LIFE & CULTURE, 6A
BLACKHAWKS TO WIN STANLEY CUP? OR NO?
Sexual assault survivors pose with quotes from their attackers
Chicago won in 2010 and last year. Could they win Final for the 3rd time in 5 years?
HEALING CAN BEGIN WITH A SINGLE PHOTO
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THE DAILY ILLINI
TUESDAY April 15, 2014
The independent student newspaper at the University of Illinois since 1871
WWW.DAILYILLINI.COM
45˚ | 30˚ Vol. 143 Issue 107
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URBANA-CHAMPAIGN SENATE
Reliving history, guiding tradition
More pension reform required as faculty exodus still stirs fear Finance professor Jeff Brown, who chairs the ad hoc compensation review committee, said each employee would receive a modest contribution as a percent of pay under the plan’s draft. The plan could also include additional University pension contributions for employees who earn more than the salary cap imposed by the state’s recent pension reform, Senate Bill 1. However, Brown said this has not been decided on. Brown estimated that, for each percent of pay that the University would direct into this supplemental retirement system, it would cost a total of $7.5 million to the Urbana campus. “We just have to do this,” Brown said. “Either we pay for it now, or we are going to pay for it later as we watch key staff and faculty exit.” According to a 2012 study by Buck Consultants, University of Illinois’ plan lags behind the average Big Ten contribution rate of 26.39 percent of salary to pension funds. In contrast, University of Illinois Tier I faculty receive a total of 15.5 percent, Tier II receives 14.5 percent and faculty with a self-managed plan receive 15.6 percent. “No matter how you slice it, we are at a competitive disadvantage,” Brown said. Additionally, senators stood with their students “past and present in dire need of (their) support” in passing a resolution urging Congress to pass HR3892, a bill that would
BY TYLER DAVIS STAFF WRITER
The Urbana-Champaign Senate took an early step Monday in providing financially competitive retirement compensation to University of Illinois faculty. The resolution, which the senate passed unanimously, encourages the Board of Trustees to establish a supplemental retirement system that is flexible enough to be adjusted as needed for all State Universities Retirement System-eligible University employees. Since 2004, SURS liabilities have incrementally outweighed its assets. In 2004, SURS was 66 percent funded, but this had fallen to 41.5 percent in 2013. Mike Sandretto, senate budget committee chair, said the state has not been contributing enough money to catch up to its liabilities. Additionally, Sandretto added that the recession particularly hurt funding, as SURS saw its percent funding decrease 22 percentage points from 2007 to 2010. “The recession brought them down a lot. The change in the pension fund will reduce underfunded by we don’t know how much, maybe enough,” Sandretto said. “As long as there’s not another recession, the state can probably catch up — we don’t know.” The package under consideration would include a University contribution to employee 403(b) plans and additional matching contributions for every employee who contributes to their own 403(b) plan.
SADIE TEPER THE DAILY ILLINI
Noah Feingold, sophomore in LAS, reads from the Haggadah at a Passover Seder at Illini Hillel on Monday night. The Haggadah is the prayer book which leads the Passover Seder, a holiday celebrated by Jewish people to commemorate the liberation of the Israelites in ancient times.
Bill spurs smoke-free campuses If bill passes, all Illinois campuses will be smoke-free BY JOSHUA WINTERS
SEE U-C SENATE | 3A
STAFF WRITER
The Illinois House of Representatives voted 67-44 on April 2 to pass the Smoke-Free Campus Act, a bill that would ban smoking at all public universities and community colleges across the state. While the Urbana campus of the University of Illinois and 13 other Illinois colleges already follow this policy, the bill requires all other universities and community colleges to craft their own enforcement policies. The bill, SB 2202, is currently awaiting a vote in the Senate, where it has support and opposition from both sides of the political spectrum. The bill does not lay out any specific policies regarding enforcement, leaving it up to the individual universities and community colleges to decide what penalties will be in place. The University has had a smoking ban in place since January 1. Despite some criticism from the campus community, director of the University Wellness Center Michele Guerra believes the University’s smoking ban has been
Retirement system’s liabilities increasing Since 2004, SURS' accrued liabilities have increased by $15.294 billion, while its assets have increased by only $1.676 billion. In passing a supplemental pension plan, the University could ensure that the University of Illinois retirement system is competitive with its peer institutions.
