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THE DAILY ILLINI
MONDAY May 4, 2015
5he independent student newspaper at the University of Illinois since 1871
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Vol. 144 Issue 117
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Left: Kevin Love panhandling on Green Street on Friday, April 24. Right: Panhandler “Ghost� holding a sign in Downtown Champaign on Wednesday, April 29.
Seeking change on Green Street Panhandlers asking for money are met with student, cop skepticism Editor’s Note: This is the first of a three-part series on panhandling within Campustown. BY ANDREW NOWAK STAFF WRITER
Kevin Love stares straight ahead as he sits hunched over outside HomeTown Pantry on Green Street, asking for change. Love said he is currently homeless and not able to afford rent because he lost his job with Bankier Apartments in Champaign in 2012. He had been living in one of the company’s apartment buildings until December 2014. Due to how Love lost his job, he was not able to receive unemployment payments. Love has been panhandling on Green Street for the past four and a half months, asking for money to rent a hotel room and buy food. “You got to have a roof over your head,� Love said. “Sleeping in under-
He said he makes $60 on ground parkings and finding here and there little a good day, and on his worst holes to duck in, that ain’t day he made $21 after pantoo cool, because you have handling from 8 a.m. to 2 to find cardboard, blankets, a.m. On a normal day, Love stuff like that to stay warm goes to the Champaign Pubbecause I still want to live.� lic Library in the morning L o v e to fill out job applisaid he c ations, cannot and then utilize local shelstarts ters, such panhanas t he d l i n g TIMES around Center 3:30 or and Step4 p.m., ping Stone staying S h e l t e r, until 2 a.m. due to Tony its backKERRI SPEAR Comtois, ground NEIGHBORHOOD PROGRAMS MANAGER mentor c h e c k at C-U at require Home, ments. Love said he has two orders said there is a reason why of protection from when he the same people are conlived in Kankakee, Illinois, stantly seen on Green in 1987 and was in prison Street. He said the panhanfrom 1989 to 2003 for selling dlers are very territorial crack cocaine and involve- and panhandle in the area ment in human trafficking. they sleep in. The panhan-
“What we try to do is educate both the public and panhandlers on what’s appropriate and not appropriate...�
dlers also cooperate with each other in order to maximize how much money they could make. “(They think) don’t crowd up on me because then neither one of us are going to get any money,� Comtois said. “But if you stand four blocks down, they might give me some change here and then they might give you some change down there.� Comtois said, Green Street, downtown Champaign and Prospect Avenue are the main areas panhandling occurs. On Jan. 28, 2014, the Champaign County Continuum of Care conducted a survey of the county’s homeless population, both sheltered and unsheltered. The survey found 222 people in 176 households were homeless and 47 were children. Compared to the 2013 survey, which found 214 homeless in the county, the num-
Underrepresented is not often the word that comes to mind when discussing males in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or STEM; however, the mission of the St. Elmo Brady STEM Academy is to eliminate the underrepresentation of African American boys in STEM subjects. The academy hosted its second annual science fair Saturday to exhibit what students have learned through their participation in the program. Nearly 30 students took part in the program and science fair this year, said Jerrod Henderson, lecturer in chemical and biomolecular engineering. The program not only focuses on educating young African-American boys but their fathers as well. Henderson and Ricky Greer, an academic hourly in chemical and biomolecular engineering, developed the program as a way to increase representation of African American men in STEM.
“My favorite part (of the program) is probably the science fair,� Greer said. “Seeing the kids explain their understanding of these sometimes high-end or really interesting science content.� Henderson said the program specifically targets 4th and 5th grade students to combat the growing disinterest in STEM fields that traditionally occurs at that age. The St. Elmo Brady STEM Academy is an eight-week program hosted at Booker T. Washington and Garden Hills elementary schools on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. On Tuesday and Thursday, Henderson said, typically, a student from a University registered student organization leads an experiment. On Saturday, fathers and male role models are invited to help students complete the experiments. Henderson said his favorite part of the program is watching fathers engage with their children and seeing the children learn from their own father or others
LIFE & CULTURE
OPINIONS
NEWS EDITOR
Melanoma survivor Editorial board shares experience examines ban Student hopes to raise awareness on Melanoma Monday
Campus would benefit from smoking ban clarifications
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UI, Carle stay to establish cancer research program
STEM program combats African- American underrepresentation BY ABIGALE SVOBODA
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BY ABIGALE SVOBODA NEWS EDITOR
The University recently established yet another collaboration with Carle Foundation Hospital. Cancer Scholars for Translational and Applied Research, or C*STAR, is a new graduate fellowship program within the Cancer Community at Illinois, which comes just weeks after the announcement of the Carle-Illinois College of Medicine. According to the program’s website, the Cancer Community “provides resources to access cancerrelated activities across campus and nucleate new programs and activities to advance cancer research progress.� Graduate students interPHOTO COURTESY OF JERROD A. HENDERSON ested in cancer research Students enrolled in the STEM Academy work on a chemistry will be able to collaborate with physicians at Carle to experiment after their regular elementary school classes. improve and further their in attendance. ment, Greer said they do research. Although the program’s not currently receive fundRohit Bhargava, bioengitypical seed money came ing from the University. neering professor, spearfrom the University’s headed the establishment Office of Public EngageSEE STEM | 3A of the graduate program. When he began working at the University almost 10 SPORTS years ago, barriers between the University and local hospitals made it extremely difficult for students to fully satisfy their research goals, Bhargava said. While he and other proIllini will face Purdue fessors have been discussin first round of Big ing a graduate program in the cancer community for Ten Tournament the past few years, he said PAGE 1B it did not come together until recently.
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“Over the last six months or so we’ve managed to iron out all the details,� Bhargava said. He said the student program needed to be developed first. “Carle and UIUC are providing matching funds for graduate fellowships for work in cancer research,� said Rashid Bashir, head of the bioengineering department. The Cancer Community arranged the matching program with Carle so half of the costs are paid by the hospital and the other half are paid with University funds. Physician release times were also arranged with the hospital, Bhargava said, so physicians will be available every few weeks to work with students during an afternoon and devote time to the students’ research. The Cancer Community has arranged for five years of collaboration but hopes the program continues afterward. “It isn’t just a student program,� he said. “Otherwise the student would run into the same problem as they had previously: that the student is available and ready, but then there’s nobody to talk to.� According to C*STAR’s website, long-term goals of the program include building connections between University students and
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