Congress shall make no law...
What do the “Innocence of Muslims” video and Chicago teachers strike have in common? The First Amendment.
Tuesday September 18, 2012
OPINIONS, 4A
The Daily Illini
The independent student newspaper at the University of Illinois since 1871
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Vol. 142 Issue 17
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UI looks to increase diversity, enrollment BY CARINA LEE STAFF WRITER
MELISSA MCCABE THE DAILY ILLINI
Alderman Dennis Roberts, Ward 5, speaks at a gathering in Urbana to commemorate a spot where Abraham Lincoln once gave a speech. An elm tree was planted in its honor in the same location, just east of downtown Urbana.
New tree commemorates historic site where Abraham Lincoln spoke BY STEVEN VAZQUEZ STAFF WRITER
Urbana celebrated a historic connection with Abraham Lincoln on Monday evening. At the location where an elm tree once stood 156 years ago — where Lincoln gave a speech at a political rally — about 30 Urbana residents gathered to celebrate a new tree, which Urbana officials planted last spring. A commemorative plaque was also installed at the site. Officials determined the location to be nearby the AutoZone store at 606 E. Main St. “(AutoZone representatives) were very gracious about it and allowed us to plant this tree on their property,” Urbana Mayor Laurel Prussing said. Rebecca Bird, a planner for the city of Urbana, said the original tree died fromDutch elm disease, but the new elm tree is resistant to this disease. The story of the original tree was rediscovered by Urbana Alderman Den-
nis Roberts, Ward 5, by using sources from the Champaign County Historical Archives during Urbana’s Lincoln Bicentennial Celebration. The archives featured local newspaper articles that talked about the locally well-known elm tree, according to a news release. According to the archives, the speech was given during a political rally for John Frémont, the fi rst presidential candidate for the Republican Party. Prussing said officials were originally trying to locate a pine tree that Lincoln was said to have planted himself after accidentally knocking over another tree near the area. “We could never track that down and verify it,” Prussing said. “But Dennis Roberts got interested in the history of the trees around here and came across the story of this magnificent elm tree, and he’s the one who spearheaded this.” Roberts said one of the articles he used to determine the location of this
tree came from The Daily Illini in 1902 called “The Famous Elm.” “‘Possibly some of the University community do not know of the famous elm at only a short distance from our campus’,” Roberts read from the article. “‘The tree is located about two blocks east of the courthouse in Urbana. It is said that beneath the limbs of this huge tree, the Indians fi rst met the whites of this county to draw a treaty of peace. Lincoln, during his frequent visits (to) Urbana, also visited this spot.’” Roberts said he appreciates everyone who assisted him in uncovering this connection between Urbana and the former president. “I want to thank the people of the Champaign County Historical Archives for a lot of their help in pinpointing this tree through documentation,” Roberts said.
Steven can be reached at vazquez5@ dailyillini.com
Although the academic year began only about a month ago, the Senate Executive Committee sat down Monday to discuss admission goals for next year. Stacey Kostell, assistant provost for enrollment management, said the goal of the admissions office is to increase fi rst-year enrollment to 7,000 students and 1,400 transfer students in addition to improving the quality of the pool. This includes a more selective application process. “One of our major goals is to efficiently manage the admissions, recruitment, selection and enrollment process,” Kostell said. Kostell said the University received 31,450 applications for the Class of 2016 and wants to increase that number to 32,000 next year. Another goal is to increase the total non-Illinois resident population from 24 percent to 25 percent. She said this year, more in-state students were admitted than international and out-of-state students. In order to achieve these goals, Kostell said the University will need to increase marketing efforts. Part of these efforts, she said, should include traveling to parts of Asia, but as many University students come from China and South Korea, the University is hoping to look at other countries, such as Malaysia, Vietnam and Turkey. University officials are also making a greater effort to admit students in other areas of study, she said. “When we continue to diversify and maintain the fi rst-year international pool, we look to both the country of origin and across a variety of majors,” Kostell said. Meanwhile, some members expressed concerns about increasing the freshman class size and the possibility of admitting more international students than American students. Konstantinos Yfantis, vice chair of the council of academic professionals, an advisory body to the chancellor, said that while he recognizes the value of diversity, he is concerned that there won’t be enough space for fi rst-year American students. “How can we be sure that enough people from our state have access ... and make sure those seats are not taken (by) international and nonresident (students)?” Yfantis asked Kostell during the meeting. However, Kostell assured senate members that the University is not admitting fewer Illinois residents than in the past and that in-state students are still a priority. Also at the senate meeting Monday, members discussed changes to the Academic Integrity portion of the Student Code in regards to cheating. Renee Romano, vice chancellor for student affairs, said the updates will be released Oct. 1. “We are going to post them online, and anyone — student, faculty or staff — can make comments,” she said. “And then a committee of students and faculty and probably some administrators, primarily from students (and) faculty, will review all the comments made between Oct. 1 and Oct. 31.”
Carina can be reached at lee713@dailyillini.com.
Suitcase prompts evacuation
Possible deal to end strike favors teachers
DAILY ILLINI STAFF REPORT
BY MICHAEL TARM AND SOPHIA TAREEN THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
CHICAGO — An angry Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s appeal to the courts to end a six-day teachers strike in the nation’s third largest city set off a new round of recriminations Monday but did little to end a walkout that has left parents scrambling and kept 350,000 students out of class. It might not matter. By the time a Cook County Circuit Court judge considers the issue, the city’s teachers might well have voted to end the strike and recommend they agree to a tentative contract that labor and education experts — and even some union leaders elsewhere — called a good deal for the union. “This was an enormously successful strike (thus far),” said Emily Rosenberg, director of the Labor Education Center at DePaul University in Chicago. “I’ve never seen solidarity like this among teachers.” The dust-up in court may never move past the
See STRIKE, Page 3A
INSIDE
M. SPENCER GREEN THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Student Edgar Guerra, 10, watches Chicago Public School teachers picket outside Maranatha Church in Chicago, where Mayor Rahm Emanuel was visiting students that were taking part at the Safe Haven program Monday. The church was providing students with structured activities and a safe environment during the teachers strike.
An unattended suitcase found near the Harding Band Building prompted an evacuation Monday. University spokeswoman Robin Kaler said the threat posed by the suitcase was cleared in a couple of hours. An Illini-Alert was not issued. “We immediately evacuated Harding Band Building,” Kaler said. “Had Champaign police determined that there was something, we would have sent an Illini-Alert to evacuate.” Kaler urged people not to leave their belongings behind because the University has to take precaution and cannot assume unattended belongings are not dangerous. The Champaign Police Department could not be reached for comment.
Po l i ce 2 A | Co r re c t i o n s 2 A | C a l e n d a r 2 A | O p i n i o n s 4 A | C ro s swo rd 5 A | Co m i c s 5 A | H e a l t h & L i v i n g 6 A | S p o r t s 1 B | Cl a s s i f i e d s 3 B | S u d o ku 3 B