ELLNORA STRIKES A CHORD IN C-U Guitarists from across the world perform at Krannert
LIFE & CULTURE, 6A
THE DAILY ILLINI
MONDAY September 9, 2013
The independent student newspaper at the University of Illinois since 1871
WWW.DAILYILLINI.COM
Vol. 143 Issue 8
BY HANNAH PROKOP DAYTIME EDITOR
DARYL QUITALIG THE DAILY ILLINI
Illinois’ Ryan Lankford celebrates a touchdown with his teammates during Saturday’s 45-17 win over Cincinnati at Memorial Stadium. The Illini won in dominating fashion, scoring more than 40 points for the second straight week. For a recap and more, turn to Page 1B.
Plaza plans concern storeowners Downtown businesses object to city’s plans to ‘transform’ parkin g lot
the whole thing into a park it would probably have the effect of destroying our retail business,” Meyer said, noting that his business largely serves older clientele. Meyer said the drapery fabric his business sells is heavy and bulky – not something that a customer could easily walk to a parking deck blocks away. Meyer is not the only one who is concerned about business. Lee Shaffer, office manager of InfantParent Institute at 328 N. Neil St., said she does not like the idea and that it actually made her angry. “When I fi rst found out, I turned red,” Shaffer said. She said she is concerned about deliveries to her business, as the institute has office supplies delivered regularly. Without the parking lot in close proximity, she said the delivery person would need to park a block away and carry the deliveries to the institute. Shaffer also said the parking
BY NYAJAI ELLISON STAFF WRITER
Several downtown Champaign storeowners are concerned that their businesses may be negatively affected if the city goes through with tentative plans to transform a parking lot between Neil and Washington streets into a plaza. Lacey Rains Lowe, planner for Champaign’s planning department, said the city might hire a firm to help generate public input as to what they would like to see in the space where the current parking lot sits. David Meyer, owner of Meyer Drapery at 330 N. Neil St., said he is worried that the removal of the parking lot will put an end to his business. “If they actually converted
lot is constantly being used, and removing it will make it harder for business to be conducted. While Shaffer continues to be an advocate for her business, Terri Mason, manager of Studio Helix at 324 N. Neil St., said she doesn’t mind the idea to a certain extent. “We are not objecting to the park in total; however, we want to make sure that we do not lose our handicap access parking and at least one row here in front of our building.” Studio Helix is a wellness, fitness and massage therapy institution. Mason said about a third of their 130 clients are unable to walk a long distance, which means they would not be able to access the building if Studio Helix were to lose all of its parking out front. “On any given day we have a minimum of three to five people walk in that front door either in wheel chairs or with a walker or with canes, and they can bare-
ly get over the concrete curb so there’s no way they can come up through the back where there is three steps.” Mason says she wants to be a corporative entity with the city, but she wants to make sure that she gets what her business needs in the end. While many are worried about their business being negatively affected, Anna Ober, general manager of Destihl at 301 N. Neil St., said she thinks it could affect business in a good way. “It could be a positive thing if it is utilized in a way that brings more people downtown,” she said. “It would be nice to have more areas down here that will draw consistent presence, and I think it could really help the businesses down here.” Lowe said the city of Champaign would most likely come to a final decision by spring 2014.
Nyajai can be reached at nelliso2@dailyillini.com.
brought consequences of second and third order. “This ought to remind people that it is very unlikely that anything we do in a limited way is going to be limited in the way we prefer,” said Pillar, who now teaches at Georgetown University in the nation’s capital. Obama was asked about the potential for escalation at a press conference Friday in the Russian city of St. Petersburg. He attempted to downplay the chances but seemed to be making the point that anything can happen. “Is it possible that Assad doubles down in the face of our action and uses chemical weapons more widely? I suppose anything is possible, but it would not be wise,” Obama said. “At that point, mobilizing the international community would be easier not harder.” Syria has many ways to respond to an attack. The Assad regime could strike back directly or through proxies. Israelis have been stocking up on gas masks, fearing an outside chance that Assad could feel
MCCLATCHY-TRIBUNE
WASHINGTON — With President Barack Obama lobbying Congress to agree to the United States’ punishing Syria for alleged use of chemical weapons, he must convince wary lawmakers that Syria’s response won’t lead to tit-fortat retaliation that escalates the conflict. Obama has repeatedly vowed a targeted attack won’t seek to oust President Bashar al-Assad or aid the rebels. But the use of force often brings unintended consequences. “Anyone who claims to have a crystal ball here doesn’t,” warned Paul R. Pillar, a former senior CIA official with responsibilities in the Middle East. “This does stir the pot in ways that increase the risk or chance of certain things happening, even though one can’t place specific odds on it or make a specific prediction.” Pillar and other experts scoff at the notion of a surgical hit, noting that military forays into Iraq, Libya and Afghanistan have all
DAILYILLINI, DAILYILLINISPORTS Police
2A
Horoscopes
2A
|
