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The Daily Illini www.DailyIllini.com
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Vol. 142 Issue 15
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UC2B canvasses to bring Internet to community BY DANNY WICENTOWSKI WEBSITE EDITOR
Micah Sommersmith knocked six times on the flaky green door and then, as always, waited 30 seconds. It’s a familiar wait for any salesman, that anticipatory half-minute that precedes either an opening door or just more silence. The house is one of thousands that have yet to subscribe to the Urbana-Champaign Big Broadband project, or UC2B, which aims to bring high-speed, fiber-optic Internet to local areas that have been chronically underserved by existing Internet infrastructure. Sommersmith is part of a team of “community ambassadors,” headed by team leader Abraham McClurg, who have been working house-by-house through the 11 qualifying areas of Champaign, Urbana and Savoy since November 2011, and there’s nothing unusual about his knocks going unanswered.
It’s happened too many times before. Since May, canvassers like Sommersmith have managed to officially subscribe over 1,000 households and organizations, but the federal grant money available to UC2B could provide for more than double that number — 2,500 homes. And if McClurg and his team of blue-shirted canvassers can’t fill that amount by the end of January, then that federal money will go unused. “It’s too dark,” Sommersmith said as he peered through a window near the green door. Spying furniture and other household items within, he said, “I can’t tell if it’s ‘I live here’ stuff or just ‘I left my stuff here’ stuff.” With only a few months before the deadline, McClurg and his team have run out of fresh ground to cover, and they’re now visiting homes in areas they’ve already covered half-a-dozen times. During an hour-and-a-half period Thursday afternoon, the team knocked on eight
doors, including two businesses. Two visits proved fruitful. That’s a much better ratio than they usually get, and Sommersmith said a particularly dry streak could see them knocking on upward of 40 doors in an hour. McClurg is the first to admit that there is something awkward about the process of door-to-door canvassing, but it’s necessary for spreading the benefits of UC2B, and he doesn’t view what they do as salesmanship. “If it’s a good product, it sells itself,” he said. Urbana resident Brent Burton is one of those taking advantage of that product. His family has been without Internet since March, after their modem broke down and they declined to pay for its repair. “Our service is down, and I’ve got a 10-year-old girl here who likes to get on the Internet,” he said, describing himself
See UC2B, Page 3A
PRITEN VORA THE DAILY ILLINI
From left, Micah Sommersmith talks prep work with Kevin and Brian Endres on Thursday.
Students ask cops questions about local laws on Quad
Light the Night illuminates Champaign
BY CARINA LEE STAFF WRITER
KELLY HICKEY THE DAILY ILLINI
Volunteer Joyce Mast, of Champaign, attaches a bike light during the “Light the Night” bike light distribution, held near the Alma Mater on Thursday. The campaign worked to install 800 bicycle lights and educate bicyclists about laws that require a light on your bike at night in Champaign. Mast said she volunteered to help attach the lights because she loves bicycles. “I’ve been riding them for 30 years,” she said.
Officers from the Champaign, Urbana and the University teamed up to establish a relationship with the campus community at Public Safety Day on Thursday. The tradition began six years ago, and local police departments have been participating since, said Capt. Skip Frost of the University Police Department. “We just want to have a conversation with people about both their rights and their responsibilities,” Frost said. Students who passed the event on the Quad could ask officers questions about traffic laws, bicycle laws or any other laws they had questions about. In addition to answering students’ questions, the event also had safety-related activities. If students correctly answered questions on a safety quiz, they could receive a free T-shirt or keychains. Sudents who had bikes with them could register them. Students could also hit the dummy used in the University Police Department’s Rape Aggression Defense System training. Naomi Brown, freshmen in Engineering, said the event was good for her to explore the University as a first-year student. “I was curious to see what they were offering and programs that could help out with students on their first year,” Brown said. Capt. Roy Acree for the University Police Department said the event was successful this year. “People seem to be responding well to the questions that were asked as far as the safety questions,” Acree said. “It’s just a great way to interact with the students and let students know that we are here to help them out.”
Carina can be reached at lee713@dailyillini.com.
Many students out of step with pedestrian safety laws BY CARINA LEE STAFF WRITER
Jaywalking is a term most students are familiar with, but University police Capt. Skip Frost wants to make sure students know when they can cross the street. The Illinois Compiled Statutes Vehicle Code states that a pedestrian may not cross the street on a red light and must allow enough time for a vehicle to pass when there are no street lights. However, when it comes to giving out tickets, it’s not as simple to determine whether a pedestrian is in the wrong. Frost said many pedestrians think if an accident occurs while crossing an intersection, the pedestrian would have the winning case. However, when jaywalking is taken into account, the case may go to the driver. “There are a lot of misconceptions that people believe that you can step out in front of a car traveling in a legal speed limit, and as soon as you step into that crosswalk, you have the right-of-way. That is not correct,” he said. “If you cross in a marked crosswalk and there is no signal, you have to allow enough time for that vehicle to respond to your presence.”
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Frost said other misconceptions include walking through an intersection when the “don’t walk” sign is flashing, even when there are no cars approaching. He said in some intersections, the crosswalk has a countdown, but many pedestrians do not know that once the countdown begins, it is illegal to walk through the intersection even when there are as many as 10 to 15 seconds left. Lt. Bryant Seraphin of the Urbana Police Department said jaywalking occurs most often when there is more foot traffic. He said game days at Memorial Stadium make up a lot of these instances. However, Frost said jaywalking tickets are not issued as much as traffic tickets. Lt. Jim Clark of the Champaign Police Department said the intersection of Sixth and Green streets has one of the highest incidence of jaywalking. Clark said the main problems come from intersections that have a high amount of pedestrians. Clark said student safety is the police’s top priority rather than watching them
Corrections
See JAYWALKING, Page 3A Students cross the street at the Green and Wright intersection, a high traffic area, Thursday afternoon.
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