The Daily Illini: Volume 144 Issue 112

DAILY ILLINI STAFF REPORT

V ice President Joe Biden will speak to students and deliv-er remarks about preventing sexu-al assault and spe-cifically, the “It’s

On Us” campaign at Campus Recreation Center East, at 1 p.m. Thursday. The initiative aims to make college campus-es more able to prevent sexual assault.

In the week leading up to Biden’s appearance, students were able to sign the “It’s On Us” pledge on the Main Quad and members of the Illinois Student Senate decorated the Alma Mater in patriotic and “It’s On Us” decorations.

According to the cam-paign’s official site, the pledge is “a personal com-mitment to help keep wom-en and men safe from sexu-al assault,” and “serves as “a promise not to be a bystand-er to the problem, but to be a part of the solution.”

Matt Hill, Illinois Student Senate vice president-exter-nal, said Biden’s appearance will celebrate University stu-

dents’ national leadership in the campaign.

“It’s sort of an ‘It’s On Us’ rally to celebrate what we’ve been doing here at Illinois,” Hill said. “To cele-brate success and keep build-ing momentum around the cause.”

Hill said the event is intended to empower stu-dents. The University is among the top participants in the campaign, which the White House launched in 2014.

Rep. Rodney Davis, R-13, announced Wednesday that he will be appearing and speaking alongside Biden at the event. Ashley Phelps, Davis’ communication direc-tor, said it is standard for the local state representative to be included at such events.

Phelps also said this cause “really hits home” for Davis because his daughter will be leaving for college in the fall.

Willard Airport and the University of Illinois Police Department have spent the week preparing for Biden’s arrival. Willard Airport Manager Steve Wanzek said no press or public will be allowed at the airport when Biden arrives in Air Force 2.

Wanzek said the motor-cade will leave the airport and cause certain intersec-tions to close for a short peri-od of time while Biden travels to CRCE.

Patrick Wade, UIPD spokesman, said the police department and Secret Ser-

What you need to know: • 11 a.m.: Campus

Recreation Center East doors will open.

• 1 p.m.: Vice President Joe Biden and Rep. Rodney Davis, R-13, will speak about the “It’s On Us” campaign.

• All attendees will be required to present an official ticket at the door. There are no more tickets available but there is a waiting list, according to the Illinois Student Senate.

• Admission is not guaranteed.

• Attendees will be required to go through airport-like security and are advised to leave liquids, large bags and sharp objects at home.

• Gregory Drive between Goodwin Avenue and Dorner Drive will be closed between noon and 3 p.m. to accommodate Biden’s motorcade.

• Get updates about Biden’s visit to campus at dailyillini.com, on Twitter @thedailyillini and on Facebook.

• The Daily Illini’s website will feature video and a photo gallery.

VP VISITS C-U

INSIDE P o l i c e 2 A | O p i n i o n s 4 A | L e t t e r s 4 A | C r o s s w o r d 5 A | C o m i c s 5 A | L i f e & C u l t u r e 6 A | S p o r t s 1 B | C l a s s i f i e d s 4 B | S u d o k u 4 B

THE DAILY ILLINITHURSDAYApril 23, 2015

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EXAMINING THE FINAL PIECES OF ILLINOIS ATHLETICS’ APPAREL CONTRACT WITH NIKE, TURN TO PAGE 1B

BY ALI BRABOYASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR

University students on campus are highlighting the issues concerning the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through the internationally recog-nized Israeli Apartheid Week and Israel Peace Week.

According to the Israe-li Apartheid Week website, the goal of the week is to edu-cate people about the apart-heid system in Israel and “to build Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) cam-paigns as part of a growing global BDS movement.”

Students for Justice in Pal-estine, a registered student

organization, hosted events to celebrate the Israeli Apart-heid Week, and Layla Fattash, advertising head for the RSO and sophomore in AHS, said the goal of the week is to get people involved and educate them about what is happening in Israel and Palestine.

At the end of week, she said the best part is when people come up to the group and give thanks, stating they support them.

Fattash, whose parents are from Palestine, said even if people are not interested in the Israeli-Palestinian con-flict, they should be aware.

“These are human beings

that we’re talking about,” Fattash said. “We can put religion aside. We can put political views aside, but there are like definite human right violations that are going on over there against the Pal-estinian people.”

Israel Peace Week is also being celebrated on campus this week.

Josh Cooper, senior in LAS, is president of Illini Public Affairs Committee, or IlliniPAC, a pro-Israel lobby group, which reach-es out to student leaders on campus and local members of Congress to talk about how important a strong U.S. and

Israel alliance is. Cooper wrote in an email

that Israel Peace Week at the University allows those in support of Israel to come together as a community and celebrate how Israel contrib-utes to the U.S. and the world. He said it’s an opportunity to educate people about Israel and how the state is striving for peace.

Regarding events featured this week on campus for Israeli-Apartheid Week, Coo-per said he is not opposed to dialogue about these issues.

“However, I am extreme-

BY CHARLOTTE COLLINS ASSISTANT DAYTIME EDITOR

Lincy Pompilus, a Uni-versity student, urged the Illinois Student Senate to take the “It’s On Us” cam-paign to the next level by pushing for a zero-toler-ance policy in regards to sexual assault.

The Illinois Student Sen-

ate prepared for Vice Pres-ident Joe Biden’s visit by spending its Wednesday meeting commending the work the body has done for the national campaign.

Pompilus, junior in social work, spoke during public comment regarding her own personal experience; she was met with resound-

ing applause. Pompilus said she was

raped Nov. 15, 2013, by her resident adviser in Bousfield Residence Hall, according to an open letter to Chancellor Phyllis Wise that Pompilus circulated through Facebook with 100 shares. Her open letter calls for a stricter policy on the readmission of those found in violation. The Uni-

Israeli Apartheid Week, Israel Peace Week address conflicts

Students urge zero-toleranceIn light of ‘It’s On Us,’ University student shares account of sexual assault with ISS

SPORTS SPORTS

Men’s tennis looks to grab its first post-season title since 2012

4th-generation Illini nears end of col-lege career with professional dream

Top seed Illini to host Big Ten Tournament

Baseball’s Fletcher keeps tradition alive

PAGE 2B PAGE 1B

Champaign-Urbana-based ice pop food truck returns to campus Saturday

Soda, kettle corn, artisan popsicles galore

PAGE 6A

SONNY AN THE DAILY ILLINIZaid Hameed, junior in LAS, speaks about Israeli Apartheid in front of the English building at the Main Quad Tuesday. SEE CONFLICT | 3A

SEE BIDEN | 3A SEE ISS | 3A

CHUCK MYERS TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE

Joe Biden will discuss “It’s On Us” campaign

Students plan protest University students will protest the “It’s On Us” campaign for general inaction regarding sexual assault outside of the Campus Recreation Center East from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

BY ROY GUTMANTRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE

YEREVAN, Armenia — Derelict factories dot the landscape in Armenia, rem-nants of a failed privatiza-tion process after the Soviet Union’s collapse gave birth to an independent nation. Out-side the capital, towns are run-down, villages depopu-lated and the farmland fal-low, with only a third of the arable land cultivated.

That’s only the start of the catalog of woes that young Armenians cite about their landlocked homeland.

Like Ukraine, Armenia was part of the Soviet Union. But unlike Ukraine, which staged a revolution to avoid Russian domination, Armenia joined the Russian-sponsored Eur-asian Economic Union, and although it has no border with Russia, Russia is a big pres-ence. Russian troops patrol Armenia’s closed borders with Turkey and Azerbaijan, and Russian interests control the railroads and the telecommu-nication, energy and mining sectors.

Western sanctions imposed on Russia after it annexed Crimea are a factor as well. Remittances from workers in Russia are down as that econ-omy reels from the sanctions and the drop in oil prices.

Even the population of Armenia is unclear. Offi cials say it’s 3,020,000, citing the last census in 2010, but inde-

pendent observers think it’s between 2 million and 2.5 million, falling annually as tens of thousands depart to fi nd work abroad.

Yet there’s a bright spot: Young North Americans of Armenian descent are still fl ocking to the country — taking up citizenship, start-ing high-tech companies or going into local politics.

One reason for their inter-est is the country’s educated workforce, and a tradition of tech-savviness that dates to when Armenia was known as the Silicon Valley of the Soviet Union.

The new arrivals come with the background of the Armenian exodus from the Anatolian peninsula 100 years ago, when their ances-tors were expelled from what today is Turkey to oth-er parts of the then-disinte-grating Ottoman Empire that now lie in Syria and Iraq.

Raffi Elliott, 26, grew up in Montreal, the son of an Arme-nian mother who was born in Aleppo, Syria, and an Irish father.

Elliott took advantage of a tax break in Armenia for new tech companies and estab-lished Nest Innovations, a startup that creates websites for small businesses around the world. “The local econo-my doesn’t affect me much,” he said. “I get paid in dollars or euros, and I pay in (Arme-nian) dram.”

2A Thursday, April 23, 2015 THE DAILY ILLINI | WWW.DAILYILLINI.COM

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To order your yearbook, call

217-337-8314

Forgot to order your cap & gown?If you missed ordering academic regalia for Commencement, a make-up session has been scheduled in the Illini Union Bookstore

Wednesday, April 29

10:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.

This is the last in-person opportunity to place an order. Or order online at her!jones.com/illinois. $20 late fee applies.

Campuswide ceremony tickets will be available at the make-up session.

Commencement participation instructions and information may be found at commencement.illinois.edu

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Champaign Burglary was report-

ed at Kenwood School, 1001 Stratford Dr., around 7:00 a.m. on Monday.

According to the report, the offender broke a win-dow and damaged a com-puter belonging to a school.

Arson was reported at St Johns Lutheran School, 509 S. Mattis Ave., around 5:30 p.m. on Monday.

According to the report, the offender set fi re to a picnic table, shrubs and a fence.

Theft was reported on the 400 block of South Uni-versity Avenue around 3:30 p.m. on Tuesday.

