ILLINI CAN’T TAME THE HUSKIES AT SOLDIER FIELD
FASHION FLASHBACK New clothing store is bringing eclectic fashion choices to campus. Page 6A
For full coverage of Illinois’ 34-24 loss to Washington, turn to Page 1B.
MONDAY September 16, 2013
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US, Russia reach agreement on Syrian weapons
Taste the rainbow at C-U Pride Festival
Damascus given one week to provide inventory of chemical weapon stockpile “We said at the outset that to accomplish our goal, this plan had LONDON — Secretary of State to produce transparency, accountJohn F. Kerry announced Sat- ability, timeliness and enforceurday that the U.S. and Russia ability,” Kerry said. “It must be had agreed on a framework for credible and verifiable. If fully impounding and destroying Syr- implemented, we believe it can ia’s stockpile of chemical weapons meet these standards.” by the middle of next year. “The world will now expect Damascus will be given one the Assad regime to live up to week from now to give an inven- its public commitments,” he addtory of its chemical arsenal and ed. “There can be no games, no will have to allow international room for avoidance or anything inspectors into Syria “no later less than full compliance by the than November,” Kerry said after Assad regime.” a third day of intense negotiations The U.S. and Russia have with Russian Foreign Minister agreed on an estimate of the Sergei Lavrov in Geneva. Syrian government’s chemical If Syrian President Bashar weapons stockpile -- the amount Assad fails to meet the demands, and type of such arms, Kerry then a resolution to enforce com- said. Their destruction would be pliance would be sought at the expedited under the internationU.N. Security al convention Council, Kerry banning chemsaid. The action ical weapons, could include which Assad has pledged to sanctions, and Kerry said that sign. the U.S. would Inspectors reserve the must be grantright to use miled “an immediitary force, but ate and unfetRussia remains tered right to opposed to inspect any JOHN F. KERRY and all sites in any armed SECRETARY OF STATE intervention. Syria,” Ker“Actions will ry said. Lavmatter more rov added that than words,” Kerry warned dur- it would be the responsibility of ing a news conference with Lav- all actors in the Syrian conflict rov. “In the case of the Assad to guarantee and uphold the saferegime, President Reagan’s old ty of the international inspectors adage about ‘trust but verify’... who will descend on the country is in need of an update. And we in the coming weeks. have committed here to a stanThe weapons could be taken out dard here that says ‘verify and of Syria and destroyed elsewhere. verify.’” Kerry sought to downplay the Though he described the plan perception that his remark in as ambitious, Kerry added that London that set the new diplomatsuccess in disarming Syria of its ic drive in motion was casual and chemical weapons “could con- impromptu. In those comments, ceivably be the first critical con- he said the Syrian government crete step” toward a wider peace, could avoid a military strike by a politically negotiated end to the turning over its entire chemicivil war that has engulfed the cal arsenal and at the same time country and already left 100,000 insisted Assad would never agree to such a thing. dead. The announcement of a deal “I purposefully made the statecaps a week of frenzied diploma- ments that I made in London, and cy sparked by a seemingly off- I did indeed say it was impossible hand comment Kerry made dur- and he won’t do it, even as I hoped ing a visit to London on Monday. it would be possible and wanted Russia seized on his remark that him to do it,” Kerry said. “The Damascus could avoid U.S.-led language of diplomacy sometimes military reprisals for its alleged requires that you put things to the use of chemical arms if it rid test, and we did.” itself of those weapons. Moscow After those comments, “I got swiftly mounted a push to make a phone call very quickly from Sergei saying, ‘Let’s see if we can that happen. Western governments have take this and move’” on it, Kerexpressed skepticism over wheth- ry said. “I’m pleased that [Ruser the goal is a realistic one, both sian] President [Vladimir] Putin because of its technical complex- took initiative and Sergei took ity and the uncertain sincerity of initiative, and President Obama Assad in committing to the idea. responded.” BY HENRY CHU
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MELISSA MCCABE THE DAILY ILLINI
The Bent Bean chocolate shop at Lincoln Square mall is decorated for the fourth-annual Champaign-Urbana Pride Festival on Sunday. The event was sponsored by the Uniting Pride Center of Champaign County.
UI Board of Trustees approves bonus for Easter, new budget BOARD OF TRUSTEES BY JOHNATHAN HETTINGER STAFF WRITER
University President Robert Easter will be receiving a $90,000 bonus following a performance evaluation, the Board of Trustees decided at its meeting Thursday. The bonus was awarded based on the goals set out for Easter in the past academic year. Easter will receive the bonus in addition to his base salary of $462,375, bringing his total compensation to $552,375. In July, the Board of Trustees extended Easter’s contract through June 2015. Easter has worked at the University for more than 40 years, with the majority of his time at the Urbana campus. Before becoming president in 2012, he worked as interim chancellor, provost and vice chancellor for research after serving as dean of ACES from 2002-2009. In addition to giving the president a bonus, the board unanimously approved a $4.4 billion operating budget for Fiscal Year 2014, an increase of $52.3 million, or 1.2 percent, from FY13. The budget will increase $43.5 million in unrestricted funds, which is the core academic budget for the University, and $8.8 million in funds that will be restricted for specific purposes. The budget increase is the lowest in at least five years, while the growth in unrestricted and restricted revenue wasn’t at the level of recent years. “We’ve been on an upward trajectory, but this year it’s slowing down,” said Dr. Christophe
Pierre, vice president for academic affairs. Pierre cited a low $1.2 million increase in general revenue funding and a $40 million dip in sponsored research funding as reasons for the smaller increase in the budget. The state appropriation is lower than FY1997 and, when adjusted for inflation, lower than in 1966. “The tuition revenues are really the drivers of unrestricted growth,” Pierre said in his presentation to the board. Tuition revenue increased by $52.2 million, $9.3 million more than the increase in the budget for unrestricted funds. Pierre also informed the Board of Trustees of the future financial problems the University may face, saying that it appears state appropriations are on a long, downward trend and that tuition growth is constrained after the large increases in recent years. Comptroller Walter Knorr said much of the uncertainty was caused by the state’s relationship with the University, and it could have a negative effect on the University’s finances in the future.
