More than an Irish tradition
ILLINOIS GRABS NIT BID
There is more to St. Patrick’s Day festivities than alcohol and the color green
Men’s basketball misses NCAA tournament cut but receives No. 2 seed in NIT.
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THE DAILY ILLINI
MONDAY March 17, 2014
5he independent student newspaper at the University of Illinois since 1871
WWW.DAILYILLINI.COM
47˚ | 31˚ Vol. 143 Issue 94
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Alma Mater to return in April DAILY ILLINI STAFF REPORT
The iconic Alma Mater statue will make its way back to the campus in early April. James Lev, architect in the Office of Capital Programs and chairman of the campus Architectural Review Committee, said about a half a dozen pieces are waiting to be fi nished, but the 83-year-old statue is about 80 percent re-assembled and should be back in time for Commencement. However, she may look a little different than how most students remember her. “The features of the sculpture are easier to defi ne with the cleaning up and the removal of the corrosion from the surface, so you don’t get that high contrast green and black streaking on the features like you have before,” Lev said. In 2012, an inspection by the University’s Preservation Working Group concluded that the statue needed to be repaired after suffering from years of water damage, corrosion and air pollution, which compromised the structural integrity and color of the sculpture. The Alma Mater was lifted in August 2012 to begin the restoration project. The project entailed taking the statue apart, replacing bolts and giving it a laser cleaning. The project was originally anticipated to be completed in May 2013, but when experts
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saw the extent of the corrosion, more repairs had to be done than previously planned. Lev said several groups are planning to throw welcome back celebrations. There will be a rededication ceremony of sorts in June for the Alma Mater’s birthday, he added. “I’m sure our students — especially those who are graduating this spring — will be excited to have Alma home for Commencement pictures,” campus spokeswoman Robin Kaler in an email. Originally, the project was estimated to cost $100,000, but the price increased to $360,000 in reparations, Lev said. “It’s taken much longer than we thought it would, but the work that’s been done is going to ensure that statue is going to be around for another 100 years,” he said.
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Kelasia Karmikal, a drag queen also known as Kenneth Johnson, performs her second piece at the Illini Union Board Drag Show, held Thursday. Karmikal organized the show with the board.
Illini Union hosts annual drag show BY ALEX SWANSON STAFF WRITER
Kenneth Johnson has attended drag shows since he was about 15-years-old. He himself performed in his first serious show on his 19th birthday. Now, Johnson performs two or three times a month, usually locally, and he also performed in New York for an AIDS benefit show last November.
On Thursday, Johnson took to the stage at the Illini Union Board Drag Show as Kelasia Karmikal, his show name. Several drag queens, including Karmikal, and one drag king, performed for the IUB Drag Show. The music was mostly pop, and the audience was encouraged to move from their seats to tip the performers with dollar bills. The queens all performed in
costume, usually sparkly ones, and often had fishnets and heels as well. Throughout the show, audience members were on their feet tipping or dancing, and the drag queens came through the aisles, occasionally sitting on audience members’ laps or kissing them cheek to cheek. Also sitting in the audience was Johnson’s brother.
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“It’s really cool being able to have family support because I know a lot of my friends’ ... families, don’t even know they do drag,” said Johnson. “And they’re,
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Engineers showcase talent, skills at annual open house » » » » » Illini Pullers
BY JESSICA RAMOS AND MEGHAN WEBBER STAFF WRITERS
Campus streets were particularly crowded with visitors as March 14 marked the beginning of the 94th annual Engineering Open House. The open house attracted participants and onlookers of all kinds including students from universities and high schools across the nation and their families. Doug Podgorny, director of the open house and junior in Mechanical Engineering, said the two-day event featured more than 230 student-run exhibits. Engineering Open House continues to attract curious individuals annually with an estimated 20,000 visitors in attendance this year alone. “The combination of interaction and education really brings people to campus for EOH,” Podgorny said. “With such a wealth of information presented in an engaging way, people are naturally drawn to what EOH has to offer.” Although the event is showcased during a two-day time frame, extensive preparation occurs before exhibits are ready to be displayed throughout the Engineering Quad and its surrounding buildings. “Preparations for EOH begin in midApril and last throughout the summer, fall and spring terms. It is essentially an 11-month planning process,” Podgorny said. However, the exhibits that intrigue so many during these two days require just as much attention and effort — for many students, their exhibits took nearly a year to develop.
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Mayank Amencherla, junior in Engineering, explains his “talkies” exhibit in Everitt Laboratory.
A rocket is launched during a rocket race along Boneyard Creek.
People drive a simulator at the Illini Motorsports booth.
Sound-on-Film
Rocket Races
Illini Motorsports
The Engineering Open House honored Ellery Paine and Joseph Tykociner, by showcasing a reinvention of sound-onfilm. Sound-on-film is a class of sound film, whose process was refined at the University, in which the sound and picture is physically recorded to photographic film. Paine and Tykociner requested a patent, awarded in 1926, for the invention and released the first film in 1922. The demonstration at the open house included two projectors from the 1940s and 1950s playing a black-and-white film about the experiences of engineers. Engineering students involved said the exhibit was originally for the new Electrical and Computer Engineering building, but they thought it should be showcased at the open house before it became a permanent exhibit.
Students in the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics hosted one of this year’s most anticipated demonstrations — rocket races along Boneyard Creek in which two rockets were launched three times on both Friday and Saturday between the quad’s two bridges. The races take place every year, but this is Michael Bush’s fi rst year helping to organize and prepare the event. While this demonstration draws a large crowd, Bush, sophomore in aerospace engineering, said making the rockets was fairly simple. He said the organizers hope to get people to see that students can have fun in aerospace engineering. “You can be creative with rocket science,” Bush said.
Students in Illini Motorsports displayed their Formula Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) car on the Engineering Quad. Illini Motorsports takes part in design competitions every year in which they design, build and race a small Formula-style race car. “We go on two major competitions where there is about 120 teams from places like Germany, Spain, UK and Big Ten schools, too,” said Jack Miller, senior in mechanical engineering. He said it takes the students about a year to build the car. Guests of the open house were able to use a racing simulator that replicated the car on display. “It’s kind of like a realistic video game,” he said.
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Illini Pullers, a quarter-scale tractor building club, showcased its exhibit in the Digital Computer Laboratory. Each year, the club constructs a new quarterscale tractor. “We get a lot of parts donated from companies or money donated,” said Holly Brown, a junior in technical systems management. “We construct a lot of the parts in shop, and we spend a lot of time designing the entire thing.” Each year, the Illini Pullers compete in the ASABE International Quarter Scale Tractor Student Design Competition. “Each year we make a new tractor starting in August and we have until competition time to get it up and running to have it tested,” Brown said. With the competition beginning in early June, the Illini Pullers have nearly a year to construct its tractor. “For the most part, the tractors are used in competition when we’re tested against maneuverability, when we compare design reports against each other, and when we test distance pulled,” Brown said. At the exhibit, the Illini Pullers featured an accomplishment they are very proud of — a self-made tractor with five engines for a total of 80 horsepower. The tractor took first place overall in the 2010 ASABE competition. Although the tractors are built primarily for competition, the Illini Pullers find time to demonstrate the work its tractors can accomplish in the real world. “Sometimes we take it out to Ag Day and do some pulls to show people what we can do with our major,” Brown said.
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SEE OPEN HOUSE | 3A
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