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More than 4,000 NIU students to move in
Thursday, August 21, 2014
MEDICAL MARIJUANA
A STEP CLOSER
Residence halls will open Friday morning By KATIE DAHLSTROM kdahlstrom@shawmedia.com DeKALB – DeKalb residents should brace for more than 4,000 Northern Illinois University students moving into residence halls. Move-in day will start at 8 a.m. Friday when university residence halls open. Students and their families will continue to move in until 3 p.m., when the university’s Welcome Days events start. The students will join up to 1,000 who already are on campus. This year’s series of welcome events has changed slightKnow more ly from previous years For more inforas university mation about NIU leaders encourage students to move-in, see niu. edu/housing/halls/ bond with the campus and movein.shtml community to combat more than a decade of student retention troubles. “We want to integrate them into Huskie culture,” NIU President Doug Baker told nearly 700 NIU faculty members during a town hall meeting he hosted Wednesday. University leaders switched move-in day from a Thursday to a Friday this year and added what they are calling the Huskie Family Welcome on Friday night. After a short public run with the NIU marching band, Baker, and faculty, students and their families will gather at NIU’s Convocation Center for the welcoming event. Eric Weldy, the vice president of student affairs and enrollment management, expects between 2,000 and 3,000 families will attend the event, which is from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. “I would stay away from Annie Glidden Road,” Weldy said. People not moving into the dorms should also avoid parking lots on the NIU campus starting Thursday afternoon. All lots on the west campus, Lot D west of the Neptune Hall complex and Lot 4 east of Gilbert Hall will be used to unload vehicles Friday. All vehicles have to be removed from those lots by 5 p.m. today. Towing will start at 6 p.m. In addition, DeKalb police are reminding motorists that parking is not allowed between 2 and 6 a.m. on Varsity Boulevard, Regent Drive, Eco Park Drive, Fotis Drive, Aspen Court, Spiros Court and Pappas Drive.
Photos by Danielle Guerra – dguerra@shawmedia.com
Sandy Champion smiles while her husband, Jim Champion, an Army veteran, talks Tuesday about being able to scale back from taking 59 pills a day to manage his multiple sclerosis to now only taking six pills a day with the aid of marijuana and marijuana edibles. The couple from Somonauk have been major proponents for medicinal marijuana use in Springfield.
Pilot program will start accepting applications for cards next month By ANDREA AZZO aazzo@shawmedia.com
Jim Champion, a Somonauk resident with multiple sclerosis, smokes two marijuana cigarettes a day for pain management. His wife, Sandy Champion, rolls the cigarettes for him and marks what strain of marijuana is in the cigarettes so he can denote in his iPhone how effective that particular strain is on his pain.
SOMONAUK – Multiple sclerosis patient and Army veteran Jim Champion doesn’t mind that he is still waiting for his medical marijuana card. Champion and his wife, Sandy, who live in Somonauk, lobbied for medicinal marijuana in Springfield and were gratified when Gov. Pat Quinn signed the fouryear pilot program into law Aug. 1, 2013. “You’ve got to give it time to get it working and running,” he said. “I’m proud our bill is as strict as it is to do away with fraud. I don’t mind because I know they’re working hard. They’re working fast.” More than a year later, Champion still buys marijuana from a trusted, illicit source. He said smoking two marijuana cigarettes – he eschews the term “joints” – a day has helped him cut down from taking more than 50 pills a day to just six: three to control his spasms, two painkillers and an as-needed sleeping pill. Patients with one of 40 medical conditions such as being HIV-positive or hav-
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ing rheumatoid arthritis may qualify for a medical marijuana card, and can begin submitting their applications Sept. 2. They must be fingerprinted, undergo a background check and submit paperwork from their doctor to be eligible. Once qualifying patients get their cards, they can expect an even longer wait to buy medical marijuana. People who want to operate medical marijuana dispensaries and cultivation centers may send their applications Sept. 8 through Sept. 22, although those dates could change, according to the state’s medical marijuana website. Local politicians state Rep. Robert Pritchard, R-Hinckley, and DeKalb
See MARIJUANA, page A4
University Plaza owners consider redeveloping private dorms By KATIE DAHLSTROM kdahlstrom@shawmedia.com DeKALB – Owners of University Plaza want to turn the private dormitory into apartments for students in hopes of attracting more residents. The 1,100 rooms in the two towers that make up University Plaza, 900 Crane Drive in DeKalb, would be converted into 322 student apartments beginning this fall under a plan from its co-owners, Ala-
bama-based Capstone Real Estate Investments. This transformation would reduce the number of students allowed to live there from 1,100 to 496 by the time it is complete about October 2015. Cutting down the number of potential residents will better align with the 470 parking spaces available at the residence halls, a change city officials see as beneficial. “What they’re doing for this development is a good thing
for the city,” DeKalb Principal Planner Derek Hiland said. “Anytime you can increase the parking-to-student ratio, it will reduce its neighborhood impact.” University Plaza was built in 1965 with the intent to house between two to four students in tight quarters, each with a twin bed. While the eight-story buildings are structurally sound, they have become dated in the past 50 years, the property owners wrote in their re-
quest to the city. The lack of modern conveniences and the rooming house design makes them less appealing to potential residents, as the number of residents shows. In the past five years, the number of students living at University Plaza has dropped from 546 in 2009 to 481 this year, according to data from the owners. Part of the problem owners see with the rooms is their lack of kitchens. Because the
rooms do not have a kitchen, residents have to buy a meal plan from the on-site cafeteria. Creating apartments with kitchens will make the dining hall and cafeteria unnecessary. So, the owners will also turn the dining room and cafeteria into an area housing amenities including a gym, conference room and tanning room. The Planning and Zoning Commission last week forwarded a recommendation to DeKalb City Council members
suggesting they approve the renovation plans. Aldermen will address the development during their meeting Monday. As part of a development agreement drafted by city staff, the buildings will need to be maintained as student housing, City Attorney Dean Frieders said. The agreement also addresses concerns over fire safety and security, and ensures the city could place a resident officer in an apartment.
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