COME TO RECRUITMENT NIGHT | SEE 2A TUESDAY September 3, 2019
THE DAILY ILLINI
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Vol. 149 Issue 3
Evans Hall goes all-male due to ISR construction in its residence halls. “We know from Enrollment Management that more men are coming to campus, so it was really important we were able to house or have additional spaces for the men,” Hamilton said. Another reason Evans Hall specifically was chosen to go all-male was because there were no further renovations that had to be made to accommodate male residents. ISR residents are living in Wardall Hall this year, which is also expected to undergo renovations once Townsend Hall reopens in the fall of 2020. Hamilton was unable to confirm whether Evans Hall will permanently remain all-male or revert back to an all-female dorm. She said it depends on the gender breakdown for upcoming school years and of potential upcoming renovations. Alia Alicea, sophomore in ACES, lives in Busey Hall this year. She was living in Evans Hall last year when she received an email from University Housing stating she was unable to pick the same room for the next school year. She said rumors started to spread around her hall going all-male. A few months later, her residential director confirmed it was true. “I have mixed feelings about it because, in gen-
BY EUNICE ALPASAN STAFF WRITER
KENYON EDMOND THE DAILY ILLINI
The front entrance to Phoenix Botanical, which stands at 1704 S. Neil St., a marijuana dispensary located in Champaign. House Bill 1438, passed in Illinois on May 31, states anyone 21 or older can possess, purchase and use limited amounts of cannabis starting Jan. 1, 2020.
CU dispensaries plan for legal marijuana BY SAMANTHA BOYLE NEWS EDITOR
A lthough University students still will not be allowed to possess marijuana on campus come Jan. 1, 2020, two medical marijuana dispensaries located in Champaign and Urbana plan to sell recreational marijuana by the same date. House Bill 1438 passed in Illinois on May 31 and provides anyone age 21 or older can possess, purchase and use limited amounts of cannabis starting Jan. 1, 2020. The bill also calls for an expungement “of minor cannabis violations under specified circumstances.” However, according to a Massmail sent by Chancellor Robert Jones on Aug. 20, possession of marijuana will still be prohibited, as the University complies with federal law. For City of Urbana Mayor Diane Marlin, the passing of the state bill was no surprise. Once the state legalized medical usage, the adult-use cannabis side was almost inevitable, she said. “Currently with the new state law, people who are operating a medical dispensary have first opportunity to get a license for the adult-use sales,” Marlin said. For Urbana, that medical marijuana dispensary
is NuMed, located on 105 E. University Ave. Marlin said NuMed plans to sell adult-use cannabis within the same facility when Jan. 1, 2020, rolls around. NuMed dispensaries also exist in Peoria and Chicago. Keith McGinnis is responsible for managing all of these sites. Somewhere around 110 people frequent the Urbana location on a daily basis, McGinnis said. Once the law goes into effect though, it’s anticipated this number will double. “So what we will have to do is make sure that we’re able to handle at least double our current crowd, double the number of people that come in on a daily basis,” he said. In order to do this, NuMed is looking to hire up to 15 more people, open more point of sale systems and hire full-time security. “We really haven’t had any issues, crime or anything like that because of having a dispensary there, and we don’t foresee that happening in the future, either,” McGinnis said. As far as the pricing of adult-use cannabis will go, McGinnis said it’ll continue to fluctuate over time due to supply and demand. “I truly believe it’ll level off at a time because I think, from a cultivation standpoint, that it would
be able to meet the amount of supply that is needed,” he said. “It may be a little bumpy at first, but I know it will level off, and we’ll be able to expect it and know what to expect on a monthly basis.” Additiona lly, adultuse cannabis in Urbana will most likely have a 3% municipal tax on it — the highest percentage cities in Illinois could go, Marlin said. Within the first year of the legalization of recreational marijuana, Urbana expects about $5-$10 million in revenue. Across town, Champaign Mayor Deborah Feinen said in an email she did not have enough information yet to be able to comment on the recreational marijuana discussion. However, Jason Erke, chief communications officer and spokesperson for Cresco Labs, the owner of Phoenix Botanical in Champaign, said hopefully they will be ready to sell adult-use cannabis by Jan. 1, 2020. Phoeni x Bota nica l, located at 1704 S. Neil St., is another medical marijuana dispensary located in Champaign. “Because we’re an existing medical dispensary, we have first priorities to get an adult-use license to sell in January (2020),”
