MAKING A SPLASH
Our Illini of the Week, Alison Meng, continues to edge her way into the record books, recently setting the new Illini 100-yard backstroke record.
Salvation Army toy drive helps spread holiday spirit LIFE & CULTURE, 6A
WEDNESDAY December 11, 2013
SPORTS, 1B
THE DAILY ILLINI The independent student newspaper at the University of Illinois since 1871
WWW.DAILYILLINI.COM
30˚ | 3˚ Vol. 143 Issue 58
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C-U traffic study sparks debate over racial
profiling BY ELI MURRAY STAFF WRITER
For more than 50 years, Martel Miller has lived in Champaign. Growing up, he said he was subjected to police discrimination, and he’s not the only one. “When I was growing up, if I left Park Street, before I got to Green Street, I was stopped by the police for no reason at all. All I did was cross a few streets,” he said. Following the release of the 2012 IDOT Traffic Stop Study, Champaign-Urbana residents, including Miller, have raised concerns about police discrimination and racial bias at Urbana City Council meetings. According to the report, minorities in the area have a higher chance of being stopped by police. To reach this conclusion, the report uses the ratio of the percentage of stops enacted on minorities to the estimated percentage of the minority driving population. If the resulting quotient is greater than one, that means that minorities are being stopped more frequently than the estimated percentage of the minority driving population would suggest. The Champaign, Urbana and University police departments had quotients of 1.30, 1.07 and 1.70 in 2012, respectively. The quotient for the majority of reporting agencies in Illinois fell between 1.01 and 1.25. “A (quotient) of one is the goal, because then each racial driving group would experience being stopped at the same percentage that they are of the driving public,” said Durl Kruse, a member of Champaign-Urbana Citizens for Peace and Justice. Illinois began recording the race of drivers stopped by police in 2004 in an effort to make police procedures more transparent. Since then, area residents have been pressuring the local police departments to address the issue. Over the course of nine years, the state has seen a dramatic decrease in the number of traffic stops, from more than 2.4 million in 2004 to just over 2.1 million in 2012, according to the 2012 Illinois Traffic Stop Summary. The majority of the 2012 stops were for moving violations. The majority of stops are enacted on white drivers, who make up 66 percent of all traffic stops in Illinois. The African-American and Hispanic populations are the second and third most stopped populations, accounting for 19 percent and 12 percent of traffic stops, respectively.
JOHNATHAN HETTINGER THE DAILY ILLINI
Col. Stetson addresses the Fighting Illini ROTC battalion on the final day of the field training exercise in Camp Atterbury, Ind., on Sept. 22.
WELCOME TO THE ARMY
LESSONS LEARNED
An inside look at the lives of the Fighting Illini Battalion cadets BY JOHNATHAN HETTINGER STAFF WRITER
Editor’s note: This is the second of a twopart series in which the reporter spent four days with the Fighting Illini Army ROTC battalion cadets at a field training exercise on Sept. 19-22. The following story contains profane language. CAMP ATTERBURY, IND. — What the hell did I get myself into? Throughout the entire weekend, I keep reiterating that question in my head. From the first moist night sleeping on the cold, hard ground surrounded by half-dollar-sized bugs to being lost in the woods with rainand sweat-soaked boots to eating cold, slimy, barely edible MREs, the question keeps coming up. I ask the cadets if they ever feel this way. The most common response is, “All the time.” While these four days are miserable, the field training exercise prepares the cadets to be soldiers. It puts them in situations impossible to simulate on a college campus. The cadets get the chance to try things they’ve never tried before. Many shoot
guns for the first time. Many experience a new level of sleep deprivation and a new level of discomfort for the first time. Many fail at new tasks. Many get yelled at for one reason or another. They learn from their experience. They learn from their mistakes. They get a taste of the United States Army. *** “Where the fuck is Lee?” One of the brethren is missing. He hasn’t returned from his land navigation. Lee isn’t a rookie. He’s an MS4, a veteran — the same MS4 in charge of FLAC. He’s done land navigations before. He passed at LDAC. But he isn’t back. He left on his land navigation late. He has his cell phone on him, but he isn’t answering. It starts with people casually asking where Lee is. Slowly, the cadets and the instructors get more worried. The teasing turns to concern. It’s beginning to get dark. Where could he be? “Did anyone see Lee?” A few people did, but that was hours ago.
