The Daily Illini: Volume 143 Issue 93

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INSIDE Relay for Life co-chair Melissa Feiger plays a key role in organizing the event that donates to the American Cancer Society 6A

MISS POSSIBLE: A TOY THAT TEACHES

THE STORY BEHIND HILL’S NO. 21 Freshman Malcolm Hill wears No. 21 to honor his friend who battled cancer

Engineering majors want to help little girls aim big with their future

SPORTS, 1B

LIFE & CULTURE, 6A

THE DAILY ILLINI

TUESDAY March 18, 2014

5he independent student newspaper at the University of Illinois since 1871

WWW.DAILYILLINI.COM

McDonald’s set to open on Green St. The paperwork is starting to stack as the city of Champaign prepares to review the addition of a new business in Campustown: McDonald’s. The popular fast-food restaurant is expected to be located at 616 E. Green St., with construction beginning in May, according to a press release from property management and development company JSM. The opening is scheduled for summer of 2014. The corporation recently sub-

The Illinois Student Senate will host a hearing Wednesday at 7 p.m. to vote on removing members of the Campus Student Election Commission after three members of the senate submitted complaints regarding this year’s student election process. “There have been many doubts raised about the legitimacy of the trustee election and questions about the bike referendum that need to be answered in a formal setting, and someone needs to be held accountable for how the elections were handled,� Senator Kevin Seymour said, graduate student, in an email. Matt Misichko, chairman of the commission, said in a statement that this has been a year of extraordinary circumstances, from schedule delays because of weather to technical difficulties. “The members of the CSEC have acted to be flexible and

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YMCA fundraises to fill unrenewed grant deficit BY CLAIRE HETTINGER STAFF WRITER

The University YMCA has raised almost $37,000 in its efforts to replace the Catholic Campaign for Human Development grant that was not renewed last fall. The YMCA hosted “Storylines: A Gathering of Words and Songs� on Sunday as part of its continual effort to raise funds for their immigrant work, which added about $3,600 to its fund. In November 2013, the YMCA lost a $60,000-per-year grant due to affiliation with the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, which openly supports same-sex marriage. Mike Doyle, executive director of the University YMCA, said the YMCA does not have an official stance on same-sex marriage, but the organization wants to be inclusive of all people and treat every person with human dignity. One speaker at the event, Father Tom Royer, a Catholic priest who is involved with immigrant concerns in the Champaign-Urbana area, talked about the importance of circles of mutual concern where groups of people can come together to achieve the same goals. “One would think the churches would be (circles of mutual concern),� he said. “They have their own agenda, and sometimes they avoid the issues.� The event included performances by Amasong, Cham-

PHOTO COURTESY OF MEGAN FLOWERS

Jill Crandall, director of the Amasong choir, addresses the crowd gathered at the Storlines event, which was held at the University YMCA on Sunday. The YMCA has raised almost $37,000 since it lost a grant last fall. paign-Urbana’s premier lesbian and feminist award-winning chorus, and Dan Keding, storyteller. Both groups performed works relevant to the cause of human dignity, uniting as one group of people and accepting differences. Alicia Beck, development director of the University YMCA, said the new fund is named the Committee Concerned for Human Dignity. CCHD is the same acronym as for the pre-

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vious grant, and she said they wanted to claim it as their own to assert that it is concerned with the rights of all people. Doyle said the YMCA thinks of gay and immigrant rights as the same thing. Gay people coming out is not unlike immigrants coming out and calling themselves undocumented, he said. He said it is unfortunate that the Catholic Church found the conflicts of interest too great to overcome to continue working with

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the YMCA. He thinks it is the church that will come around, not the rest of the world, and perhaps they could work together in the future. The church’s CCHD grant was renewable for four years at $60,000 a year. Doyle said the YMCA wishes to raise $120,000, half of their total goal, by the end of 2014. Beck said the YMCA’s goal is to raise $60,000 by the

SEE YMCA | 3A

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Grace Kyung, graduate student, spent the first weekend of March stress-free, after she collected around 2,380 signatures to establish her referen-

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McKinley Foundation, 809 S. Fifth St.

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Each year, the Campus Student Election Commission hosts a spring referendum where student initiated fees are reviewed, and trustees, student senate and SORF board members are elected. The spring 2014 referendum took place on March 4 and 5 and held the second lowest voter turnout over the past six years.

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responsive throughout, and have thoughtfully considered every complaint they have received,� Misichko said. Shao Guo, Illinois Student Senate historian, said there have been previous instances where election commissions have been purged. “With an office that actually has a say in how University business is handled ... this needs to be treated seriously,� Christopher Boidy said, ISS parliamentarian. “We have a group of folks that are essentially trying to brush us under the rug, and they should not be able to do so.�

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Tuesday is the general primary election for Illinois. Here’s a list of campus polling locations, operating from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. The white squares represent these locations.

UNIVERSITY AVENUE

CSEC elections face complaints about miscommunications BY MEGAN JONES

Vol. 143 Issue 95

Where to vote on campus

mitted a plan review, which will be processed by the city, along with an examination of their menu, layout and equipment specifications, said Champaign Economic Development Manager Teri Legner. The city must then approve a design and visit the site before McDonald’s can officially open, Legner said. The closest McDonald’s locations are more than mile away from Campustown, at 1605 S. Neil St., in Champaign, and 601 N. Cunningham Ave., in Urbana.

DAILY ILLINI STAFF REPORT

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Tuesday, March 18, 2014

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University Q Theft was reported at Everitt Laboratory, 1406 W. Green St., at 10:30 p.m. Sunday. According to the report, a stu-

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Aggravated battery was reported in the 1300 block of South Mattis Avenue at 8 p.m. Sunday. According to the report, an unknown offender stabbed the victim during a fight. The offender has not been located. Q Theft and deceptive practices were reported at The Red Lion, 211 E. Green St., at 3:30 p.m. Sunday. According to the report, the victim reported that credit cards, money and a driver’s license were stolen from her purse. Q Theft was reported at The Red Lion, 211 E. Green St., at 10 a.m. Saturday. According to the report, the victim’s cellphone was stolen. Q

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TODAY’S BIRTHDAY You’re easily inspired this year, and that can get profitable. Until August your career advances through creativity and social networking. Take time for love this summer, and romance flowers. After August, work action surges. Cut out the fluff, and focus on what you love. Build partnership and teamwork. Journal your emotions. Nurture health and spirituality with exercise and peace. To get the advantage, check the day’s rating: 10 is the easiest day, 0 the most challenging.

ARIES (MARCH 21-APRIL 19) Today is an 8 — Tension eases naturally. Completion fosters creativity. Take advantage, and invent. A partner makes you laugh. Resist buying on impulse. Find a treasure in your own closet. Meditate on love, and it begins to show up everywhere.

TAURUS (APRIL 20-MAY 20) Today is a 9 — Domestic luxuries like candles and hot water don’t cost much. Treat yourself to blissful moments at minimal expense. Save up for your future. It could get romantic. You see a diamond in the rough.

GEMINI (MAY 21-JUNE 20) Today is a 7 — Act on short-term goals. Finish what you promised. Adapt to recent unexpected

dent reported someone stole his smartphone while he was studying. The phone is valued at $650. Q A 22-year-old male was arrested on the charges of possession of drug equipment and possession with intent to deliver near Nevada Street and Goodwin Avenue at 11:30 p.m. Sunday. According to the report, an officer stopped the man, who dropped several bags on the pavement that were suspected to contain MDMA. A further search uncovered several pieces of drug equipment, LSD and more MDMA. Q A 20-year-old male was arrested on the charges of driving with a revoked license, operating an uninsured motor vehicle and resisting an operator near Fourth and John streets at 3 a.m. Friday. According to the report, an officer noticed the man driving erratically on his moped. He also was issued a ticket for disobeying a stop sign and other moving violations.

developments. Love definitely figures in the plan. Your past good deeds speak well for you. Compromise. There’s a reward available. Invest in your career.

CANCER (JUNE 21-JULY 22) Today is a 6 — Beautify your home. Take a chance on romance, and make corrections as needed. Let your heart fly free. It may not fit your pictures. Let go of assumptions, and enjoy the ride. Kindle and rekindle love.

LEO (JULY 23-AUG. 22) Today is a 7 — There’s a nice benefit coming in, and you have plenty to say about it. Don’t brag about how much you’ve made. Pay back a debt. Talk about your ideals for how it could be. Take an emotional inventory.

VIRGO (AUG. 23-SEPT. 22) Today is a 9 — Encourage a change for the better, an endeavor for mutual profit. Compromise is required. Set up rules to insure fair competition. Follow through, don’t just talk about it. Make it sexy. Don’t give up.

LIBRA (SEPT. 23-OCT. 22) Today is a 9 — Improve living conditions. Don’t disrupt your whole structure by upgrading workplace technology yet. A new idea needs work. The truth gets revealed. Use your imagination at home. Provide motivation, and stand firm on rules.

SCORPIO (OCT. 23-NOV. 21) Today is a 7 — Cut entertainment

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Battery was reported in the 1600 block of East Florida Avenue at 9 p.m. Sunday. According to the report, an unknown offender battered the victim, who was transported to the hospital for evaluations. Q Armed robbery was reported at Dollar General, 1506 N. Cunningham Ave., at 9:30 p.m. Sunday. According to the report, an unknown offender entered the business with a handgun and forced employees of remove money from a safe. The offender fled from the scene. Q Criminal damage to property was reported in the 1600 block of North Willow Road at 9 a.m. Monday. According to the report, an unknown offender poured cooking oil down the gas tank of the victim’s vehicle. Q

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SAGITTARIUS (NOV. 22-DEC. 21)

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Today is a 7 — You can charm your way through a maze. Discover the boundaries and limitations. Get help from friends with connections or special talents. Passions could flare. Hold your temper. There’s a lovely prize at the end.

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CAPRICORN (DEC. 22-JAN. 19) Today is a 7 — Plan for the long haul, but take action on immediate needs. Discard junk to make space for new possibilities. Ask interesting questions, like “what do I love?� You’re starting to figure it out. Make lists.

CORRECTIONS In the March 17, 2014 edition of The Daily Illini, the article “New KoFusion location opens in Urbana� stated that the restaurant opened over this past weekend. The restaurant will open later this week.

AQUARIUS (JAN. 20-FEB. 18) Today is an 8 — Flirt with a proposal without committing yet. Draw someone in with your charm. There may be hidden costs... you can play later if you want. Get into studies that develop new understanding. Dally around with an idea.

In the March 17, 2014, edition of The Daily Illini, the article “Abrams’ shot falls short in loss to Michigan� incorrectly said Illinois will likely receive a NIT bid. Illinois received a NIT bid.

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The Daily Illini regerts the errors.

Today is a 7 — Let others know what you want. It may include confronting authority. Friends are there for you. Let your partner negotiate on your behalf. Love sets you free. Share your appreciation in secret notes. Send treats.

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spending, and wait a bit longer on a planned purchase. Consider an interesting suggestion. You’re in the middle of the action. Listen with fascination. Romance is kindled. A lovely moment presents itself.

The Daily Illini is located on the third floor at 512 E. Green St., Champaign, IL 61820. Our office hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

When we make a mistake, we will correct it in this place. We strive for accuracy, so if you see an error in the paper, please contact Editor-in-Chief Darshan Patel at (217) 337-8365.

