Baseball: Illini complete 3-game sweep of Boilermakers
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The Daily Illini
Monday April 15, 2013
High: 61˚ Low: 49˚
www.DailyIllini.com
The independent student newspaper at the University of Illinois since 1871
Vol. 142 Issue 138
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Moms weekend shows rise in Urbana business Local lodgings host weekend visitors BY CORINNE RUFF STAFF WRITER
Sylvia Sullivan walked back and forth through a swinging door Sunday morning, bringing out hot French press pitchers fi lled with fresh coffee and antique floral plates piled with homemade Welsh wedge cakes. The mothers and families sitting at the table chatted about events at their children’s Greek houses and wondered when they would see each other next — for several of them it would be their sons’ graduation next month. “It’s an experience versus a place to stay,” said Howard Nussbaum, a father visiting with his family for their fi rst Moms Weekend. Sylvia’s Irish Inn, 312 W Green St., a bed and breakfast situated in the historic Lindley House, has gained a reputation over the last ten years as a homey place for moms and families to stay during the University event, Moms Weekend. Sylvia Sullivan, co-owner of the Inn with her husband, Ernie, began booking rooms for Moms Weekend on January 1 and were reserved by the end of the month. The inn wasn’t the only local lodging that saw increased business. Although the Urbana Landmark Hotel has only been open to customers for less than a year, Xiao Jin Yuan, owner of the hotel, said it also saw an increase in business because of the event. On an average weekend, Yuan said he sees around 15 to 20 percent of the rooms fi lled. However, this weekend saw around 80 percent of the rooms rented by moms celebrating with their children. Several vendors from the Boneyard Arts Festival rented the remaining rooms. “They like the decoration and old style,” he said. “The customers feel this is a unique place. Most of the people when they travel usually stay in chain hotels, but they seldom have a chance to stay in this kind of old style hotel.” Cynthia Johnson, director of the Urbana Business Association, said downtown Urbana sees increased foot traffic as a result of Moms Weekend and the Boneyard Arts Festival taking place in the same weekend. “It’s purposely geared to the same weekend to target the moms,” she said. With the Urbana Landmark Hotel connected to Lincoln Square, Yuan said he believes businesses in the mall and
COLORS OF HOLI KELLY HICKEY THE DAILY ILLINI
Two students laugh during Holi, the Indian celebration of the victory of good over evil. The event was held on Saturday and was put on by Asha as a fundraiser for the education and advancement of underprivileged people in India.
Festival of colors teaches students about Indian culture BY CARINA LEE STAFF WRITER
Kavya Gundavaram has not been back to India for a year now but said she feels closer to home than ever. Saturday’s Holi festival, the Hindu spring festival of colors, felt different and colder than what she is used to. But she said she was able to revive nostalgic feelings of home while students celebrated the festival by throwing different colored powders and water balloons at each other, creating a spectrum of color in the air at the lawns of the Business Instructional Facility ³ more than 8,000 miles away from what she considers home. “It’s great celebrating in here because there’s a lot of college students, so everyone is my age,” said Gundavaram, freshman in Engineering. “I’m celebrating with my friends, even though my family is not here today.” She said to her, every single Holi meant having a good time, but the University’s festival is an opportunity for her peers to experience Indian culture. “It makes U of I really diverse and really including of all cultures,” she said. “Everyone gets to experience, even if you’re not Indian so I think it’s a really cool opportunity for people who have
never seen it before.” One of the many purposes of the event is to introduce Indian culture to the University, said Vrashank Shukla, graduate student. Shukla is the president of the Registered Student Organization Asha and the co-chair of Asha for Education, the organization that hosted the event in partnership with Delta Kappa Delta sorority. This is their third year hosting the event. He said Holi is a festival to celebrate the spring awakening. “It welcomes the spring in India,” he said. “Lots of students miss celebrating this back home, and it’s really good to have this here, and they can all come to have fun.” All proceeds from the event are expected to go to Asha for Education, an organization that supports children in India who need money for education. More than 800 people participated in the event this year, Shukla said. One of many participants of the event, Svitlana Koval, sophomore in LAS, enjoyed her fi rst Holi festival. She said she wasn’t able to make it last year but is glad to have had a chance to experience Holi. “Everyone is just completely forgetting about all boundaries – just going out and clustering with each other,” Koval said.
ZACH DALZELL THE DAILY ILLINI
Samuel Jung, an academic advisor for global studies, is pushed into a pool of painted water by a group of students on the Business Instructional Facility Lawns for Holi on Saturday. Holi, a religious spring festival celebrated by Hindus as a festival of colors, was put on by Asha, a group working to further education in India. Families also enjoyed the festival as an activity to celebrate Moms Weekend. Priyanka Bhargava, a resident of Champaign-Urbana, came out with her husband to celebrate spring and spend time together as they used to in India. “It’s nice to see everybody enjoying in the spirit of the holiday,”
Bhargava said. “The colors are fantastic, the mood and everybody seems to have a good time.” Bhargava said Holi began when ancestors celebrated victory over evil by using colors to symbolize life.
Carina can be reached at lee713@ dailyillini.com.
URBANA CITY COUNCIL
2AM in the evening
UCC to make Kinch Street parking decision BY CORINNE RUFF STAFF WRITER
After three weeks of discussion, the Urbana City Council will decide whether to eliminate parking on Kinch Street to make room for bike paths connected to the city’s Bike Master Plan. In order for the project to be included in the summer construction supported by the Safe Routes to School Grant, a fi nal decision needs to be reached during Monday’s meeting. Brandon Bowersox-Johnson, Ward 4, said the decision is not
an easy one. However, he said he believes the safety of the corridor outweighs the parking inconvenience. “I know it will be a hardship for neighbors to park across the street, but it will be a huge safety benefit for the cars that will be encouraged not to speed down that street and for all the kids and grown-ups who bike to school or work,” he said. Many residents have attended the meeting in the weeks passed to express concerns of safety, including speeding cars and lack
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of street lighting. Bowersox-Johnson said the council will work to address those issues in future ordinances. He said the traffic commission will look into implementing a stop sign at Michigan Avenue and Kinch Street in coming months. However, it may take a few years to raise enough funds from the Community Development Block Grant to fund street lighting.
Corinne can be reached at cruff2@ dailyillini.com.
Davis speaks to students on US-Israeli relations BY TYLER DAVIS ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR
Rep. Rodney Davis, D-13, said Israel is America’s number one ally in the Middle East at a dinner hosted by the American-Israeli Student Coalition at Destihl, 301 N. Neil St., on Sunday. The dinner was the second annual AISC campus leadership event where campus leaders from
groups such as the Illinois Student Senate, College Democrats and College Republicans were invited to celebrate and understand the importance of the relationship between the United States and Israel, said Alana Rubin, president of AISC and junior in LAS. “We have shared values with Israel, and it’s necessary to advocate on behalf of those values,”
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she said. Following dinner, guests were asked to sign AISC’s leadership statement, which would be sent to members of Congress and shared on Facebook. The statement affirms support for the United States’ relationship with Israel and condemns a nuclear-capable
STEVE SHENG THE DAILY ILL INI
2AM, a three-person vocal team composed of Keon Ho Min, Steven Chon and Jung Min Kim, performs at the Korean Student Association organized talent show event Sunday at Foellinger Auditorium.
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