After years without a permanent place to play, the Marching Illini will have an artificial turf field to practice on by fall 2014. Barry Houser, director of the Marching Illini and Athletic Bands, said the Marching Illini, which has been on this campus since 1868, has never before had an official practicing space. The project is a among between Campus Recreation, University Housing and the College of Fine and Applied Arts, said Director of Campus Recreation Robyn Deterding. The field will be at the intersection of Gregory Drive and First Street, where there is currently a grass field that is used for intramural sports practice. Because of the new buildings in the Ikenberry Commons, University Housing needs a retention pond and was considering building it under the fields, Deterding said. “If they’re (going to) tear up the fields and put them back in place, (I thought) we’d put more turf fields down because we can get so much more use out of them,” she said. Campus Recreation has set aside about $3 million to pay for the field. Deterding said this money comes largely from student fees, as well as the revenue Campus Recreation generates from factors such as extra membership and rentals of facilities. She added that the field is expected to last about eight years, and Campus Recreation is working with the College of Fine and Applied Arts to come up with a plan in which they help
pay for maintaining and replacing the turf. The Marching Illini will hold classes and practice on the turf. Campus Recreation will organize renting out the field for any other organizations that wish to use the field. “It’s good for housing, it’s good for Campus Rec members, and it’s good for the campus,” Deterding said. For the Marching Illini, having a permanent playing field means having peace of mind, Houser said. In previous years, the Marching Illini has rotated between fields for practice, including the fields behind the Business Instructional Facility and Huff Hall. Marching on gravel fields has caused health problems in the past, Houser said, as many students have rolled their ankles while playing on gravel. “The health and well-being of our students, that’s ultimately going to be fantastic,” Houser said. Houser said another positive feature of the new field is that there are permanent lights. Houser and Deterding said they are also hoping to build a band tower on the field. Ben Wooley, junior in Engineering, has played the cymbals in the Marching Illini for two years. Wooley said the fields the Marching Illini uses for practice now are hard to march on, especially with heavy instruments. “(The new practicing space) makes me kind of grateful that a lot of the different entities on campus are appreciative of what we do,” Wooley said.
MICHAEL BOJDA THE DAILY ILLINI
University scientists combine forces to survey Dark Energy NCSA to use Blue Waters in analysis BY ARIELL CARTER STAFF WRITER
OLIVIER DOULIERY MCCLATCHY-TRIBUNE
Hundreds of demonstrators protest against the U.S. intervention in Syria outside the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., Saturday. threatened enough to attempt to escalate the Syrian conflict into a regional one. Middle Eastern leaders have frequently attempted to distract from a domestic problem or conflict by provoking Israel, banking that their citizens dislike the Jewish state more than their own leaders. Assad’s most immediate way to punish American attacks could be to retaliate in a way that drives up oil prices, squeezing the already soft U.S. and European economies. As tensions with Syria rose two weeks ago, the price of U.S. crude oil soared past $112 a barrel before edging back to a range between $107 and $109 a barrel. Traders justify the high prices as a “security” premium; U.S. oil remained above $107 a barrel at the end of
trading Friday. Seeking to spike oil prices, Syria could strike at the pipeline in northern Iraq that connects with Turkey and the outside world. “There are some real vulnerabilities on Syria’s border that hang in the balance,” said Kilduff, noting a sympathetic bomber in Saudi Arabia could send oil prices soaring. “Any kind of perceived threat to the (Saudi) Royal Family is just going to raise the security premium mightily.” Much depends on how threatened the Assad regime feels. If a strike does little to threaten Assad, it emboldens him. If Assad is threatened, it raises the stakes for retaliation as the very existence of
SEE SYRIA | 3A
Opinions
4A
|
Crossword
5A
Scientists from the University are joining forces with researchers from across the world to complete a Dark Energy Survey, a collaborative project intended to uncover the nature of dark energy. The survey is one of the largest ever attempted and will take five years. Above weather interference in the Andes mountains about 50 miles east of La Serena, Chile, rests the Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory. The observatory houses a 570-megapixel camera, which was built at Fermilab and is used to photograph the sky in extreme detail. Jon Thaler, University physics professor, said he led a team of particle physicists to help create the Dark Energy Camera, which will be used to take pictures of one-eighth of the sky. The pictures taken over the
|
Comics
5A
|
Life
&
Culture
next five years will be processed by the University’s National Center for Supercomputing Applications. Tricia Barker, public affairs coordinator for NCSA, said it will take the data and make it available for the survey’s scientists. NCSA, which houses the supercomputer Blue Waters, is one of the few organizations that has the ability to run quadrillions of calculations every second, which makes possible processing the trillions of bytes of data that this project will accumulate. The camera will be able to see light up to 100,000 galaxies and eight billion light years away. Siv Schwink, communications coordinator for the physics deparment, said the purpose of the project is to “solve the biggest mystery of our time — what is dark energy?” Dark Energy is believed to be the force that is causing the acceleration of universe expansion, while it should be decelerating due to the gravitational effects of ordinary matter.
SEE DARK ENERGY | 3A
@THEDAILYILLINI
THEDAILYILLINI
@THEDAILYILLINI, @DI_OPINION, @DI_SPORTS |
FREE
The Marching Illini performs during halftime of the game against Indiana at Memorial Stadium in Champaign on Oct. 27.
Attacking Syria could influence Assad to retaliate BY KEVIN G. HALL
|
Marching Illini get new turf practice field
Illinois defeats Cincinnati, 45-17
INSIDE
94˚ | 69˚
6A
|
Sports
1B-4B
|
THEDAILYILLINI Classifieds
3B
|
Sudoku
3B