According to the report, the offender was arrest-ed for attempting to steal property from a construc-tion site.

Battery was reported at Circle K, 809 W. Green St., around 5:00 p.m. on Tues-day.

According to the report, the victim was battered by two unknown male sus-pects.

University A University student

was issued an ordinance for public urination and was arrested around 1:00 a.m. near Fourth and Daniel streets on Wednesday.

According to the report, the student was arrested for resisting arrest.

A University employee reported around 1:30 p.m. that her vehicle’s trunk lid had been scratched in the 1400 block of West Pennsyl-vania Avenue on Tuesday.

According to the report,

the suspect is unknown and the vehicle’s estimated damage is about $500.

Urbana Theft was reported in

the 1900 block of Prairie Winds Drive around 3 p.m. on Tuesday.

According to the report, the unknown offender stole items from the victim’s apartment.

Compiled by Camille Murray and Charlotte Collins

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In the April 22, 2015, edition of The Daily Illini, the article, “Road revamp set to start in August,” stated that the repairs to campus area roads were estimated to begin Aug. 26. The article should have stated that the project is estimated to begin August 2016. A refer on A1 misspelled Giana O’Connor’s name.

In the April 14, 2015, edition of The Daily Illini, the article, “UI research hopes to help end hunger,” stated that the new research method was called radiation breeding. The article should have stated that the method was called genetic engineering, which the scientists will be focusing on.

The Daily Illini regrets the errors.

CORRECTIONS

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Armenia struggles with progress

ROY GUTMAN TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICEA prayer to St. Gregory, the patron saint of Armenia, at the main Armenian Apostolic church on April 10 in Gyumri, Armenia’s second biggest city.

BY MADISON JOHNSTONSTAFF WRITER

An 11-year-old boy was left to fend for himself and find his own way when the man who was hired as his guide abandoned him last year. He slept in a box to keep away from wild ani-mals and managed to find the Rio Grande the follow-ing morning, where he was taken into custody by Amer-ican Border Control.

The young boy made the 2,000 kilometer journey from Guatemala in hopes of seeing his estranged moth-er after six years.

Lucia Maldonado told this boy’s story, at a screening of the documentary “Which Way Home” at the Univer-sity YMCA on April 15. The screening was hosted by the Champaign-Urbana Immi-gration Forum and La Casa Latina.

After the screening a panel discussion was held, featuring Maldonado, who works as a Latino-parent liaison for Urbana School District 116; Rebekah Niblock, an attorney for the Immigration Project; and Gilberto Rosas, an anthro-pology professor.

The children featured in the documentary migrated to the Champaign-Urbana area from economically unstable homes in El Sal-vador, Guatemala and Hon-duras. The instability can result in violence, causing parents to send their chil-dren to the United States hoping they will begin working and send money home to their families, Mal-donado said.

Many of the children in Champaign-Urbana are going through legal pro-ceedings that may lead to deportation, because the children do not have prop-er travel documents and crossed the border illegal-ly, Niblock said.

“They do need a lot of support and they don’t have any representation,” Maldo-nado said. “All of the stu-dents that we have in Urba-na so far have been to their first appointment, and they were told that they do need to show up with representa-tion or they will be placed in deportation proceedings.”

Rosas said the steep rise in minors migrating to the U.S. illegally is tied to U.S. involvement in the fall of infrastructure in Central American nations.

“It must be recognized that the United States has continued support of drug wars, of dictatorships in the 1980s, of the coup in Hondu-ras in 2009, of the Central American Mutual Securi-ty Initiative,” Rosas said. “(The United States has) played a major role in gen-erating migrations.”

Rosas said students need to raise awareness about the situation and publicly put pressure on Congress representatives to help.

“There has to be a local effort to help these chil-dren feel at home such as the Immigration Forum of U-C,” Rosas said.

Alli Gattari, senior in LAS, and her classmates in her Spanish and Entre-preneurship class, Emily Melavic, Patrick Revesz and Kathleen Kolumban, helped with the organiza-tion of the event and began fundraising for the children by selling puppy chow.

“We have to think about how crazy it is for a parent to send their thirteen-year-old alone,” Gattari said. “That is just a life or death situation.”

During the panel discus-sion, Niblock said unac-companied minors often approach officials for help when they are crossing the border, and many are being detained throughout Texas.

“Unaccompanied minors, they come here all the time,” Niblock said. “They actually approach border control officials and ask for help because many of them are thirsty; they haven’t had food in many days.”

Rosas said a local effort is needed to help children feel at home, such as the Immigration Forum.

More than 28,000 chil-dren crossed the border alone in the 2014 fiscal year. The number of chil-dren who have attempted to leave their native country is even higher, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection. These children may die on the journey,

some get caught and some actually make it across the Rio Grande.

“If I can stay here, I’m going to work very hard and fight to have, and be, something good in life. I want to study more. I like my school,” one minor liv-ing in the Champaign-Urbana area said. “It is my favorite place because there are people here who care about me. My teachers ask me how I am doing and help me if I need help. I eat breakfast and lunch here. I don’t think I would have anything to eat if I didn’t come to school.”

[email protected]

THE DAILY ILLINI | WWW.DAILYILLINI.COM Thursday, April 23, 2015 3A

ly opposed to the attempt by those who organize Israeli-Apartheid Week to intimidate and bully pro-Israel students on our campus by erecting a wall filled with hate speech and lies, as well as the mali-cious intent of that group to misinform UIUC students on the issue in order to delegiti-mize and demonize the Jew-ish state of Israel,” Cooper said.

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict dates back to the end of the 19th century over land, according to the Middle East Research and Informa-tion Project. From the end of World War I to 1948, the land was internationally known as Palestine, but in 1949, the land was divided into the State of Israel, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, which caused conflict as both sides believe the land is their own, according to the organization.

Yarah Kudaimi, a 2014 University alumna, was a member of the Students for Justice in Palestine dur-ing her four undergraduate

years.Kudaimi was born in the

U.S., but her parents are from Syria, and she has Pal-estinian friends.

She said although the Mid-dle East is not exactly close in terms of distance to the University, the Israeli-Pal-estinian conflict affects stu-dents at this campus, such as how American tax dollars go to the conflict.

According to the Congres-sional Research Service’s report on U.S. Foreign Aid to Israel, since World War II, Israel has been the larg-est cumulative recipient of foreign assistance from the U.S., totaling $121 billion to date in assistance. The report also stated most of the aid has been in the form of military assistance.

Kudaimi said the Univer-sity is involved with compa-nies involved in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, such as Caterpillar Inc., a manufac-turing corporation which has a stimulation center in Research Park.

According to the Center for Constitutional Rights, the Israel Defense Force has destroyed more than 18,000 Palestinian homes in the

Occupied Palestinian Terri-tory since 1967. The organi-zation cites that Caterpillar, Inc., which is based in Deca-tur, Illinois, has sold bull-dozers to the Israel Defense Force, “knowing they would be used to unlawfully demol-ish homes.”

Fattash said the issue is involved with the boy-cott, divestment, and sanc-tions campaign to have the University divest, or boy-cott, from Caterpillar, but she said it would be hard to get the University to follow through with this.

Kenneth Cuno, associate professor of history, gave a presentation Tuesday night for Israeli Apartheid Week about the history of Israeli Apartheid and foreign policy.

Cuno is teaching a Pales-tinian history course this semester and said many stu-dents that come into his class don’t know much about the Middle East.

He said there are students on campus affected by the Israeli-Palestinian conflict out of interest for the top-ic and many students have family from the Middle East, while others are affected due to religious reasons.

Shani Benezra, member of IlliniPAC and freshman in Media, said when it comes to the Israeli-Palestinian con-flict, there is no easy solution.

“You’re dealing with two very stubborn sides,” she said.

Benezra’s parents are from Israel, and said when she calls her grandmother, who lives near the Gaza Strip, she finds herself asking ‘How often are you running to the bomb shelters?’

She said although the Stu-dents for Justice in Pales-tine have not specifically said they do not recognize Isra-el as a state, she feels that it is what they believe, which directly impacts students at the University.

“By not recognizing Israel as a state, they are not recog-nizing the Jewish identity of people on this campus,” Bene-zra said.

Benezra said there are dis-agreements between both sides, but she feels the vio-lence has to stop.

“I pray that one day all these wars will stop.” Bene-zra said. “No one wants this war to keep going on.”

[email protected]

NEWS BRIEFSTRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE

Russia urges Ukraine to stay ‘neutral’ in accusing U.S., NATO

Japanese prime minister, Chinese president meet to strengthen ties

Drone lands on roof of Japanese prime minister’s o!ce in Tokyo

Congressional democrats reignite e"orts to control money

SkyWest jet makes emergency landing a#er passenger passes out

WASHINGTON — A week after a Florida man illegal-ly landed his gyrocopter at the U.S. Capitol to deliver a message on the need for campaign finance reform, U.S. House Democrats on Wednesday announced the “relaunch” of a task force to push toward that same goal.

The title of their updat-ed effort to promote a pack-age of measures to overhaul

how elections are funded: “Democracy for All.”

“Apparently we have to make the case,” said House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi at a news conference.

The California Demo-crat asserted that Ameri-cans are feeling frustrated by a campaign finance sys-tem and election process that appears to leave their voices out.

A Connecticut-bound Sky-West Airlines flight was forced to make an emergen-cy landing at Buffalo Interna-tional Airport on Wednesday morning after experiencing a “pressurization problem,” officials said.

The flight, which took off from Chicago and was head-

ed to Windsor Locks, Con-necticut, landed safely in Buf-falo, New York, at 11:40 a.m. EDT, according to a state-ment released by the Feder-al Aviation Administration.

SkyWest’s official Twitter account said the plane land-ed after a passenger lost con-sciousness midflight.

TOKYO — Japanese police are investigating a small drone that appeared to have fallen Wednes-day morning onto the roof of the office of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who was away at an international gathering in Jakarta.

