Cultivating diversity: Local farmers’ market hopes to draw a varied crowd IN BUZZ
Reading Day arrives
Students prepare for semester’s final exams Thursday May 2, 2013
The Daily Illini www.DailyIllini.com
The independent student newspaper at the University of Illinois since 1871
High: 75˚ Low: 54˚
Vol. 142 Issue 151
|
FREE
Suburban Express hits Reddit front Bus company drops court cases after negative posts raise publicity BY CORINNE RUFF STAFF WRITER
Murph Finnicum proudly snapped a screenshot Monday afternoon to remember the 103,128 unique Reddit users who visited the UIUC subreddit Saturday. Two threads about Suburban Express lawsuits hit the front page of Reddit for a 24-hour period, linking to the UIUC subreddit that he moderates. The increased buzz about Suburban Express lawsuits also drew the attention of media outlets, causing them pick up a story that they might not have otherwise. The threads made it onto front-page sections “/r/bestof” and “/r/news” and both detail a letter from Suburban Express to Finnicum, warning him to remove “libelous postings” or face legal action from the bus company. One of the viral threads also includes information about The
First Amendment Lawyers Association’s offer to help in the case. Two days after the organization posted on the thread, Suburban Express sent Finnicum another letter saying legal action would not be pursued. Ken White, a member of the lawyer association, posted on the thread, offering his help free of charge if legal action were to be taken. White, who is a member of the State Bar of California, said the network of lawyers would have allowed him to find someone in Illinois to appear in court on his behalf. “I’ve gotten a lot out of the legal system, and I like to give something back,” he said. “One of the main flaws is that it is too easy to threaten lawsuits and intimidate and chill and fine people.” White also wrote about the situation in his blog, Popehat. On
See SUBURBAN, Page 3A
Suburban Express controversy raises UIUC subreddit page views The UIUC subreddit saw a dramatic increase in user visits Saturday after two threads about Suburban Express lawsuits hit the Reddit front page, reaching over two hundred thousand page views. 250,000
FOLAKE OSIBODU THE DAILY ILLINI
The Fighting Illini Battalion return to the Armory from their Battalion Run before the presentation of awards to this year’s cadets Wednesday morning.
ROTC recognizes exceptional students BY ELEANOR BLACK STAFF WRITER
Music could be heard blasting from the west entrance of the Armory at 6 a.m. Wednesday in anticipation of a celebratory morning for the ROTC program. Cadets ran through prep drills and stretched in preparation for a battalion run, followed by their annual award ceremony. “A large group run is something used in the military to build morale and unit cohesion,” said Sal Filardi, senior in LAS. “We are running to celebrate the close of another school year, significant individual accom-
served as sergeant major, the highest ranking non-commission officer in the cadet program. The position is responsible for the accountability and physical training of the entire battalion. “I’m proud of everything that the battalion did this year and I was happy to be part of it,” Seaman said. “Getting the award made me feel proud to be a part of the program and the fact that I was able to work hard with these guys all year.” The Hazelton Medal was given to Erin
See ROTC AWARDS Page 3A
UIC set to open bioscience lab mid-summer
200,000
150,000
BY BRITTANY GIBSON STAFF WRITER
100,000
50,000
0
plishments and the commissioning of the graduating class.” The two mile run was followed by an award ceremony recognizing the achievements of cadets in the program throughout the past year. 32 cadets were recognized during the ceremony, with a total of 13 awards given out. “The two most important awards are the Hazelton Award and the Bertoldo Award,” Filardi said. “Both of these awards have a long history at the U of I.” The Master Sergeant Bertoldo Award was presented to Jonathon Seaman, senior in LAS. The award is given to the cadet who
22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 ril pril pril pril pril pril pril pril p A A A A A A A A
Source: Murph Finnicum, UIUC subreddit moderator
AUSTIN BAIRD THE DAILY ILLINI
The University of Illinois at Chicago will open a new bioscience laboratory called the Health, Technology and Innovation Center at the Medical District near UIC’s medical school mid-summer. The lab will serve as a chance for start-up companies to further develop their work and will also give professors, faculty and community members the chance to research specific bioscience projects. It will be open to anyone who wants to rent space, including research-
ers from all three University of Illinois campuses. The $3.4 million project was partially funded by a $1.7 million grant from the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity. The remaining $1.7 million will be provided by UIC. The lab was created by renovating 12,000 square feet of lab space for bioscience use. “Illinois’ thriving, cutting edge life sciences sector creates jobs while improving people’s lives,” Gov. Pat Quinn said in his April 24 press release. “The HTI will drive further
growth in the field, serving as a key resource for our medical science researchers and providing a new platform through which innovative ideas can be developed and introduced to the marketplace.” Heather Tarczan, director of communications and administration for the Illinois Medical District, said HTI was loosely modeled after the University’s EnterpriseWorks model. The HTI will contain “wet labs” and “dry labs,” along with different conference rooms.
