After a certain point, the project will be subsidized by revenue bonds. This is the next part of the project that is designed to replace all the Champaign residence halls that has a determined completion date. The first portion that was completed in 2010 included the Student Dining and Residential Programs building and a part of Nugent Hall. The full completion date for Nugent is by Fall 2012. Garner Hall will come down this summer, before Nugent is completed. A new residence hall currently being built on the corner of Peabody Drive and First Street is scheduled to open in Fall 2013. Shortly before that six-story, suite-style hall opens, Forbes Hall will be demolished to make way for the third hall that will be located near the corner of Gregory Drive and First Street.
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Solid future ahead for UI’s short-term sustainability goals BY LAUREN ROHR
Student Dining and Residential Programs Building Completed 2010
High: 77˚ Low: 58˚
STAFF WRITER
From reducing energy consumption to composting food wastes, the University has been following through with its plans to make campus more sustainable. In 2008, the University signed the American College and University President Climate Commitment, agreeing to set goals and prepare a plan to reduce the campus’ environmental impact. In response to this commitment, the Climate Action Plan, or iCAP, was developed in 2010, listing plans for potential sustainability projects on campus. Stephanie Lage, assistant to the director of the Office of Sustainability, said the short-term goals of iCAP will help to keep the University on track for its ultimate goal, which is for the University to be carbon-neutral by 2050. There are approximately 75 short-term goals listed in iCAP, according to Pradeep Khanna , associate chancellor and overseer of the Office of Sustainability.
“These interim goals will generally reduce our carbon impact, our water usage and our electricity consumption,” Khanna said. “We’re responsible for making sure we follow our commitments and meet our goals.” So far, Khanna said the University has been on track with many of the projects listed in iCAP. The University no longer uses coal to generate power during summer months and a new policy requires that all new buildings have LEED gold certification. He added that the newest building on campus, the electrical and computer engineering building currently in construction, will exceed these standards with a LEED platinum certification. In addition, a large-scale food composting project, which will take all the food thrown out at dining halls to a composting site on campus, is on schedule to be completed by the end of the year. A bike sharing program is expected to launch in May.
See SUSTAINABILITY, Page 3A
Soaking up 1st rays of the season
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See COMMONS, Page 3A
JOSHUA BECKMAN THE DAILY ILLINI
Relaxing students are framed in the hula-hoop of Molly Powell, senior in LAS, as she practices her “hooping” on the Main Quad on Tuesday. With a high of 78 in the midafternoon sun, students enjoyed the warm weather.
Q&A: ANTHONY COBB
Anthony Cobb sworn in as new chief of police for Champaign New commander discusses how he will improve relations within police department, with community BY RAFAEL GUERRERO STAFF WRITER
A new era in the Champaign Police Department began Tuesday night, as Anthony Cobb was sworn in as Champaign chief of police before the city council. While the oath of office officially marked the start of his tenure, Cobb has been working since Monday. The Daily Illini talked to Cobb on Tuesday morning about his new position and how he plans to address some of the main concerns affecting the department. Cobb began his law enforcement career in Urbana back in 1992. He was promoted to assistant chief of police in October 2010.
The Daily Illini: So how was your first day on the job? Anthony Cobb: Long day. The
bulk of my day yesterday (Monday) was spent getting out and meeting the employees. Make sure they got to see my face and talked to them about my philosophies and expectations. I had my first shift briefing at 7 a.m. and then went through all the patrol briefings throughout the day. And between the briefings I spoke with the civilian non-sworn staff as well as all the detectives and the administrators. A lot of meetings yesterday.
DI: Being a Champaign native, has the feeling sunk in yet that you are now at the top of Champaign Police? AC: It has sunk in finally. I real-
ized I have a huge job to do. This is a great police department,
INSIDE
great people, a lot of resources. But there are a few issues we have to work through. The first thing I have to deal with is getting to know the officers and the employees of this agency. We need to work well together.
DI: Was it difficult leaving Urbana after 20 years? How are you going to apply any lessons and skills learned at Urbana Police to your new position here? AC: I don’t look at it as leaving. I
can go back to Urbana today or tomorrow and see my friends, family and coworkers. I still work with many people in Urbana. Me coming over here will help develop a better relationship between the two. Urbana Police really helped me get my foundation in law enforcement. They helped me develop into an independent thinker; I’m not afraid to think outside the box. I’m not scared to take on challenges. But these are skills I also learned from my family.
DI: How will your Champaign roots help you deal with the police chief position? AC: It helps me get a great per-
spective in the community, build relationships – I have built lifelong relationships here that are strong and viable and will help me here. I know they (the community) really want to partner with the department, and I want that to happen. The one thing I stressed in my acceptance speech is that this is going to
be a process and that this won’t happen overnight. There’s so much that needs to happen in these initial 30 to 60 days that will require me to work at in here at 82 E. University (the police department’s address). Yes, I plan to get out into the community and do things, but a lot of community stuff I want to do cannot happen unless I don’t take care of stuff at home first and deal with the issues within the agency.
DI: How do you mend the strained relationship between the police and the Champaign community? AC: The relationship in the past
few years hasn’t been all that positive but that was always dictated by who was in charge of the police. I have moms, brothers, aunts, uncles, cousins galore in Champaign. My relationship and where I’m going to be at is where I’m going to be. With that said, I think the community will challenge local law enforcement when they see something they’re not happy with. I’ve got a job to do. My job is to be chief of police and serve the people and keep them safe.
DI: Over the past few months, there have been talks of internal conflict within the department. How are you planning to address this? AC: We’re looking at organi-
zational structure right now. We’re trying to figure out how many deputy chiefs there will be and who is going to take over
ROSIE POWERS THE DAILY ILLINI
Champaign mayor Don Gerard, right, swears in Anthony Cobb as Champaign’s new police chief in the Champaign City Council Chambers on Tuesday. their positions. I know Deputy Chief (Holly) Nearing will retire at the end of the year, so a lot of chain of command that was here under the previous administration, quite a few are gone and the ones that remain are loyal to the organization, and I expect them to be loyal to my administration. We have a chain of command, and we all understand that
chain of command. Sometimes law enforcers may have to do things we don’t necessarily like or may not want to do but if that’s the way we want to do it then that’s how it has to be done.
DI: And what will you do to work with U of I students, staff and faculty? AC: U of I (students) are part of the community. Students
are near and dear to us. The U of I is a huge asset and a huge employer to our community. We will work with all students — not just U of I students, but also Parkland students. I’ve already spoken to several students and granted them interviews when I was transitioning from (the police department in) Urbana to Champaign.
Police 2 A | Corrections 2 A | Calendar 2 A | Opinions 4 A | Crossword 5 A | Comics 5 A | Health & Living 6 A | Spor ts 1 B | Classifieds 4 B - 5 B | Sudoku 5 B