Corrections: If you think something has been incorrectly reported, please call Editor-in-Chief Darshan Patel at (217) 337-8365. Online: If you have a question about DailyIllini.com or The Daily Illini’s social media outlets, please email our Web editor Folake Osibodu at online@dailyillini.com. On-air: If you have comments or questions about The Daily Illini’s broadcasts on WPGU-FM 107.1, please email our managing editors, Maggie Huynh and Ryan Weber, at onair@dailyillini.com. Employment: If you would like to work for the newspaper’s editorial department, please fill out our form or email employment @dailyillini.com. News: If you have a news tip, please call news editor Lauren Rohr at (217) 337-8345 or email news@ dailyillini.com. Calendar: If you want to submit events for publication in print and online, visit the217.com. Sports: If you want to contact the sports staff, please call sports editor Eliot Sill at (217) 337-8344 or email sports@dailyillini.com. Life & Culture: If you have a tip for a Life & Culture story, please call features editor Alison Marcotte at (217) 337-8343 or email features@ dailyillini.com. Photo: If you have any questions about photographs or to suggest photo coverage of an event, please call photo editor Brenton Tse at (217) 337-8560 or email photo@ dailyillini.com. Letters to the editor: Letters are limited to 300 words. Contributions must be typed and include the author’s name, address and phone number. University students must include their year in school and college. The Daily Illini reserves the right to edit or reject any contributions. Email opinions@ dailyillini.com with the subject “Letter to the Editor.�

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Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Two-state solution discussions continue

FROM 1A

ELECTIONS

ALEX WONG MCCLATCHY-TRIBUNE

President Barack Obama listens to an interpreter as he meets with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (left) in the Oval Office on Monday. Obama met with Abbas to discuss progress in the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations and the establishment of a Palestinian state.

Illinois start-up recognized as finalist for clean energy BY MARYCATE MOST STAFF WRITER

Every day, resources such as water, food and energy are wasted in countries throughout the world. Electrical computer engineering Professor Gary Eden and Adjunct Associate Professor Sung-Jin Park have developed micro-technology to reduce this waste and one day provide cleaner sources of water, food and energy to developing nations. “It is a small thing, but it can be useful to everyone’s health,” Park said. “That is our main point and idea for this company.” Their start-up, EP Purification, was recognized by the Clean Energy Trust as a finalist in the annual Clean Energy Challenge, which will be held April 3 and award start-ups for protecting the environment, Park said. Park and Eden, along with more than 20 other scientists and engineers in the team, have developed a microchip that uses microplasma technology to harness the power of the ozone. The small concentration of ozone is then able to dissociate particles, essentially, cleaning the water supply. Using the ozone dissociation ability to clean clothes decreases the amounts of water and detergent necessary, which has a domino effect when it comes to environmental conservation. Senior Scientist at EP Purification Jin Hoon Cho said he believes that EP Purification’s ozone stud-

ies will be beneficial to many research projects in the future. “The ozone technology for disinfection and purifying water in current market is still based on few decades of plasma technology,” Cho said. “I always think that advances in science and technology have to bring many benefits to the world in which we live.” Thirty-four percent of hot water is used to wash clothes in the U.S. and heating water makes up 9.1 percent of U.S. energy consumption. That amount of energy is the equivalent of using 29,625 billion gallons of gasoline, Park said. But with the microplasma and ozone-generating technology that Park, Eden and their team have built, water usage is reduced by 30 to 40 percent, detergent usage by 10 to 20 percent and energy consumption by 90 percent, Park said. This microchip can be incorporated into a washing machine, and then clean clothes within 30 seconds time. For that reason, Park and Eden have been looking into partnerships with hotels and nursing homes, such as Champaign’s Swann Special Care Center, which dedicate many resources to keeping linens clean. However, this commercial use of their microchip is not the only purpose that they had in mind. The start-up will also help address problems such as

Applying the ozone

Ozone technology has the ability to work in a number of different fields. EP Purification is an example platform technology, which can be used for any application. These are a few of the functions that professors Park and Eden have been investigating while working on their own ozone microchip: Q Laundry: On the commercial side of things, EP Purification can sell their microchip modules to hotels and nursing

poor quality sanitation in developing nations by quickly and efficiently cleaning the water supply or by keeping food safe to eat for a longer stretch of time. “We are very proud that the product we develop can save significant energy in several applications,” said EP Purification Design Engineer Min Hwan Kim. “And (it) also helps many lives who suffer from a worse quality of drinking water.” Already, a company in South Korea, which is where Park is originally from, has partnered with EP Purification to look into using the technology to keep food from spoiling. A short term exposure to the ozone can clean the food in the same way

homes that will use the technology to quickly wash linens. Q Food: Small amounts of exposure to the ozone can help keep packaged food fresh for longer periods of time. Q Water sanitation: In underdeveloped countries, the ozone technology can help to quickly purify water supplies. Q Biomedical: Microplasma can heal wounds two times faster than regular air. SOURCE: ENGINEERING PROFESSOR SUNG-JIN PARK AND EP DESIGN ENGINEER MIN HWAN KIM

it cleans the water. Although Park said he is excited and hopeful of the possibility of being named a Clean Energy Challenge winner, he and Eden are satisfied that they have made it this far in the competition and have received more awareness and support for their company in the meantime. “We can work with a wide range of clients groups and provide many generic services,” Cho said. “The same can be true of the third world. I’m expecting something magical will happen to EP Purification.”

MaryCate can be reached at most2@dailyillini.com and @marycate_most.

UI area accused of cyber attack on Crimea referendum BY NATHANIEL LASH NEWS APPS EDITOR

Tensions between the United States and Russia are hitting close to home as organizers of a pivotal vote in Crimea make accusations that computer attacks interfering with their website originated from the University of Illinois. The United States has opposed the results of a vote by the residents of Crimea, a peninsular republic of Ukraine, to secede from their nation and rejoin Russia. But the website that served to promote the vote, referendum2014. ru, was attacked in the early morning hours of Sunday, said organizers who allege the attack came from the Urbana campus. The Kremlin is claiming that the referendum has passed and that Russia will recognize

Crimea as a nation independent of Ukraine. But given the “duress of Russian military intervention” in the region, Obama said in a statement the vote “would never be recognized by the United States or the international community.” University administrators discovered the allegations Monday morning, said campus spokeswoman Robin Kaler, as the news made its way stateside. Kaler said that CITES would be looking into the issue further and had no further information at press time. The organizers of the referendum posted details of the attack on their website Sunday morning, saying that they identified the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign as the source of the attack.

“(It is from this place provided a large scanning of servers before the attack),” the organizers wrote as roughly translated from Russian. According to the organizers, their site was hit by a DDoS attack, or distributed denial of service, which involves the concerted effort of a large number of computers, often infected with malware, trying to flood a website with traffic. When the number of requests to that server exceeds what it can return, users — legitimate or otherwise — are then unable to access the site. According to brief server logs released by the referendum organizers, three requests to their servers, made at 9:29 p.m. local time Saturday, originated from the Urbana campus.

Those logs show that the request associated with the University originated from an address in a range used specifically on the Urbana campus, rather than the entire University, and does not include the addresses used by the National Center for Supercomputing Applications, according to records from CITES. The organizers also listed two University-related IP addresses that they said crawled the site shortly before the attack. The University did not have further information regarding where those IP addresses would have been accessed from at press time.

Nathaniel can be reached at lash2@dailyillini.com and @Nat_Lash.

University’s new partnership to fuse engineering, health care BY AMY KARLSTEDT STAFF WRITER

A new facility in Peoria called Jump Center, aims to create a partnership between doctors and engineers that will pave the way for new advancements in the health care industry. After receiving a gift of $25 million from Jump Trading, the University’s College of Engineering will start working on more advanced health care technologies with the firm at the facility. Another $25 million matching fund will be initiated by the OSF Health care Foundation, as well as the University providing support of $12.5 million each year it’s in operation. This combined effort is called Jump ARCHES, or Jump Applied Research for Community Health through Engineering and Simulation, and it will bring medical professionals into collaboration with bio-medical, industrial, mechanical and even computer-science

engineers to enhance medical simulation and education. The goal is to lower health care costs, said Andreas Cangellaris, dean of the College of Engineering. “We have great momentum in bioengineering and the health care field,” he said in an email. “But health care engineering is such a broad field. ... Its successful pursuit calls for us to (be) innovative in material science and engineering, control, new sensor technology, humanmachine interfaces, the list goes on. You can build a century’s worth of breakthroughs on this frontier.” Cangellaris also said the expanding student engineering body has a passion to bridge the gap between engineers and doctors. He added that several University engineering students are interning at the facility, and University faculty, as well as a few seniors in the college, also

are doing research for Jump ARCHES. “The connections between engineering and medicine are growing very fast, and our students recognize it and are very passionate about it,” he said. “Using technology innovation to prevent disease and to save people’s lives is such a compelling call for more young people to pursue studies at the intersection of engineering and medicine.” Rashid Bashir, the dean of the department of bioengineering, added to Cangellaris’ enthusiasm for the program. “This opportunity will provide engineering students to do translational projects in the health care systems engineering area, especially as it relates to simulations of medical and clinical processes and procedures.” He added that the partnership serves his department’s long term goals of getting engineers and physicians to work side by side.

“Health care is one of the grand challenges of this century and advancing bioengineering by further integration and fusion of engineering and technology with medicine will benefit the patients in new and unimaginable ways,” he said. L ela Di Monte, research assistant at Jump and graduate student, said in an email that the partnership goes back and forth. “New ideas from physicians spur new R&D by engineers, which is then brought back to physicians for implementation. The collaborative efforts create excitement and push for more rapid development,” she said. The Jump Center is also expected to pump roughly $90 million into the local economy of Peoria and surrounding areas over the next five years.

Amy can be reached at krlstdt2@dailyillini.com.

dum question on the CSEC spring 2014 referendum. However, at 3:44 p.m. on March 3, Kyung received an email from the commission stating that she had not secured enough signatures — something she believes could have easily been avoided if the commission had not waited to notify her until the day before the ballot was sent out. “Since I have been in the ISS, the communication between the two organizations has been very poor,” Seymour said. “It always seems like the CSEC has no idea what is going on, even hours before the election takes place.” The referendum question asked students if they support a $1 student fee each semester dedicated to bicycle-related projects. Kyung wanted to show University administration that students care about bicycling and want to see a change in bicycle infrastructure. “We would have certainly gathered enough signatures with advanced notice,” Thane Fowler — president of Bike Face, a registered student organization — said. “We only stopped gathering signatures because we believed we had over 300 extra.” According to the Illinois Student Senate’s constitution, the senate can lower a student’s referenda question’s signature threshold for appearance among the referenda to 5 percent with a twothirds vote. At the senate’s Feb. 12 meeting, the senate believed it passed a resolution in support of lowering the referendum question’s signature threshold from the usual 7 percent of the eligible voting student body — 2,846 signatures — to 5 percent — 2,033. Senators mistakenly informed members of the bike fee referendum that they had the senate’s sponsorship, while in actuality they needed an additional vote from a senator to be officially sponsored. But the ISS told Kyung that she had its support and only needed 2,033 signatures. “After discovering this, CSEC took it upon themselves to dismiss the referendum and force it off the ballot, even though the ISS wanted to make things right by allowing us to go on the ballot, despite this technicality,” Fowler said. “This, in my opinion, was a power grab that disregarded the democratic process and the voices of thousands of students and at least 100 hours of work from our members.” Additionally, Seymour said the commission rejected the fee because of a misinterpretation of the senate’s constitution by the commission. The commission said the resolution was void because referendum questions need to be sponsored by an individual senator for the senate to lower the signature threshold. Because Kyung is not a senator, she does not qualify. In reality, Seymour said this is a moot point, as any resolution to lower a referenda question’s signature threshold must first be sponsored by a senator. “CSEC claims that because ISS didn’t initiate the referendum, which is not actually possible since resolutions must be sponsored by individual senators, that the threshold for signature collection was not lowered to 5 percent...,” Seymour said. “This all could have been avoided if the CSEC simply took the time to contact the ISS beforehand.” In any case, Kyung’s question did not receive a two-thirds vote by the senate, disqualifying it from receiving the 5 percent signature threshold. Guo added that a member of the commission should have come to a student senate meeting before the election, as previous commissions have in the past.