Erke said. “So once we get local approval and file that application and we get approved by the state, we’ll make whatever changes are necessary to be able to accommodate customers, and we’ll be ready for operation hopefully by Jan. While smoking and using cannabis in the privacy of people’s homes will be allowed, the idea of social consumption is still somewhat mysterious. Smoking cannabis can be prohibited in parks and school grounds the same way tobacco can be, Marlin said. But whether there’ll will be certain spaces designed for cannabis-use, Marlin and the city are still unsure. “I really do think we need to have a lot of education around this thing because I’m already discovering people are having a lot of misunderstandings about what this law actually allows,” Marlin said. “It’s not legal for (people) under 21. It’s not legal for people to grow cannabis on their property unless they have a medical marijuana card. You can’t just open up a shop and sell product with cannabis in it. So, (there are) a lot of misconceptions, so we gotta do some education, too.” sjboyle2@dailyillini.com
The historically allfemale halls Busey-Evans went out of tradition, with Evans Residence Hall switching to all-male for the first time this fall. The change comes with one of ISR’s residence halls, Townsend Hall, having to shut down for renovations as part of the ongoing ISR Renovation and Addition Project. The Project is entering its second year and is expected to be fully completed in August. “This year, because of Townsend Hall going off line and the record enrollment of the incoming class, we are at capacity and many of our private certified housing partners are also at capacity” said Chelsea Hamilton, senior assistant director of Communications & Marketing for University Housing. Historically, University Housing has not been full in capacity, but the Townsend Hall renovations meant there were over 600 residential spaces lost. Typically, 60% of Townsend Hall residents are male. The Occupancy Management Team, which consists of University Housing staff members, made the decision for Evans Hall to go all-male last summer. The team took into consideration campus demographics and gender capacity with-
SEE BUSEY-EVANS | 3A
MADELINE PIERCE THE DAILY ILLINI
Male students enter and exit the Evans side of Busey-Evans Halld on Friday. This is the first semester where Evans Residence Hall will be all-male.
INSIDE
UI police have confidence in gun violence response BY REBECCA WOOD CONTRIBUTING WRITER
KENYON EDMOND THE DAILY ILLINI
A University of Illinois campus police vehicle follows the Marching Illini as they march through the streets for Homecoming on Oct. 13. Craig Stone, chief of police at the University, said they have developed a reaction plan for threats of gun violence.
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In light of recent public mass shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio, the campus community has called for more intervention. However, police are confident in the already existing emergency system. Chief of Police at the University Police Department Craig Stone said though they have a developed reaction plan, the department is attempting to focus on preventative measures. “We want to be able to prevent something from happening as opposed to having to respond to some type of crisis,” Stone said. “However, we are prepared to respond in any type of situation.” Created in 2009 and most recently updated in October, the Campus Violence Protection Plan focuses on prevention of gun violence using teams and committees.
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The Campus Violence Protection Plan includes a campus violence threat assessment policy and information regarding both the campus violence protection committee and the campus violence prevention teams. Tracy Parsons, community relations manager for Champaign, said more focus should be surrounding the prevention of gun violence. Parsons said an increase in gun violence in Champaign started in 2015. Since then, an organization called Champaign County Community Coalition has been working to identify and improve community conditions, particularly using a program called Fresh Start. “(Fresh Start is) a program that works with individuals who are most likely to be involved in gun violence, either as a perpetrator or a victim, to work with
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