“Illinois’ thriving, cutting edge life sciences sector creates jobs while improving people’s lives.” PAT QUINN, Illinois governor
See UIC LABS, Page 3A
If approved, Commencement may move to Memorial Stadium in 2014 BY CARINA LEE STAFF WRITER
»
FOLAKE OSIBODU THE DAILY ILLINI
Graduation may be held at Memorial Stadium instead of the State Farm Center beginning in 2014, pending the Board of Trustee’s approval.
facebook — dailyillini, DailyIlliniSports INSIDE
Commencement may take place at Memorial Stadium next year during the State Farm Center reconstruction, which is pending approval by the Board of Trustees. Campus spokeswoman Robin Kaler said the State Farm Center’s reconstruction schedule will be determined sometime after the Board of Trustees meeting May 29. The Boardhas not yet determined where to More inside: allocate the $60 million from the namShahid Khan, owner ing rights, which may be used to pay of Flex-N-Gate, for a portion of the has been selected reconstruction. as this year’s “The agreement commencement with State Farm still speaker. Page 7A must be approved by the University of Illinois Board of Trustees,” she said. “It is too early to determine whether 2014 Commencement will be held in State Farm Center or somewhere else.” The University has deemed Memorial Stadium as the best alternative to holding Commencement in State Farm Center during construction. Babette Hiles, director of Special
twitter — @TheDailyIllini, @di_sports
Events in the Office of the Chancellor, said if approved, next year’s Commencement schedule would be a little different than before. “Currently we have two campus-wide Commencement ceremonies held at the State Farm Center because not everyone could get inside,” Hiles said. “But moving it to the Memorial Stadium, we would be able to plan only one ceremony and everyone will participate in that ceremony.” Hiles said changing the location also changes the schedule of the 2014 graduation weekend, and Office of the Chancellor staff have already begun planning for next year. “It will also be moving from Sunday to Saturday,” she said. “It will be the first ceremony for the Commencement weekend and the remainder of Saturday and all day Sunday will be the convocation ceremonies.” She said the seating arrangements for the event will be prepared until next year. “From now, it will be just working on arrangements for where we have our faculty lined up for the processions, where we have our doctoral candidates (and) where the stage is located,” Hiles said. “All that’s left is the planning on behind
See COMMENCEMENT, Page 3A
YouTube — thedailyillini
More seating options at Memorial Stadium than at State Farm Center Memorial Stadium’s seating capacity is more than four times that of the State Farm Center’s.
Seats
60,670
Seats
16, 618
State Farm Center Source: fightingillini.com
Memorial Stadium SCOTT DURAND THE DAILY ILLINI
tumblr — thedailyillini
Police 2 A | Corrections 2 A | Horoscopes 2 A | Opinions 4 A | Crossword 5 A | Comics 7 A | Life & Culture 8 A | Spor ts 1 B | Classifieds 6 A- 6 B | Sudoku 4 B