The drone measur-ing about 20 inches was equipped with a small camera and an object that appeared to be a smoke flare, Kyodo News report-

ed. A “minute” amount of radiation was detected on the drone, which had a sym-bol signifying it was radio-active, the news agency said.

“This could potentially lead to more regulations on unmanned aircraft,” said Koichi Nakano, a pro-fessor of politics at Sophia University in Tokyo. “Much depends on wheth-er the radioactive material found indicates this was an attack.”

TOKYO — Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe met Chinese President Xi Jinping for the second time in less than six months on Wednesday, in a sign his efforts to turn the page on Japan’s past aggression won’t derail an improve-ment in ties.

The meeting came hours after Abe barely mentioned

remorse over World War II in a speech in Jakarta that will set the tone for his state-ment on the 70th anniversa-ry of the end of the conflict.

A day earlier he drew Chi-nese criticism after send-ing an offering to a Tokyo war shrine seen by many in China and South Korea as a symbol of Japan’s past militarism.

MOSCOW — Russia said it wants a “neutral” and uni-fied Ukraine as it accused the North Atlantic Treaty Organization of seeking to turn its neighbor into a hos-tile state.

The U.S. wields enormous influence over Ukraine, while Russia wants the peo-ple of its “near neighbor” to have a good life, said Rus-sian Foreign Minister Sergei

Lavrov in an interview with three Moscow radio stations on Wednesday.

“It’s in our interests not to divide Ukraine, it’s in our interests to keep it neutral in military terms,” Lavrov said. “We want Ukraine to be peaceful and quiet. To achieve that, it’s necessary to keep Ukraine unified and not allow it to be torn into pieces.”

PHOTO COURTESY OF CHAMPAIGN-URBANA IMMIGRATION FORUM

Immigration Forum aids migrant children in C-U

DAILY ILLINI STAFF REPORTThe seventh annual Chris-

tie Clinic Illinois Marathon will take place this week-end, with 1,874 participants enrolled in the marathon as of Monday.

The marathon begins on First Street and St. Mary’s Road and ends on the 50 yard line of Memorial Stadium. Marathon related events, including multiple races, will take place throughout the weekend.

Registered runners can pick up their packet at the

ARC, 201 East Peabody Dr., Thursday from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. and Friday from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Additionally, runners can attend “Biaggi’s Pasta Feed” at the ARC on Friday from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Amby Bur-foot, 1968 Boston Marathon winner and Runner’s World editor-at-large will speak at the dinner.

The 5K race will begin on Oak Street, south of St. Mary’s Road, at 7:30 p.m. Friday. On Saturday, the wheelchair half marathon

begins at 6:58 a.m. and the marathon, marathon relay and half marathon races begin at 7 a.m. The 10K run/walk begins at 7:42 a.m., and events conclude with a youth run at 2:30 p.m.

A Einstein Bros Bagels Bite Bar will provide free coffee and tea on First Street, north of the start line, on Saturday from 5:30 to 8 a.m.

There will be a 27th-Mile Celebrate Victory Bash sponsored by Meijer and hosted by Visit Cham-

paign County. The bash will include music and food and will take place between First and Fourth Street from 8 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on Saturday.

At the end of Saturday’s events, the Fat City Bar and Grill at 505 S. Chestnut Street in Champaign will host a celebration starting at 7 p.m. Marathon partic-ipants providing proof of participation will receive free admission, $5 off any food order, and the chance to see the band 90’s Daughter.

Illinois Marathon bolts onto campus Friday

vice worked together to ensure “everyone is very comfortable” on Thursday.

There were no specific details available about Biden’s arrival and schedule due to security concerns, but “people should expect to see a couple more police officers and some different security measures in place,” Wade said.

The last White House vis-it to the University was in January 1998, when for-mer President Bill Clinton appeared alongside his Vice President Al Gore. Clinton spoke at Assembly Hall and addressed new programs introduced during his State of the Union address the night before.

versity has not issued a for-mal response to Pompilus’ letter.

Pompilus said she believes the “It’s On Us” campaign, especially in light of Biden’s visit, could be used to promote a zero-tolerance policy at the Uni-versity for students found in violation of the code of conduct.

Pompilus said she pur-sued the protocol in place with the Office for Student Conflict Resolution after her assault. She said she did not report the crime to any police departments, but the offender was found in violation of the code of conduct by the University’s sexual assault panel.

She said he was lat-er allowed to petition to a hearing committee, which resulted in his offi-cial readmission to the University.

“I did go through the process. The student was found in violation of the code, only dismissed for a semester and allowed to return,” Pompilus said.

Robin Kaler, campus spokeswoman, said the Uni-versity’s discipline system strives to provide a pro-cess that is “fair and equi-table to both victims and respondents.”

“We are in the process of revising our policies and procedures to reflect recent recommendations and regulatory require-ments,” Kaler said. “We are considering how to incor-porate additional opportu-nities for victim input. As we do that, we will work with victims and their advocates to provide an opportunity for their voic-

es to be heard.”Brian Siegel, former

student senator and for-mer Illini Media employ-ee, also spoke during the member comment in sup-port of Pompilus’ push for zero-tolerance legislation to strengthen the Univer-sity’s commitment to the message of the “It’s On Us” campaign.

“I’m here because Lin-cy’s story is so inspiring,” Siegel said. “It seems like there’s something so fun-damentally wrong with the system that a student was found guilty and allowed back into the system. In that regard, I urge this body to try to urge for a zero-tolerance policy. Once you commit that evil, you should not be allowed amongst our student body.”

ISS Vice President-External Matt Hill said he is optimistic about the future of “It’s On Us” regarding legislation and feels it has already made strides on campus.

“For a survivor to feel comfortable enough to come share their person-al story in a room filled with student senators and strangers to us, that’s a win,” Hill said. “‘It’s On Us’ is making it OK for people to support survivors and when it comes down to it, that’s what the campaign is about.”

Student Body President Mitch Dickey said Pompi-lus’ story would not fade away and her issues will be addressed.

“‘It’s On Us’ is the face (of the sexual assault con-versation) but there’s a lot of policy conversation going on,” Dickey said. “This will not be the last time her story will be told.”

[email protected]

CONFLICTFROM 1A

ISSFROM 1A

BIDENFROM 1A

0

5 years or younger

Unaccompanied minors in the U.S.More unaccompanied minors are crossing the U.S. Mexico Border and are younger than ever before.

5000

1000

0

1500

0

2000

0

2500

0

3000

0

3500

0

4000

0

6-12 years old

13-17years old

FY 2013

FY 2014

SOURCE: Pew Research Center analysis of U.S. Customs and BorderProtection, Enforcement Integrated Database Records

THE DAILY ILLINI

“It’s On Us” campus events scheduleThe University has been focusing on community responsibility for sexual assault all year with the national “It’s On Us” campaign. The Student Senate worked with Vice President Joe Biden to organize his speech at Campus Recreation Center East Thursday and other campus RSOs on campus will be holding events in recognition of April being Sexual Assault Awareness Month.Thursday• Vice President Joe

Biden’s “It’s On Us” speech at Campus Recreation Center East — 1 p.m.

Monday, April 27• Dish It Up: The Mask

You Live In: Men, Masculinity, and the Movement to End Violence Against Women at the Women’s Resources Center — noon-1 p.m.

Wednesday, April 29• Denim Day: A campaign

started by Peace Over Violence inspired by a rape conviction in Rome assuming the victim must have helped her

alleged rapist remove her jeans because the justices felt the victim’s tight jeans implied consent. Denim Day advocates wearing jeans in protest.

Thursday, April 30• Paint the Town Teal • ROTC Sexual Assault &

Harassment Prevention • Beat the Blame

Game by Catharsis Productions — 4-5:30 p.m. at 141 Wohlers Hall

• Take Back the Night — 6:30 p.m. at the Lincoln Square Mall to UI Campus

OPINIONS4ATHURSDAY

SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS | [email protected] with the subject “Letter to the Editor.” The Daily Illini reserves the right to edit for length, libel, grammar and spelling errors, and Daily Illini style or to reject any contributions. Letters must be limited to 300 words. Contributions must be typed and include the author’s name, address and phone number. University students must include their year in school and college.

Gov. Bruce Rauner dem-onstrated glaring igno-rance when he canceled

state funding of The Autism Program on World Autism Day at the start of this April — which also happens to be Autism Awareness Month.

On April 2, Rauner announced that he will freeze funding the state grant provided to the pro-gram, and in doing so will deprive the organization of the approximate $4 mil-lion of funding upon which it relies to provide servic-es and educational resourc-es to individuals affected by autism in Illinois.

Under Rauner’s budget cut, state funding for The Autism Program will end on June 30, leaving the grant-funded nonprofit organiza-tion completely underwater, and, according to a program affiliate at the University, likely unable to recover.

Nobody can deny that Illi-nois is well over its head in debt; however, defunding The Autism Program will have very negative implica-tions on individuals affect-ed by autism, and repre-sents a complete disregard for the right to equal oppor-tunities for education.

Cutting The Autism Pro-gram’s funding will likely prevent it from function-ing in any capacity and will effectively deny a large group of Illinois citizens the resources necessary to obtain educational curricu-lums and programing that suits their needs.

It will leave a devastating number of Illinois citizens uncared for and their par-ents and educators under-informed. Further, it will leave many without the ade-quate care they may nor-mally receive through such programs.

According to the pro-gram affiliate at the Univer-sity, the center located on the Urbana campus special-izes in making references and referrals, develops sup-port systems for families and schools and provides programming that serves to “enhance the community’s capacity and quality of ser-vices for individuals with autism spectrum disorders and their families.”

This program is particu-larly useful, given the low number of insurance plans that cover the types of ther-apies and health practices often used to treat autism (currently, treatment for autism is not covered under Medicaid). For many, the treatment provided by The Autism Program is a neces-sity. As there is no cure for this spectrum of neurologi-cal disorders, treatment is often necessary — for both severe and high-functioning cases.