‘Insufficient working with the SORF Board’ Guo, chairman of the Stu-

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YMCA end of March, adding that they have more plans for fundraising, including another concert. Royer also spoke about his experiences with immigrants in the community and the success of the projects the YMCA manages. “(The C-U Immigration Forum) is the most important effort on behalf of immigrants in this part of the state,” he said. The YMCA helps immigrants apply for driver’s licenses because it can be a confusing and difficult process. It also helps children apply for Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, a program created to let children who arrive in the United States before age 16 receive Social Security numbers; this would allow them to be a more active member of the community by having the opportunity to be legally employed, receive their driver’s license and receive higher education. “The people that are affected by this are people that we know, people that we talk to everyday people who live right next to us,” Lorenzo Macedo said, a volunteer with the C-U Immigration Forum. He told a story about his fam-

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dent Organization Resource Fee Board, submitted a petition after CSEC never submitted a budget to the board. Under the commission’s bylaws, the CSEC should propose a budget and send it to the SORF chair for approval. The petition states that the SORF Board believes that the CSEC insufficiently worked with the SORF Board in the elections, specifically in regards to inaccuracies within the election packet and lack of publicity efforts. “This year, we’ve had a competitive undergraduate election. ... If the qualities of each SORF Board candidate are not given, then you allow the possibility of selecting an unethical person on SORF Board,” Guo said, adding that if he wasn’t involved in the board, he would not have even known elections were taking place. The petition against CSEC was passed on March 13 with a vote of 7-0, with two abstentions. Guo received the budget later that night, which listed a total of $2,000 worth of expenses. SORF Board allocates $667 of student fee money per year to the CSEC. On its budget, the CSEC said it spent $500 on an advertisement within The Daily Illini and that the rest was used for internal purposes, such as renting rooms. According to The Daily Illini’s records, the commission last bought an advertisement in 2012. Misichko confirmed that the commission had not bought an ad. The budget was not itemized, and Guo said he would not have approved it if it had been given to SORF before the money was spent. SORF’s petition also states that the commission has insufficiently worked with the board in regards to communication between the two groups.

‘Failure to hear formal complaint’ Boidy submitted a complaint to the CSEC regarding upcoming Student Trustee Lucas Frye’s campaign spending. Boidy believes Frye had unreported campaign expenditures, specifically involving his three campaign videos, and violated the registered student organization contribution rules. “The student body cannot be simply ignored in cases like that because this sets a whole precedent for future elections,” Boidy said. “This lack of punishment sets a bad example and destroys credibility in the Illinois student elections.” Specifically, Boidy wrote that Frye’s videos take place in Assembly Hall and the Alice Campbell Alumni Center Boardroom, which both cost money to rent. If rented, these costs were not listed in his expenditures, unless he used connections through RSOs. “I’m involved in a lot of things on campus and it simply came down to asking whether I could use the facilities,” Frye said. “I told them what I was doing and it simply came down to asking.” According to the Campus Administration Manual, Section 8-1.3, the private use of University property for political campaign activities is not allowed. Frye said that the commission informed him of this complaint and gave him the opportunity to respond and outline his expenses. Frye said he spent $120 in total on his campaign to create his own website and to purchase Facebook advertisements. He said the commission reviewed his expenses and found that nothing warranted concern. As Campus Student Election Commission’s chairman, Misichko declined to comment. Boidy has submitted his complaint to Dean Rhonda Kirts and is awaiting further action.

Megan can be reached at majones5@dailyillini.com and @MeganAsh_Jones. ily and their problems with being undocumented drivers. He spoke about the terror experienced by parents as their children drive knowing that, if they are pulled over, they might not come back. But through the work at the YMCA and the C-U Immigration Forum, he said he is excited about the changes that he sees. “I have seen how all of them are starting to gather their information and requirements so they could go and get their appointments so they can legally drive,” he said. “This is something huge. This is something that everyone should be celebrating.” Royer said the YMCA is a place where real education is going on. It is part of many classrooms on campus where students can actually learn about differing view points. He said the University YMCA is one of those places that stands out in its efforts and fidelity to justice and is a place committed to human dignity for all. “We do have a very diverse community, a very rapidly growing immigrant population in Champaign-Urbana,” Beck said, “We want to make sure that the folks that are contributing to our local economy that are living here, that everybody feels included.”

Claire can be reached at hettngr2@dailyillini.com.

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OPINIONS THE DAILY ILLINI

EDITO RIAL University promotes women in STEM fields but lacks numbers

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ver the past 10 years, the percentage of women in Engineering has increased slightly — slightly being the key word. Although the increase is small, it’s by no means insignificant in a program dominated by nearly 82 percent men, according to a report by The Daily Illini. The significance lies not in numbers, but in the University’s ongoing commitment to provide more opportunities to women in science, technology, engineering and mathematics fields. And the University’s efforts this semester have been anything but lackadaisical in recruiting and attracting women to STEM fields. The Urbana-Champaign Senate recently voted not only to continue to urge showing support for women in STEM fields in its recruitment efforts — but also to add a counterpart statue of a female engineer to complement Grainger Bob. Although many are concerned with exactly how effectively a statue will increase female representation within the College of Engineering, we see a different advantage here. A statue, a public piece of art viewable to everyone, is a

simple acknowledgement and representation of the women who commit themselves to the College of Engineering, as well as the groups who work tirelessly to promote these fields to younger generations of women. The overall idea is to reinforce and strengthen the presence of women in STEM fields — both visually and mentally. Two University students also took on this challenge by starting their own doll line: Miss Possible, which are 10-year-old versions of inspirational women, such as Marie Curie. The idea isn’t necessarily about making a profit, but rather giving women the opportunity to see themselves represented through prominent female figures and scientists. Co-founder Janna Eaves said it best: “When you have girls growing up surrounded by Barbie and princess movies and women are sexualized all the time in TV, it’s hard to make the connection that I can go out and change the world too because you just don’t go out and see women doing that around you.� This inspiration is the hope that young women are armed with — with these dolls, or with open house exhibits such as the Engineering Open

THADDEUS CHATTO Opinions columnist

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health insurance plans, and should thus be more sensitive to the needs of financially disadvantaged students who oppose GCS. Where the cost of student insurance for an undergraduate is $254 a semester, the average cost of single healthcare coverage in the United States will run you over $5,000 a year. At this point however, it is the responsibility of the student to measure if they value their opposing beliefs enough to pay for the more expensive, non-University affiliated coverage. The discussions surrounding this recent change go beyond GCS and religious issues. Many of the arguments for and against adding this procedure stem from people clinging to the conventions of a certain point of view and failing to reflect upon who this coverage will actually affect. The fact that the student insurance plan is optional means that this new coverage has the potential to help members of the LGBT community without affecting those who opt out of the insurance plan for whatever reason. Taking this controversial issue and forming an opinion about it based on my own values and morals is how I reason through all social and political issues and how I found room to accept the addition of GCS in the student insurance plan. Despite whatever affiliations you identify with, I urge you to reflect upon personal philosophy in the face of controversial issues, as opposed to blindly following the conventions of these affiliations.

eligion has been a divisive topic throughout the history of mankind. Religion deals with matters such as morality and the ultimate values that guide people’s lives. Matters of what is right or wrong, and what is or isn’t sacred are never simple. And one of the primary areas of controversy is the notion of teaching religion in public schools. Growing up, I was always curious about how other religions operated. I attended a public high school in Southern Illinois, and I would have enjoyed taking a course on religion. A new book titled “For the Civic Good: The Liberal Case for Teaching Religion in the Public Schools,� written by two professors at the University, explores the educational importance, constitutionality and liberal arguments for providing religious education in public high schools. The authors — Walter Feinberg, professor emeritus of education policy, organization and leadership, and Richard A. Layton, professor in the department of religion — make several points arguing the value religion courses could have in public schools. They believe the academic instruction that teachers can provide about beliefs, practices and canonical texts of various religious traditions can be an appropriate part of the curriculum. I agree with this point because I think religion has been one of history’s prime motivators. By disregarding the importance of teaching religion in school curricula, we are essentially disregarding the significance and influence of religion on historical events. An example is the Crusades during the Middle Ages in which the Latin Catholic Church sanctioned military campaigns. The Crusades serve as an example that regardless of what the specific religious belief is, it has constituted itself in significant historical events that have structured various aspects of society. Religion should also be considered a vital part of a civilization’s culture. For example, according to the Philippine Daily Inquirer, the Philippines is about 93 percent Christian and more specifically, Roman Catholic. When taking into account the Philippine’s history, we would have to also consider the dominating religion that shapes the country’s identity and culture. I can safely say Catholicism is part of my identity and my culture — it’s part of my way of life and I want to give others the opportunity to learn about it. For example, public high schools that want to teach religion courses could teach them in a way that is similar to the analytic, interpretive and critical skills that are associated with humanities courses. It could be possible to teach literature of the Quran, Torah or Bible in a manner similar to works by William Shakespeare, Ernest Hemingway and Emily Dickinson. For generations, students have been reading and studying the literature of Shakespeare for his ability to depict human emotion in eloquent verses, the compelling characters, great stories and historical contexts of his works. Public high schools can use the Bible as a way to teach students about the historical and literary circumstances that encouraged the authors of the Bible to write the text in the first place. I think I would have enjoyed a religions class in high school that would have taught the traditions of different religions and the historical context and impact each of those religions has had on mankind. I am a proud Catholic, but I honestly do not know that much about Judaism, Islam, Hinduism and many other religions. As much as I would like for religious education to happen in public schools, there are also major roadblocks in the way. One major roadblock is the idea of teaching these courses in a way that is not advocating for a certain religion. I don’t know if it is possible for a teacher to instruct religious courses without including personal bias. The teacher would have to choose the religions to cover, and there could be controversy from students’ parents. The problem is the ability of the teacher to not impose a religious belief upon a student. Whether a teacher intends to, someone will not be happy. Religion is much more complicated to teach compared to art, literature or other humanities subjects. A solution to this could be that teachers are accountable for following specific lesson plans that would have to abide by strict guidelines of what information they could present. It is up to the instructors to make sure the lesson is presented in a way that is not overbearing or promoting a certain religious belief. I am proud to be a Catholic. Most of my friends were either agnostic or atheist while I was growing up. I remember I wanted to be able to share my respect and joy of Catholicism with them, but I never wanted to shove my religion down their throats. The point of the religion courses wouldn’t be to make them believe in my religion, but it would help them understand my religion from an objective standpoint and maybe for us all to have a greater appreciation of each other’s beliefs. Ultimately, if taught correctly, religion courses have the opportunity to give students the ability to empathize other peoples’ beliefs and values.

Stephanie is a sophomore in LAS. She can be reached at syousse2@dailyillini.com. Follow her on Twitter @syoussef22.

Thaddeus is a senior in LAS. He can be reached at chatto1@dailyillini.com. Follow him on Twitter @Thaddingham.

