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NASA astronaut to speak at Commencement

Eating their words

DAILY ILLINI STAFF REPORT

SAISHA SINGH THE DAILY ILLINI

Every April bibliophiles, book artists and food lovers gather to celebrate literature and food at the Champaign-Urbana Edible Book Festival, sponsored by the University Library and University YMCA. Participants create an “edible book,” which can be inspired by a favorite tale, involve a pun on a famous title, or simply be in the shape of a book (or scroll, or tablet, etc). All entries are exhibited, documented and then eaten.

Astronaut and alumnus Michael Hopkins will be the speaker at this year’s Commencement, the University announced Tuesday. Hopkins graduated from the University in 1991 with a degree in aerospace engineering. While at the University, Hopkins played football, serving as a defensive back and team captain his senior year. The former Illini went on to earn a master’s degree from Stanford University and graduated from NASA’s astronaut training plan in 2011 after 12 years of applying, according to Hopkins’ NASA biography. Hopkins, born in Lebanon, Mo., left for trip to the International Space Station in September, along with two Russian astronauts, Oleg Kotov and Sergey Ryazanskiy. During his trip, he orbited the Earth 2,500 times and participated in two spacewalks. Not long after returning in March, Hopkins agreed to be the speaker, campus spokeswoman Robin Kaler said. “He called us back a couple

of days after he was back on Earth,” Kaler said. “He was still feeling the effects of 1G when got back. He felt very heavy.” The process to find a graduation speaker for the May 17 address began in the fall. “We always like to find one of our accomplished alumni to address the students because we feel they probably know better than anybody else how those students are feeling at that moment and would have a really nice message,” Kaler said. Earlier this year, the University submitted the application to NASA requesting him to speak and waited for him to confirm that he was willing to participate. “We’re delighted,” Kaler said. “With the Commencement being one ceremony on the football field, outside, and with Colonel Hopkins being a former captain of the Illinois football team, and someone whose office is the sky above, it seemed like a really appropriate thing.” The 9 a.m. ceremony will take place at Memorial Stadium, due to the ongoing renovations at State Farm Center.

Ads target Davis’ view on grants BY AUSTIN KEATING STAFF WRITER

Rep. Rodney Davis, R-13, is up for re-election in November, but an online ad campaign, 13 Broken Promises, has recently called Davis out on one “broken promise” that affects 20 percent of University students — Pell Grants. A budget proposal sponsored by Republican Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin would freeze funding and reduce the availability of Pell Grants. When it was called to a vote on March 21, 2013, Davis voted “yea.” This vote, as the ad points out, conflicts with what Davis said at

a debate at WILL-TV in Champaign on Nov. 1, 2012 during his run for election in 2012. “I’m not going to support cuts in Pell Grants to students that attend these universities and colleges,” he said at the debate, adding that he would seek to increase the availability of the grant. In the 13th Congressional district there are over 100,000 students and nine universities or colleges, including the University of Illinois, where 6,680 students, or 20 percent, received the need-based grant in 2013, said Dan Mann, director of Student Financial Aid.

“The Pell Grant is the first financial aid program that we consider when we put together a student’s financial aid package,” he said. “It helps make the University more affordable for those who are the neediest, so it’s crucial.” The expected family contribution of a student’s tuition is heavily considered, along with other factors such as whether a student is full-time or not, before a dollar amount is issued to a student, he added. The maximum amount a student could be awarded in the 201314 academic year was $5,645, and

for the 2014-15 academic year it rose to $5,730, Mann said, While Davis did vote for Ryan’s budget in the House, it didn’t pass the Senate and was never put into law. However, he voted for a bipartisan two-year budget agreement in December that raised the maximum Pell Grant award to $5,730, the current level. “Despite the claims from our opponents, Congressman Davis has and will continue to support Pell Grants and access to Pell Grants for our nation’s students,” said Davis’s communica-

SEE PELL | 3A

COURTESY OF NASA

NASA astronaut Michael Hopkins, Expedition 37/38 flight engineer, awaits the start of a spacewalk training session in the waters of the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory.

Champaign now classifies soup kitchens as restaurants BY ANGELICA LAVITO STAFF WRITER

The city of Champaign defines a restaurant as an establishment which is open to the general public, and where food and beverages are prepared and offered for consumption. This definition eliminates the requirement of having food for sale, which the Champaign City Council voted 8-1 to adopt last month. The change will allow soup kitchens to fall under this definition and has spurred mixed reactions in the community. “As a city, we have to decide what’s in the common good of

everyone,” Tom Bruno, deputy mayor and city council memberat large, said. “Its fairly clear that it’s in everyone’s common interest that we find a place for these kindhearted folks who are feeding the hungry.” William Jones owns Rose and Taylor Barber and Beauty shop, and is concerned about what impact having a meal center nearby could have on businesses like his own. “You have mental issues, behavioral issues, illicit activity, criminal activity, domestic disputes, fights, theft. All of this takes place on a daily basis that you do not find at a typical

restaurant, which they are labeling a meal center or soup kitchen in the same category as a restaurant,” Jones said. Bruno said he recognizes business owners’ concerns, but thinks the change is justified. “ Nobody wa nts the crematorium on their block, but it has to go somewhere. You have to have a nuclear waste site but no one wants that near them,” Bruno said. “The reality is that if we poll people, a lot of people would probably say, ‘I don’t want the homeless getting their meals on my block.’” Daily Bread Soup Kitchen currently operates at New

Covenant Fellowship and offers full meals five days a week and soup and sandwiches on weekends. When they began looking for a new location where they could operate seven days a week, they realized meal centers were not mentioned in zoning ordinances and came to the city for advice. “The people who come see us are guests. Therefore, like guests at your home, your guests don’t pay for their food,” Daily Bread Soup Kitchen Board President Bob Goss said. Goss is aware of concerns about loitering and crime, and said Daily Bread is different

Champaign changes definition of “restaurant” Old definition:

An establishment in which food, refreshments, or beverages are offered for sale for consumption in the building or at tables on the lot in which the establishment is located. from people’s preconceived notions of a soup kitchen. “We don’t have more problems than any other restaurant in town. If there’s a problem though, we deal with it and

New definition: An establishment which is open to the general public and where food and beverages are prepared and offered for consumption. SOURCE: CHAMPAIGN CITY COUNCIL

prevent it from happening again,” Goss said. Daily Bread is still in the process of finding a new

SEE RESTAURANT | 3A

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