The Autism Program serves as a financially feasi-ble alternative for the many families with children with autism spectrum disorders.

As of 2014, the Centers for Disease Control report-

ed that 1 in 68 children have been identified with autism spectrum disorder. This is a shockingly high statis-tic — particularly when one considers the exponential rate at which autism spec-trum disorder diagnoses have increased over the past decades. Given the preva-

lence of autism in American households, it is great sup-port to many families for programs to have this state-funded care.

Trailing behind the denied access to proper care will be an increase in misinforma-tion. With the rise of people against vaccinations, I think we can all agree on the dan-gers that accompany knowl-edge acquirement via the Internet. As the anti-vaxxers have proven time and time again, the general population of the U.S. is not ready for that responsibility of decid-ing for themselves what reli-able, credible information is and what it is not.

Access to a virtually unlimited amount of online information has rendered itself just as dangerous as it is beneficial.

By defunding The Autism Program, Illinois citizens will be cut off from the med-ical knowledge necessary to treat, understand and diag-nose autism. This uninten-tional ignorance will yield a plethora of negative and harmful results to both the autism spectrum disorders

community, as well as those who love and care for them.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, autism spectrum disorder “occurs in all racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic groups.” It is a problem that has grown significantly in recent years, due to increased knowledge of the spectrum of disorders, as well as changing criteria for diagnoses.

A disorder so prevalent should be visible to citi-zens, and in turn, these citi-zens should be provided with resources that can inform and help them to live healthy and successful lives. Defund-ing The Autism Program will hinder many from receiving this treatment and educa-tion, and it will yield negative effects for those who cannot afford uninsured, alternate methods of treatment.

As students on a campus that houses an affiliate of the program, we should be espe-cially aware of its defunding and the heavy implications it will have.

Carly is a junior in FAA. [email protected]

Autism Program needs full funding

THE DAILY ILLINI

EDITORIAL

Student-athletes

should be compensated for hard work

CARLY CHARLES

Opinions columnist

A NOT SO FULL HOUSE

Q U I C K COMMENTARY

ORANGE YOU SAD?

So we don’t know who did what to hurt Kraft Foods, but seriously, people, someone just go give this company a hug. Not only did they sell their com-pany to Heinz a month ago (which will cause tons of current Kraft employees to lose their jobs ... to ketchup), but they also just announced they are going to stop making their famous Mac & Cheese so neon orange. They claim it’s for health reasons, but we’ve never felt worse.

It’s been circulating recently that a “Full House” spin-off might be coming to Netflix in 2016. While it would be exciting to see John Stamos on our screens again, the verdict isn’t in on the Olsen twins reprising their role as Michelle Tanner, espe-cially since you would only need one of them. Maybe their younger sister will fill in, but we all just need to know what’s happening. Have mercy! The antici-pation is just too much!

As a Jewish-American in this community, I have pro-tested Israel’s occupation of Palestine since 1999. The real-ities of American and Israe-li imperialism have become clear to increasing numbers, especially since the second Intifada in 2000. Neverthe-less, these realities are con-stantly challenged by well-funded propagandists.

The Daily Illini chose to publish an advertisement from a group (perversely) called “Facts and Logic in the Middle East” in its April 20 edition. While I am a free speech absolutist, I would note

that such a hateful and rac-ist advertisement would never be permitted if it were titled “Can the U.S. — Can the World — Afford a Jewish State?” instead of the advertisement’s actual title, which replaces “Jewish” with “Palestinian.”

The ad claims: “Blood-thirsty violence wreaked by Islamic terror groups in Syr-ia, Iraq, Egypt, Yemen, Libya and Tunisia has created epic instability in the Middle East. This regional jihad is being waged by the Islamic State, al Qaeda affiliates, al Nus-ra Front, Hizbollah, Hamas, Houthi rebels and, most prom-

inently, Iran.” It fails to men-tion the fundamental, aggres-sive and ongoing roles of the U.S. and Israel in fomenting such violence.

The ad claims: “While Isra-el, the United States and oth-er nations have worked in good faith to create a Pales-tinian state, the Palestinians themselves have consistent-ly rejected requirements that would ensure Israel’s security and survival.” The historical truth is, of course, the exact opposite.

These blatant distortions occur in a repressive local environment that has over

the years been enforced by campus administration, Hil-lel, Jewish Federation and oth-ers; all in support of absurd and self-aggrandizing notions of Israeli and American purity and exceptionalism. For either of these countries and the Middle East to move toward peace with justice, this hid-eous propaganda has to be deconstructed and replaced by truths that ultimately are relatively easily understood.

Israel is not a victim; it is a perpetrator.

David Green, Academic Professional

LETTER TO THE EDITORPropaganda must be deconstructed, replaced by truths to improve foreign relations

This week, The Daily Il-lini ran a four-part se-ries detailing the rela-tionship between the University’s athlet-

ic department and the athlet-ic apparel manufacturing gi-ant Nike Inc. The series used information gathered through Freedom of Information Act requests to showcase the con-tract that more or less pro-vides student-athletes with free apparel, uniforms and oth-er gear.

The contract mandates that the athletic department solely outfit and sell Nike gear and ap-parel, and in return the depart-ment receives $325,000 annually from Nike.

While getting free Nike gear can be exciting for many stu-dent-athletes, we take issue with the NCAA and its decision not to regulate these types of con-tracts. Further, we take issue with the NCAA — a “nonprofit,” $6 billion annual business — and its choice not to pay student-ath-letes.

Many student-athletes are awarded scholarships to attend their universities, which alle-viates some financial burdens. However, the devotion required of student-athletes to their sports means, for the most part, they cannot work jobs through-out college. It is their decision to take part in such demanding sports, but for some student-ath-letes, an athletic scholarship is the only chance they have to at-tend an institution like the Uni-versity.

From the hours of training, working out and practicing, stu-dent-athletes already face diffi-culties maintaining their GPAs. Most cannot spare the extra time commitment of a 20-hour work week, considering the work regulations enforced by the NCAA for student-athletes.

Common arguments against “play for pay” are that it would create a bidding war for high-profile recruits, result in more transfers and provoke the growth of an open market of players. The “play for pay” ini-tiative would not only provide student-athletes the opportuni-ty to become financially respon-sible in a safer environment, but it would also allow student-athletes to live more comfort-ably or have a financial cushion in the case of a sudden loss of scholarship.

General assemblies and oth-er state entities continue to halt the decision to pay student-ath-letes, though. Just on Tuesday, a North Carolina bill requiring public universities to pay stu-dent-athletes was struck down by the state’s House of Repre-sentatives.

The University is limited to ordering $1.2 million worth of free apparel from Nike per fis-cal year in the recent adjust-ment to the original 2005 agree-ment. That is $1.2 million worth of clothing dedicated to athletes.

Do we think that student-athletes should have to pay for their own required gear? No. But we do believe that the NCAA must reexamine wheth-er it’s fair the University of Illi-nois and Nike continue to bene-fit off the hard work, dedication and sacrifice of 18- to 24-year-old college students without of-fering them reimbursement.

A WARM WELCOME FOR JOE BIDEN

Welcome to campus, Joe Biden! We’re so excited to have you. Not to say that nothing exciting ever happens in Champaign-Urbana, but ... well, noth-ing exciting ever happens in Champaign-Urbana. A few tips for your visit: Go to Black Dog, see what you can do about getting a Portillo’s on campus and, unlike Hillary Clinton, don’t go to Chipotle. The line is so long. Sorry those tips are all food related, but really, thanks for being here today!

TUCCI AND THE BEAST

Stanley Tucci, the best actor in the history of actors ever, has recently signed on to the new Beauty and the Beast live-action movie starring Emma Watson as Belle. Disney Gods, we ask you, can this movie get any better? While it would be nice to sign on Meryl Streep (because Meryl + Stanley = best act-ing duo since Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks), we can’t wait to see what Tucci’s new role will be. 2017 come sooner, please.

Cutting The Autism Program’s funding will likely prevent it from functioning in any capacity, negatively

impacting many families across the state.

1 out of 68 children have been identified

with autism spectrum disorder.

It costs about $17,000 more

anually to care for a child with

ASD than for a child without it.

The current estimate for

children with ASD is 120%

higher than it was in 2000.

Boys are almost 5 times more likely to be diagnosed with

ASD than girls.

Figures on children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

SOURCE: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Autism Society KELSIE TRAVERS THE DAILY ILLINI

EMMA GOODWINOPINIONS EDITORKAANAN RAJA

ASSISTANT OPINIONS EDITOR

THE DAILY ILLINI | WWW.DAILYILLINI.COM Thursday, April 23, 2015 5A

EDUMACATION JOHNIVAN DARBY

BEARDO DAN DOUGHERTY

DOONESBURY GARRY TRUDEAU

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13 14 15

16 17 18

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30 31 32 33 34

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39 40 41 42

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51 52 53 54 55

56 57 58

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62 63 64

56 “So that’s it!”57 Offended58 Hebrew letters on

dreidels59 ___ name60 Nestlé chocolate

bar since 198861 Chief belief62 Soprano Sumac63 Matured64 ___ fee

DOWN 1 Winter Olympics host

after Vancouver 2 Successor company to

Northern Natural Gas 3 Musicians Russell and

Redbone 4 Encyclopedia volume

on education reform? 5 Drapers’ units: Abbr. 6 “Well, well, well,” to a

Brit

7 Encyclopedia volume on poverty?

8 Quick 9 Swindled10 It would be “a crown

of glory in the hand of the Lord,” to Isaiah

11 Certain 10-Down resident

12 ___ moons17 Encyclopedia volume

on tailoring?20 Skating event21 Encyclopedia volume

on wealth accumula-tion?