COURTNEY CIMO THE DAILY ILLINI

Janna Eaves, junior in Engineering, assists girls at one of the stations in the “Girl’s Club� exhibit in the Mechanical Engineering Laboratory at the annual Engineering Open House this past weekend.

House geared toward women, or the addition of a female statue to complement Grainger Bob. That’s what these fields are missing — marketing and representation. Because with existing stereotypes, women are less likely to pursue these fields in favor of a liberal arts education, or a field that they see more women represented in. That change needs to start with the students here, some who are already taking steps to make these fields more re-

EDITORIAL CARTOON

latable to women and younger generations of women. The University’s College of Engineering is one of the most well-known and highestranked programs in the country, and for it to continue to excel at its mission, women need the opportunity to play larger roles within. But with the number of female engineering students just more than 17 percent now, any initiative, as small as it may appear, is certainly worth considering.

ADAM ZYGLIS MCCLATCHY-TRIBUNE

New addition to health insurance not an infringement STEPHANIE YOUSSEF Opinions columnist

In

light of the recent decision on March 6 by the University’s Board of Trustees to approve the addition of gender confirmation surgery, or GCS, to the student health insurance plan for next year, many debates surrounding the controversy have been heating up around campus. However, as an advocate for people’s personal beliefs that may derive from religion or other morals and ethics, I find myself questioning what implications this new, controversial choice brings. First, let me clear one thing up: I am not here to judge whether or not GCS is a necessary procedure. I am not a doctor by any means. Rather, I am here to discuss why, despite how conservative some of my opinions may be, I don’t have any problems with the addition of gender confirmation surgery coverage to the student insurance plan. Some supporters defending the choice to add GCS to the University’s health insurance coverage argue that nobody should have a problem with this new change because it increases the cost of student insurance by less than three dollars. However, it is not the cost that brings with it the controversy. Rather, it is the fact that some people have religious, moral or ethical beliefs that do not necessarily agree with the implications of this kind of procedure. Where I personally support the rights

Religion helps diversify education

of gender equality, I am also a strong advocate for people’s religious freedoms, and would not support the additional coverage of this surgery if it jeopardized some students’ beliefs. However, it does not. Allow me to explain. The board in charge of the University Student Health Insurance has the right to vote on what surgeries to cover and not to cover. The administrators that voted to add GCS coverage should be well aware of the controversy surrounding the issue and thus the risks this choice may have on potential religious customers of this health insurance plan. However, the student health insurance plan already covers birth control, another controversial health issue that may go against some people’s beliefs. I don’t think that this recent choice by the board was intended to alienate any students who may be opposed to the procedure, but rather to be more inclusive to certain members of the LGBT community. Regardless of their motivation, I don’t see how adding gender confirmation surgery coverage to the already controversial, and optional, University student insurance plan infringes on anyone’s religious rights for precisely that reason: It is optional. If you have some strong religious, ethical or moral reason not to want any of your money to potentially go towards someone’s sex change, you can easily opt out of the student insurance plan by signing a waiver and purchasing your personal health insurance coverage from some other privately owned insurance corporation. It’s not like any of your tuition money is going to fund GCS. It’s pretty simple. Some may also argue that the student insurance plan is more affordable than traditional

SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS | opinions@dailyillini.com with the subject “Letter to the Editor.� The Daily Illini reserves the right to edit for length, libel, grammar and spelling errors, and Daily Illini style or to reject any contributions. Letters must be limited to 300 words. Contributions must be typed and include the author’s name, address and phone number. University students must include their year in school and college.

THE DAILY ILLINI | WWW.DAILYILLINI.COM

Tuesday, March 18, 2014

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PHOTO OF JANNA EAVES (LEFT) AND SUPRIYA HOBBS COURTESY OF SUPRIYA HOBBS

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MISS POSSIBLE the works. Miss Possible is also enrolled in the Microsoft Imagine Fund, which provides both monetary and developmental support. Through this fund, Eaves and Hobbs attend online classes twice a week to “push the project forward every week.” Though both Eaves and Hobbs said their parents were very supportive from the beginning, they said they tend to have a lot of ideas and their parents have become more enthusiastic with the increased attention and building success of Miss Possible. Hobbs’ parents are both chemists, and Eaves’ are both trained engineers; Eaves’ parents even hang burned circuit boards from failed experiments on their Christmas tree.

With the support of Bechtel, their parents and team, Hobbs and Eaves said that Miss Possible has been a group effort. “Everyone brings something to the table,” agreed Kelly Lin, junior in Industrial Design. “I get to learn a lot from working in such a diverse team and all of the ideas thrown around. We really respect each others’ ideas.” Even when the team is not physically in the same place, Lin said, they have groups online to stay connected. Although balancing demanding academics, extracurricular activities and the Miss Possible project is certainly time-consuming, Hobbs and Eaves said Miss Possible is not a source of stress. In fact, they plan to make it their career. “When you’re working on something you’re so passionate about, it doesn’t feel like work. Even when I’m resting, I’m think-

ing about Miss Possible,” Eaves said. “So it’s kind of like this pervasive force; schoolwork is the side project.” With the help of an espresso maker, and what tends to be much less than the recommended eight to nine hours of sleep a night according to Hobbs, they make it work. They simply believe so strongly in the message of their project that it makes all of the effort worth it. “What brings strength to what we’re doing is that it’s real women behind it. It’s real women with real stories, and no one can say my life can’t be like that — because someone’s life actually was like that,” Hobbs said. “We want girls to say she’s done all of these amazing things, and she was once a girl just like me. I can do that too.”

Maggie can be reached at oconno36@dailyillini.com.

“___ be my pleasure” Like some doughnuts Sweets ___ culpa Ford featured on “The Waltons” 15 Piano, on a music score 16 3, 4 or 5 on a golf hole, typically 17 Say that neither side benefited 19 “___ stupid question …” 21 Mai ___ 22 Año starter 23 Strand 27 Playwright O’Neill 28 Homer’s father on “The Simpsons” 29 Pilot’s announcement, for short 30 Exert, as energy 31 Monopoly square between Connecticut Avenue and St. Charles Place 33 Words of estimation 34 Start being printed 37 Early Ron Howard role 40 Hula dancers shake them 41 Edwards or Andrews: Abbr. 45 Coffee dispenser 46 ___-X 47 Autonomous part of Ukraine 48 Join a community again 52 F.D.R.’s affliction 53 Bank offering with a pct. yield 54 Season to drink 58-Across 55 Extensive enumeration … or what’s formed by the ends of 17-, 23-, 34- and 48-Across 58 See 54-Across 59 Shamu, for one 60 Be on the precipice 61 Pull (on) 62 Book after Ezra: Abbr. 63 Reason for an inquisition 64 Ave. crossers

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12 ___ degree 15 Nor. neighbor 18 Hathaway of “Les Misérables” 20 Take an eye for an eye for 24 Within: Prefix 25 Unpleasant discoveries in soup 26 Ming of the N.B.A. 31 31-Across, slangily 32 Form of many a modern game 33 Become inflexible 35 Civil War winning side 36 “You bet!”

37 Your and my 38 Make, as a meal 39 Connected with someone 42 Quantities 43 Left a military formation 44 No-goodniks 46 Electrical system 47 Goes after 49 Radius neighbor 50 Persian Gulf vessel 51 Too-often repeated 55 Chaney of the silents 56 “___-haw!” 57 Give it a go

The crossword solution is in the Classified section.

EDUMACATION

DOONESBURY

JOHNIVAN DARBY

GARRY TRUDEAU

PHOTO COURTESY OF RICK LANGLOIS DIGITAL MEDIA GROUP

Jared Bowman is one of many volunteer bike trailers who will transport e-waste from participating buildings to collection sites to minimize traffic during the collection event from 2 to 6 p.m. on Tuesday.

University holds 1st e-waste RecycleMania

BY STEPHANIE KIM STAFF WRITER

One aspiration Jonathan Bressler, senior in ACES, wanted to accomplish before graduation was to “get the ball rolling at e-waste control” at the University. On Tuesday, Bressler, along with other students and community members, will achieve this goal by participating in the 2014 RecycleMania Tournament. RecycleMania is a national competition that works to reduce waste and landfill material on college campuses. On Tuesday, the University will compete against 461 colleges in the division of E-cycleMania, which focuses on the collection of electronic waste. This is the first time the University is participating in RecycleMania. Collection sites will run from 2 to 6 p.m. at the Allen Residence Hall circle drive, Ikenberry Commons at Euclid Avenue, and the Illinois Sustainability Technology Center in Research Park. Any electronics with a plug or powered by batteries will be accepted, apart from University-owned electronics. Heavy items that can’t be carried by cart should be dropped off at the vehicle drop-off behind the Illinois Sustainability Technology Center. To minimize traffic congestion, volunteer trail bikers will deliver e-waste from participating buildings to collection sites. Other volunteers include the Registered Student Organization Eco-munity, Champaign County Bikes and Tikkun Chambana. The event is a collaborative effort involving the University’s Facilities and Services unit, Residential Housing, the Illinois Sustainable Technology Center, and the Institute for Sustainable

Energy and Environment. Bressler proposed the idea of competing in RecycleMania during a meeting that discussed e-waste at the beginning of the year, said Bart Bartels, Zero Waste coordinator and Facilities and Services staff. “He really was passionate about launching this initiative and doing an e-waste collection this year,” Bartels said. As a student in the department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences, Bressler initially became interested in the issue of e-waste because of personal and academic reasons. But after researching the topic, he felt compelled to take action against the growing problem, he said. “Given that we’re running out of space for waste management, we need to start recycling more of our electronic waste,” Bressler said. “Especially with the waste regulation in place, we don’t really have an option anymore.” The current waste regulations in place are a part of the 2012 Electronic Products Recycling and Reuse Act, a state law banning specific electronic devices from landfills. The “landfill ban” is effective for two reasons, said Joy Scrogum, Emerging Technologies Resource specialist and cocoordinator of Sustainable Electronics Initiative. “It’s important to reclaim precious materials, as well as keep out hazardous materials,” she said. “In the U.S., we only recycle 27 percent of our electronics. This event allows residents to easily get rid of electronic build up around their home.” Once the event is over, the collected e-waste will be weighed, and the number of pounds will be

reported to the national database. Materials then will be recycled by COM2 Recycling Solutions, an e-Steward certified company located in Carol Stream, Ill.. Because COM2 Recycling Solutions is a “responsible certified recycler,” community members can put their data security worries at ease, as all data from electronics is completely wiped out before it is recycled, Scrogum said. For those who find dropping off their electronics a difficult task, Bressler said there’s a different reason to participate. “The more people do it, the more culturally and socially acceptable it becomes,” he said. “Then we can conserve more materials and conserve more e-resources.” The winning school in each category will receive national recognition, an award made of recyclable materials and the right to host that category’s next traveling trophy. Although RecycleMania is a national competition, those involved see it more as a “precedent” for the future of e-waste control on the University campus, Bressler said. And while the weight of recycled e-waste determines the winner of the competition, Bartels said he defines winning differently. “We’re, in a way, winners strictly by participating in this event,” Bartels said. “Anybody involved will feel a sense of accomplishment. However this event goes, it will give us a base line to compare ourselves against in the future.”

Stephanie can be reached at skim108@dailyillini.com.

