‘Twice a Stranger’ explores refugees’ struggles in new land
BOOKER SAYS FINAL GOODBYE
ILLINI OF THE WEEK CASEY FLETCHER
Fletcher’s offensive streak leads Illini baseball in 4 games for the books.
As Alex Booker ends her last season as an Illini, she reflects on her career and the successes to come.
Modern Greek studies screens documentary
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THE DAILY ILLINI
WEDNESDAY May 7, 2014
5he independent student newspaper at the University of Illinois since 1871
WWW.DAILYILLINI.COM
82Ëš | 66Ëš Vol. 143 Issue 118
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FREE
Student dining service workers lose free meals University changes meal policy because free meals a ‘taxable benefit’ BY JESSICA RAMOS STAFF WRITER
Editor’s Note: The names of student workers have been changed to protect their identity and job security within University Housing. Beginning Aug. 16, University Housing student dining service workers will no longer be offered a free meal during their shift. Student workers were informed through an email sent out by Dawn Aubrey, associate director of University Housing Dining Services, last Wednesday. According to the email, the free employee benefit meal is considered taxable income by the Internal Revenue System, IRS. Kirsten Ruby, associate director of housing for communications and marketing, said the change in meal policy follows a University audit. “(The University audit) determined that a free meal for students would be considered a taxable benefit. That means that if a student received a meal, they would be taxed on the value of that meal,� she said. “That is something the University Housing has no control over.� Effective in the fall, if a student chooses to have a meal during the time of their shift, they are charged $3 or three credits, depending on the method of payment. Campus spokeswoman Robin Kaler explained that the change in free meal policy is not applicable to full-time employees because they are considered “essential.� “( University Housi ng)
realized that only ‘essential’ employees can receive free meals during their shifts without having tax implications,� she said. “Essential employees include full-time workers who can’t leave the facility during their shift, and who might be called back quickly during their meal break. Nonessential employees, for purposes of the tax code, would include people such as dining services office staff and student workers.� Kaler stated that this resulted in the choice to charge for meals or to count the meal as income to prevent tax liability. “Dining Services chose the latter as it created less fi nancial burden on the affected employees,� Kaler said. The IRS Employee Meal guidelines indicate that a meal can be excluded from an employee’s wages if it is provided on business premises, if it is given on behalf of the employer to the employee and if it is for the employer’s convenience. If a student is unable to obtain a meal within a reasonable period or is in a restricted meal period, then they are excluded from the taxable income, a qualification that applies to student workers. Emily, a student worker, said she examined the IRS Employee Meal guidelines and disagrees with the change in meal policy, as she found discrepancies between the two. “I think that what they were expecting us to do is take an official-sounding reason and accept it and not say anything
SEE MEALS | 3A
University Housing to charge student workers for previously free meals
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Class project for biker and pedestrian-friendly redesign of Green Street goes viral BY CLAIRE HETTINGER STAFF WRITER
What started as a class project, soon grew into a drastically different plan for Green Street that students and community members have rallied around. A group of students saw a problem with the way Green Street is currently situated and hoped they could fi nd a better solution. Nahree Ki, one of the creators of the project and graduate student in marketing, said safety and efficiency are two of the main issues the team saw as a problem on the street. The students’ issues with the design of Green Street include congestion the cars cause as they search for parking, time delays for pedestrians to walk across streets and the lack of bike lanes, causing congestion in the traffic lanes. The suggested plan includes blocking off Green Street from Wright to Fourth
AUSTIN BAIRD THE DAILY ILLINI
streets. The change would turn the space into a walkway with room for pedestrians and bicyclers to move about safely and freely. A large focus of the project was designing the area in between the buildings, which allows businesses to use the space for outdoor seating, along with hosting events, such as concerts and farmer’s markets. The group would like to see Green Street become a welcoming and friendly space where students can spend their time and to promote businesses in the area. “We believe that this will make it much more welcoming, as somewhere you want to go and enjoy the space instead of trying to avoid it because of all the chaos,� said Brittany Hopper, graduate student in marketing and one of the project creators. The project was created for the class, Engineering 333: Creativity, Innovation and Vision, a class focused on helping
Mixed results found in education reform Five years ago, the Illinois Board of Higher Education decided to formulate a master plan to significantly reform education across the state, launching the Illinois Public Agenda for College and Career Success . Now halfway through the ten-year program, the board released a report on April 1, reviewing the state of progress made thus far. The 2008 agenda included a multitude of goals for the state, such as closing the achievement gap, lowering the student dropout rate, improving adult education and making college more affordable, among other goals. Candace M u e l l e r, spokeswoman for the Illinois Board of Higher Education, discussed the background of the agenda. In 2007, the Illinois General A ssembly passed House Joint Resolution 69 which
recommended that the Illinois Board of Higher Education perform a study to examine educational policy issues throughout the state. That resolution was, in part, what led to the Illinois Public Agenda for College and Career Success. S a ra h Rens, executive chair of the Student Advisory Committee for the Illinois Board of Higher Education, commented on the objectives included in the Public Agenda. “ T h ey s et ex t r emely ambitious goals back in 2008,� Rens said. “And so I think that progress takes time, and I think they are doing everything they can to make the progress that they set out to do.� One of the most successful aspects of the public agenda was the fact that the adult education level in Illinois increased at a rate faster than the rest of the country over the past five years.
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The Illinois Public Agenda for College and Career Success released a mid-point report last month. Among other findings, Illinois has seen more students attending college, a narrowed high school achievement gap, but a wider college achievement gap. Student pipeline in Illinois 100% 80%
2004
77% 75.5%
45.2%
40%
41.7% 19.9%
20% 0
35.9% 33.7%
30.6%
Graduate from high school
Directly enter college
Graduate in 150% of program time from college
Have bachelor’s degrees, ages 25-44
Achievement gap between whites and underserved populations High school completion Age 18-34
18.9%
16.8%
2005-2007
2010-2012
Bachelor’s degree attainment Age 25-34
26.1%
28.9%
2005-2007
2010-2012
SOURCE: ILLINOIS BOARD OF HIGHER EDUCATION
BRYAN LORENZ THE DAILY ILLINI
@THEDAILYILLINI Culture
2010
60%
THEDAILYILLINI
@THEDAILYILLINI, @DI_OPINION, @DI_SPORTS
students think of new ways to solve problems in their communities, said Mayank Jain, one of the creators and sophomore in Engineering. The assignment was to fi nd a problem on campus or in the student’s lives and to come up with a solution to fi x it, he said. Jain said there is a similar promenade in Madison, Wisconsin, where the University of Wisconsin-Madison is located, and it was a great inspiration for the Green St. design. “At fi rst there were six people who signed the petition because there are six members in our group, but after that it just blew up,� Ki said. The team was surprised by the amount of community support, and they did not expect their petition to “blow up� like this. The plan immediately started gaining attention after it was posted on the group’s
5 year mid point report for Illinois Public Agenda
Board of Higher Ed. reviews master plan STAFF WRITER
MEALS
DAILYILLINI, DAILYILLINISPORTS
Community gathers around idea of car-free Green St.
BY ALEX SWANSON
After August 16, 2014, student workers will no longer be given a free meal as part of their dining services shift. Now, student workers will be charged $3 for each meal during their shift.
SOURCE: KIRSTEN RUBY, UNIVERSITY HOUSING
LEFT: PHOTO COURTESY OF MAYANK JAIN | RIGHT: ANNA HECHT THE DAILY ILLINI
Left: A mockup of the proposed plan to turn Green Street into a bike and pedestrian only promenade. Right: The corner of Wright and Green Streets, which currently consists of a busy, two-lane intersection.
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