STUDENT VETERANS BALANCE SCHOOL AND MILITARY Three veterans share their post-deployment experiences.
December 10, 2014
Is a rhyme scheme enough to keep your eyes off the screen?
Birks posted 23 kills in 3-set victory against Iowa State, breaking her career-high.
OPINIONS, 4A
FEATURES, 8A
WEDNESDAY
JOCELYNN BIRKS
A FINAL NETFLIX BINGE
SPORTS, 1B
THE DAILY ILLINI 5he independent student newspaper at the University of Illinois since 1871
WWW.DAILYILLINI.COM
Vol. 144 Issue 058
BY DARRAH PERRYMAN STAFF WRITER
FOLAKE OSIBODU THE DAILY ILLINI
The Curtis and Graham families run Curtis Apple Orchard, a family-owned business in Champaign that attracts different people from all over the community.
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0RUH LQVLGH Check out our photo gallery to see images of the fall-favorite destination. Page 4A
Construction continues for C-U BY WALBERT CASTILLO STAFF WRITER
Campus streets at the University will be expecting a new makeover starting in May 2016. The $6.5 million renovation will include a series of five projects, which span from First Street to Fourth Street and Pennsylvania Avenue on campus. Tom Bruno, at-large city council member, expressed his enthusiasm with the project since the design and construction will provide more bus shelters to the community, as well as rebuilt street pavements, bike paths and sidewalks. The federal funds for the upcoming infrastructure project were given to the University after the Champaign-Urbana Mass Transit District applied, said Dave Clark, Champaign city engineer. “The $6.5 million is more than enough to start the first two projects; once we reassess how much money we have left, we’ll start with project three,” Clark
said. “But if there is not enough money left over, we’ll just stop there; it’s a pay-as-you-go system, we don’t want to move forward with the next project unless we have the money for it.” However, since the University is not considered a highway authority governing body, the Illinois Department of Transportation requires Champaign and the University to undergo an intergovernmental agreement. The city council unanimously approved the agreement on Nov. 14, which binds them with the Board of Trustees. The intergovernmental agreement states Champaign must be held responsible for jurisdiction of each of the five University projects until each is completed. Projects one and two will begin in May 2016, followed by the third project in 2017, said Stacey DeLorenzo, Transportation Demand Management coordinator for the
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Mapping out the five projects
Estimated cost: $1,822,568 Q Project 3: Pennsylvania
Avenue from Fourth Street to the City Limit Estimated cost: $2,257,463 Q Project 4: Saint Mary’s Road from Fourth Street to Neil Street Estimated cost: $1,988,796 Q Project 5: Peabody Drive from Fourth Street to the City Limit Estimated cost: $818,589
Q Project 1: First Street from Gregory Drive to Kirby Avenue and Peabody Drive from First Street to approximately 400 feet east Estimated cost: $1,218,852 Q Project 2: Fourth Street from Kirby Avenue to Saint Mary’s Road, including traffic signal improvements at the intersection of Fourth Street and Kirby Avenue
University. There are three factors that determine the priority of street work, DeLorenzo said. In order to determine the priority of street work into these projects, she stated three factors: pavement condition index, volume of traffic and locations on campus as well as patrons served by the street segment. Since the first three projects are on campus
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Minority students support Black Lives Matter movement
The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree
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36˚ | 23˚
Asian and Asian American graduate students hosted a discussion in light of the nonindictment of Darren Wilson, the police officer who killed Michael Brown, an unarmed African American teenager in August 2014 in Ferguson, Missouri. The discussion was held at the Asian American Cultural Center on Tuesday from 6 to 8 p.m. and welcomed students from diverse backgrounds on campus. The grand jury announced on Nov. 24 that Wilson would not face a trial and the incident ignited protests and outrage across the nation. S. Moon Cassinelli, graduate student in LAS, began the planning process for the discussion over fall break in response to the national reactions that followed the grand jury decision. “I wanted there to be other spaces for other groups to talk about this,” Cassinelli said. “So I decided to reach out to other graduate students in different departments who I know do research and are interested in these issues. I wanted to think about how to get together and create a space where we can talk about how as nonblack people of color we can help support movements like
Black Lives Matter.” Cassinelli said it was a group effort from graduate students to bring the discussion together. The discussion fostered smaller conversations with break out questions, summoning interactions between undergraduate and graduate students from different departments and majors. “I came to the event in part because black lives matter, and I wanted to be part of an event that was continuing that momentum, particularly here on campus,” said Durell Callier, graduate student in Education. “I also came because ... I wanted to show solidarity with peers and friends who are also showing solidarity with this movement.” The event emphasized the need for solidarity and students shared their perspectives on how to take action against what they feel are injustices in the legal system. “I see this space not just as a space to come together but also as a space of healing in some way,” said Merin Thomas, graduate student in LAS. “Communication heals and knowing that you’re not alone heals. I came for solidarity, for community and to check out what other people
SEE MOVEMENT | 3A
SOURCE: CHAMPAIGN CITY COUNCIL RESOLUTION
streets with no commercial stores present, Clark said the renovations would not affect businesses in the area. However, project four is near the I-Hotel. Clark said construction for the project would depend on how much money is left over from the other three projects.
Walbert can be reached at wcasti2 @dailyillini.com.
ZOE GRANT THE DAILY ILLINI
S. Moon Cassinelli, graduate student in English, leads a discussion on how recent events in Ferguson relate to the Asian American community. The event was held on Tuesday evening at the Asian American House.
Index shows Illinois continues to grow economically The University of Illinois’ Flash Index has continued to illustrate the rising economy of Illinois in recent months, remaining on the trend of economic growth that started in March 2012. The index, which showcases the 12 most recent months of economic data, is at a current value of 106.6 as of November, rising slightly from its 106.5 value in October. Created in 1995 by the University’s Institute of Government and Public Affairs, the index was built to provide a quick analysis of Illinois’ economy in a visual graph that is easy to read, said
economist J. Fred Giertz, who compiles the index. “It was constructed originally with a person who was here at the time named John Crihfield. He and I worked on it at the time,” Giertz said. “He was the person who was in charge of it for a while, and when he left after a couple of years, I continued what we had started together.” The index has been frequently used by Illinois’ Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity and the Illinois State Chamber of Commerce as a source of economic data. The data of the Flash Index is based on three major components: person-
al income, corporate income and retail sales. After tax receipts from these three components are adjusted for inflation, the incomes and retail sales are calculated into a weighted average of Illinois’ growth rates. The rates are illustrated as a trend on a line graph, which depicts the economic growth or decline of Illinois. “I could break out those three things and look at them individually, but the index puts them together,” Giertz said. “The reason it’s called a ‘flash’ index is because it comes out really quickly ... it’s the best thing we have for a quick reading of how the economy is doing.” The center of the index
is divided by a benchmark line at the value of 100; if the economic trend falls below 100, Illinois is considered to be in a state of economic contraction and decline. However, if the trend rises above 100, Illinois is in a state of economic growth and expansion. The index has remained in the 106 to 107 range since February 2014. “Even though the Flash Index hasn’t gone up very much in the last year, it’s stayed at this level, and that means the economy continues to grow, and that has started to have an impact on unemployment,” Giertz said.
SEE INDEX | 3A
UI flash index over past decade The flash index shows the economic growth or decline of Illinois; a value above 100 indicates economic growth. 120
106.4 106.8
106.5 106.6
103.9
103.9 100.0
100
98.7 94.2
91.0
80
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
SOURCE: U of I Flash Index Archives
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