BEARDO

DAN DOUGHERTY

ARE YOU

creative? Illini Media CreativeWorks is looking for a couple of great graphic designers to join our creative staff this spring and next fall! Email your availability & contact info to kit@illinimedia.com

LIFE CULTURE

Return, reduce, recycle Through the RecycleMania Tournament on Tuesday, the University community can properly dispose of its used electronics. Check out Page 5A for more information about this national competition, which aims to reduce e-waste.

6A | TUESDAY, MARCH 18, 2014 | WWW.DAILYILLINI.COM

THEDAILYILLINI

GREEK OF THE WEEK

PHOTO COURTESY OF ALPHA EPSILON PHI SORORITY

Alpha Epsilon Phi member serves as Relay for Life co-chair BY EMMA GOODWIN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Because “cancer never sleeps,� neither did several students who stayed up until the wee hours of Sunday morning, walking around the Armory’s indoor track during Relay For Life. Students representing several campus groups raised proceeds through the fundraiser for the American Cancer Society. Melissa Feiger, Alpha Epsilon Phi member and junior in Education, served as a Relay for Life co-chair. Her position stemmed from being a vice president for Colleges Against Cancer, the registered student organization that plans the event. She has also

served on Colleges Against Cancer’s leadership team since her freshman year. Her involvement with Relay didn’t start at the University, though. As the granddaughter of a cancer survivor, Feiger said she started participating in Relay for Life during her freshman year of high school and never stopped. “I loved the sense of community and the cause that it was going toward,� Feiger said. Thanks to her involvement in her sorority, Feiger said she has been able to spread her enthusiasm to her sisters and expand awareness of the event to the Greek community. While Relay for Life is not Alpha Epsilon Phi’s official philanthropy, Colleges Against Cancer’s leadership team typically has three to four Alpha Epsilon Phi members who sit on the organization’s leadership, which comprises 25 to 30 students. “It’s important to people in our house,� Feiger said, noting that the sorority had multiple teams participating in this year’s event.

With about 50 of her sisters participating in the event, Feiger said she believes participation has increased — both with the number of participants and the amount of fundraising. “I’m pushing my team members to raise $100 (each) ... and a lot of them are really going for it,� she said. Sarah Shulman, Alpha Epsilon Phi member and senior in FAA, said she has worked with Feiger for three years in Colleges Against Cancer, serving as the leadership team’s development chair. “She works very, very hard,� Shulman said. “Everyone she works with she can really encourage. She leads by example, and if she wants all of us to do something, she will do it.� Shulman attributes Feiger’s success as a leader to her personable attitude and how she “cares so much about the cause.� “It makes us all want to do the same,� she said. Liz Arenson, survivorship/Luminaria chair for Colleges Against Cancer and junior in Education, agrees. In an email, Arenson wrote that Feiger has made her experiences with Colleges Against Cancer and Relay for Life enjoyable because Feiger allows her freedom but also direction in the survivorship/Luminaria committee. Both Shulman and Arenson specifically pointed out that Feiger does not act like she is above everyone else, despite her position. Shulman also said that Feiger faced a few obstacles this year, such as the timing of the event. Illini Dance Marathon, and several college open houses also took place on the same weekend. Additionally, Relay for Life was held about a month earlier than it had been in the past. However, Feiger said she let nothing stand in her way while trying to make a successful event.

“We really made it work, and I would attribute a lot of that to Melissa and her willingness to not back down,� Shulman said. Even with the numerous campus events going on last weekend, this year’s Relay for Life drew more than 140 teams and more than 1,150 participants. Feiger personally raised $5,415, the second highest amount at this year’s Relay for Life. As of Monday night, $144,630.44 was raised, with the funds still being counted. They are accepting donations until August, so Feiger said she anticipates the organization will meet their $145,000 goal. Part of the proceeds were raised through the selling of Luminaria bags for the event’s annual Luminaria Ceremony, which happened Saturday night. During the ceremony, the RSO showed a slideshow of pictures of people who have passed away from cancer, as well as a video of a Luminaria Ceremony the RSO held at Memorial Stadium on Feb. 18. In the video, bags were illuminated and configured to spell “HOPE.� They were then rearranged to spell out the word “CURE.� The Luminaria Ceremony was held on Feb. 18 to save space in the Armory and to hold the ceremony on a larger scale. “That’s just one idea that I really wanted to incorporate,� Feiger said. Feiger said she is excited to continue progress with next year’s Relay for Life, even as she begins full-time student teaching. “The feeling is indescribable: planning for such an event like (Relay),� she said.

Emma can be reached at egoodwi2@dailyillini.com.

Engineering students aim to empower with Miss Possible BY MAGGIE O’CONNOR STAFF WRITER

It all started with a pack of gummy worms, a pressing competition deadline and two University students’ intent on changing the world. Just over a year later, Janna Eaves, junior in Engineering, and Supriya Hobbs, senior in Engineering, are competing for a second time in the Cozad New Venture Competition through the Technology Entrepreneur Center at the University with their award-winning product, Miss Possible.

The concept is to create dolls modeled after accomplished women in nontraditional roles, like Marie Curie, two-time Nobel Prize winner credited with the discovery of Polonium and Radium. The dolls will be created to resemble these women as 10-year-olds to make them more relatable, Eaves said. Miss Possible Dolls will also come with a computer app. “Our goal is not just to inspire (girls), but to help them develop the skills they need to succeed,� Hobbs explained. “And that’s

,*0

where the app comes in.� Eaves and Hobbs met when they both participated in the Innovation Living Learning Community at Illinois Street Residence Hall. Their adviser and mentor, Jenn Bechtel, insisted that they submit an idea for the Cozad Competition in January 2013. Through their outreach work in the Society of Women Engineers, Eaves and Hobbs identified a lack of visibility of role models for young girls. Their solution was to create something that would

6

inspire young girls to imagine possible roles beyond mainstream media representations. “We’re not just a product. We’re not just selling a doll,� Eaves said. “We’re kind of representing the whole movement of lifting girls up and exposing them to all of the options that they have.� Hobbs and Eaves recounted some of their experiences working with young girls. Even the girls who expressed great enthusiasm for activities like making explosions, mixing chemicals and

working with computers said that they wanted to be fashion designers or teachers, Hobbs said. “What we’re trying to emphasize is the number of possibilities that are out there,� Hobbs said. “If they want to be a fashion designer, then by all means, be the best fashion designer out there. But make sure that you recognize that that’s not your only option.� After landing in the top eight out of 80 competitors in the 2013 Cozad Competition, Miss Possible was also a finalist in

February in the Entrepreneurial Excellence: Student Startup Award for Innovation Celebration. Additionally, Hobbs and Eaves are in the process of competing for the 2014 Cozad Competition again largely because building a doll is an extremely costly venture and the competition offers them the chance to earn funding. This year, they anticipate having a 3-D printed prototype of the doll for the final round, although that is still in

SEE MISS POSSIBLE | 5A

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1B

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SPORTS

The Daily Illini’s Twittournament boils down to the Elite Eight SPORTS, 3B

Power rankings DAILY ILLINI STAFF REPORT

Editor’s note: Every week, The Daily Illini basketball staff ranks the basketball teams in the Big Ten 1-12 and compiles the lists into its own Big Ten power rankings.

1. MICHIGAN STATE (LAST WEEK 3)

The Spartans take over the top spot in the power rankings after winning the Big Ten Tournament this weekend. Now that Tom Izzo’s squad is finally healthy, Michigan State is a national title contender.

2. MICHIGAN (LAST WEEK 1)

The Wolverines fell one spot but not because they looked bad. They got beat by a very good Michigan State team. When Michigan gets hot, it is as good as any team in the country.

3. WISCONSIN (LAST WEEK 2)

4. OHIO STATE (LAST WEEK 3)

PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY BRENTON TSE

Malcolm’s and Jeremiah’s story: Hill wears No. 21 to commemorate high school friend BY ALEX ROUX STAFF WRITER

No. 21 on the Illinois basketball team goes deeper than the stitching on the uniform. When freshman Malcolm Hill pulls his jersey over his head before each game, he is fulfilling a lifelong dream to wear No. 21 for the Orange and Blue. But it’s not his dream he’s fulfilling; it’s Jeremiah Radford’s. Radford, like Hill, was raised in the St. Louis area and attended high school in Belleville, Ill., a town of 44,000 located 18 miles east of St. Louis. At Belleville East High School, Jeremiah and Malcolm became friends. They talked of together making a journey

to compete for Illinois — Malcolm in basketball, and Jeremiah a year later in football. But Jeremiah’s dream was deferred when a battle with cancer got in the way. Only Malcolm made it to Illinois, but he brought Jeremiah’s legacy with him in the form of the jersey he had always wanted to wear — the orange and blue No. 21. Jeremiah DeJon Radford was born on March 5, 1996 to Felicia Radford and Jeremiah LaMarr Radford. He was an only child until age 9, when his twin siblings Jada and Jaden were born. Growing up, Jeremiah was full of energy and showed an immediate love for the game of football.

“Ever since he came into this world, all he knew was football,� Felicia said. Jeremiah started playing with the Belleville Knights peewee football team when he was 6 years old. His favorite player was No. 21 of the San Diego Chargers, LaDainian Tomlinson. He took No. 21 on every team he played for going forward. If he couldn’t get it, his mother said, it was going to be a problem. It was football that sparked his affection for another hobby as a child: weight lifting. He became a workout fanatic at about age 10 when he began experimenting with weights in order to build his body for the sport he loved. As he entered his teenage years, he began doing three workouts a day, a

ritual that included hundreds of pushups before bed. But football remained his true passion. It was football that brought Jeremiah to the University of Illinois during the summer before his freshman year of high school. He attended the Fighting Illini football camp in 2010, and it left a lasting impression on him. “He was just in love,� Felicia said. “He took pictures of the field and had them hanging in his room.� The camp made Jeremiah an Illini fan for life. After only a week on the Illinois campus, he decided he would go to college at Illinois and play foot-

SEE HILL | 4B

POINTCOUNTERPOINT

IS A HIGH SEED IN THE NIT OR A LOW SEED IN THE NCAA BETTER?

