EDITORIAL BOARD: We side with Salaita’s lawsuit on the grounds of transparency and the right to public access. OPINIONS, 4A
WOMEN’S HOOPS CRUISES TO 2ND WIN
CANINE COMPANIONS
Freshman Chatrice White boosts the Illini with 23 points over Robert Morris.
Handlers train service dogs to become a best friend and help to students with disabilities.
LIFE & CULTURE, 6A
SPORTS, 1B WEDNESDAY November 19, 2014
THE DAILY ILLINI 5he independent student newspaper at the University of Illinois since 1871
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UI announces president New president will be introduced Wednesday morning by Board of Trustees chairman BY ABIGALE SVOBODA STAFF WRITER
After an eight-month search, the University will announce its new president Wednesday morning. Board of Trustees Chairman Christopher Kennedy, accompanied by other University officials, will visit each campus throughout the day to introduce the new president. The press conferences will begin at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday at the Chicago campus and will continue in Springfield at 12 p.m. The event at the Urbana campus will begin at 3 p.m. in the south lounge of
the Illini Union. All three events can be viewed on a live webcast. The newly appointed president will serve as the University’s 20th president, replacing current President Robert Easter after three years of service. Easter, a University alumnus, has been on campus for 42 years, as both a student and an employee of the University. He will retire on June 30, 2015, and the new president’s appointment will begin July 1.
Abigale can be reached at asvobod2@dailyillini.com or @AbigaleSvoboda.
The Daily Illini will have full coverage of tomorrow’s announcement of the next president of the University of Illinois both online and in Thursday’s print edition. Follow @TheDailyIllini on Twitter for live coverage of both the 8:30 a.m. announcement at the Chicago campus and the 3 p.m. introduction of the president at the Illini Union. Updates about the new president, stories about past presidential controversy and our opinion on the University’s new leader will be posted throughout the day on DailyIllini.com.
Willard Airport plans rebranding and expansion BY ELYSSA KAUFMAN STAFF WRITER
A task force created to rebrand Willard Airport to increase awareness of its location and accessibility will report its strategic plan for the airport by the end of the year. The 20-member group was created by Chancellor Phyllis Wise last December and will report its results to her. “The goal of the task force is to see how working with the community and the University can improve air service to be sustainable over time,� said Steve Carter, chair of the chancellor’s advisory task force and former Champaign city manager. “This will reflect
more of a partnership between the community and the University.� The task force is primarily made up of representatives from various businesses, University faculty members and local government officials, such as Urbana Mayor Laurel Prussing. Members of the task force feel it is vital that the University take responsibility, along with the community, for the University-owned airport, said Jayne DeLuce, president and CEO of Visit Champaign County.
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BIG Ten Airports University of Illinois (Willard Airport) • Willard Airport is owned and operated by the University of Illinois. • Willard Airport has six flights a day that go to Chicago and one flight a day that goes to Dallas. Ohio State University Airport • The airport serves as a research facility as well as a learning laboratory due to its support for a collegiate aviation program. • The OSU airport has generated more than $157 million in annual economic activity for the area. • This airport has a Flight Training Clinic for both flight and on ground training. Purdue University Airport • Purdue University airport was the first universityowned and operated airport in the country • This airport served as the first airport to offer college credit for taking flight courses. • Purdue also served as the first university to offer a bachelor’s degree in aviation. SOURCES:WWW.PURDUE.EDU/NEWSROOM/PURDUETODAY, OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY AIRPORT WEBSITE
Among many of the fitness classes offered at the Campus Recreation Centers, R.I.P.P.E.D., held every Tuesday from 5:30-6:30 p.m. in CRCE, is a popular choice for women. Some women find group fitness more motivating than working out alone.
Weight study emphasizes accountability Social support important in effective weight-loss efforts BY RUGE LI STAFF WRITER
For women trying to lose weight, a new study says getting a buddy will help keep you on track. The study, conducted by Catherine Metzgar, graduate research assistant in food science and human nutrition, found that in order for women to reach their fitness goals, it is important to feel accountable to another person and receive social support and motivation from others. For the study, Metzgar invited women who previous-
ly completed a weight loss study at Penn State to participate in focus groups, showing their experiences with weight loss and maintaining the loss. Around half the participants from the original study participated in focus groups. The women, aged between 25 and 45 years old, completed an 18-week program by decreasing their calorie intake by 500 calories a day. Metzgar’s research team saw that after the program stopped, most women regained the weight and
were unable to maintain their weight. However, 23 women reported additional weight loss. The women who lost weight all had similar characteristics: they had strong social support regarding their weight loss from relatives and friends. Also, many of the women thought the program’s weekly educational group meetings had offered the accountability they needed. Chloe Johnston, junior in LAS, said she lost 15 pounds last year and posted all her progress, such as photos of her “transformation,� on social media. Johnston said the support she received on the posts from family and
friends helped cement her weight-loss goals. “I posted on a social network because it keeps me motivated and makes me accountable,� Johnston said. She believes posting weight loss progress on social media is a popular phenomenon, and she frequently sees other girls posting pictures as well. Johnston was pleased to hear about the study, adding that it can help provide women with more options to help others. According to the study, participants who successfully kept the weight off said they added exercise into their
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Hide the numbers: UI alumnus creates Facebook “Demetricator� BY EDWIN HSIEH STAFF WRITER
Facebook seems to have taken over the social world since it fi rst launched in 2004. It is now the world’s largest online social network with over 1.35 billion monthly active users worldwide. An average of 4.5 billion likes are generated daily, according to Zephoria, an Internet marketing consulting firm. From the number of “likes� you received on a photo to the amount of friends that appear on your profile, Facebook shows numbers everywhere. While not every number on Facebook is informative or noticeable, it certainly has a psychological impact on its users, according to Ben Grosser, University alumnus.
Grosser is an artist, composer and visiting professor at the University’s School of Art & Design who focuses on the cultural, social and political effects of software. Grosser describes himself as a longtime, heavy Facebook user; however, he slowly noticed a perplexing pattern in how he was engaging with the platform. “I found that oftentimes I was focusing on how many ‘likes’ my status received rather than on who liked it, or on how much my photo was shared, rather than on who shared it,� Grosser said. The question that really puzzled Grosser was, “Why do I care about these numbers so much?� To fi nd the answer, Grosser created the “Facebook Demetricator,� to try using Facebook without any numbers shown.
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Facebook Demetricator is a browser add-on that removes all quantifying counts from the Facebook interface. Users are able to see who their friends are, but would have to count them by hand to know how many they have. They can see who comments on their status, but will only see their names instead of the aggregate value according to the information on the website. Since releasing the extension two years ago, thousands of users have adapted the tool and sent Grosser feedback on how it affected the way they used social media. “One user wrote me that they no longer know whether they can ‘like’ something because they don’t give
YOUR VOICE COMPILED BY EDWIN HSIEH STAFF WRITER
Q: Do you see the ‘like’ system on Facebook as positive or negative? Why?
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“There is too much emphasis on it, people think too much about the ‘like’ system, so I think it’s bad,� :(//,1*721 5,(5$ TPQIPNPSF JO #VTJOFTT
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“Now that I think about it, it’s kind of like a popularity thing– if somebody has a lot of likes or not a lot of likes, it shows how popular they are and how many of their friends care about seeing their posts on Facebook,�
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