The Daily Illini: Volume 143 Issue 94

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PAGE 6B: List of the University’s top teachers according to student responses in ICES forms

STATE FARM CENTER

THEY’RE ON A MISSION FOR THE ILLINI

Renovations to Illinois’ home court kick into high gear

Blues Brothers make a comeback at Illinois basketball games

LIFE & CULTURE, 6A

SPORTS, 1B

THE DAILY ILLINI

WEDNESDAY March 19, 2014

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

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Vol. 143 Issue 96

Ammons wins nomination for District 103 BY BRYAN BOCCELLI STAFF WRITER

Carol Ammons, Urbana City Council member and former member of the Champaign County Board, defeated Sam Rosenberg in Tuesday’s Democratic primary election for state representative of the 103rd District. Ammons won with 3,298 votes, or 56.91 percent, while Rosenberg received 2,497 votes. After winning, Ammons said she felt great and was a bit overwhelmed. When asked about her future plans she said, “We’ll regroup and expand our campaign for the November election.� Ammons’ career in public service led to endorsements from local organizations and community members, including the Illinois Federation of Teachers, the Service Employees International Union - Local 73, and the Graduate Employees Organization - Local 6300.

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‘What brought you to the polls today?’

Ammons said she looks forward to working with all the Democrats in the house and advocating for issues including environmental regulations, a new graduated income tax and pension reform, among many other plans. Ammons said her plans include to “expand this very huge effort ... we’ll get more people involved in the campaign, we’ll grow the campaign further, we’ll raise more money for the general election, and we’ll go and be successful in November.� She also noted there are a lot of budgetary issues to work on. “We also have education issues that are important — access to education is important and we have to rep around our retirees who are going to be affected by this pension change,� she said. Previously, Ammons stated that if she were elected to the position of state

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“I voted today because I really was focused on the state representative election primary. I was concerned that the main issues were concerned about funding for this University and protection for worker’s rights and labor unions; that’s what brought me to the polls today.�

BRYAN BOCCELLI THE DAILY ILLINI

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Carol Ammons, the Democratic candidate for the 103rd District, speaks to a community SEE AMMONS | 3A member about voting Tuesday. Ammons won the Democratic nomination to represent the district with 56.91 percent of the votes.

District 13 Democratic nod goes to Callis

the first Veterans’ Court in Illinois, as well as a foreclosure mediation program to help homeowners. “Illinois voters will have a clear choice between my record of protecting middle class families and Congressman (Rodney) Davis, who voted during his first year in Congress to end the guarantee of Medicare and raise Medicare costs on Illinois families,� she said. During her campaign, Callis said her top priorities included creating jobs, protecting seniors with Social Security and Medicare, and ending income inequality. In terms of education, she supports increasing Pell Grants and Sen. Dick Durbin’s stu-

BY ELEANOR BLACK AND JOSH WINTERS STAFF WRITERS

Ann Callis defeated George Gollin and David Green in the Democratic primary for the 13th congressional district. Callis won the race with 54 percent of votes, with 96 percent of precincts reporting at press time, according to the Chicago Tribune. However, Gollin, a physics professor at the University, won Champaign County with about 53 percent of the votes. “I’m looking forward to continuing my conversation with voters about my record of working with Democrats and Republicans to bring people together to get results,� Callis said in a press release. Callis served as the chief judge of Madison County for 18 years, where she created

DAILY ILLINI FILE PHOTO

Ann Callis won the Democratic candidacy for the 13th District on Tuesday. She spoke at a public forum held for candidates for Congressional representation of the 13th District of Illinois last month.

