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The Daily Illini www.DailyIllini.com
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Vol. 142 Issue 4
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Possible conflict of interest holds up building’s makeover BY LAUREN ROHR STAFF WRITER
After the original contract was revoked because of a conflict of interest, University officials now seek a new architecture firm to take on the renovations to the 120-yearold Natural History Building. University spokesman Tom Hardy said the request for proposals was reposted on the state’s higher education procurement bulletin last Wednesday. The deadline for submitting proposals is 4 p.m. Sept. 12. The University’s original contract with local architecture firm BLDD Architects was awarded in December 2010 for approximately $370,000 for “conceptualization.” About a year later, another $4.3 million was given to the firm to continue work. However, questions were raised about the role of Jill Maxey, former associate director of planning, in the decision-making process since Maxey’s husband, Bruce Maxey, is a partial owner of BLDD. By law, when faced with ethical concerns, the University is obligated to alert Ben Bagby, state procurement officer for higher education, who brings it to the attention of the Procurement Policy Board. The procurement board, however, was unaware of any conflict of interest until last spring. Will Blount, assistant director of the board, said this type of a relationship is a violation of section 50-35 of the procurement code. It states that the employment of a spouse, including contractual employment and employment for services, is defined as a conflict. Blount said the University tried to put a “firewall” around Jill Maxey, meaning that she was meant to stay out of the loop. However, in a public hearing held by the chief procurement officer in May, it was noted that “the firewall failed a couple of times” when it was discovered that Maxey was communicating about the contract, Blount said. “I think that the University feels that it followed the process,” Hardy said. “There was a disclosure of the conflict. (Bagby) had reviewed the University’s processing of this contract and thought the University had acted properly.”
Champaign mayor said similar bill ‘failed miserably’ BY STEVEN VAZQUEZ STAFF WRITER
Thirteen-year-old Abby Goldberg from Grayslake, Ill. began supporting a plastic bag ban in seventh grade. About a year later, she fought against a bill that would prevent municipalities from making such bans. Goldberg created a petition on change.org titled “Governor Quinn: Don’t Let Big Plastic Bully Me!” to oppose a bill in the Illinois senate that would have required plastic manufacturers to set up recycling programs in an effort to increase the recycling rate by 12 percent over the next three years. The bill would also require retail stores to use only registered manufacturers’ products, and it would ban local governments from passing their own laws for plastic bags. Nearly 175,000 people have signed Goldberg’s petition,
and Gov. Pat Quinn vetoed Senate Bill 3442 , or “The Plastic Bag Bill,” over the weekend, calling it a “roadblock to innovation” in a press release. Many in the manufacturing industry were upset the bill did not pass. But Champaign Mayor Don Gerard said a similar program to this was implemented in Austin, Texas, and it “failed miserably,” so the mayor of Austin eventually banned plastic bags to deal with the environmental problems they caused. “What they (sponsors of the bill) tried to do is create more big government to keep us from, at the local level, making our own ordinances and our own policies,” Gerard said. “In Illinois, Chicago would have been exempt from this bill. I think they were just trying to take advantage of the rest of the
See RECYCLING, Page 3A
Study: Pest now resistant to genetically modified corn
BY CARINA LEE STAFF WRITER
The powerhouse figures of the University gathered for a video conference Tuesday afternoon to discuss recommendations for staff appointments, legislative updates and other administrative items. The conference allowed trustees in Champaign to converse with trustees from Springfield and Chicago. Chancellor Phyllis Wise said the meeting went smoothly. “It was really efficient,” Wise said. “There weren’t any contentions or issues that we had to deal with, so it was very, very smooth.” Board members began the discussion with a review of recommended items for the Sept. 14 board meeting. This included appointing members to the Board of Managers of IllinoisVENTURES, a technology investment fi rm launched by the University in 2003. Board members raised the issue that diversity was not well-represented within the Board of Managers, which resulted in the recommendation to appoint two additional members. Following staff appointments, board members discussed the restrictions of enlisting search firms outside the University to aide
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Top University leaders meet via video conference
BY CLAIRE EVERETT
Rootworms have become resistant to a common strain of genetically engineered corn, according to a University study. Genetically modified corn that produce a toxin called Bacillus thuringiensis, or Bt, was designed to damage pests’ intestines if they ingested the corn. University entomology professor Mike Gray’s research confirmed a previous Iowa State University study indicating that rootworms, which are considered corn’s worst pest, have become resistant to a breed of Monsanto-produced genetically engineered corn. Gray’s research involved analyzing adult rootworms from Illinois in Iowa State University labs and comparing the results to the previ-
Hardy said the board of trustees received recommendations from the procurement board on two separate occasions to void the contract with BLDD and start over. At their July meeting, trustees decided to follow those recommendations. Jill Maxey has since been reassigned as a Facilities and Services staff member, Hardy said. According to the minutes of the July procurement board meeting, board member Ed Bedore criticized the University’s legal council, saying he hopes the University does a better job with their law students than the attorneys in their office. However, Bagby said he thinks that was a matter of opinion. “I think the University legal council is pretty competent in what they do, but there can be differences of opinion as to how things should best be done,” Bagby said. As a result, Bagby said he is drafting a conflict-of-interest policy that will clarify what the procurement office needs to do in similar situations in the future. Although he said there may be some exceptions, they would be rare and in the best interest of the state. “I think in these circumstances, you have to have a policy that is strong and clear, but is also reasonable,” Bagby said. “That is what I’m trying to develop.” The new request for proposals, along with an attached conceptualization report, states that the University is seeking a “professional services consultant” with expertise in architecture, engineering, history and structure for the renovation. Hardy said a five-person committee from the University will review the submitted proposals after the deadline passes and select a firm to take on the renovation project. The budget for renovations was originally $70 million, but with each month that passes, the cost of the project escalates approximately $91,000, Hardy said. He said the official cost will remain unknown until the bids are sent in.
JOSEPH LEE THE DAILY ILLINI
Damaged corn plants in a cornfield in Homer, Ill., on Tuesday. According to the USDA’s study on the adoption of genetically engineered crops in the United States, 88 percent of farmers in Illinois use genetically engineered corn; of the 88 percent, 50 percent use Cry3Bb1. Gray said farmers should talk to their seed salesmen to see what they recommend to control the rootworm resistance. However, he said that because the rootworm problem began after farmers started growing corn or year after year in the
ous study. “It’s an unfortunate consequence of the overuse of good technology,” Gray said. Gray related the overuse of the corn strain Cry3Bb1 to the overuse of antibiotics in medical practices. When an antibiotic is used too often, the infection will develop a resistance to it. Now, with the results of his research study back from the Iowa State University lab, the genetically engineered corn has proved to be analogous to the overuse of antibiotics.
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with hiring top employees. The restriction issue was brought to the board’s attention last year when concerns regarding the amount of money being spent on these firms were raised. The restriction, called the Search Prohibition Bill, states that the University may not use external search firms unless hiring the University president, or when the Board of Trustees and the President have a “justifiable need for guidance.” If the bill is enacted, the University will have to follow certain criterion when outsourcing search firms. Board members also discussed providing members with a way to offer feedback regarding the bill. University provost Ilesanmi Adesida said it’s something to keep an eye on as far as how the University will adapt to this. “Sometimes, I think it’s very good to have search firms to help out, but that’s something (where) we have to see what the state wants and how do we comply with that,” Adesida said. Also discussed at Tuesday’s meeting was the feedback received regarding the Board Retreat, an annual faculty retreat to encour-
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