BIG-SCREEN BENEFITS
LIFE & CULTURE, 6A CENTRAL
Streaming a film from home cannot compare to the theater experience.
November 12, 2014
Illini of the Week: Guignon and Kopinski
The historic Virginia Theatre offers hometown entertainment.
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OPINIONS, 4A
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DYNAMIC DOUBLES
BEAUTY OF CHAMPAIGN
THE DAILY ILLINI he independent student newspaper at the University of Illinois since 1871
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Vol. 144 Issue 46
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BOARD OF TRUSTEES
Trustees interview candidates for UI president position
UI honors veterans at Tri-Service ROTC Ceremony
DAILY ILLINI STAFF REPORT
The Presidential Search Committee met with the Board of Trustees in a special, day-long meeting Tuesday in Chicago to interview candidates for the next president of the University. Douglas Beck, co-chair of the committee and professor in physics, said he felt positive that the candidates reviewed have the qualities he is looking for in the next president. “I think that we are looking for a president who is going to be more of a outward facing role,” he said. “Each of the candidates displayed those kinds of qualities today in different ways, but I think they all did well.” Beck said the interviews were part of ongoing conversations between the board, the committee and the candidates.
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The Army, Navy and Air Force ROTCs came together for the Tri-Service ROTC Veterans Day Ceremony at the Armory on Tuesday. Guest speaker Colonel Royal Mortenson, director for the Illinois Fire Service Institute, spoke at the ceremony.
IEPA cites city for water discharge BY WALBERT CASTILLO STAFF WRITER
Bike fee gains place on ballot Students can vote online BY ESTEFANIA FLOREZ STAFF WRITER
Students can answer a proposed $1 student-initiated bike fee referendum question online from Wednesday to Thursday at midnight. Grace Kyung, graduate student in urban planning, proposed the $1 fee to be required of students each semester and to be spent on bicycle-related projects. According to the referendum question, “the funds would include but not be limited to creating better bike infrastructure, expanding bike parking, creating safety courses and materials for bike encouragement and education, and creating a bike rental program.” Kyung has been working on this fee since the spring. Due to several communications issues with the Campus Student Election Commission, a group that runs student referendums and elections, her question was not placed on the ballot until now.
However, even if the fee passes, Kyung may have to wait another year to see its implementation, depending on the approval of the Student Fee Advisory Committee and the Board of Trustees. Her question is the only one on the fall ballot, and she believes it is time for the University to start focusing on funding more bicycle-related projects. Kyung said she wants to start an education campaign informing all students of where to ride bikes on campus, even for those who don’t ride bikes. “Even if you don’t ride a bike it will be beneficial for you as well because pedestrians will get the information of knowing what are bike lanes and where you should be walking or not,” Kyung said. Kyung said there has been very little funding put in place to fix bike infrastructure, and she believes the University needs to advance its efforts to become a more sustainable campus. “To me it is more of a statement: that students are willing to tax themselves to make changes happen.
In an ongoing dispute due to storm water discharge into the sewage pipes at a local construction site in Champaign in July, The Illinois Environmental Protection Agency is now requiring the city of Champaign to undergo a series of corrective actions. The city council unanimously approved a Compliance Commitment Agreement with the Illinois EPA at its Nov. 4 meeting, which requires the city to monitor the site weekly and after significant rainfall, as well as make revisions to its Erosion Control Plan. Heavy rainfall in July, which rose as high as seven inches, caused the soil from the construction site at 200 Carriage Center Court to flow into the storm sewers of the construction site. The Ford of Champaign and several other car dealership businesses were previously located on the property. Champaign received a violation citation from the IlliHUBERT THEODORE THE DAILY ILLINI nois EPA on July 22, citing Thane Fowler, sophomore in General Studies and president water intrusion into the sewage on three occasions: June of BikeFace, fixes bicycles on the Main Quad. If passed, a 11, June 24 and June 30. bike fee would fund bike infrastructure, parking and classes. Since the city council So, what is the University the only money allocated granted the construction pergoing to do in response to toward bicycle-anything mits to bulldoze the buildings listen to us?” Kyung said. on campus is for bike and redevelop the site, Tom To Thane Fowler, junior racks, which are needed, Bruno, deputy mayor and city in LAS who works at the but we also need funding council member at-large, said Campus Bike Center, this for bicycle programs and IEPA had to find someone fee is very important to infrastructure,” Fowler responsible for the violation. campus. Fowler serves as said. “Increased bicycling The private developer, president of the registered reduces carbon emissions engineer and contractor of student organization Bike and improves quality of life the construction site as well Face and helped Kyung and makes transportation as the city were held jointgather signatures and orga- on campus safer.” ly responsible for the storm nize a voting campaign. Fowler also feels it is water discharge by the Illi“The fee is impornois EPA, according to the SEE BICYCLE | 3A resolution. tant because as of now, “When we had to accept the guilt from the storm
