The Daily Illini: Volume 146 Issue 10

Page 1

enrollment numbers

600 561

7.80%

548

525

7.20%

7.20%

THE DAILY ILLINI 500

500

436

6.30%

6.20%

THURSDAY September 22, 2016

5.90%

402

414

6.00%

359

5.20%

300

The independent student newspaper at the University of Illinois since 1871

WWW.DAILYILLINI.COM

BY MICHAEL SEMACA STAFF WRITER

Among its elite alumni, the University boasts the seventh richest man in the world. Larry Ellison co-founded the enterprise software company, Oracle Corporation. But he’s not alone. The list of Illini entrepreneurs is expansive. Former students

have helped start companies like PayPal, YouTube, Tesla and Yelp. With such acclaimed individuals having been on campus, current student entrepreneurs can stay inspired. Niraj Pant, sophomore in Engineering, chose to enroll in the University for this reason. “(The University has a) great track record, especially for a school not connected to Silicon Valley, as deeply as Stanford or UC Berkeley,” Pant said. “It does make me believe there's potential to repli-

cate the success.” Pant is a member of Founders, a student organization connecting prospective entrepreneurs across campus. He also heads their Startup Bootcamp program designed to foster entrepreneurial skills. Founders is just one of many resources student entrepreneurs have on campus. The Office of Technology Management, or OTM, manages the intellectual property created on campus. They help students file patents for their ideas, according to Interim Direc-

YEAR

African American 548 7.2%

Hispanic 932 12.3%

tor Nathan Hoffmann. The office assists students in determining if the University has ownership interest in the intellectual property. But there’s a catch. “Depending on the outcome of that discussion and that conversation, if the University doesn’t own the intellectual property then we’re not going to pursue it,” Hoffmann said. This is typical within higher education, Hoffmann said. The University

Native Hawaiian/ Pac Isl 2 0.0% Native American 3 0.0% Asian 1,481 19.5%

White 3,329 43.8%

Total freshmen: 7,593

Increase student population leads to demographic shift

SEE ENTREPRENEUR | 3A

the prospective student populations. To combat this, Kaler said the University increased its efforts to recruit and enroll students from these groups. Gigi Secuban, associate vice chancellor for student affairs and director of the Office for Inclusion and Intercultural Relations, credits her office’s African-American high school students recruitment events for helping, too. Seniors visited campus in February to meet students, faculty and staff and participate in the annual Cotton Club variety show. Juniors visited campus in May and attended the spring football game. The University bussed down these students and their families from the Chicago area, Western Illinois and the St. Louis area, according to Secuban. “It’s going to be a continual effort, and it’s going to take working with alums, working with the schools — the public schools — (to) continue to build those relationships and continuing to encourage students to come to campus and see what campus life is like here,” she said. She thinks the events effectively boosted enrollment numbers, but she does not think the University should stop its efforts there. “I don’t think we can ever settle and say, 'OK, we’re at where we need to be,'" Secuban said. Enrolling more minor-

STAFF WRITER

There are more African-American students enrolled at the University this semester than there have been in the past decade. There are 548 African-American students enrolled this fall; he number is 13 shy of the 561 students enrolled in 2006, according to enrollment data. There are 73 more African-American freshmen, or 15 percent more, this year than in 2015. The students account for 7.2 percent of the freshman class, and they accounted for 6.3 percent of last year’s class. The University has touted this year’s freshman class as the largest and most diverse ever, but some remain skeptical. Ron Lewis, student body president, said he thinks it is easier to boast percentages, but the actual number shows less improvement. And even with the change, he said, African-American students still represent 5.2 percent of the entire student population. “That’s one thing you also have to tackle is just realizing that, you know, although it changed,” he said, “proportionally that’s what it should be whether it was increasing or not.” Associate Chancellor for Public Affairs Robin Kaler said in an email that students from underrepresented, low-socioeconomic statuses traditionally have not accepted admission offers at the same rate as the rest of

BRIAN BAUER THE DAILY ILLINI

A University student practices his log rolling skills at the ARC on Wednesday evening. Log rolling was open to all students at the ARC pool; the activity helps to improve health and fitness and is touted as a good cross-training exercise for athletes.

Employee health care costs may rise Some say Illinois has not been a good health care partner. Claudia Lennhoff, executive director of the Champaign County Health Care Consumers, is one of those people. She warned facul-

ty members about ongoing health care issues with the state at a panel on Wednesday held by the Campus Faculty Association. Since February 2015, there have been threats of Illinois increasing state employees' health care costs or not providing as much

medical coverage. And since the budget impasse, the state has not been reimbursing health care providers. Before national attention to health care was increased because of the Affordable Care Act, people who lacked health insurance lived with treatable health issues and

Gov. Rauner proposes increased state employee health care rates Gov. Bruce Rauner’s administration proposed to double employee’s monthly premium contributions for health care plans. The administration has broken off negotiations with the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees.

