Through the looking glass: How do professors see Unoffical? FEATURES, 6A
Japanese teatime teaches culture IN BUZZ
Thursday February 28, 2013
The Daily Illini www.DailyIllini.com
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Vol. 142 Issue 111
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Unofficial t-shirts sell like hotcakes in the cold weather
2013
Economic impact of Unofficial helps community BY HENRY DUNN AND LAUREN ROHR CONTRIBUTING WRITER AND STAFF WRITER
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Many local businesses hope to thrive from Unofficial St. Patrick’s Day festivities, as about 10,000 guests are expected to visit the Champaign-Urbana area. City officials said it is difficult to track the economic flow during the holiday weekend, especially because the holiday is not sanctioned by the city or the University. But Champaign Mayor Don Gerard said the increase in visitors helps to stimulate the community’s economy. “I think it’s fairly evident from a global standpoint that, when you have a number of visitors coming to town and they’re purchasing alcohol and pizza and sandwiches and t-shirts, it’s going to have a great economic impact,” Gerard said. As the amount of alcohol students and visitors consume rises during Unofficial weekend, Gerard said some of the local businesses that are most directly impacted are bars and liquor stores.
More online: For ideas
on what to do when remaining dry on Unofficial, visit DailyIllini.com. Greg McCauley, assistant manager of Binny’s Beverage Depot in Champaign, said business on Unofficial more than quadruples that of a standard business day. Last year, Binny’s opened for the first time in Champaign only a week before the celebrations began. This year, employees are expecting to see a dramatic increase of about 20 percent in sales because the store is more prepared than last year, McCauley said. Similarly, liquor sales at Friar Tuck Beverage in Savoy more than doubled the day before Unofficial in 2011, said store co-manager Patrick O’Keefe. Exact sales figures are not disclosed to the public. This year, he said he expects to see people buying more kegs, Irish whiskey and macrobrew beer, such as Miller and Coors.
See ECONONMIC, Page 3A
Illinois now has worst fiscal situation in nation California reforms pension plan, boosts economy past failing Illinois BY CHRISSY PAWLOWSKI STAFF WRITER
The University’s Institute of Government and Public Affairs conducted the Fiscal Futures Project, which compared the fiscal situation in California and Illinois, determining that Illinois has the worst fiscal problems in the nation. Nancy Hudspeth, study author and IGPA Resource and Policy Analyst, used bond ratings, personal income taxes, corporate income taxes, sales taxes, cigarette taxes, general fund spending, budget enforcement, unpaid bills and pensions to compare the two states. She said while California’s fiscal situation is improving, Illinois continues to struggle. “For years, California’s bond ratings have been the worst, and Illinois (was) next to worst of the 50 states,” Hudspeth said in the study. “But in January 2013, Illinois moved to last place.” According to the study, Illinois’s bond ratings, or the ratings that gage credit worthiness of a state’s debt problems, are now negative, while California’s are stable. This change in bond ratings moved Illinois into 50th place below California. “They both have avoided making difficult choices about raising taxes and also have not made major budget cuts,” Hudspeth said. “They tended just to avoid the problems they were having and push things into the future.” Governors of the two states assessed the problem when creating budgets for the fiscal year. In January, California Gov. Jerry Brown signed California’s All Funds Budget for fiscal year 2012-2013, cutting state spending by $12.5 billion. “These cuts will be painful, requiring sacrifice from every sector of the state, but we have no choice,” Brown said in a Jan. 10 press release. “We must now return California to fiscal
INSIDE
California: Q Q Q Q Q Q
Raised bond ratings Cut budget by $12.5 billion Temporarily increased personal income taxes Temporarily increased sales taxes Cut general fund spending Reformed pension system
Illinois: Q Q Q Q Q Q Q
Cut bond ratings Did not cut budget Temporarily increased personal income taxes Temporarily increased corporate income taxes Increased cigarette taxes Capped general funds growth Has not reformed pension system
responsibility and get our state on the road to economic recovery and job growth.” Illinois, with a population about one-third of California’s, approved a $61 billion All Funds Budget for fiscal year 2013. Gov. Pat Quinn, though, said he thinks pension reform is the key to correcting Illinois’s fiscal crisis. “Illinois cannot move forward without pension reform,” he said in a Jan. 2 press release. Senate Bill 1, which proposes pension reform, has been postponed in the executive committee since Feb. 13.As debt rises by $17 million per day, Illinois still has the highest unfunded pension liability in the nation. Hudspeth said pension reform and budget cuts would have direct impacts on the University and its students. “If the state ends up making cuts to the university system, then the students will experience tuition increases,” she
JONATHAN DAVIS THE DAILY ILLINI
Students sell Unofficial St. Patrick’s Day shirts inside of T.I.S bookstore on Wednesday. Lines inside of T.I.S wrapped around the store extending onto the sidewalk, in the middle of harsh snowy weather. Some students waits in line for over an hour for pick-up.
CRACKING DOWN ON ATTENDANCE
University Housing continues zero tolerance guest policy BY AUSTIN KEATING STAFF WRITER
In
preparation for Unofficial St. Patrick’s Day celebrations, University and private certified housing are adjusting their usual policies, primarily in the area of guest policies. University Housing, which is responsible for about 9,000 students in its residence halls, is continuing its policies from previous years for the event and barring residents from hosting non-University guests March 1-3. “Unofficial has proven itself to be a direct threat of the academic mission of the University of Illinois,” said Kirsten Ruby, assistant director of housing for marketing. “A lot of that threat appears to come from other colleges and universities that come to campus.” Illini Tower, a private certified hall, is taking similar measures but is allowing residents to sign in guests from outside the University. “We’re going to only allow one guest for the entire weekend, whereas generally it’s (one) per night,” said Marta Kazmierczak, director of leasing at Illini Tower. “We do this to allow
Your RA has no more right to search your room than police Thomas Betz, who has worked for Student Legal Services since Unofficial began in the mid-‘90s, said that if a resident adviser knocks on a resident’s door, he should remember his Fourth Amendment rights. “Let’s say they have loud music or alcohol or whatever, they should answer the door and step out into the hallway,” he said. “The amendment rules regarding search and seizure apply to RAs — they
are a part of the state ... and what the Fourth Amendment protects against is state action.” Betz said that an RA or a police officer can’t force a resident to allow his room to be searched. Unless the circumstances meet the criteria for probable cause, officials can’t go through a resident’s personal effects. “Just because it’s Unofficial does not mean we have suspended the United States Constitution,” Betz said. “It’s the law of the land 365 days a year, 24 hours a day.”
for students who are not participating in Unofficial to not necessarily be interrupted with their normal daily lifestyle.” In addition to the change in guest policies, University residence halls will increase security with an increased presence of both residential staff and the University of Illinois Police Department, Ruby said.
“Unofficial has proven itself to be a direct threat of the academic mission of the University of Illinois.”
Austin can be reached at akkeati2@ dailyillini.com.
KIRSTEN RUBY, assistant director of housing for marketing
Residents are allowed to host one University student as a guest for the weekend
No guests permitted
Armory House Presby Hall
Newman Center
Hendrick House Residents can host one non-University or University guest for the weekend
University Housing
Illini Tower
Bromley Hall
See CALIFORNIA, Page 3A
Police 2 A | Horoscopes 2 A | Opinions 4 A | Letters 4 A | Crossword 5 A | Comics 5 A | Greeks & Campus 6 A | Spor ts 1 B | Classifieds 3 B - 4 B | Sudoku 4 B