23 URL ending25 The last Pope Pius28 XY29 “Since ___ You Baby”

(1956 hit)30 Fragrance from Dana

Perfumes31 Well aware of

32 1979 #1 hit whose title is sung with a stutter

33 Stadium cry37 Sheets on a

ship40 Mandela’s political

party, for short

42 Bugs might be seen in one

44 Kitchen tool48 Title ship in a W.W. II

film49 Hidden50 They sometimes come

in batteries

51 “Got that”52 Word of pardon54 White sheet57 Decline in prices58 Country singer Phillips

The crossword solution is in the Classified section.

ACROSS 1 Actor David of

“Dark Shadows” 6 Move slowly10 Get stuck13 Millennium starter14 Ward of

“CSI: NY”15 Laundry detergent

with Oxi Booster16 Brand of colorful

footwear17 Used up, with

“out”18 Showed cowardice,

say19 First word of many

bumper stickers20 Where to watch

some boxing matches

21 Deep red22 Alternatively24 Republic founded

in 183626 Comics character

who once solved a sudoku

27 Paperwork?30 “Alice in Won-

derland” director, 2010

34 Yusuf ___ a.k.a. Cat Stevens

35 “Dragonwyck” author Seton

36 What no two people can do?

38 Prefix with -graph39 ___ nova41 Indian chief called

King Philip43 Drive crazy45 Yves’s yesterday46 West African

capital47 Prohibited51 Train parts53 Some convention

organizers: Abbr.55 Stick by the front

door, say

NEW YORK TIMES CROSSWORD

create over 1,000 pop fla-vors, but that might take a little longer.

“I think we have a thou-sand flavors; we just don’t have names for them all yet,” Shannon said.

The ingredients for pops usually come from co-op grocery stores or local farmers markets and are made in small batches to keep the quality high.

“This stuff is definite-ly for somebody who has a sweet tooth; it’s not like a salad, but it’s real fruits and stuff. It has antioxidants and nutrients,” Shannon said.

Their passion for food and the food business has led them to create a philan-thropic mission for The Pop Stop: donating to local and global charities that com-bat malnutrition and water scarcity.

“One thing that people struggle with all over the world is a lack of food; it’s one of the basic needs that everybody needs,” Dick said. “As we get more funds, we certainly plan to kick it up.”

In addition to selling from their hand-painted truck, The Pop Stop team also caters events and parties.

They plan to have their truck out in time for the Christie Clinic Illinois Mar-

athon on Saturday. Going into the upcoming season, the team has big plans, including adding popcorn to the menu, trying new loca-tions on campus and adding bike carts to expand their selling outlets.

The bike carts can sell anywhere there’s a side-walk, providing a more on-the-go Pop Stop experience. Kendall explained how one of the main challenges in the business’s first year was fig-uring out the best places to sell, so the bike carts will allow them to access more places with ease.

The Pop Stop has gained publicity by being present at different festivals (such as Taste of Champaign-Urbana), launching a sam-pling program to local busi-nesses and expanding into new catering opportunities such as kids’ birthday par-ties and park district sport-ing events.

“Anywhere where there’s people, that’s definitely this year’s goal: to get our faces out there,” Dick said.

They hope their efforts, along with an increased social media presence, will establish their name in the C-U food truck scene, which is an evolving and exploding community that was voted as the #19 top U.S. city to open a food truck by Mobile-Cuisine.com in 2013.

Kendall said they view being “young pioneers”

and being in C-U as a huge advantage. He said they feel like the environment is less competitive and more focused on learning and working together with oth-er food trucks.

“They understand the same kind of stuff that we’re going through,” Dick said. “They’ve all opened in the last year or two — every-body’s learning at the same time.”

What sets them apart, in their opinion, is the quality of the product they serve, which is focused on being healthy, fresh and often locally grown.

But their favorite part of running their own business is seeing the customers’ reactions and being able to work with each other.

“There’s not many jobs you get to choose ‘Can I work with these guys?’” Kendall said.

Looking forward, they said they’re going to follow wherever the road takes them — literally. Once they prove their business model, Dick said they hope to take The Pop Stop outside of C-U.

“There’s three of us. Who knows what’s going to hap-pen in five years?” Shannon said. “Maybe we all move somewhere and start one everywhere, you know? That’d be cool.”

emscott5@ dailyillini.com

ics have spread quickly, but there needs to be more con-versations about these injus-tices that are frank and ear-nest, especially issues that can be swept under the rug in this community.

“I like to talk about these issues with broader strokes or about other areas that I’ve visited to feel that I can present something that is more dynamic to paint about,” Allston said.

His most recent work was inspired by a visit to Fergu-son back in October. He wit-nessed 500 people in front of the police department dur-ing the Ferguson National Day Against Police Brutali-ty. Arrests were being made; police were in riot gear; tear gas was being set off. Being apart of such an intense sit-uation, Allston said he felt inspiration to paint a mes-sage that he feels is essen-tial to spreading awareness of the injustices that have been going on across the country.

While working on a piece in New York City, the Michael Brown trial deci-sion was released. Allston was exposed to the riots and chaos that filled the streets.

Both trips to Ferguson and New York left him with an overload of inspiration.

“Seeing that many people mobilized in the street and energized about that topic gave me a lot of imagery to work with and a lot of ener-gy to keep making and pro-ducing. It’s something that I’ve been thinking about for a long time,” he said. “See-ing that first hand, then not seeing those situations being reflected anywhere on national news was frustrat-ing in a new way but ener-gizing in a new way, that this message has to get out, and this many people are mobi-lizing the situation to spread awareness.”

Up until his recent visits to both Ferguson and New York, Allston said he had never seen so much sup-port for bringing aware-ness and finding some kind of solution.

“Its cool to see (the sup-port and awareness) grow-ing, and I try to pull some of that into my artwork. I don’t know how much you can necessarily do with a painting, especially with a painting that’s on canvas. They have a really limited audience,” Allston said. “But I’m a painter, and I have to communicate what I can communicate.”

[email protected]

POP STOPFROM 6A

LANGSTONFROM 6A

BRENTON TSE THE DAILY ILLINIThe Pop Stop is preparing for its second year under the ownership of brothers Matthew Dick and Barrett Kendall and for its re-opening Saturday.

CARTOON LANGSTON ALLSTON DAILY ILLINILangston Allston, a Champaign-Urbana muralist and University alumnus, was at one time a cartoonist for The Daily Illini.

6A | THURSDAY, APRIL 23, 2015 | WWW.DAILYILLINI.COM

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A C o n g re g a t i o n o f S t u d e n t s i n t h e H e a r t o f C a m p u s L i f e

Ice pop food truck kicks o! its second year Saturday

BY EMILY SCOTTSTAFF WRITER

Matthew Dick and his young-er brother Barrett Kendall have always been interested in busi-ness. The only question was what they’d do.

When they recently acquired two mobile trailers and got their best friend Neal Shannon on board, they saw the perfect opportunity to create their first business pursuit, which became The Pop Stop, Inc., a food truck that doubles as a cater-ing business; it serves homemade artisan ice pops to the Champaign-Urbana community.

“(Kendall) and I have been head-ed into business since we were lit-tle kids; it’s only natural that one of our life-long friends has joined us,” Dick said.

Through The Pop Stop, which will be in its second year of opera-tion, Dick said they hope to learn

as much as they can about business while creating a top-notch products that people love.

“Basically, I make the pops, (Kendall) sells the pops, and (Dick) keeps track of the money,” Shan-non said.

So far, Dick said the response they’ve received from customers about their ice pops has been both exceptional as well as encouraging.

“Generally, (customers will) bite into it, turn around and be like, ‘This is the most amazing thing ever!’” Dick said.

The team described how com-ing up with flavors is part of the fun. The pops can be based in gela-to, frozen yogurt or sorbet. Flavor ideas usually come from research-ing online, transferring recipes for other treats into frozen form, or walking down grocery store aisles and mixing together whatever sounds good.

“(Shannon’s) the king of coming up with unusual flavors,” Kendall said, citing their maple bacon cook-ie dough pop, a surprising hit with customers that uses caramelized bacon and homemade cookie dough.

Some of the more popular flavors include strawberry kiwi, strawber-ry rhubarb pie and banana pudding.

“I get that question all the time, and I don’t really know what to say,” Shannon said, regarding what fla-vor is most popular. “I just give dif-ferent answers every time because there’s so many different flavors and an infinite amount we could come up with. They’re all good.”

Though they keep some of the more popular flavors in the rota-tion, they change them up every few weeks. Usually three to six are offered each time they set up shop.

Ultimately, they hope to one day

BY FRANCES WELCHSTAFF WRITER

Hidden gems are scat-tered throughout Cham-paign-Urbana. With several located throughout the com-munity, one is hidden in the back of Shatterglass Stu-dios; another is in the “biker alley” between Courier Café and Cafeteria & Company. Each of these gems capture local history and stories.

Langston Allston, Uni-versity alumnus in FAA, is behind t h e s e g e m s , c r e at i n g m u r a l s that bring forth a c olorfu l , one-frame snapshot to tell a story that holds close to the com-munity.

At 23, Allston is still exploring his creative opportunities, being pulled city-after-city to fill empty walls and create a meaning-ful message that balances and combines both his artis-tic measure and political views.

For as long as he can remember, Allston has drawn everyday, but he found his love for painting murals when he finished his first in 2013 — one of the hid-den gems that lies in Down-town Urbana’s “biker alley.” He learned the ins-and-out of mural painting, grasping the technique that stayed true to his artistic style yet caught the public eye.

Brett Hays is one public eye that became enamored with Allston’s technique. He had the muralist recreate a scene from “Back To The Future” to go on the back of Shatterglass Studios, a film company in downtown Champaign.

Hays, who is co-owner and producer of Shatter-glass, hired Allston since he strives for constant per-fection in his work. Hays said he feels that this qual-ity is something that isn’t seen in artists very often, only in ones who become successful.

“There’s something unique about Langston because he continually gets better. Many young artists want to be successful with-

out putting hours upon hours upon hours into their work, and the thing about Langston is he’s paint-ing even if no one is buying it,” Hays said. “It’s some-thing that you don’t see very

often, and I think that he will become very success-ful. All the great artists, they weren’t born great art-ists. They had to work hard to get to (where they are).”

