ILLINOIS VS. KENT STATE Complete coverage and predictions for Friday’s season opener PAGE B1
THURSDAY September 3, 2015
THE DAILY ILLINI 5he independent student newspaper at the University of Illinois since 1871
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UI opts out of Campus Pride survey PHOTO COURTESY OF THINK STOCK
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BY ABIGALE SVOBODA NEWS EDITOR
eventy-four percent of University students reported they were neutral about homosexuality or were not homophobic in 2004 . The University has not conducted an LGBTQ-specific campus climate survey since. However, Campus Pride, a nonprofit organization aimed at helping colleges create a better atmosphere for LGBTQ students, recently conducted its own study. The University was not assessed and therefore was not listed among the 25 most LGBTQfriendly campuses. Still, Jeremy Skiba , junior in LAS, said he’s had a positive experience at the University. “I mostly surround myself with LGBTQ-positive or neutral people,� he said. “Of course there’s the occasional negative comment,
but it’s really not that bad.� The survey rated 196 schools, from community colleges to research universities, and included 10 schools from the Big Ten conference; Northwestern University, the University of Nebraska and the University of Michigan being the only schools beside the University not included. Indiana University, University of Maryland, University of Minnesota, Pennsylvania State University, Ohio State University and Rutgers University also appeared on the list of top 25 LGBTQ-friendly schools, which was organized alphabetically. Schools interested in participating were required to use Campus Pride’s self-reporting tool to have their school ranked and included in the index. Leslie Morrow, University LGBTQ Resource Center director, said there is good reason the University did not participate
in Campus Pride’s index. The current tool focuses primarily on what services and amenities universities offer to LGBTQ students, Morrow said. “There are a couple things that here on campus we will never have; for instance, we don’t have a living-learning community that’s fully based on gender and sexuality,� Morrow said. “So because of that we’re already down in the rankings.� Skiba said he lived in Allen Hall his freshman year and said it was an “obviously accepting dorm� that introduced him to good friends in the community. Allen Hall was the fi rst University residence hall to implement gender- neutral dorms at the beginning of the fall 2015 semester. Shane Windmeyer, the cofounder and executive director of Campus Pride, said Campus Pride’s instrument and cam-
pus rating system has been in place since 2007. He said it is a question-answer of about 60 questions related strictly to the policies, programs and practices at a university. “It’s not about how students feel because that’s very subjective,� he said. Rather, Windmeyer said the tool asks questions about benchmarks nationally seen as important and popular. “Campuses need to want to take the survey,� he said. “But the questions are very black and white.� Morrow said her research into Campus Pride’s index and rating instrument prompted her, along with colleagues around the country, to meet with Windmeyer. “I wanted something that was more intentional and more meaningful,� Morrow said.
SEE PRIDE | 3A
Top six LGBTQ-friendly schools in the Big Ten 5XWJHUV 7KH 6WDWH 8QLYHU VLW\ RI 1HZ -HUVH\ 1HZ %UXQVZLFN ,QGLDQD 8QLYHUVLW\ %ORRP LQJWRQ 7KH 3HQQV\OYDQLD 6WDWH 8QLYHUVLW\ 8QLYHUVLW\ RI 0LQQHVRWD 7ZLQ &LWLHV 7KH 2KLR 6WDWH 8QLYHUVLW\ 8QLYHUVLW\ RI ,RZD SOURCE: Campus Pride
AT&T to boost cell capacity at Memorial Stadium with new tower DAILY ILLINI STAFF REPORT
TYLER COURTNEY THE DAILY ILLINI
The Natural History Building is under renovation and is currently scheduled to be completely upgraded by fall 2016.
Natural History Building asks for $3 million DAILY ILLINI STAFF REPORT
The Natural Histo ry building on campus is requesting an additional $3 million for renovations that started this summer. Initially approved for $70 million in December of 2011 from institutional funds and construction contingency funding, the building was endowed with a total of $73.4 million by the time construction began during the summer of 2014. The building is projected for completion by the fall of 2016, but the timeline is being reviewed due to unforeseen structural issues. Steven Breitwieser, manager of Communications and External Relations, said the issues are related to the older structure of the building, which has been on campus since 1892. “We’re dealing with structures that are over one
hundred years old and fi nding more issues than anticipated,� said Breitwieser. Nathan Ricker, Illinois alumnus and the fi rst architectural graduate of the University, designed the original building, according to the website for the Natural History Building. Those involved in the renovations are working to renovate the building but maintain as much of the classic structure as possible. Breitwieser said they are looking to follow the lead of Lincoln Hall’s renovation in terms of “keeping the historical factor, but defi nitely adding the wow factor.� “It’s very neat that there will be upgraded facilities, technology and services but still have the connection the people that have studied and worked there before,� said Breitwieser.
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TIMELINE 1892: Construction on the Natural History Building is complete and the botony, geology and zoology departments move in. Nathan Ricker was the building architect
When the Illini score a touchdown and you want to send a Snapchat, the phone can lag with the hundreds of other attendees all accessing the same network. To help counter this, AT&T will be brining a 50-foot-tall cell tower on wheels to each home game at Memorial Stadium to better handle the boost in data activity brought on by having so many people in one place. AT&T spokesman Phil Hayes said major events at large venues, such as concerts and football games, often see a backlog because they were not set up to handle such increased data activity. “It was much like a freeway where there aren’t enough lanes for traffic,�
Hayes said. “What this cell tower does is it, in essence, adds more lanes for the data to pass through so there’s no problem, it increases the data capacity.� Hayes said that other college football stadiums and even venues like Lollapalooza have used the mobile cell towers as well. Nowadays, more stadiums look to build with the digital antenna system in place but many older public areas without digital antenna systems can benefit from the towers. The tower will aid AT&T users specifically and was used at Memorial Stadium for the first time last year. It will be located outside the stadium.
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“What this cell tower does is it, in essence, adds more lanes for the for the data to pass through so there’s no problem, it increases the data capacity.� PHIL HAYES
AT&T SPOKESMAN
1897: A lightning strike causes fire 1908-1910: Architect W.C. Zimmerman adds South and West portions to the building, including a lecture hall and the Museum of Natural History. 1923: Architect J.M. White completes the final addition to the building 1986: The Natural History Building joins the National Register of Historic Places 1990: Construction issues cause another fire 2001: The Natural History Museum closes and specimens are moved to other areas of the building 2014: Building closes for renovations
DAILY ILLINI FILE PHOTO
Illinois’ dedicated student section, Block I, cheers on the team during the homecoming game against Minnesota at Memorial Stadium on Oct. 25.
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