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EUNIE KIM THE DAILY ILLINI
SOURCE: UI FINANCIAL ANALYSIS
a success. “Most of the campuses that we talked to that went through a similar process to us ... reported to us that they had very high, upwards of 90 percent, compliance rates,” Guerra said. “I would say that’s where we’re at. We followed a similar procedure, and I’d say our compliance rates are very high.” Guerra estimates that since the University’s ban went into effect, there have been only one or two dozen noncompliance citations handed out. Instead of issuing citations, Guerra said she believes the key to a successful smoking ban is effectively educating the student body of the dangers associated with smoking. “Right now, the policy is new,” Guerra said. “We are primarily using a combination of informational approaches, such as signage ... and through other informational approaches, such as our newly formed team of smoke-free ambassadors. I think it’s going well because the communication (is) there.” While an information campaign may be what the University deems to be the best way of reducing the amount of collegeage smokers, studies indicate that young people are aware of the potential risks associated with smoking but are not dissuaded
Millenials and smoking Despite both smoking bans and nationwide PR campaigns, Millennials are still smoking cigarettes. Here’s a look at the numbers behind this information. Non-smokers
Smokers
All adults 18+
21%
Millenials (b. 1977-1994)
40%
60%
79%
AUSTN BAIRD THE DAILY ILLINI
SOURCE: GfK MRI
from it. A recent study, conducted by GfK MRI, a consumer research agency, found that 21 percent of U.S. adults are smokers and that 40 percent of smokers are Millennials, defined as being born between 1977 and 1994. Within
the last 12 months, 44 percent of Millennial smokers claimed to use e-cigarettes, which are largely unregulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and included in the proposed ban.
SEE SMOKING | 3A
Eco-friendly competition challenges students to conserve energy in dorms BY AUSTIN KEATING STAFF WRITER
Seated around a table in a cubicle study room in the Undergraduate Library, a group of students had to solve a problem. It wasn’t a complicated integral or anything class related; the problem had to do with energy conservation — how were they going to reduce energy consumption at the University’s residence halls? The answer has something to do with changing student behavior and attitudes toward energy usage through competition, said Paul Foote, senior in ACES. Foote is the coordinator of EcoOlympics, a three-week competition among six residence halls that’s coming to a close April 20. He leads a team of outreach volunteers who try to spread word of the competition through anything from ultimate Frisbee games to giving quick speeches at floor events. “We have teams in each hall to reach out to all of the residents to
convince them that this is a wonderful thing to do so that they have an impact in what they use each day,” Foote said. Whichever hall reduces their average energy usage the most will be awarded a trophy and a catered party. “The campus has done a lot of energy conservation behind the scenes,” said Morgan Johnston, associate director of sustainability at Facilities and Services. “To get to the next level of conservation, we need to get people on campus to think about energy use with their daily behavior.” She cited a 28 percent energy reduction since 2008, but with about 10,000 students living in University housing, she said a change in student behavior can have an impact the percentage even more. So when an energy usage tracking system was installed in all of the University’s residence halls last year, the opportunity to do this arose. Using this measuring system, which makes it easier to track
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energy usage data on a day-to-day basis, the University was able to join a national competition called Campus Conservation Nationals for the first time. “We can look at how much energy is being used minute by minute,” Johnston said. “Now we have the ability to use this information to allow for competitions between residence halls, and competitions are a great way to get people inspired to make change.” Schools could implement a three-week competition within the window of Jan. 13 and April 30, so while the University isn’t quite finished yet with its campus competition, Iowa State is, with their highest energy conservation percentage at a residence hall being 5 percent. Ahead of them, as of April 14, is the University’s No. 1, Barton Hall, with almost a 10 percent energy conservation rate. Jessica Mondello, sophomore in ACES, is in charge of energy conservation outreach at the hall.
“I’m not really sure what we’ve been doing right, but I’m happy that we’re doing something right,” she said. “I’m trying to get a lot of people to unplug their mini fridges.” The other halls involved in the competition in order of rank are Lundgren Hall, Allen Hall, Lincoln Avenue Residence Hall, Scott Hall and Snyder Hall — all of which have made negative savings so far. But now that temperatures are rising, energy conservation seems tougher, especially for Scott and Snyder, which are both trailing far behind LAR, Allen and Lundgren. Saloni Sheth, freshman in FAA and a member of the Snyder Hall team, blamed it on the manual air conditioning units in both halls. “I noticed that a lot of people in my dorm have been turning their air on,” said Scott Hall team member Kari Ross, freshman in LAS. “It’s very hard to live in when it gets hot, but I leave my window open all of the time, and I keep my
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Life
Q Unplug
Q Switch
desk lamp bulbs from an incandescent bulb to a compact florescent light. “Everyone says changing a light bulb isn’t that big of a deal, but if you switch to a CFL, it’s about a third of the energy use that an incandescent bulb does,” said Paul Foote, senior in ACES and coordinator of EcoOlympics.
door open to keep cool.” Air conditioning dominated the conversation at the Eco-Olympic team meeting last week, and Foote encouraged the teams to push residents to turn the manual units on fan-mode. “It certainly has had a devastating impact,” he said, referring
power strips and chargers. Even when equipment is turned off, the devices still use “phantom power.” Q If a refrigerator isn’t in use, unplug it. Q Use the fan setting on manual air conditioning units instead of turning on the AC. “If you can keep the compressor from running, that’s what uses all of the electricity,” Foote said.
to the rankings. “But it looks like mother nature will be on our side over the next week with cooler temperatures, so hopefully that changes things.”
Austin can be reached at akkeati2@dailyillini.com and @austinkeating3.
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Dorm room tips for reducing energy use
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