New pay guidelines issued by provost BY FARAZ MIRZA STAFF WRITER
Since discovering in August that several specialized faculty members had not received raises promised with their promotions, the Office of the Provost issued a new set of guidelines Monday to ensure promoted non-tenure-track faculty will receive the correct benefits from a pay floor implemented in May. Vice Provost for Faculty Affairs and Academic Policies Elabbas Benmamoun said the new guidelines, titled Communication 26, apply to
non-tenure-track faculty in all departments, including research professors, clinical professors and teaching professors. “When the resolution was initially posted, we went to human resources and checked, and we found out of all the promotions that had been processed, all of them got promotions except three,” Benmamoun said. “We processed it and implemented it effective Aug. 16.” Benmamoun said that the Office of the Provost has been in touch with the human resources department, and
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has asked them to check and let them know if there have been any other cases. “They are monitoring the situation to see if there has ever been another case where somebody had been promoted and did not get the increase,” Benmamoun said. “As far as I know, there haven’t been any other cases.” Benmamoun clarified that Communication 26 enforces similar guidelines addressed in Communication 25, which was implemented in April. The guidelines were sent out by Provost Ilesanmi Ade-
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Tuesday’s meeting, held at the Hyatt Regency O’Hare hotel, marked the entry of trustees into the selection process, a sign that the number of candidates is narrowing. Beck said he believes the board responded positively to the discussion with candidates. He declined to comment on the number of candidates currently under consideration or when the board is expected to vote on its recommendations. Previously, he said the committee hopes to forward its recommendations before Thanksgiving. “As part of this process we are trying to have a number of discussions with these candidates in different forums and trying to figure out whether there is a good fit or not on both sides: for us or for the people we are talking with,” Beck said.
water discharge violation, it was ironic in a sense that was we were already doing what the IEPA told us to,” said Don Gerard, mayor of Champaign. “It’s sort of like a person receiving a ticket for not wearing a seat belt even though the seat belt was on the whole time.” Although construction workers that were stationed at the site put fabric barriers around the perimeter and covered the sewers with safeguards to prevent debris from flying into the sewers, rainfall still overwhelmed the area, said Bruno. While the water was not toxic, Bruno said the water flowing into the sewage pipes could eventually find its way to the Mississippi River, which the Illinois EPA does not want to happen since it could then have an affect on other states. “This was the first time Champaign has ever been cited for something like this before. It’s very unique, I have to say,” said Michael LaDue, district 2. Although this was the first occurrence of a storm water discharge, Gerard said this was not the first time they have had a dispute with the Illinois EPA. In 2007, the Illinois EPA issued a permit in regards to storing hazardous waste water at a facility over the Mahomet Aquifer located in east-central Illinois, which provides water for over 800 residents in downstate Illinois, including Champaign. Governor Pat Quinn directed the Illinois EPA to rescind the permit. The Illinois EPA could not be reached for comment.
Walbert can be reached at wcasti2@dailyillini.com.
sida on April 28 in a massmail, detailing the release of new employment guidelines and promotion policies to support specialized faculty. The massmail also announced a uniform pay floor of $40,000 to be implemented for specialized faculty in all departments. Benmamoun said a $40,000 pay floor for specialized faculty has been in place since May 1, and there was no uniform pay floor among nonWALBERT CASTILLO THE DAILY ILLINI tenure-track faculty prior The Champaign City Council passed a Compliance to this. Agreement with the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency for a storm water discharge at the Construction site located at SEE PAY | 3A 200 Carriage Center Court.
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