Allston paints on what-ever surface he can find — metal, brick, cement. If there’s an open wall up for grabs, Allston said he wants it. Public painting is a chance for him to express a message that is often untold, a message that resonates and identifies with viewers, or help someone else,

“I’m from (C-U), and I love this community, but I want to talk about things that are much wider,” Allston said. “There are issues that are pervasive throughout the country, issues of injus-tice and social justice, like racism.”

With the help of the Inter-net, he feels that these top-

Local artist paints for social changeLangston Allston creates murals to illuminate issues of injustice

SEE POP STOP | 5A

SEE LANGSTON | 5A

FRANCES WELCH THE DAILY ILLINIArtist Langston Allston in front of Seth Fein’s house, which features a mural Allston did of Fein’s childhood librarian with Vashti McCollum, a Champaign native who struck down religious education in public schools.

BRENTON TSE THE DAILY ILLINIThe Pop Stop, a Champaign-Urbana based ice pop food truck, will open at the Christie Clinic Illinois Marathon on Saturday.

“It’s cool to see, the support and

awareness, growing, and I try to pull

some of that into my artwork.”

LANGSTON ALLSTONUNIVERSITY ALUMNUS PAINTER

BY MICHAL DWOJAKSTAFF WRITER

A large black plaque and eight smaller ones hang on the wall behind the Illinois Field press box. Written on the large board is “Past Illinois players in the Major Leagues with at Least 1 year of service” with 36 names listed. The eight individual plaques have greater detail — a picture of each young man with his name and the professional teams he played for.

Thousands of fans, play-ers and coaches pass these plaques each season. Some stop and take a glance while others move past it on their way to the two adjacent condiments stands to fi nd ketchup, mustard, popcorn seasoning and napkins.

On a beautiful, sunny day without a cloud in the sky, the sun shines upon the gold letters of the testament to time, creating a glow that only legends deserve.

There are two names that shine even on cloudy days for Illinois baseball’s Casey Fletcher. One lies on the large black plaque and reads “Tom Fletcher, Det Tigers 1962,” while the other is a plaque with a photo of a smiling base-ball player, under which is written “Darrin Fletcher, Drafted Los Angeles NL 1989-90, Philadelphia NL 1990-91, Montreal NL 1992-1997, Retired Toronto AL 1997-2002.”

They are the names of his grandfather and father. The journey to follow in their footsteps didn’t go as easi-ly as planned, but it’s made him stronger and ready for the next step in his journey.

***Casey sat at his table

inside Hickory River

Smokehouse in Urbana. Before him on his plate sat a pulled pork sandwich with medium sauce, corn bread, applesauce and macaroni and cheese . The high school senior was excited to be in a room fi lled with the smell of barbecue in the middle of a school day — he had traveled to Urbana from his hometown in Oakwood, Illinois, to visit with Illinois baseball’s head coach Dan Hartleb.

Fletcher’s youth was dif-ferent from most boys. His father, Darrin Fletcher, was a major league base-ball player. Casey grew up going to Montreal Expo and Toronto Blue Jay games, hanging out in the club-house with his dad’s team-mates, even some Hall of Famers. All of this was nor-mal for Casey: He thought all children had athlete fathers and could go to any game they pleased.

It was not until Casey was 12, after his father retired, that he realized how lucky he was that his grandfather and father had played in the majors. He reminisces about taking batting prac-tice in a hitting cage set up in his grandpa’s barn in Oakwood.

“It was great to have those guys because I had a hitting coach my whole entire life,” Casey said.

“As soon as he retired, he watched all of my games to support me and give words of advice, and that’s the key thing for me, I don’t know what I would’ve done if I didn’t have a dad being there to support me like he did.”

Casey played Pony League in Canada and played for a few travel teams before arriving at Oakwood High School. At Oakwood, he wasn’t only limited to the plate. Casey posted a 4-2 record, 3.54 ERA and 48 strikeouts on the mound while batting .450 during his senior year.

Even with his high school success, there were few offers to play Division I baseball. Many coaches

didn’t think he was mature or could handle the day-to-day grind. But Hart-leb decided to meet with him in the smokehouse just off Interstate 74. The coach told Casey that he couldn’t assure him a spot, but encouraged him to play junior college ball. After two years, Hartleb agreed to give him another look.

Although Casey wasn’t happy with how the lunch went, he knew what he had to do in order to contin-ue the family tradition of playing at Illinois. Casey’s great-grandfather Glenn Fletcher even played base-ball for the Illini.

“It was very special to me,” Casey said. “I didn’t know where I was going to

go. I really wanted to come here, but just being able to have that backing from (Hartleb), just to say ‘Hey, maybe you should do this, we’ll give you a look in two years,’ that was just really special to me.”

***Eric Snider stood just

beyond the dugout of the Kankakee Community Col-lege Baseball Field during a game in the spring of 2013. There aren’t many stands for the Cavaliers’ home fi eld — it’s a diamond with two sets of bleachers and a dug-out for the home and visit-ing teams.

The then-Illinois assis-tant coach drove up to Kankakee, Illinois, to watch Casey. He arrived

two hours early to see the sophomore. Snider watched as Casey caught balls in the outfi eld and fi red them all the way back to home plate. He watched as Casey warmed up by hitting a ball off a plank. This kid seemed a lot different from the high schooler Snider had seen two years earlier.

Casey was a two-time NJCAA All-American dur-ing his two years at Kanka-kee, earning third-team honors both years. He hit .397 and .381 during his freshman and sophomore years, respectively, and was second in NJCAA Division II baseball in 2013 with 69 RBIs. He had put in the

SPORTS1BTHURSDAY

MEN’S TENNIS BIG TEN TOURNAMENT FRI: 10 A.M.SAT: NOONSUN: NOONATKINS TENNIS CENTER

MEN’S GOLFBIG TEN CHAMPIONSHIPSFRI-SUN: ALL DAYNEWBURGH, IND.

WEEKEND ROUNDUP:SOFTBALLILL VS. PURFRI: 5:30 PM SAT: 1 P.M.SUN: NOONEICHELBERGER FIELD

WOMEN’S TENNISBIG TEN TOURNAMENT FRI: 2 P.M.SAT: 2 P.M.SUN: NOONEVANSTON, IL.

TRACK AND FIELDDRAKE RELAYSMEN’SFRI; 11:10 A.M.SAT: 10:20 A.M.

Final threads of Nike’s contract

BY MICHAL DWOJAKSTAFF WRITER

Editor’s note: This is the last in a four-part series about the cost of outfi tting a student-athlete. The information included in these stories is from an Illinois Freedom of Information Act request fi led by The Daily Illini on the University’s contract with Nike.

From basketballs to sweatbands, the University’s contract with Nike provides Illinois athletics with everything its athletes need.

With the everyday equipment also comes special uniforms that Nike provides to the teams. The most prominent special uniform that the athletic program has

unveiled during the 2014-2015 school year was the “Grey Ghost” uniform for the football team.

The team released a video showing how excited the student-athletes were when former Illi-ni quarterback Juice Williams walked into the team meeting room revealing the uniform. Illi-nois wore the uniform during its Homecoming game against Min-nesota, generating a buzz around the program that was only magni-fi ed when the Illini defeated the Golden Gophers, 28-24.

The University’s agreement with Nike benefi ts the men’s bas-ketball team. According to Kent Brown, associate director of ath-letics for media relations, the aver-age cost for a court shoe is $87.50, but the pair cost ranges from $80 to $95. Each student-athlete ini-tially receives at least two pairs, but the Division of Intercollegiate Athletics purchases more as each

athlete wears their pairs down in competition and practice.

Some of the basketball shoes come at no cost to the Universi-ty. When the athletic department has to order more than two pairs for certain players, Nike provides some pairs for free because Illi-nois is considered one of Nike’s Elite programs.

Nike has also provided the Uni-versity teams with uniforms for charitable causes. During the vol-leyball season, the Illini wore pink jerseys during their match against Indiana on Oct. 24. The 18 jerseys were given to fans who bought them in a silent auction earlier in the season. During the annual Breast Cancer Awareness match, the Illini Networkers raised over $5,000 for the Mills Breast Cancer Institute at Carle Hospital in Urba-na. Other sports, such as the wom-en’s basketball team, also received pink jerseys to raise awareness for

breast cancer.So who is the winner in Nike’s

contract with the University?Student-athletes get thousands

of dollars in free gear — every-thing from fl ip fl ops and backpacks to shoulder pads and helmets.

Coaches get a recruiting tool — fl ashy game uniforms with argu-ably the most recognizable apparel logo in sports. Athletic administra-tors get a bone to throw boosters — a clean color scheme and on-the-fi eld image — as well as free apparel of their own.

Charities get a boost in dona-tions with special jerseys — not to mention the awareness that a major collegiate athletic program

can bring to a needy cause.Fans get the opportunity to show

their team spirit by donning new gear every year — a perfect birth-day present for loyal fans of all ages.

And then there’s Nike, which gets extensive advertising across the University athletic campus as well as on the clothing, hats and shoes of every single Illinois student-athlete.

It all falls in the shadow of the swoosh, a symbol that carries as much value to the University as the Block I.

[email protected]@mdwojak94

KEVIN VONGNAPHONE THE DAILY ILLINIIllinois’ Reilly O’Toole carries the ball during the homecoming game against Minnesota at Memorial Stadium on Oct. 25.

Illinois at Penn StateWhen/Where: at University Park, PennsylvaniaFriday, 5:30 p.m. Saturday, 1 p.m.Sunday, 9 a.m. Quick note: Illinois looks to build its 14-game winning streak when it travel to play the Nitanny Lions.Hidden stat: Illinois’ 14-game winning streak is the longest active streak in the nation.

Fletcher continues Illini family legacy

KEVIN VONGNAPHONE THE DAILY ILLINIIllinois’ Casey Fletcher swings at the ball during the baseball game vs. Indiana at Illinois Field on April 17.

