The Daily Illini: Volume 144 Issue 97

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MEN’S GYMNASTICS Freshman Baker named Big Ten Gymnast of the Year, Illini finish 2nd at conference championships PAGE 1B MONDAY March 30, 2015

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Vol. 144 Issue 97

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Sen. Brady pushes for UI privatization Proposed amendment Âť would defund the University

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With tuition already at the top end of the Big Ten, TollBY MAGGIE SULLIVAN iver said it is important to STAFF WRITER keep costs down as much as No state has ever defund- possible. Grants and donaed its public universities. tions must be appropriated However, this could change to the specific interests of for Illinois with Sen. Wil- the donor. liam E. Brady’s proposed “We cannot depend 100 bill. Currently the amend- percent of our budget on ment to make the Universi- what people decide to ty a non-public institution donate to us,� Tolliver said. is on pause as Brady edits Tolliver said her concern his amendment and other with the amendment is the representatives draft their message it sends to the peoown proposals and the gov- ple of Illinois. Although it ernment is in recess. is too early to oppose or “The state of Illinois, support the amendment, like all states, has a respon- she said as a matter of prinsibility to educate its citi- ciple she could not support zens,� said Joyce Tolliver, any amendment that would University Senates Con- entirely defund an instituference representative. tion set up as a federal land “This bill, if it were passed, grant. would give us the dubious “The state is responsihonor of being the fi rst ble for the education of its state in the students,� nation to Tol liver complete sa id. “ I don’t know ly aba nhow you don that defund an responsibility.� institution T h e set up as a land grant amendment, proi n s t i posed by tution, Sen. Brady, which is R - 4 4 , ultimately JOYCE TOLLIVER a federal w o u l d UNIVERSITY SENATES mandate.� defu nd Howevall pub lic Illinois er, Tollivuniversities. It includes er said, the Brady Amendprovisions for a six-year ment is important because transition plan, which it sheds light on deregulawould begin this July if tion. Regulatory control passed, but the amendment affects the rate at which is still in its preliminary University members can stages. conduct research and “A wholesale withdraw- access resources. She said al of state support to the decreased regulation could university would be very be one “plus side� of the bill. difficult to manage, even “I think it would be a if it were phased out over good thing if there were several years,� said Nich- fewer regulatory burdens olas Burbules, professor on the University,� Burin Education. The bill still bules said. “I don’t know if lacked key details at this this is the way to do that.� stage, Burbules said, so it Tom Hardy, University was difficult to know what spokesman, said the University is in the process of to make of it. “I don’t think it’s going reviewing this new piece of to go anywhere, to tell you legislation but said Brady the truth,� Tolliver said. would like to open up a dia“The bill in its present logue with the University form would really not be about the Amendment. considered seriously even “Certainly if he is going to do that, we are ready by the legislature.� If the amendment were willing and able to particito pass, the University pate in that conversation,� would be left with funding Hardy said. from tuition, donations and federal and private grants. mesulli2@dailyillini.com

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PORTRAIT OF SAKSHI SRIVASTAVA BY SONNY AN THE DAILY ILLINI

Sakshi Srivastava sits next to Grainger Bob. She proposed adding a female counterpart on the Bardeen Quad.

Female to join Grainger Bob Statue to promote females in STEM related fields BY ABIGALE SVOBODA NEWS EDITOR

“Grainger Bob� will soon have a female counterpart after Sakshi Srivastava, senior in Engineering, proposed adding a female engineering statue outside of Grainger Engineering Library in November 2013. At a dedication on March 19, Texas Instruments announced it would fund Srivastava’s proposal to inspire women to pursue degrees in engineering as part of a $3.2 million gift pledge to the University. The statue is estimated to

be complete within the next academic year. Srivastava fi rst noticed the gender discrepancy while writing a paper on the underrepresentation of women in math and science for a rhetoric class. Although Srivastava originally questioned why “Grainger Bob� did not have a female counterpart, she said the intention is not to be better than male engineering students and it’s not a competition. “We love Bob. Bob is the dude,� Srivastava said. Rather, Srivastava’s hope is for the new statue to encourage more young women to pursue engineering degrees. Currently, only 19 percent of students enrolled in engineering at