NCAA tournament appearance better for program in long run KIERAN HAMPL Staff writer

If

Tracy Abrams’ floater had a few more inches on it, or if Jordan Morgan’s layup had just rimmed out, there’s a good chance the Illinois men’s basketball team would be dancing. It is not beneficial to harp on the past and think of what could have been, but this current Illini team and the future of the program would have been better off in the NCAA tournament than in the lower-level NIT. Once March Madness begins, anything can happen. In last year’s tournament, Wichita State, a No. 9 seed, was five points away from the championship game. Florida Gulf Coast, LaSalle and Oregon made it to the Sweet 16 as Nos. 15, 13 and 12 seeds, respectively. Any team can turn it on in the tournament, and the Illini would have had as good a shot as any of the higher seeds in making a run. In the last month and a half, the Illini defeated three tournament teams — Nebraska, Michigan State, Iowa. Also, John Groce is known as a tournament coach, leading the 13-seeded Ohio University to the Sweet 16 in 2012 and winning two Big Ten Tournament games in his first two seasons at Illinois. Being in the NCAA tournament would have given the young Illini team the opportunity to continue facing the top teams in the country in high-pressure situations. Maybe the team wouldn’t have made a deep run this season, but it would have provided invaluable experience for returning players Rayvonte Rice, Kendrick Nunn and Malcolm Hill, who all have no NCAA tournament experience. A deep run in the NIT will only do so much considering the Illini are expecting the three transfers — Aar-

on Cosby, Ahmad Starks and Darius Paul as well as four-star prospect Leron Black to play big parts within the team next season. The NIT may provide more games for the Illini to become more familiar with each other, but a deep run is hardly guaranteed. In 2010, a more experienced Illini team, led by juniors Demetri McCamey, Mike Davis and Mike Tisdale, was only able

SEE POINT | 4B

Young Illinois team would benefit more from NIT experience J.J. WILSON Assistant sports editor

E

very team in college basketball wants to cut down the nets and bring home an NCAA Championship. In the fixed center of March Madness, the most talented of 68 teams

BRENTON TSE THE DAILY ILLINI

Illinois’ Nnanna Egwu rejects Indiana’s Stanford Robinson at the rim on Thursday. Illinois made the National Invitation Tournament, while Indiana was left out of postseason competition.

is proclaimed the national champion and has the glory bestowed upon them in the form of shiny trophies, a slick banner and increased attention from NBA scouts. After watching Illinois basketball this season, I can see the potential for Illinois to become that team in the near future. But I don’t see it yet, which is what makes me believe the Illini are best suited for the NIT in 2014. Take a look at what Illinois had this season: Kendrick Nunn and Malcolm Hill, two exceptional freshmen who excelled in their starting roles for Illinois and have yet to reach their full potential. Nnanna Egwu and Rayvonte Rice, a defensive monster who had only just begun to come into his role near the end of the season and a conference-leading scoring presence when consistency permits. And then there’s Tracy Abrams, a staple of leadership that brought effort and optimism to the Illini after they lost three impact seniors in the offseason. Each facet contains the traits of team in national title contention, but those traits need to be refined. And which tournament path best suits that development: a likely first or secondround exit in the NCAA or playing five games in the NIT and potentially winning the title? The issue for Illinois has become less about the postseason and more about next season, with only two players — Jon Ekey and Joseph Bertrand — graduating. While Ekey’s 3-point presence might be missed, Bertrand has been a dud all year. Nunn and Hill replaced both seniors in the starting lineup in mid-February and Illinois won five of its last eight with the freshman lineup. The holes left behind by its seniors also have high chances of being filled

SEE COUNTERPOINT | 4B

5. NEBRASKA (LAST WEEK 5)

6. ILLINOIS

(LAST WEEK T-7)

The NIT-bound Illini are in front of NCAA tournament-bound Iowa because the teams went in opposite directions at the end of the season. After starting 2-8 in Big Ten play, the Illini are trending up. After looking like a 5-seed for much of the season, the Hawkeyes fell to the First Four.

T7. IOWA

(LAST WEEK T-7)

T7. MINNESOTA (LAST WEEK 6)

The Golden Gophers just missed the NCAA tournament in head coach Rich Pitino’s first season but grabbed a 1-seed in the NIT. Minnesota could make a deep run, like it did two years ago when it finished as NIT runner-up, and gain more experience for next year’s squad.

9 INDIANA

(LAST WEEK 9)

10. NORTHWESTERN (LAST WEEK 11)

11. PENN STATE (LAST WEEK 10)

12. PURDUE

(LAST WEEK 12)

THE DAILY ILLINI | WWW.DAILYILLINI.COM

Tuesday, March 18, 2014

2B

Improving defense should be focus of free agency NFL teams need to prioritize defense over offense to win PETER BAILEYWELLS Sports columnist

In

football, they say defense wins championships. “They” were probably right, and this offseason, it seems like NFL teams are starting to listen to whoever “They” are. The NFL is now in an era dominated by the Legion of Boom, the vaunted Seattle Seahawks secondary that dismantled the Denver Broncos and their vaunted offense in Super Bowl XLVIII in February. This offseason, with several high-profile defensive free agents available, teams are in a defensive spending spree. NFL teams need to take advantage of this defensive free agent bonanza and wade into the free agent market with wallets wide open. I’ve always held the belief it is better to have a great defense rather than a great offense, and I’ve seen my belief validated several times. I had my heart broken when my high-scoring New England Patriots broke down in Super Bowls XLII and XLVI after spending both seasons with the best offense in the NFL. This season, Peyton Manning may have had the greatest statistical season ever by a quarterback, but he still couldn’t lead his team to put up more than eight points on Seattle’s defense. Recent rule changes combined with spread and pistol offenses have driven the NFL into an offense-based league. Ten years ago, the Patriots were in between two consecutive championships that were fueled by their dominant defense. In the 2003-04 season, there were two passers who recorded more than 4,000 yards. Last season there were nine, including two passers with more than 5,000 yards. Offense is at an all-time high. This only further emphasizes the importance of a strong defense, and NFL contenders with strong offenses must realize they need to supplement their offense with a little bit of defense. The Patriots have already signed top-flight cornerbacks Darrelle Revis and Brandon Browner while retaining Julian Edelman, their leading receiver last season. My favorite team is starting to realize it needs to power up the defense, but stopping at Browner and Revis would be a mistake. It is imperative they continue to bolster a defense that is regularly one of the poorer ones in the NFL. The Chicago Bears, owners of the most intimidating receiving core in the NFC, used to be known as the Monsters of the Midway for their strong defense. The days of Brian Urlacher have passed, and last season the Bears had the worst rushing defense in the NFL. They have already signed defensive end Lamarr Houston and resigned cornerback Charles Tillman but have yet to resign or replace defensive tackle Henry Melton and linebacker James Anderson. Despite Denver’s terrific offensive performance last season, the team gave up a whopping 43 points in the Super Bowl and featured the 27th-worst passing defense in the NFL. The Broncos picked up cornerback Aqib Talib from the Patriots and defensive end DeMarcus Ware from the Dallas Cowboys, but Aqib is injuryprone and Ware picked up only six sacks last season after recording 32 over the two prior seasons. Behind Talib, the Broncos secondary is relatively young and inexperienced, especially after cutting veteran Champ Bailey and losing Dominique RodgersCromartie. In addition, the team lost linebacker and defensive captain Wesley Woodyard to the Tennessee Titans and stud pass rusher Von Miller tore his ACL late last season. If the Broncos want to keep the Patriots from ruling the conference, there needs to be a sense of urgency about their free agent signings. It may seem silly to urge teams to do more of something they are already doing, but it cannot be stressed enough: In the NFL, offenses set records and defenses win championships.

Peter is a freshman in Media. He can be reached at baileyw2@dailyillini.com. Follow him on Twitter @pbaileywells22.

MICHAEL BOJDA THE DAILY ILLINI

Illini offensive coordinatior Bill Cubit celebrates a touchdown against Cincinnati on Sept. 7. After he turned the unit around, Cubit faces new challenges in his second season.

Cubit faces new challenge in 2nd year Illini offense working to replace production of senior class WRs BY STEPHEN BOURBON STAFF WRITER

In offensive coordinator Bill Cubit’s first season in Champaign, he took a lifeless Illinois offense and turned the unit around. The Illini doubled their passing yards per game, added 130 yards of total offense and eight first downs per game, and, most importantly, went from 16.7 points per game to 29.7 in 2013. Cubit received a contract extension and a $500,000 raise in salary for his efforts, but in his second season, he is facing another challenge: sustaining offensive success with new personnel. Illinois lost six starters from last year’s unit, including quarterback Nathan Scheelhaase and wide receivers Steve Hull and Miles Osei. The Illini lost 59.3 percent of its receiving yards from last season with the departures of four senior wide receivers and tight end

Evan Wilson. Illinois returns only four receivers on the roster who saw game action at the position a year ago and have 38 combined catches among them. Left to step up are upperclassmen Martize Barr and Justin Hardee, who project to be the starters along with junior college transfer Geronimo Allison at the three receiver positions. Barr said the offense is trying to build off the success of last year’s team to make another leap in 2014. “With a good season, that just means the expectations rise even higher,” Barr said. “I think with this group, we know that we’re a good offense. So it’s time to go out there and play like we’re a good offense and not really be surprised by what we did last year and knowing we can do better than what we did last year.” Barr is the leading returning receiver with 26 catches for 246 yards and a touchdown last season, while Hardee caught 11 balls for 95 yards. Dionte Taylor is the only other receiver with a catch, as he caught a pass for five yards last season. The team is still very early in the development process — with open-

ing day against Youngstown State still over four months away — but Cubit has already noticed a difference in this year’s receiving corps compared with last season’s group.

“I have faith in them, but they’ve got to go out there and show it and prove it to themselves, too.” BILL CUBIT

OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR

“Last year, those guys were competitors, with the guys we had. Right now, I don’t know if we have that competitive edge that those guys had last year,” Cubit said after the team’s first intrasquad scrimmage on March 12. “Are they as talented? Probably. But they have got to mature and grow up.” With uncertainty outside the hash-

es, there is still the ongoing three-man quarterback competition between Wes Lunt, Aaron Bailey and Reilly O’Toole. As the young receivers are still trying to learn the position, dealing with potentially a new quarterback each drill or scrimmage could be a tough adjustment, though Barr said it’s all part of the process. “As a receiver you just go out there with whoever is throwing you the ball and try and get in a rhythm with them,” Barr said. “It’s not difficult, it’s just what spring ball is all about.” Illinois will have many new fresh faces at wide receiver, including newcomers Tyrin Stone-Davis and Malik Turner who join in the team in the fall, but Cubit wants to see the group’s ability with some of their first taste of repetitions on the field. “You’ve never seen them out there, you don’t know what they are,” Cubit said. “I have faith in them, but they’ve got to go out there and show it and prove it to themselves, too.”

Stephen can be reached at sbourbo2@dailyillini.com and @steve_bourbon.

Connecting with alumni in Chicago RALPH COOPER Football correspondent

We

are now in our third week of spring practices for Illinois football, and the time is flying as we work up to the April 12 spring game. Last Friday, we had the chance to showcase our skills to the Illini fans in Chicago at Gately Stadium. This is our second year going to Gately, where the atmosphere changes from practice mode to gameday mode. The bus ride to Chicago plays a huge part in that. Any time we have to travel, it usually means it’s time for battle, and a battle it was. Chicago brought out the competitiveness in everyone on the field. Whether you were a starter or a third-string guy, you were out there trying to win. Not only does Gately bring out the best in us, it also allows us to connect

with the alumni, fans and high-schoolers in the area. Before practice began, we had the opportunity to hear from some former Illini players who paved the way for us, such as Mike Holmes, Chris James and Howard Griffith. The pep talk these guys gave us made us want to practice that much harder, because no one wanted to let them down after seeing how much passion they have for Illinois. As an out-of-state kid, I never would have thought so many people in the Midwest loved football. Being from South Carolina, we always looked at the Midwest as a basketball region, but my opinion quickly changed after seeing the connections people have with the University of Illinois. I believe it’s not where you play or how great of a player you were, but it’s those around you who make the experience one you will remember for a lifetime. There have been a lot of big plays happening over the course of the three weeks of practice, the majority of them not coming from one particu-

lar person. Offensively, the running back tandem of Donovonn Young and Josh Ferguson has had its share of big plays, while the connections from the

I’ve noticed myself working harder on perfecting my pass drops and blitz techniques so that I can have no regrets my final year. quarterbacks to the receivers have been on point as well. Reilly O’Toole, Wes Lunt and Aaron Bailey are all weapons at the quarterback position for us, and they continue to connect with the speed we have at the receiver positions, such as Martize Barr, Justin Hardee and new additions in Mike Dudek and Geronimo Allison. Defensively, it’s been a frenzy to

get the ball any time it’s snapped, and some of the secondary guys have been making sure we get as many takeovers as we can. Returning starters Eaton Spence, V’Angelo Bentley, Taylor Barton and Zane Petty have been key to improving our defense. Thus far, we have blocked four field goals over the course of three practices, which is one of our main goals. Sophomore Darius Mosely’s speed off the edge will keep a lot of Big Ten kickers nervous this season. I’m starting to see myself becoming the player I want to be. I’ve noticed myself working harder on perfecting my pass drops and blitz techniques so that I can have no regrets my final year. Illinois has been a life-changing experience, and my overall goal for this season is to not let any of my teammates or family down by being average.