SEE FLETCHER | 2B

BASEBALLILL VS. PENN STATEFRI: 5:30 PM SAT: 1 P.M.SUN: 9 A.M.UNIVERSITY PARK, PA.

WOMEN’S GOLFBIG TEN CHAMPIONSHIPSFRI-SUN: 8 A.M.INDIANAPOLIS, IND.

B1G

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Casey Fletcher hopes to follow in his family’s footsteps

Special uniforms, gear in Nike, Illini partnership

Students, athletes weigh inWill Krug, senior baseball player“It’s awesome (to have all of this stuff provided to the athletes).” “We take it for granted, we’re absolutely spoiled. We get a great amount from our baseball program and the athletic department and they really take care of us here, so I think we take it for granted, but for some people it doesn’t go unnoticed.”

Hamza Ashan, junior in LAS“At the end of the day they (the student-athletes) are putting in their time and the effort and it’s not that big a deal.”“The university does make a lot off of athletics, it’s not a big deal since they don’t pay their athletes so this just some sort of compensation for the student athletes at the university

SEE VIDEO ONLINE: Visit www.DailyIllini.com for video coverage and the complete Nike apparel series

work to draw the attention of the Illini after two years in junior college.

That evening two years ago, Snider saw Fletch-er’s four at-bats. After the game, Casey joined him behind the dugout. The sophomore was quiet, a trait Snider believes indi-cates confidence and is the essence of a good baseball player. The assistant told him he should consider coming to Illinois and try out for one of the open out-field spots.

Casey smiled, his hard work had finally paid off.

“He had worked hab-its where you could tell he loved to work,” Snider

recalled. “I just thought it was going to be a great fit for the type of player that we want to bring in to Illinois.”

After the two were done talking, Casey called his father to tell him the good news. His father told Casey there was no pressure from him to choose Illinois. Oth-er schools, such as More-head State and St. Leo were offering him playing oppor-tunities. But the choice was obvious to Casey.

“All the work that I had done for those two years, I’d finally gotten the opportu-nity to come and play here.”

***Darrin Fletcher stood in

the stands of Illinois Field on a sunny April Saturday. The Illini were getting set to face Purdue. Friends and

fans passed by with greet-ings and a handshake, say-ing how great the season was going for the Illini. He’s made nearly every home game this season.

He walked down the steps toward the fence that sep-arates the field from the spectators.

Players started to come out of the clubhouse and make their way onto the field as Darrin leaned against the fence. His son made his way down the fence and found Darrin wearing a white baseball cap with an orange polo and sunglasses. The two shook hands and exchanged words, Casey scuffed his feet on the warning track while his father continued to lean, listen and answer.

Casey had made the team

during the fall of 2013. Last season, he was a third-team All-Big Ten outfielder and led the Illini with six home runs, which ranked fourth in the Big Ten. He had three consecutive game-winning hits. This year, he hasn’t skipped a beat. He’s bat-ting .333 this season with 25 RBIs, three home runs and stellar defensive play in the outfield that fellow senior outfielder Will Krug calls “instinctual.”

But it’s not only his per-formance on the field that makes him a team leader — he isn’t afraid to crack a joke when the situation is tense.

Casey’s baseball future is uncertain. He will play the rest of the season and wait for the MLB draft to see if he’s selected. He will con-

tinue to work as he did to make it to Illinois, trying to continue the family tra-dition that was started by his grandfather.

“He’s finding his own niche, he’s his own player,” Darrin Fletcher said. “He’s different then I was and different than his grandfa-ther. It’s neat to watch and be a part of it and have his grandfather watch it too.”

Casey went 4-for-4 in that April 11 game against Pur-due, with an RBI and two runs scored. He made his way to the press box of Illi-nois Field and credited the strong performance from pitcher Kevin Duchene and the team’s ability to get after the Purdue pitch-er. He took a picture that was posted on the team’s Twitter page, but after, he

returned to his family.On Mom’s Weekend, all

the senior moms threw out a first pitch to their sons and Casey was proud to say that his mother threw a perfect strike.

***The gleam coming from

the gold letters dims as the sun sets for the day. It’s a fitting analogy for Casey’s career at Illinois as he read-ies for his final few series.

He’s traveled a long road to make it where he is today, but there’s still some work left to be done.

Maybe one day the sun will rise and shine on the plaque as it usually does and a third Fletcher name will glow.

[email protected] @mdwojak94

2B Thursday, April 23, 2015 THE DAILY ILLINI | WWW.DAILYILLINI.COM

BY CHRIS KENNEDY STAFF WRITER

The Illinois men’s tennis team almost completed a perfect Big Ten season last weekend. Now, it’ll have to run the conference gaunt-let again as it hosts the Big Ten Tournament from Thursday to Sunday. The Illini last won the tourna-ment title in 2012.

With a win over Wiscon-sin on April 19, the Illini clinched a share of their first regular-season Big Ten title since 2005. Illi-nois has one loss in con-ference play, which was against Minnesota 4-3 on April 17.

“We’ve talked as a team about the situation ... We’re moving forward,” said senior Ross Guignon of the loss to Minnesota. “Every-one’s getting dialed in and pushing each other.”

The doubles point will be crucial for Illinois this weekend. The team shook up its doubles line-up in mid-March, result-ing in six-straight doubles points before the loss to Minnesota.

The recent doubles pairs have been junior Jared

Hiltzik and senior Tim Kopinski; Guignon and freshman Aron Hiltzik; and senior Farris Gosea and freshman Aleks Vukic.

“We’re focusing on dou-bles because I feel like our singles may be one of the best in the country,” Vukic said. “Our doubles, if we get that, I don’t see us los-ing to many people.”

The Illini will most like-ly have to beat Ohio State again or Minnesota if they want to win the conference tournament. The aforemen-tioned three teams tied for the Big Ten regular-season title.

Illinois has beaten Ohio State twice this year; how-ever, OSU has been a con-sistent thorn in the side of Illinois in postseason play. Every other year since 2005, the Buckeyes have eliminated the Illini — Ohio State won the tour-nament in each of those years.

Over the last 20 years, Illinois is the only team to show any semblance of home-court advantage in the tournament. They’ve hosted the tournament two times over that span (1998

and 2005) and won each time — something no oth-er school has done.

“It’s awesome,” Kopins-ki said of playing at home. “We get great crowds usu-ally, so it’s going to be a lot of fun. Plus, the magnitude of the Big Ten Tournament hopefully brings more fans. It’s going to be a special

moment for (the team).” Playing at home is a

unique situation for the senior class. While they were honored at a senior day ceremony against Nebraska, they ideally

have five home matches remaining with the Big Ten Tournament and as potential hosts of an NCAA Regional.

“It is a very, very big impact.” Guignon said.

“We’ve talked about not over-hyping the situation, so when the moment does come we’re ready,”

[email protected]

BY JONATHAN JOFFESTAFF WRITER

The last time the Illinois women’s tennis team went to Evanston, Illinois, on March 20, its players were confident that they would leave with a victory; how-ever, the team suffered a 6-1 loss.

On Friday, head coach Michelle Dasso’s team returns to Evanston with much higher stakes. The No. 6 seed Illini open their Big Ten Tournament play against No. 3 seed North-western — the hosts of the tourney.

Illinois has since moved past the loss that followed with four more defeats, making for the team’s lon-gest losing streak of the season at five games.

Dasso and her players know what is at stake this time around.

“We need to win in order to continue our season, not just in the Big Ten Tourna-ment, but to get a bid in the NCAA tournament,” Dasso said. “We know what we’re playing for.”

Getting a win won’t come easily against Northwest-ern. The Wildcats have a storied history in the tournament to go along with their home-court advantage.

Northwestern has won 15 of the last 16 Big Ten tour-naments, including a win at last year’s tourney (which they also hosted).

Dasso can’t remember the last time Northwestern was as low as a No. 3 seed and referred to Northwest-ern’s run as a dynasty.

Nevertheless, Dasso said she believes the pressure is on Northwestern because the teams are playing on their turf.

While the odds are against Illinois, the Illini are on a seven-game win-ning streak and are confi-dent that they can beat the Wildcats.

“Unless you’re really inside our program, you don’t really think that we can win,” Dasso said. “Everyone internally in our program knows that we have a chance and that we certainly can get it done.”

Dasso said she wants her team to go out loose and relaxed on Friday but be prepared to fight against Northwestern.

Sophomore Madie Bail-lon said she knows she and her teammates will be prepared for the match and pointed out that this is certainly a different team than Northwestern previ-ously faced.

“We’ve all improved since (our last loss to Northwestern),” Baillon said. “Everybody is ready to go back out there and give it another shot.”

Baillon said the team needs to look past the loss suffered to Northwestern and remember how well the

Illini squad has been play-ing lately.

She said every player on Illinois is more confident than the last time the two teams met, and sophomore Jerricka Boone agreed.

“We feel very differ-ent from the last time we played (Northwestern),” Boone said. “We’re defi-nitely a lot more confident.”

There are three options for where the motivation to beat Northwestern comes from for Illinois: getting to the post-season, a revenge game and the fact that nobody outside of the pro-gram believes that Illinois can win.

In response to these options, Dasso answered “all of the above.”

Dasso noted that team chemistry is as high as it could be. She said it’s all about being relaxed and building memories.

[email protected]

Softball splits doubleheader against Northwestern

Tennis hosts home court at Big Ten Tournament

Women’s tennis to face Northwestern in tourney

Big Ten Tournament When/Where: 10 a.m., Thursday to Sunday at the Khan Outdoor Tennis Complex in the Atkins Tennis CenterTV/Radio: Live scoring at FightingIllini.comQuick notes: The Illini host the Big Ten tournament and are the top seed. They’ll need to shake off a late season loss to win their first title since 2012.Hidden stat: Three teams have won the tournament since 2000 and they’re this year’s top three seeds: Illinois, Ohio State and Minnesota.