SEE ENGINEERING | 3A

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2015 funding cut by 2.25% BY MAGGIE SULLIVAN STAFF WRITER

The University took the opportunity to state its case to legislators in the House and Senate Appropriations Committees on the potential impact of Gov. Bruce Rauner’s proposed budget cuts for fiscal year 2016. On Thursday, Rauner approved two bills, which are effective immediately and cut University funding by 2.25 percent — $15 million — for the 2015 fiscal year, which begins July 1. The additional cuts proposed for fiscal year 2016 could leave the University with 31.5 percent less fund-

ing, or $209 million short. The University brought in a team of people, led by President Robert Easter and representatives from each of the three campuses, to make a presentation to the legislature. “I think that there’s a lot of recognition by elected officials in Springfield of the importance and the impact of the University of Illinois and the vital asset that it is in Illinois,� Tom Hardy, University spokesman, said. “Yet they’re struggling to balance the priorities the state has in a critical fiscal circumstance.� Hardy said the Univer-

sity’s concerns with the cuts, aside from them being “rather severe,� stem from the fact that state appropriations are unrestricted funds — funds that are very crucial in the day-to-day operations of the University. “These are the funds that, together with tuition funds, are used to pay for exceptional faculty on all three campuses, keep the lights on and the doors open,� he said. The cuts would effectively cause a reduction of faculty and staff over time, Hardy said. This would result in larger class sizes, limited services to students and an

“overall diminishment� of the educational experience offered by the University. “If we had to raise tuition to fi ll that gap, that would require a 20 to 30 percent tuition increase depending on if it’s just undergraduates or all students,� Hardy said. He added the University does not want to raise tuition, and wants to protect students and faculty from these “dramatic budget reductions,� but it becomes difficult with reductions of this size, President Easter also

SEE FUNDING | 3A

The Daily Illini strives to expand online he Daily Illini staff are the most diligent, hard-working journalists I know, and I am incredibly humbled by the opportunity to work with these individuals every day. We handle being fulltime students while also working full-time jobs, sitting in the newsroom until we drop the newspaper each night. Then we go home, get homework done, wake up and do it all again. We serve as co-workers to each other, but we are also peers. At night, we

hold serious meetings and then sit next to our reporters and bosses in class the next morning. But the most inspiring part is that we do it because we want to. Because we love the paper and putting out a product that you, the readers, pick up every day. The DI is a second family on campus to me, and I always knew that working for the newspaper would be the most important thing I do while attending the University. We are a younger staff this year, but what we lack in age, we make up for in passion. And this year, we hope to take that passion and expand our current coverage by creating a stron-

LIFE & CULTURE

SPORTS

MEGAN JONES Editor-inchief

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Charity Miles allows Illini scored 22 users to raise charity runs, most runs in funds through fitness program history PAGE 1B

DAILYILLINI, DAILYILLINISPORTS

INSIDE

to turn to us for your daily news. We also want to change our front page, allowing it to cover the most important content from all sections, including sports, opinions and features. So, let’s talk. We’re here to serve you. Shoot me an email, give the newsroom a call. We’re new and we’re going to make mistakes, but we will always learn from them. Looking around the newsroom on my fi rst night, I’m incredibly excited and I thank the staff for joining me for the next year.

Megan is a sophomore in Media. majones5@dailyillini.com @MeganAsh_Jones

OPINIONS

App users walk, Softball sweeps run, bike for cause Hoosiers Sunday

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ger web presence. Your day should start by picking up a copy of The Daily Illini, but it shouldn’t end there. We want to build your trust. We want you to turn to us when rumors of a crime appear or to see post-coverage for events or sports post-game coverage. You shouldn’t have to wait until the next morning to digest news about what happened today, and we are working to change the way The Daily Illini’s website runs by providing fresh content. Stories will be up online as soon as they are ready, making our paper product an outlet for more long-term, investigative pieces. This isn’t an easy task, and it won’t come instantly, but we want you

Change, don’t end Greek life

Despite mistakes, Greek system is worth fixing PAGE 4A

@THEDAILYILLINI, @DI_OPINION, @DI_SPORTS

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SOURCE: Illinois General Assembly

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