Ralph is a senior in Media. He can be reached at rgcoope2@dailyillini.com. Follow him on Twitter @RalphCooper42.

Illini look to rebound in home opener vs. Indiana St. BY J.J. WILSON ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR

Illinois baseball will take a break from flights and bus rides this week, and starting pitcher Kevin Duchene couldn’t be happier. After five straight weekends on the road, Illinois will play its home opener Tuesday afternoon against Indiana State. With the series loss to Southern Illinois fresh from three days prior, the Illini are eager to take on the Sycamores. “Getting out here and playing at Illinois Field usually always turns it around for us when we’re slumping,” Duchene said. When the two teams met in 2012, Duchene, along with leading hitter Ryan Nagle and catcher Jason Goldstein, had yet to don the Illini uniform. Illinois’ starting lineup also regularly includes two freshmen — Ryne Roper and Zack Kolakowski — who are unfamiliar with Indiana State’s upperclassmen-heavy lineup. The Sycamores also bring more momentum, having won 14 of their

first 16 games, including a 12-game winning streak. The Illini have won just seven of their first 16 but boast two wins over a then-No. 23 Florida team. Illinois’ weekend in Florida was it’s only successful one this season, though. And to produce similar results, consistent effort is needed in all facets of the game. “You look at our wins, and we were solid in all aspects, and you look at our losses, we gave some away,” head coach Dan Hartleb said. “It’s not just one thing.” While Illinois pitching has struggled in various games this season, it has been strongest when Duchene starts. In 37 innings pitched across five games, he has struck out 26 and allowed just seven runs on 26 hits, earning him a 1.70 ERA. For Xavier this weekend, Illinois will put faith in the depth of its pitching staff and start junior pitcher Rob McDonnell against Indiana State for his season debut. “I always like starting games, I

always felt more comfortable doing that than coming out of the bullpen,” McDonnell said.

“We’re way too good of a team to be playing the way we are. Being at home has to be a momentum changer.” KEVIN DUCHENE STARTING PITCHER

The bullpen has been the larger issue for the Illini this season, posting a 1-4 record so far this year. While sophomore Tyler Jay has recorded three saves this season, the relievers have blown late leads in three games. Shoring up efforts in the batter’s box is also a large focus in Illinois’ short

week of practice after a performance in its final game against Southern Illinois that Hartleb said lacked confidence. In the weeks when the Illini offense shows up, it has scored as high as 19 runs in one game; however, it has also been shut out on three separate occasions and held to three or fewer on four more. Meanwhile, Indiana State has scored fewer than four runs in just two games this season, scoring six or more in 11 others. The Sycamores have also turned in four double-digit outings with 101 RBIs, 33 more than the Illini. But as many of the players said this season, this slump isn’t the program’s true face, and Tuesday’s home opener may be the chance for them to prove just what type of team Illinois is capable of becoming. “We’re way too good of a team to be playing the way we are,” Duchene said. “Being at home has to be a momentum changer.”

J.J. can be reached at jjwilso2@ dailyillini.com and @Wilsonable07.

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@WojYahooNBA (Adrian Wojnarowski), Yahoo NBA reporter @Champaign_Room Illinois SBNation site

@awfulannouncing sports website

@KDTrey5 (Kevin Durant), NBA player

@RichEisen NFL Network anchor

O P U R R E P L A O R N E

D A R K A G E

@Champaign_Room Illinois SBNation site @IlliniDrive WPGU Illinois sports talk show

@bp3 (Brandon Paul), former Illini basketball player

T

he NCAA basketball tournament doesn’t begin until Tuesday night, but The Daily Illini’s Twitter Tournament is in full swing. The first two rounds had their share of upsets and surprises, and a couple of trends emerged among DI voters as the dust cleared and the Sweet 16 prepared to narrow its field to eight. One clear trend is that your DI staff values entertainment in its favorite Twitter accounts over information. This is evidenced by Awful Announcing’s upset victory over top-seeded SportsCenter in the round of 32. The often derisive account that mocks sports broadcasting faux-pas beat out EPSN’s never-ending stream of scores and updates, setting a precedent that pretender accounts are indeed Twitter tournament contenders. Awful Announcing continued its tournament run by beating out Sam McLaurin to move on to the Elite Eight.

Illini columnist

but their Twitter handles made our field of 64. Though none of them made it to the Sweet 16, this round wasn’t short on local flavor. Former Illini Brandon Paul (@BP3) probably wouldn’t stand much of a chance against NBA superstar Kevin Durant on the court, but his local hero status and sense of humor gave him the nod over Durant in this tournament. BP3 moves on, as well as Chicago-biased ESPN.com writer Michael Wilbon and SB Nation’s Illini blog, The Champaign Room. These semi-local accounts all have home-court advantage in this tournament. It makes sense. We’re more likely to hit the follow button for accounts that tweet things we care about, and that’s why five of eight Elite Eight accounts have Champaign or Chicago ties. Of all the local favorites, The Champaign Room’s appearance in the Elite Eight is the most justified in my mind. That account always seems to tweet what my inner Illini fan is thinking. After the Illini hoopers beat the Indiana Hoosiers last Thursday, The Champaign Room tweeted: “And just like that, I’m no longer thirsty. #IndianaTears.�

T E A S E U P

@ClubTrillion (Mark Titus), Grantland writer

If you enjoy making fun of mistakeprone personalities like Charles Barkley or White Sox announcer Hawk Harrelson, hop on the Awful Announcing bandwagon. An epic battle between Big Ten newspaper alumni went down when former DI managing editor Will Leitch (@williamfleitch) took on former Michigan Daily managing sports editor Rich Eisen. Instead of choosing the former SportsCenter anchor and current NFL Network personality in Eisen, the selection committee favored the established writer Leitch in all of his Deadspin-unearthing glory. Leitch, though currently in Atlanta as a writer for Sports On Earth, still tweets about his beloved Illini as well as the St. Louis Cardinals. He also covered the Olympics, which is a heck of a lot cooler than the NFL Combine. Another trend that emerged is the local bias that infiltrated the tournament and the vote. It’s safe to say that the Illini Drive host Jamal Collier and the DI’s own Eliot Sill and Sean Hammond would not have their Twitter accounts entered into any national tournaments,

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@bp3 (Brandon Paul), former Illini basketball player @williamfleitch (Will Leitch), SportsOnEarth writer

@williamfleitch (Will Leitch), SportsOnEarth writer

Couldn’t have tweeted it better myself. Challenging the locals in the Elite Eight are ESPN’s Bill Simmons, Yahoo! reporter Adrian Wojnarowski and Awful Announcing. Three more rounds stand between these Twitter accounts

@awfulannouncing sports website @BillSimmons Grantland editor-in-chief

@B1G_samb0 (Sam McLaurin), former Illini basketball player @Hoya2aPacer (Roy Hibbert), NBA player @BillSimmons Grantland editor-in-chief

and all-time Twittournament glory. Stay tuned.

Alex is a sophomore in AHS. He can be reached at roux2@ dailyillini.com. Follow him on Twitter @aroux94.

THE DAILY ILLINI | WWW.DAILYILLINI.COM

FROM 1B

HILL ball for the Illini. Attending Illinois became one of his main goals, but according to his mom, it was just a stepping stone toward his ultimate objective. “He used to tell me: ‘I can’t wait until I make it to the NFL, mom, so you don’t have to work anymore,’” she said. Before any college and NFL dreams could be fulfilled, however, Jeremiah enrolled at Belleville East High School as a freshman in 2010. Mark Larsen, an assistant football coach at East, said his work ethic stood out. “I noticed him right away because he was very aggressive, very hard-nosed,” Larsen said. “He was one of our better football players his freshman year.” Jeremiah stood out playing freshman football at fullback and cornerback. It was during that freshman season that he discovered a dime-sized bump on his right wrist. The bump was a warning sign; his body’s red flag telling him that all was not well. By December 2010, the bump had grown to the size of a golf ball, becoming too big to ignore. Jeremiah went to a pediatrician for examination, who referred him to a specialist at Cardinal Glennon Children’s Hospital in St. Louis. Test results showed the unthinkable, and every parent’s worst nightmare: Jeremiah had cancer. He was diagnosed with an aggressive form of soft-tissue sarcoma, a disease 900 children in the U.S. are diagnosed with per year. Doctors gave Felicia several treatment options, one of which included removing his right arm. “We were like, ‘No. He doesn’t want his arm removed,’” Felicia said. “The doctors felt comfortable they could remove the tumor in his arm with clear margins and go through chemotherapy. And that’s what we did.” Jeremiah proceeded to endure six months of chemotherapy and radiation treatment at Cardinal Glennon, beginning in January 2011. Attending school regularly was impossible, but his story was well known among the students and staff at East. High school friends crowded his hospital room for visits. At the time, Malcolm was being recruited by Illinois and one year older than Jeremiah. He took notice of Jeremiah’s illness but didn’t approach him at first. “I didn’t really talk to him because I’m a shy person,” Malcolm said. “He had cancer, and I didn’t really know what to say to him at first. He wore this hat at school because he was bald, and almost everybody knew him.” Felicia urged Jeremiah to fight his illness and to not get down on himself. She and her son shared a

strong faith in God, as well a positive attitude that He would see them through and that they would make the best of their situation. “Don’t feel sorry for yourself,” she told Jeremiah. “Don’t start feeling sorry for yourself, because that’s when you will let the disease take over you.’” As a mother, she tried to maintain a sense of normalcy when Jeremiah was able to be home, giving him chores and making sure he kept up with his homework. But it was his dedication to lifting weights and football that gave him a consistent distraction from his illness. He continued his workout regimen, lifting whenever he could. He itched to get back on the field and even attended a football camp at nearby McKendree University during treatment. He ate huge meals during his chemo sessions in fear of losing his bulk, even though most cancer patients struggle to eat anything at all due to severe nausea caused by the chemo. His Twitter avatar to this day shows him shirtless, and his body looks like it had been sculpted in the weight room rather than ravaged by cancer. The only indicator of his illness was his bald head.