Annual employee contribution for health care & dental for fiscal year 2017 $3000

Managed care plans

$2500

+$1368

$2000 $1500 $1000 $500 0

$3500

+$1164

$948

Less than $30,200

$3000

$1368

$1164

$45,601$60,600

+$1248

+$1476

$1500 $1000 $500

$30,201$45,600

+$1668

$2500 $2000

+$948

Quality care plans

0

$1656 $1248

$1464

Less than $30,200

Current plans Rauner’s proposed increase

$30,201$45,600

$45,601$60,600

Current plans Rauner’s proposed increase MICHELLE TAM THE DAILY ILLINI

SOURCE: CAMPUS FACULTY ASSOCIATION

died younger from preventable conditions, she said. But while the rest of the nation continues to move forward with providing health care to more people, she worries that the proposed price increases will move Illinois backward. Patients with state insurance are being turned away by providers who are unable wait 300 to 550 days to be reimbursed by the state. Through the stopgap budget approved by the General Assembly and Gov. Bruce Rauner, the state was able to start catching up on payments after they halted last year during the ongoing budget impasse. Around five faculty members voiced concern that the University administration has been reluctant to complain too much about the threat of increased health care costs because they are currently focused on simply receiving a budget from the state. The University held a forum in June to explain the situation to employees and provide as much information as is available.

ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR

Bree Newsome had no intention of ever getting arrested again. Her fi rst arrest was in July of 2013 when she and five other activists were arrested for staging a sitin at Republican North Carolina House Speaker Thom Tillis' office. They were protesting what they viewed as discriminatory state voter registration I.D. laws. The bill eventually passed. The summer of 2015 led to a major change in her perspective, spurred by major social movements. Standing at a podium, Newsome spoke to a small crowd in the Illini Union Ballroom about her experiences as an activist and

black woman. Newsome served as the keynote speaker for the iUnite Week occurring Monday to Friday. She has been touring and giving her lecture, “Tearing Hatred from the Sky,” to many college campuses nationwide. Specifically, she spoke of removing the Confederate flag from the South Carolina state house grounds and subsequent second arrest on June 27, 2015. “I still felt so strongly that the point must be made how absolutely intolerable it was for that flag to fly another day, especially as the American and State flag flew beneath it at half staff,” Newsome said. State officials had lowered the two flags in remembrance of the nine

DAILYILLINI, DAILYILLINISPORTS

INSIDE

Police

people killed at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, S.C. on June 17, 2015.

A history of statehood racism

The Charleston shooting stemmed from two specific incidents of racial tension in South Carolina, Newsome told the crowd: the fatal shooting of Walter Scott by a North Charleston police officer in April of 2015 and the historic attacks on black churches and civil rights leaders, such as the 1963 assassination of civil rights activist Medgar Evers as an example. The shooting sparked intense civil action and protest started surrounding the Confederate flag. New-

600 561

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Opinions

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Crossword

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525

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436

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402

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356

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5.10%

06 007 008 009 010 011 012 013 014 015 016 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2

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YEAR

SOURCE: UIUC DIVISION OF MANAGEMENT INFORMATION

2016 Freshmen by Race

Fall fashion

Hispanic 932 12.3%

African American 548 7.2%

Multi-Race 225 3.0% Unknown 22 0.3%

Celebrate the first day of fall withForeign these must-have fashion tips1,051 13.8%

some's action was a piece of a larger dialogue. Yet for her, it came far too late. “Tragically, shamefully, it took the blood of nine more innocent people to finally shape the consciousness of this state and of this nation surrounding this symbol of slavery, hatred and terrorism that is the confederate fl ag,” Newsome said. As both a filmmaker and activist, she routinely entwined cinematic and historical anecdotes within her personal narrative. By doing so, she encouraged audience members to seek out information on unfamiliar topics mentioned during the keynote. “Larger historical con-

Native Hawaiian/ Pac Isl 2 0.0% Native American 3 0.0% Asian 1,481 19.5%

White 3,329 43.8%

Total freshmen: 7,593

PAGE 6A

Editorial: Thank you, Barbara Wilson PAGE 4A Football plans for stadium changes PAGE 3B

SEE ACTIVIST | 3A THEDAILYILLINI Life

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Culture

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SEE HEALTH CARE | 3A

@THEDAILYILLINI, @DI_OPINION, @DI_SPORTS 2A

SEE ENROLLMENT| 3A

African American freshmen enrollment numbers

Activist ‘tore hatred from the sky,’ inspires UI students BY JOSEPH LONGO

Multi-Race 225 3.0% Unknown 22 0.3%

Foreign 1,051 13.8%

BY ANGELICA LAVITO

STAFF WRITER

5.10%

2016 Freshmen by Race

ARC activities take a “turn” with new log rolling

BY MEGAN JONES

356 89˚ | 64˚

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UIUC helps budding entrepreneurs

University can share ownership of IP

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@THEDAILYILLINI |

Sports

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Classifieds

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Sudoku

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