“I think any election is important, but not even I can say I show up to them all. I think this is a very important primary especially with such a contentious congressional race. But also my boss, Dick Durbin, was on the ballot, and I’m also a big supporter of Sam Rosenberg. A mix of reasons, but I’m happy to be here. As much as I hate that there was no line, it’s good because I can go back and study really quick.�

SEE CALLIS | 3A

Davis wins Republican primary once more Davis, of Taylorville, Ill., curently serves on the House Agriculture Committee and the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. During his campaign, Davis said that managing government spending is his highest priority. After Tuesday’s results, he said he would continue to do what he has done during his 15 months in office. “(I’m) going to Washington, doing the job that the voters sent me to Washington to do, to continue to work on bipartisan solutions, like the Farm Bill,� Davis said. “The Farm Bill has saved taxpayers $23 billion in mandatory spending and also ensures that our landgrant universities like the University of Illinois are

BY ELEANOR BLACK AND AUSTIN KEATING STAFF WRITERS

Incumbent Rodney Davis defeated University alumna Erika Harold and Michael Firsching, a veterinarian, in the republican primary for the 13th congressional district. Davis won the race with 54 percent of votes, with 96 percent of precincts reporting at press time. Though Davis won the overall vote, Harold, an attorney and former Miss America from Champaign-Urbana, won Champaign County with 70 percent of votes. “I feel great, I’m very humbled by the opportunity that the voters of the 13th District have given me, not only to be their congressman but to carry the Republican banner for the next seven-and-a-half months,� Davis said.

DAILY ILLINI FILE PHOTO

Rodney Davis, left, at a press conference in 2012, on Tuesday won the Republican candidacy for Illinois’ 13th congressional district.

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“Professor Gollin was running, and he was a teacher of mine. I think we need more people like him in Congress, especially since I plan on going into government and maybe even Congress myself. I mean voting is kind of a duty as a citizen, so it’s a good thing to do.� 52%(57 5,/(< sophomore in LAS

SEE DAVIS | 3A

With primary over, Illinois GOP in strong position for governor race the new nominee’s vast personal wealth and biting disdain for public employee unions. “Let’s go get ‘em,� Rauner declared as he claimed an unexpectedly slim victory over state Sen. Kirk Dillard, who had courted union support and attacked Rauner for trying to demonize hardworking civil servants. “This is about shaking up Springfield, shaking out the corruption by its roots,� Rauner said. Rauner, 58, in November will face incumbent Democrat Pat Quinn, who has low voter approval ratings but catlike political survival skills that for decades

BY BOB SECTER CHICAGO TRIBUNE

CHICAGO — President Obama’s Illinois has been one of the most reliably blue on the political color scale, but Tuesday’s primary here positioned Republicans for a strong shot at retaking the governor’s mansion in a state mired in chronic fiscal disarray. Venture capital tycoon Bruce Rauner, a politically influential player among this city’s corporate elite but a first-time candidate, narrowly captured the GOP nod for governor over three party veterans in a race fueled by

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have kept him in the public eye as a populist outsider in his own party. The general election battle, possibly the GOP’s best hope of picking up a governorship from Democrats, promises to be expensive and bruising. Special interests on the right and left are pouring in resources to help two shoot-from-the-hip rivals paint each other in broad, unflattering stereotypes. Think Inspector Clouseau versus Inspector Javert. To Rauner, Quinn is “the worst governor in America� whose bumbling management of state

finances has driven away business and jobs with a big tax increase. To Quinn, Rauner is an exemplar of the so-called 1%, a rich, out-of-touch executive who is forcing the working class to bear the brunt of economic troubles. There is little doubt that Quinn, 65, is vulnerable. Governors always love to brag about how their states lead the nation in this or that, but the list of Illinois chart-toppers these days has become a major Rauner talking point. Among the states, Illinois has by far the worst pension debt and the worst credit rat-

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unions that represent government workers, which he contends are all-powerful in Springfield, the capital, and responsible for laws and policy decisions that hurt taxpayers. Both candidates have obvious vulnerabilities. Quinn must answer for the state’s dire financial shape despite a major tax hike he signed into law in 2011. Rauner has been forced to defend his business record, including his role as a director of a document imaging firm caught in a major accounting scandal that sent three top executives to prison.

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ing, a fiscal drag that Rauner likens to “a death spiral.� Yet Quinn, who replaced the impeached and now imprisoned Rod R. Blagojevich as governor in 2009, narrowly won election in his own right the next year in a contest where Republicans highlighted many of the same complaints. Rauner’s bet is that voter fatigue with Quinn, coupled with a relentless ad campaign financed from his deep pockets and those of well-heeled peers in the business world, will be a difference maker this time around. Underlying Rauner’s campaign from the first has been a war on

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