Finally, the six-month treatment period came to an end. Felicia and Jeremiah went in for a checkup, hoping for good news. They got just the opposite. The chemo and radiation treatments hadn’t even touched the cancer. It had metastasized and spread to his lungs. With the new discovery, doctors brought grave news. They told Felicia that her son only had three months to live. She refused to accept it, and she refused to tell her son that doctors had given him an expiration date. She prohibited his doctors from disclosing this information to him in fear that he would quit fighting the disease. Jeremiah kept fighting, and the three months came and went. More treatment followed as he transitioned into his sophomore year, including two lung

Tuesday, March 18, 2014

surgeries to treat the spreading cancer. The severity of the illness prevented him from playing football his sophomore year. A side effect of the treatments caused the skin on his hands to deteriorate and burn, resulting in intense pain and discomfort. It didn’t faze Jeremiah. He peeled the skin off his hands, wrapped them in gauze and continued his intense workouts. “I was like, ‘Jeremiah, are you serious? Come on,’” his mother said. He stayed close to the Belleville East football program through his teammates and coaches. He was named an honorary captain for a Lancers varsity game, which was played at the St. Louis Rams’ Edward Jones Dome. Larsen kept in contact with Jeremiah and would regularly take him out to dinner. “We would go out to eat and talk for an hour or two to get him out of the house and to feel halfway normal,” Larsen said. “He wanted to talk football all the time. He always wanted to know how the team was doing.” Around the same time, Malcolm committed to Illinois, and Jeremiah was naturally excited about the decision. The best basketball player at his high school would be playing for his favorite college team. With an Illini connection to talk about, the two gradually became friends through Xbox Live, where they could chat while playing each other in NBA 2K. Even though Jeremiah rarely attended school, he caught up with Malcolm regularly through texting and online. While Jeremiah was sidelined for his sophomore football season, Malcolm’s numbers skyrocketed during his junior year in basketball, as he averaged 21.3 points and 9.6 rebounds for the Lancers. In the middle of Malcolm’s big season, Jeremiah and his family received some encouraging news of their own. Following an MRI and CT scan on his chest in December 2011, Jeremiah’s doctor was confident he was on his way to being cancer-free. He had not only out-lived his three-month prediction, he had seemingly beat the cancer altogether. His doctor released him to go back to school in January. But his mother could tell something was still wrong. Jeremiah was complaining of back pain but attributed it to working out too hard. She wasn’t so sure, and she took him in for another CT scan in late January. Test results showed that the cancer had returned, and it was more aggressive than ever. Doctors discovered two nodules on his lungs, and his lungs were beginning to fill with fluid. Drastic steps would have to be taken to save his life.

Despite the setback in his condition, Jeremiah found time to chat with Malcolm on Xbox Live before his upcoming procedures. Up to that point, Malcolm had scored at least 30 points in multiple games for the Lancers, but Jeremiah challenged him to do better. “Why don’t you score 40 points in your next game?” Jeremiah said. Malcolm accepted the challenge. “All right, I’ll score 40 points for you.” Jeremiah had another request, knowing he was facing a critical upcoming surgery. “Wish me luck on my surgery,” he said to Malcolm. “Once I have this surgery, I’ll be cured from cancer. I’ll kill it in high school; I’ll have an offer from the University of Illinois. We’re gonna go there together. You’re gonna go to the NBA, and I’m gonna go to the NFL. We’re gonna do big things.” Malcolm wished him luck. The next day was Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 5. When Jeremiah woke up, he could hardly breathe. He was rushed back to Cardinal Glennon, and following more tests was able to watch the New York Giants beat the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl. He wanted to watch it at home but stayed in the hospital, where he would have surgery on Feb. 7. Jeremiah’s father was out of town and unable to be with him, but his mother hugged him like she usually did before his surgeries and told him she would see him when he came out. But this time, her son said something out of the ordinary, and it startled her. “Mom, I’m tired,” he said. He was put under anesthesia for the surgery, and he never woke up. He suffered a stroke when he went under and started getting cancerous lesions on his brain. “It took him very fast,” his mother said. “We never expected it. We kind of took it for granted, because this kid would go through lung surgeries and be up walking around the same day.” Jeremiah Radford died on Feb. 8, 2012, at 15 years old. It was Jaden and Jada’s sixth birthday. Felicia was in shock. She decided not to tell Jada and Jaden about their brother’s passing, so they could enjoy their birthday. Meanwhile, the hospital was packed with relatives, friends and her co-workers. When she told her kids the news the next day, their response made her proud. “That’s OK, mom, he’s in heaven. God just needed him more than we did.” The Belleville East community was devastated when the news broke. “Everyone was sad, everybody loved him,” Malcolm said. East’s next basketball game was Friday, Feb. 10 against

O’Fallon High School. Students and players decided to dedicate the game to Jeremiah. Fans wore orange and blue, as opposed to the school’s traditional navy blue and sky blue, in tribute to his love for the Illini. Malcolm knew he had a promise to keep. What had been a playful bet between friends became a goal he was determined to reach: score 40 for Jeremiah. The game didn’t start well. Playing with heavy hearts, the Lancers fell behind early, trailing 31-25 at half. When the deficit got to doubledigits in the third quarter, Malcolm led an inspired comeback. “It was like a miracle happened,” Malcolm said. “We just went on this rampage and came all the way back.” All of a sudden, the game was nearly over. Belleville led by three, and Malcolm had 38 points. He was fouled and was sent to the line for two free throws. Forty was within reach. “It was the most pressure I’ve ever felt at the free throw line in my high school career,” he said. He stepped to the line, and the first free throw went up. “Rattle, rattle, and it went in.” He drained the second free throw as well for his first career 40-point game. The game ended in a 59-53 Belleville East victory. Orange-clad students rushed the floor to celebrate, yelling Jeremiah’s name. Overcome with emotion, Malcolm fell to the floor in tears. Felicia was planning his funeral and wasn’t able to attend the game. She heard about the school’s tributes, the pictures of her son on the gym’s walls and Malcolm’s superhuman performance. “It just made me cry,” she said after watching the end of the game on YouTube. “I’m so proud (of Malcolm). I actually brag on him like he’s my son. I know he’s going to go a long way.” The victory helped the community heal, and they’ve been healing ever since. The Belleville East football program

4B

retired his No. 21 jersey. A Facebook page honoring Jeremiah has more than 700 likes, and it includes tribute videos made by classmates. And now, more than two years after Jeremiah’s death, Malcolm’s silent tribute has kept his spirit alive. “I wear 21 for just for him; this is his favorite University,” Malcolm said. “It reminds me no matter what adversity you go through to always work hard because good things will happen to you.” If given the opportunity to talk to Jeremiah today, Malcolm would have a simple message for his friend: Thank you. “I have nothing to complain about. I have so many good things going for me. I wasn’t grateful until I met him,” Malcolm said. “Thank you for teaching me how to be grateful for everything I have.” Even though her son is gone, Felicia still takes comfort in their memories and the connection they share. “I feel like he truly was an angel that God sent to me,” she said. “I wasn’t meant to have him but for the 15 years that I got. I still feel like he’s here, not physically, but he will always be with me mentally. He was just that awesome. “And I feel like as long as I hold onto that, he’ll never die.”

Alex can be reached at roux2@dailyillini.com and @aroux94.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF FELICIA RADFORD

Softball struggles offensively late in weekend BY MICHAL DWOJAK STAFF WRITER

Silent bats at the end of the game doomed the Illinois softball team in its lone loss over the weekend against North Dakota State. “In the beginning of the game, we knocked in a couple of runs,” sophomore Allie Bauch said. “But towards the end of the game, our bats were silent. Toward the end of the game, they picked it up, which is what set the difference.” The Illini scored four runs in the first three innings but failed to add on to the lead. They also only had three hits after the third inning, failing to support junior pitcher Shelese Arnold, who allowed one run through six innings and was replaced in the top of the seventh after allowing a leadoff home run.

FROM 1B

POINT to make it to the quarterfinals as a top seed, losing to Dayton. Because of the renovations taking place at State Farm Center, the Illini will also be on the road for every game, making it a more challenging task. The NCAA tournament is a great place to make a name for your school, which in turn can be very beneficial in recruiting top high school athletes throughout the country. Even if the Illini went out in the first round, it would have proved to top

Following a six run seventh inning from North Dakota State, the Illini were down 7-4 and lost the game by the same score after failing to score in the final frame. Illinois reached base on a walk but failed to record a hit to advance the runner into scoring position. On a weekend when Illinois scored 23 runs on 28 hits, the lack of offense in the second half of the game was a surprise to many of the Illini. Sophomore Kylie Johnson believes the lack of offense was due to the lack of intensity and the desire to win late in the game. “We kind of just shut it down after the first couple innings of scoring,” Johnson said. “You just need to keep on scoring and winning innings, especially when you see zeros across the board in the later innings.” recruits that the Illini are building consistent success — the lack of which has pushed some instate five-star recruits to other schools throughout the country. It is very unlikely that an NIT Championship would entice any top recruits to come to Illinois, but even a run to the round of 32 in the NCAA would show that the program is on the rise.The most realistic expectations for this year’s Illini squad said the team would receive an NIT berth and then would make an NCAA tournament run next year. This seems plausible considering the Illini will not lose any of their current starters, gain three

Defense helps motivate offensive play The Illini defense continued to build upon a strong season, converting 57 putouts, 26 assists and two errors over three games. Sophomore Remeny Perez led the Illini with 27 putouts while freshman Ruby Rivera tallied eight assists. Illinois also made many impressive diving plays on groundouts and flyouts, three of which were made by senior Alex Booker. Booker made two impressive diving catches in left field, while also making it in time to make one in foul territory. Impressive catches helped motivate the rest of the team to take advantage on the offensive end of the game. “Ruby played a terrific short (stop) as usual,” head coach Terri Sullivan said. “Booker made some key catches that our team transfers (all of whom averaged more than 10 points per game at their former schools), and bring in two top recruits — Black and three-star Michael Finke. Still, even a short NCAA tournament run would have gone a long way in creating future success of the Illini. Illinois may have barely missed the NCAA tournament, but joining the March Madness would have gone a long way in improving the future of the program.

Kieran is a freshman in Business. He can be reached at hampl2@dailyillini.com.

fed off of. The enthusiasm from those catches led the team to hotter bats, which was key.”

First home weekend of the season Last weekend’s games marked the first home games for Illinois at Eichelberger Field this season. Illinois traveled across the country for the first part of the season, playing in places such as Tampa and Boca Raton, Fla., Arlington, Texas, and Long Beach, Calif. Even though the east-central Illinois weather was not typical softball weather, it was warm enough to draw a crowd of 672 people to all three Illini games, which all the players enjoyed for the first time this season. “It’s always exciting to be home for games,” junior Jess Perkins said. “After traveling for five weekends, we were really excited

FROM 1B

COUNTERPOINT by the eligibility of transfers who sat out during 2013. Ahmad Starks and Aaron Cosby are expected to bring more shooting variety to the guard position while 6-foot-8 Darius Paul offers support to Egwu in the paint. That’s also excluding the power forwards committed to Illinois 2014 recruit class, fourstar Leron Black and three-star Michael Finke. What’s to be gained by a crashand-burn appearance in the NCAA tournament? Not nearly

BRENTON TSE THE DAILY ILLINI

Illinois’ Brandi Needham pitches the ball during the match against Omaha at Eichelberger Field, on Saturday. The Illini won 6-1. to get some nice weather out here and finally play on our home turf and be able to pull wins.”

Michal can be reached at dwojak2@dailyillini.com and @bennythebull94.

as much as playing the NIT field with what may be next season’s five starters. And while an early loss in the NIT is still possible, John Groce wants to win it. The contenders in the NIT are no pushovers, either. SMU is a No. 1 seed looking to prove why it shouldn’t have been snubbed from the NCAA tournament this year. Other schools in Illinois’ way to a title are No. 4-seeded Green Bay and top-seeded St. John’s (NY) with a potential Big Ten title game against Minnesota. The path to the championship also poses its own challenges. Despite being a No. 2 seed, Illi-

nois will play all of its games in the NIT on the road due to renovations at State Farm Center. That’s potentially five more road games for Nunn and Hill. Experience like that will count next season. The Illini weren’t capable of winning the NCAA title this season, but with the prospects of winning the NIT ahead them, don’t be surprised if they are running for the scissors when the net comes down next season.

J.J. is a sophomore in Media. He can be reached at jjwilso2@ dailyillini.com. Follow him on Twitter @Wilsonable07.

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