KOPINSKI TWINS FINISHING ILLUSTRIOUS CAREERS WITH ILLINI TENNIS PAGE 1B
THURSDAY April 30,2015
THE DAILY ILLINI 5he independent student newspaper at the University of Illinois since 1871
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Vol. 144 Issue 116
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New senate bill to aid graduates BY CAELI CLEARY STAFF WRITER
IVAN CASTANEIRA TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE
Workers dig through the debris of fallen buildings on Tuesday in Kathmandu, Nepal. The death toll from a powerful earthquake in Nepal climbed to 4,555 and a total of 8,299 others were injured, Nepal Police said in a statement Tuesday.
Students start Nepal relief effort BY CHARLOTTE COLLINS ASSISTANT DAYTIME EDITOR
University students with ties to Nepal are urging others to reach out and help with relief efforts after a 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck the country on Saturday. As of press time, the Nepal Police reported a total of 5,530 deaths and 8,305 injured. The Nepali Student Association at the University, NeStA, has several fundraising events in the works to aid Nepal in their rescue and reconstruction efforts. After the students’ first day of fundraising, the asso-
ciation announced it raised $1,950 to aid earthquake relief efforts. Miglena Manandhar is a member of NeStA and a Ph.D. candidate at the University whose family and friends were directly affected by the disaster. She said her family members in Nepal are physically sound but “in a state of trauma� because of the earthquake, and they’ve been “spending their lives outside� since the earthquake struck their home. “It’s not just my family, but everyone in the capital is doing the same,� Manandhar said. “Also, in the vil-
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Only
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new job openings in Illinois from 2010-2020
150,000
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Report shows increasing skills gap in Illinois for jobs BY DAVID STAGE STAFF WRITER
If current trends continue, Illinois will experience a skills gap, as not enough employers can find people who meet job qualifications, according to a report by ReadyNation, a business leader organization under the Council for a Strong America. According to the report, 69 percent of the 2.3 million estimated job openings in Illinois available between 2010 and 2020 will require
employees to have post-secondary education; however, only 62 percent of Illinois citizens are educated past high school. This gap means 150,000 jobs in Illinois will be filled by unqualified candidates, according to the report. Sean Noble, Illinois state director at ReadyNation, said the skills gap hurts businesses because then they need to train people, which costs
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The commencement address at Memorial Stadium will mark the end at the University for nearly 11,700 seniors, dressed in blue gowns. Chords draped around their necks will range in colors, each marking a different organization. But for some, the color will mark honors societies that range from major-specified to campus-wide; however, their importance varies upon each perspective. There are over 50 honors societies recognized by the University,according to the University’s academics page, and membership for the “prestigious� societies is normally decided during a student’s junior or senior year. Jennifer Neef, associate director for the Career Center said honors societies are not always as valuable to one student as they are to another. She said an active society
SEE HONORS | 3A
INSIDE
• According to the organization’s website, Tau Beta Pi: Students with junior class standing must be in top eighth of class by GPA and seniors must be in top fifth by GPA. • Required to earn social credits, service credits and professional credits. • Initiation fee for undergraduate students is $95 and $45 for graduate students. • According to the organization’s website, Alpha Epsilon Delta: Must be second semester sophomore with at least 45 credit hours. • Minimum 3.2 cumulative GPA and 3.25 science GPA • For pre-health professional society tier, no qualifications necessary but required to complete 28 pre-health points per semester of membership before joining Alpha Epsilon Delta.
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SOURCE: ReadyNation Press Release April 21, 2015
working at the ground level in coordination with the Nepal Red Cross so that we can provide help to the victims that are in immediate need of this relief,� Manandhar said. Santosh Koirala, former NeStA president and graduate research student, said there is immense devastation in his home country and he expects the limited resources to cause the death toll to continue climbing. He said most donations will go to Nepal.net, which is providing relief on the
BY ALI BRABOY AND FATIMA FARHA
62%
of these jobs will require some post-secondary education
lages rescuers have still not been able to reach.� Manandhar said NeStA will be holding a walk-in donation booth on the Main Quad from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m until Friday to fund relief in Nepal. She also said a benefit concert will be held at the First Mennonite Church in Urbana. According to Manandhar, the concert is in collaboration with the University’s civil engineering and music departments. “We’re hoping to collect at least five to $10,000 and send the donations to a charity organization in Nepal that’s
The promise of a career can often ease the burden of student debt many young graduates feel. However, student debt can actually keep students from working in their chosen career. Currently, licensing agencies can revoke professional licenses from students who default on student loan debt. To protect recent graduates, State Sen. Scott Bennett, D-Champaign, introduced Senate Bill 454 to prevent professional licensing boards from revoking an occupational or professional license because of student loan default. A loan is considered defaulted when a borrower fails to meet the terms of the loan and pay the loan on schedule. Bennett said student debt is the number one consumer debt in the United States. “We recognize that people want to pay off their student debt,� Bennett said. “These are obviously motivated people that have gone to school and have gotten licenses so they can work.� A loan default can result in a series of consequences, including a negative credit
rating or withholding a student’s tax refund or part of earned wages. If a person is still behind on the payments, a company’s licensing board has the authority to revoke a professional license. Mitch Dickey, student body president, said licensing boards revoke professional licenses when borrowers default on student loans as a way to push people to repay the loan. “The problem with this, though, is that the professional certificate is a means of being able to pay off your loan, so if you lose your professional certifi cate because of the default because you weren’t able to make enough money, well guess what? Now you defi nitely aren’t going to make enough money if your certificate is taken away from you,� Dickey said. “It doesn’t make any sense.� He said he thinks Bennett’s initiative is beneficial and makes more sense than current regulations. Terry Horstman, spokesperson for the Illinois Department of Financial and Professional Regulation, said in an email that
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CHRISTINE HA THE DAILY ILLINI
LIFE & CULTURE
Unifying culture on the South Quad Students honor culture by bringing the tradition of cricket matches to campus PAGE 6A SPORTS
Illini baseball keeping it loose during streak Despite national ranking, season-long pressure, team continues to win, have fun
PAGE 1B OPINIONS
Students deserve to feel comfortable in dorms Adding gender-neutral bathrooms in dorms helps provide more options for student living
PAGE 4A
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