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A DIVA IS A FEMALE VERSION OF A ... BROWN SWISS COW?
Illini athletes return to Boston following marathon bombings
Nellie, a University cow who knows she’s pretty, carries on family tradition
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MONDAY April 21, 2014
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THE DAILY ILLINI The independent student newspaper at the University of Illinois since 1871
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Pension typo could lead to fewer faculty
74˚ | 50˚ Vol. 143 Issue 110
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Thousands of professors left hanging in the balance BY JOHNATHAN HETTINGER EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
“Hell no,” chemistry professor Kenneth Suslick does not want to retire. He’s 61-yearsold. He has 18 graduate students. He’s garnered $5.2 million in grants for the University. He’s turned down offers from Carnegie Mellon, the University of North Carolina and the University of California at Irvine to stay at the University of Illinois. But he feels the mismanagement of the University and the state of Illinois has forced him to do so. *** At Robert Gordon’s 70th birthday symposium earlier this year, the UIC chemistry professor made no mention of retirement. The thought was not on his mind — he had years of teaching and researching for CITES left. Or so he thought. *** David Cahill wasn’t planning to retire, either. He is busy being the head of the material sciences department and working on research on ultrafast
thermal transport; control of thermal and electrical transport in organic and composite materials through molecular and nanoscale structures; and Hydrogen and CO2 interactions with material interfaces. But staying on at the University amounts to a paycut of $3,000 a month, or $36,000 a year, for Cahill. *** Suslick, Gordon and Cahill are just three of the 3,500 to 4,000 University employees who will lose significant benefits if they do not retire by July 1, a result of pension reform legislation passed by the Illinois General Assembly in December. The reform made sweeping changes for state employees, including cutting cost-of-living adjustments and raising the retirement age for many younger employees, to help save the state’s massively underfunded pension system. But one unintentional effect the bill had was significantly
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Search for new UI president gets underway BY JOHNATHAN HETTINGER EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
With a little more than a year remaining on University President Robert Easter’s contract, the Board of Trustees is kicking off the search to fi nd his replacement. At a special meeting Friday, the board appointed the 19-member search committee to fi nd the next president, who will take office on July 1, 2015. The committee will be cochaired by Trustee Pam Strobel and Urbana physics professor Douglas Beck and will include trustees, faculty, staff, students and alumni. The committee will hold its fi rst meeting in May to decide further details. The Board of Trustees hopes to name a new president in January and will choose from a list of 8 to 10 fi nalists selected by the committee, along with help from an outside fi rm.
Easter was chosen as president after former president Michael Hogan resigned in March 2012 amid concerns about his ability to lead the campus. Strobel chaired the committee that recommended the hiring of Hogan in 2010. Beck chaired the committee that led to the hiring of Chancellor Phyllis Wise in 2011. When the committee was announced, Trustee Ed McMillan complained that no Republican trustees were on the search committee. Board chairman Christopher Kennedy said he did not consider political affi liation when choosing the committee, but he will be more careful to do so in the future. The trustees on the committee are Strobel, Ricardo Estrada and James Montgomery.
Johnathan can be reached at hetting2@dailyillini.com and @jhett93.
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Read about the annual event and see more photos on
University plans to open medical school BY MARYCATE MOST STAFF WRITER
Chancellor Phyllis Wise announced Friday that the University will look into developing a first-of-its-kind engineering-based medical school on the Urbana-Champaign campus after a recommendation from the Tripp Umbach consulting firm. The University plans on teaming up with the Carle Health Sys-
tem in Urbana to combine education in health sciences, computer science and engineering with healthcare practice, according to an email sent by the Chancellor to University employees. Carle and the University commissioned a study from Tripp Umbach based on a Business Cluster Development report from Jan. 20. The report recommended that the Universi-
Overall University CS enrollment on the rise Student enrollment in the University's computer science degree programs is on the rise. Enrollment data show that the fewest students — 1,074 — were enrolled during the spring 2007 semester and the most — 1,712 — were enrolled during the fall 2013 semester. Leonard Pitt, director of undergraduate programs in the computer science department, said the department has seen a dramatic increase in applications as more than 2,300 students applied to the department in the fall. These numbers include students from both the College of Engineering and Liberal Arts and Sciences.
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ty develop its biomedical engineering sphere and prepare for changes in the health care system, which calls for research on how to bring more health care to a greater number of people. “The U.S. health care system is undergoing historic transformation driven by an aging population with more chronic conditions, an influx of millions of new people into the health care
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system due to the Affordable Care Act, and a severe physician shortage,” the report said. Before the University and Carle start to develop the medical school, they will need to have the plan approved by their respective governing bodies in the coming months.
MaryCate can be reached at most2@dailyillini.com.
CS student enrollment on the rise since 2007 BY TYLER DAVIS STAFF WRITER
At Beijing Technology and Business University, Ke Wang said many of the computer science students who seek higher wages in the future want to transfer to fi nance. In UrbanaChampaign, the situation is quite the opposite. Data obtained from the University’s Division of Management Information show that enrollment in computer science degree programs in the colleges of Engineering and LAS has been on the rise since it reached its lowest point during the spring 2007 semester. Lenny Pitt, director of undergraduate programs in the computer science department, said the department has seen a dramatic increase in applicants. The department received more than 2,300 applications in the fall, which Pitt said is a high-
er number of applications than any other major in the College of Engineering has received. Over the past five years, the department has grown by about 500 students. “We’re turning away many very qualifi ed students — I mean, excellent students,” Pitt said. “Some of them are being given a second choice of major in the College of Engineering, some are being deferred to DGS. It’s unfortunate that we can’t grow as quickly as the demand is growing.” Pitt noted that the average ACT score for admitted students is about 34.3, which is a score higher in all categories than 99 percent of recent high school graduates who took the ACT. Wang, a sophomore in economics currently enrolled in two entry-level computer sci-
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ELISEO ELIZARRARAZ THE DAILY ILLINI
Students celebrate Holi, the festival of colors, on Saturday at the FAR soccer fields. Holi is an ancient Hindi celebration that is celebrated with the coming of the vernal equinox. The University’s event included food,, music and colored powder for students to smear their friends with.
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