Illinois vs. NorthwesternWhen: 2 p.m. Friday, Evanston, IllinoisQuick notes: Illinois lost 6-1 to Northwestern earlier in the season.Hidden stat: Northwestern has won 15 of the last 16 Big Ten tournaments.

FLETCHER FROM 1B

BRENTON TSE THE DAILY ILLINIIllinois’ Madie Baillon attempts to return the ball during the match against Rutgers on April 5. The Illini will face Northwestern on Friday.

KEVIN VONGNAPHONE THE DAILY ILLINIIllinois’ Aron Hiltzik makes a return during team’s 6-1 winning game against Iowa at Atkins Tennis Center on April 11.

BY ETHAN SWANSONSTAFF WRITER

Illinois softball pitcher Jade Vecvanags’ hot streak and the Illini’s win streak came to an end in their first game of a doubleheader at Northwestern.

Despite losing the first game 12-4 the red-hot right-hander and the Illi-nois offense bounced back to claim the second match-up of the day 9-8, splitting the series in Evanston, Illi-nois, to remain at fourth in the conference standings.

Entering the mid-week matchup with Northwest-ern (22-18, 10-6 Big Ten), Illinois (22-23, 11-6 Big Ten) had an opportunity to move up and share third place in the conference with Nebraska while finally get-ting over the .500 mark for

the first time this season.In just the first inning of

the doubleheader, it became evident that the Illini were not going to earn an overall winning record against the Wildcats.

After the front of the Illi-nois lineup went down in order to begin the outing, Vecvanags walked four bat-ters, allowing Northwestern to take a 1-0 lead without even recording a hit.

After a scoreless sec-ond inning by both teams, senior catcher Jess Perkins gave the Illini their first and only lead of the game with a three-run home run in the top of the third.

The Wildcats answered with their first hit of the day in the bottom of the third — a solo home run by junior Andrea Filler to make it 3-2

and kick off a nightmare of a half-inning for Illinois.

Northwestern would tack on eight more runs in the third, resulting from two w a l k e d -in runs, a t w o - r u n error, a wild pitch and three-run hom-er from S a m m y Nettling.

Ve c v a -nags was yanked in the midst of the d i s a s t e r inning, fin-ishing the game with eight walks and four earned runs on just two hits.

“The weather could have played a factor, but Jade isn’t the type to make excuses,” Head Coach Terri Sullivan said. “It was just a

day where it took her awhile to get dialed in. She’s been our leader in the circle all year, but some-t i m e s there just c o m e s a bad outing.”

N o r t h -w e s t e r n added two

more runs in the fourth inning off senior pitcher Shelese Arnold. A sacrifice

fly by Perkins in the top of the fifth would provide the Illini’s only other runs of the day — they dropped the first game in just five innings due to the mercy rule.

In the evening matchup of the doubleheader, it was Illinois that got out to an early lead. Sullivan’s team put up five runs in the top of the first with RBIs from infielders Ruby Rivera and Annie Fleming.

Vecvanags had a much easier time finding the strike zone in her second outing. In the first three innings, the sophomore only allowed three runs to keep the Wildcats at bay.

Both offenses lit up the scoreboard in the fourth inning, ending up tied at seven after Northwestern’s

Anna Edwards hit a two-run shot out of the park and Andrea DiPrima followed with an RBI double.

In the fifth, Sullivan made the gutsiest call of the day, pulling her ace in Vecvanags and giving the nod to freshman pitcher Kate Giddens.

In return, Giddens made her coach look like a genius. She allowed one run in the final three innings and pro-tected the late lead acquired by the Illini after an error on Northwestern’s first baseman scored two runs in the six inning.

The Illini comes home to Eichelberger Field for a three-game series this weekend against Purdue.

[email protected]

“It was just a day where it took

(Vecvanags) awhile to get dialed in. She’s been our leader in the

circle all year...”TERRI SULLIVAN

HEAD COACH

THE DAILY ILLINI | WWW.DAILYILLINI.COM Thursday, April 23, 2015 3B

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BY LUCAS WRIGHT STAFF WRITER

The Illinois women’s golf team will compete as the sixth seed at the Big Ten Tournament on April 24-26. The team is coming off three-straight top-six finishes.

The tournament will be held at The Fort Golf Course in Indianapolis, Indiana, a neutral site. The Illini have not played the course before, so they will focus heavily on its aspects dur-ing their practice rounds.

“The practice round on Thursday will be instru-

mental in creating a solid game plan for each indi-vidual,” head coach Renee Slone said. “We will be very diligent during that to take good notes and look at the information so that each player can be successful.”

Stephanie Miller will lead the Illini in this event. Mill-er has the most postseason experience on the team, having finished 15th in last year’s Big Ten Champion-ship. The sophomore is also coming off her best finish of the spring, a 10th-place finish at the Lady Buckeye Spring Invitational on April

18 and 19. Miller is confident in her team’s ability to con-tend with the higher ranked teams based off its recent success.

“I know that we can play and compete with the top teams,” Miller said. “We just have to prove to ourselves that we can, and we have to go shoot the good scores that we know we can.”

Along with Miller, fresh-man Grace Park is riding a hot streak. Park has notched three-straight top-25 finish-es and established a scor-ing average below 75 on the spring season.

Rounding out the team will be freshmen Dana Gattone and Jan Prapassarangkul, sophomore Emily Joers and senior Pimploy Thirati.

This will be Thirati’s final

time competing for Illinois if the team fails to qualify for the Regional Championships — a possibility that has been on her mind. Thirati shot 31-over par and finished in 68th place in her final regu-lar season event at the Lady Buckeye Spring Invitation-al. However, she plans to approach the Big Ten Cham-pionship differently.

“I’m going to treat this event like it should be fun,” Thirati said. “I put too much pressure on myself last week-end, so going into Big Ten’s I’m going to have a different perspective on it.”

The field consists of three top-50 teams: No. 13 North-western, No. 36 Ohio State and No. 39 Purdue. Also ranked ahead of Illinois are Michigan State and Wiscon-

sin. The Illini enter the tour-nament as the 64th-ranked team in the country.

Illinois has shown flashes of solid play throughout the spring and fall seasons, tal-lying two tournament victo-ries and six top-five finishes. Going into this weekend’s Big Ten Championship, Slone has confidence in her team’s ability to compete

and contend for a title. “Throughout the season,

we have had moments of bril-liance,” Slone said. “Every tournament we have gotten better in some manner. I feel like this tournament could be a culmination of all of that learning.”

[email protected] @LucasWright95

Illinois at Big Ten ChampionshipWhen/Where: 8 a.m., April 24-26, The Fort Golf Course Indianapolis, IndianaQuick Notes: The Illini face off against conference foes this weekend in

Indianapolis, Indiana. The Illini enter the tournament as the sixth seed.Hidden Stat: Illinois has never won a Big Ten Championship. The team’s best finish came in the 1975-76 season when it finished second.

Women’s golf aiming for Big Ten Championship

Bulls forward Pau Gasol wins 2015 Magic Johnson Award

CHRIS SWEDA TRIBUNE NEWS SERVICEThe Chicago Bulls’ Pau Gasol shoots over the Detroit Pistons’ Anthony Tolliver in the first half at the United Center in Chicago on April 3.

BY K.C. JOHNSONTRIBUNE NEWS SERVICE

Bulls forward Pau Gas-ol won the 2014-15 Mag-ic Johnson Award, which is presented annually by the Professional Basket-ball Writers Association to honor the NBA player who “best combines excellence on the basketball court with cooperation and dignity in dealing with the media and public.”

Gasol beat out finalists Stephen Curry of the War-riors, Manu Ginobili of the Spurs, LeBron James of the Cavaliers and Damian Lil-lard of the Trail Blazers in voting by the association’s 175 members.

“I just try to be helpful. I try to help other people do their jobs well,” Gasol said. “I understand my position and that this is a part of our jobs. So I always try to be kind and polite, even when I’m not feeling great or I might be upset because of

the loss. I understand that it’s still part of my job to be one of the team’s leaders and role models to stand up and share my thoughts when I need.”

Gasol admitted the award carried special significance because it’s named after Johnson, the former Lak-ers great who was recog-nized by the PBWA as the ideal model for the award. Gasol won two titles with the Lakers.

“It’s easy to be friendly. It’s easy to be kind,” Gasol said. “It rubs off on people, so you want to balance out the negatives in the world with some positives. So that’s what I try to do.”

Gasol said he has main-tained his positive ide-al despite enduring criti-cal articles over the years because of family values and his love for reading.

“I try to understand that it’s nothing personal,” Gasol said of the criticism. “Peo-

ple are just trying to do their jobs. I don’t like people getting me to react in a neg-ative way. So when there’s criticism, when things are not going well, you under-stand it, you accept it, and then you spend some time with yourself and you release and understand why things happened and you move on.”

Gasol offered an eloquent take on how he views the dynamic between media and athletes. It’s a subject that has come under scru-tiny this season several times, including when Kev-in Durant offered critical comments about the media at All-Star weekend.

Michele Roberts, the new executive director of the players’ association, fol-lowed by criticizing report-ers for standing in lock-er rooms during pregame access without asking ques-tions, calling it “an incred-ible invasion of privacy.”

Roberts has since tried to soften her stance.

“We’re all human, we’re not all the same,” Gasol said. “But you have to understand that people are just trying to do their jobs and you guys are a big part of our success and that’s why all the news gets to people and people follow us and the sport is as big as it is. So the more cov-erage, the more attention, the better it is for the sport. But some guys don’t see that perspective because the feelings and emotions get in the way and that’s human as well. I just try to do my best as always.”

Gasol invariably conducts two long postgame media sessions, one in English and one in his native Spanish.

Jalen Rose was the only previous Bulls winner, receiving the award in 2003. Last year, the award went to the Mavericks’ Dirk Nowit-zki. The award was created in 2001.

Miller leads 6th seed team into tournament

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