Student-run style Fashion label turns apparel into art FEATURES, 6A
Tuesday March 27, 2012
National League predictions Columnist Ed Edens makes his picks for this season SPORTS, 2B
The Daily Illini www.DailyIllini.com
The independent student newspaper at the University of Illinois since 1871
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Vol. 141 Issue 119
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With 1 month to go, Illinois marathon short on volunteers BY THOMAS THOREN STAFF WRITER
The Christie Clinic Illinois Marathon is once again at a loss in volunteers. For each of the marathon’s four years of existence, it has struggled to fi nd enough volunteers to sign up well in advance of the race. This year’s marathon is about 720 people short of the necessary 3,400 volunteers. For the race to go on, 237 volunteers must sign up for the course team, which monitors the entire 26.2-mile marathon and 5K courses, said Kim Nystrom, volunteer coordinator for the marathon’s course team. “(Course teams) are so important because they truly are the hosts,” said Mary Anderson, volunteer coordinator. The team also protects the runners from traffic at about 280 intersections and other busy areas. She said the about 450-member course team provides protection for the runners by placing one to four volunteers along every block of the route. Anderson said there is a sense of urgency to fill the course team vacancies as soon as possible
By the Numbers
3,400 Volunteers needed total 2,680 Volunteers signed up 237 Volunteers needed for the race to go on
because the positions require training, which takes place in mid-April. Jan Seeley, co-director, said without course teams, the marathon cannot happen. “The police would basically not allow us to have it,” she said. Even still, this year’s level of volunteering is “on pace with previous years,” Anderson said. She said every year they have seen a volunteer shortage that required a fi nal push in order to fi ll the remaining positions. Many volunteers do not commit to a position until the marathon
JOSEPH LEE THE DAILY ILLINI
Amaziah Zuri is called up to the bullhorn in front of a crowd of about 50 people to tell the story of what happened to Trayvon Martin the day he was shot. Zuri’s comments on Monday mentioned that racism in America is still very prevalent and can be seen through Martin’s story. Zuri also read aloud a poem she had written expressing her feelings on this topic.
Campus mourns Trayvon Martin
See MARATHON, Page 3A
Some attendees hope incident raises awareness of racism BY PULU WANG STAFF WRITER
One month after Trayvon Martin’s death, about 60 students and alumni gathered at a vigil held at the Alma Mater on Monday night. Martin, an African American 17-year-old who was unarmed at the time, was shot by neighborhood watchman George Zimmerman in Sanford, Fla. Zimmerman claimed he acted in self-defense and was not arrested. Controversy has arisen over Trayvon’s death, which many are labeling as a case of racial profi ling. The event page on Facebook created
PHOTO COURTESY OF JYOTI MISHRA
Fizaa, a a co-ed Bollywood Nationally Competitive Dance team, performs at Bollywood America Filmi-Fusion Championships on April 23, 2011.
Fizaa qualifies for Bollywood America dance competition BY RAFAEL GUERRERO STAFF WRITER
Fizaa, a student-run dance team and registered student organization, qualified for the Bollywood America National Competition on March 17 by placing fi rst at a dance competition in Evanston. Fizaa’s victory adds to a streak of well-received performances at competitions over the past year. Aside from their win in Evanston, Fizaa won a competition in Los Angeles a week earlier and placed second at another in New York City in November. Their next stop will be in Philadelphia on April 21 at the national championship, where they will compete against nine other teams. Jyoti Mishra, Fizaa president and senior in AHS, said the 20 members of the group — including seven freshmen — have taken advantage of their nine hours of weekly training and ultimately, exceeded their expectations.
INSIDE
“We had never done as well before,” Mishra said. “We put a lot of hard work into our practices and performances. To see us win so much, including backto-back (weekend performances), is very rewarding.” According to the Bollywood America website, each competing team must have won a qualifying competition chosen by the Bollywood America organization in order to qualify to receive an invitational bid. There are also two other “wild card” teams selected by the organization based on their performances at past competitions. Collegiate, independent, professional and dance school teams were eligible to participate in these qualifying competitions. Vishal Vazirani, freshman in LAS, said with the raised stakes of a national title, those ninehour practice weeks will be a
See FIZAA, Page 3A
“I really hope this is going to be a new beginning of organizing the new anti-racism movement in the United States.”
by coordinator Rebecca Marcotte, senior in Engineering, states that “already, millions of people are seeing Trayvon’s murder as the reflection of a deeply racist system that neglects, brutalizes and criminalizes Black youth on a daily basis.” “The Trayvon case just made me really sad and really angry,” Marcotte said. “It’s not just this case, but there are so many cases that don’t get as much attention as this. I really hope this is going to be a new beginning of organizing the new anti-racism movement in the REBECCA MARCOTTE, senior in Engineering
See VIGIL, Page 3A
‘Unoffical’ resolution returns to U-C Senate If passed, stricter regulations would be enforced against drinking holiday BY CARINA LEE STAFF WRITER
The Urbana-Champaign Senate discussed a resolution eliminating Unofficial St. Patrick’s Day in order to prevent disruption to classes at its meeting Monday. Senator Mark Roszkowski, professor of Business, proposed this resolution in 2006 but has brought the subject to light again to emphasize the importance of minimizing the negative consequences of the celebration. Despite efforts from the cities of Champaign and Urbana and the University to enforce safety regulations during Unofficial, Roszkowski stated that “it remains an
event that seriously undermines the educational mission of the University.” Roszkowski said the University needs to take a stronger stance against Unofficial. “This requires that the leadership of the University, which means the chancellor and even the president of the University, (has) got to publicly come out and say that ‘This is not going to happen in the future,’” he said. “That has never happened ... the only thing that has happened is increasingly expensive attempts at policing.” He added that he is hoping for a different outcome than that of
six years ago. “We have a new chancellor who I think might be more favorable towards speaking out publicly against this event,” he said. During the discussion, several people raised questions about the resolution. The Illinois Student Senate has shown concern about the effectiveness of the resolution. Student senator David Huang, junior in ACES, proposed a different method to deal with Unofficial. He said rather than banning the event, a committee should be formed to fi nd ways of avoiding class disruptions on Unofficial. Some people have stated that the University is actually making progress on regulating Unofficial. Renee Romano, vice chancellor of student affairs, said the University is exploring the best possible ways for students to be
safe during the day. “A couple of things have been successful. We have really worked hard to shut down the disruptive activities in classrooms and the damage that occurred in the classroom buildings,” Romano said. “Another thing is that we prohibit overnight guests at the residence halls, and that has really gotten a lot of problems out of the residence halls.” Capt. Skip Frost of University police also participated in the discussion about the resolution. Frost said it is hard to regulate Unofficial with off-campus students being involved. “Seventy percent of the enforcements we take are citing people who are not affiliated with the University of Illinois,” Frost said. “That’s a big problem.” The resolution passed in a voice vote.
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