Service employees protest wage gap Knorr said that, while the overall budget for the University has increased by more than 50 percent in the last ten years, the amount spent on University administration has decreased $6.9 million, or 5.6 percent in the same time.
For some employees, the decrease in money spent by top administrators isn’t enough. While the University Board of Trustees went into executive session and top University administrators took a lunch break, University union employees protested low wages and the large wage gap between service employees and the administration. The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, along with support from Service Employees International Union, Graduate Employees’ Organization and the Campus Faculty Association, rallied outside of the Illini Union, holding signs that read “I need a second job in order to feed my children” and “The University works because we do.” Tara McCauley, AFSCME staff representative, called on the board to help improve wages for these employees during the public comment section of the meeting. She said the University has told the union it can’t afford higher wages. “Some of (these employees are) barely starting above $9 an hour,” McCauley said. “In the meantime, we see what is going on at the Board of Trustees meeting where they are constantly increasing salaries for administrators. They are giving a ($90,000) bonus today to the president. That bonus would pay for so many raises for our members, so we feel it’s not an
Robert Easter issue of being able to afford the wages for the employees in bargaining. It’s an issue of not prioritizing (the service employees).” She said the members of the union haven’t received their bonuses from the salary program. “The University has actually withheld those raises from the employees while we’re in negotiations,” she said. “I don’t quite understand why. We think it really is an effort to punish them for organizing a union.”
Board approves new employees The University Boa rd of Trustees also approved the appointments of new academic and administrative
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New urgent-care clinic on Wright and Green streets will offer students ‘quick, easy and friendly care’ BY DANIELLE BROWN STAFF WRITER
Students will now have another health care option near campus. Champaign-Urbana Healthcare will open an urgent-care clinic next month on the corner of Wright and Green streets, at 631 E. Green St. The clinic will only be on the first floor of the building, which previously housed a bank but has been vacant for more than a year. “I think it’s a great location. It’s probably the most premier spot in Campustown,” said Dr. Tom Pliura, CEO of ChampaignUrbana Healthcare.
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Pliura has been an emergency physician for 29 years and has operated multiple outpatient facilities, just like the clinic, throughout the state. T he cl i n ic w i l l offer gynecological care and a minor trauma room, as well as digital X-ray and laboratory capabilities. He said the goal of the new clinic will be to provide alternative health care for students. “It’ll be a great location for somebody with quick and urgent-type needs. It’s just an additional option for health care services in addition to McKinley,” Pliura said. “We will be right down on the thick
of things, as far as location. We think we’re going to be quick, easy and friendly.” Pliura said he has noticed that McKinley Health Center has limited hours, so he is planning for the clinic to be open a minimum of 12 hours on weekdays and weekends. “People don’t always have the time to take the day off or miss a class,” he said. “They’ll be able to come in and quickly get cared for (with this new clinic).” He added that the clinic will not be free, but his decision to open the new clinic near the University was in response to the Affordable Care Act.
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Because of the Affordable Care Act, most students have options that they did not have prior to the act, Pliura said. Under the act, adults can remain on their parents’ insurance until they turn 26. Pliura and his company are planning to open up more clinics near college campuses across the state and said they plan to open clinics at Eastern Illinois University, Illinois State University and Southern Illinois University at Carbondale in the coming months.
Danielle can be reached at brown142@dailyillini.com. THEDAILYILLINI
“The language of diplomacy sometimes requires that you put things to the test, and we did.”
Kosher options now to be offered at sporting events DAILY ILLINI STAFF REPORT
Illini Chabad, a center for Jewish life, announced it will be serving kosher options at sporting events through its new partnership with Illinois Athletics and the State Farm Center. The Chabad began by providing kosher options at University dining halls and the Illini Union, said Dovid Tiechtel, chapter advisor for Illini Chabad and religious worker at the Office of Dean of Students. Now, kosher options will be available at sporting events as well. Kosher hot dogs will be sold at every weekday men’s basketball game as well as some women’s games. They will also be sold at the Illinois versus Wisconsin football game on Oct. 19. John Rinkenberger, assistant director for hospitality
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management at the State Farm Center, said the kosher products will be sold at a separate kosher stand at men’s basketball games. The full menu for the stand is still being finalized, but kosher candy and popcorn may be added to the menu. Rinkenberger said the University of Kansas is the only other university in the nation, that he is aware of, that provides kosher food at sporting events. Illinois is hoping to serve as a leader in this movement, Tiechtel added that he hopes other schools will start doing it as well. Stan Dayan, sophomore in AHS and a board member on the Illini Chabad, said, “It’s important because there are a lot of Jews on campus. If we’re at basketball games, we do get hungry, and it’s important kosher foods are available.”
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