“Does anyone know which points he got?” The MS4s are able to see which lane he took. Based on where the few cadets saw him, they think they know what points he was finding. After he is more than a half hour late, the instructors decide to plan a search. The cadres consider giving the cadets a chance to plan the search but decide against it. Sgt. Major Staub takes over the search. Experience takes precedence over training for now. The first platoon will go north. The second platoon will head south. A few MS3s tell me I can’t come. This is no longer a training exercise; they don’t want to take care of me. I object because this is where the story is. Cadet Gray, an MS4, says I can come if I keep up. I promise I will, and Chubb says he will take care of me. Each platoon loads onto a bus. The cadets seem anxious. They hope their fellow cadet is OK, but they are excited for a chance to use their training. They talk about what possibly could have happened to Lee.
JOHNATHAN HETTINGER THE DAILY ILLINI
Two cadets try to stay warm under a blanket following the six-mile ruck march and initiation ceremony at Camp Atterbury, Ind., on Sept. 22.
Imaginations run wild. He might’ve fallen and broken his ankle. He might’ve gotten lost. He might’ve tripped and hit his head and passed out. As the bus turns out and drives about 50 meters, we see the black minivan in front of us slow to a stop. A muffled shouting is heard. “We found him,” it sounds like. The bus quiets. The message is confirmed. “They found Lee,” someone shouts. The tension among the cadets turns to relief and mild amusement. They are glad Lee is found, but they
SEE ROTC | 3A
Housing rates, student fees to rise in fall 2014 Big 10, due in part to interest in newer housing as well as rising costs of business, said Alma Sealine, University Housing director. “We are wanting to provide the best services for our students in the most cost effective way possible,” Sealine said. Originally, Housing requested a 4.5 percent increase in room and board rates to accommodate utility and projected food cost increases, which would bring rates to $10,428;
BY MEGAN JONES STAFF WRITER
Student fees will increase $23 for the 2014-2015 school year, and University Housing will receive a 2 percent room and board rate increase, bringing a standard double room with a 12 meal and 15 cafe credit plan to $10,180. Returning students who live in residence halls won’t pay an increased rate. The University has the third highest housing rates in the
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however, the Student Fee Advisory Committee, SFAC, recommended no increase. “Some costs (Housing) can cut, while some they can’t,” said Ed Slazinik, associate vice chancellor of Student Affairs. “You can’t change the fact that there was a drought last year so produce is more expensive now.” Slazinik said Housing requested this year’s increase to fi nance Ikenberry Commons’s new residence hall.
He also said the University could stop building new residence halls, but they have already committed to this building. Housing will return next year to request another two percent increase to cover costs, he said. He added that Housing needs to make $1.5 billion in repairs to its 50 buildings on campus. Without continual maintenance, repairs will cost more in the long run. Rosa Rosas, graduate stu-
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dent and SFAC member, said Housing’s two percent increase is fair, but she is concerned with continual requests for rate increases. “The other units in Student Affairs have done a tremendous great job in showing how they cut expenses to save money,” she said. “But the housing unit has not shown students how they plan to do that.” The committee was con-
Urbana Mayor Laurel Prussing said she wasn’t convinced that the IDOT data was conclusive. She said the quotient was simply a tool but not necessarily an accurate gauge of discrimination. “If you got a new thermometer and the first time you used it, it said, ‘105’ but you felt fine, would you run off to the hospital?” she asked. Charlie Smyth, Ward 1, mirrored the mayor’s sentiment at Monday’s Committee of the Whole meeting.
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