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Williams’ pick-6 closes out Illini win SPORTS, 1B

Wednesday September 5, 2012

The Daily Illini www.DailyIllini.com

The independent student newspaper at the University of Illinois since 1871

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Vol. 142 Issue 8

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UI’s international enrollment at record high !"##$%&

!"#$%

University students hail from around the world France Undergraduate: 26 Graduate: 15 Professional: 0 TOTAL: 41

Iran Undergraduate: Graduate: Professional: TOTAL:

2 111 0 113

India Undergraduate: Graduate: Professional: TOTAL:

About Tableau maps: www.tableausoftware.com/mapdata

407 471 0 878

!#&&& BY LAUREN ROHR

STAFF WRITER '#&&&

China Undergraduate: Graduate: Professional: TOTAL:

2,137 1,594 8 3,739

South Korea Undergraduate: Graduate: Professional: TOTAL:

854 454 9 1,317

SOURCE: PRELIMINARY DATA FROM THE DIVISION OF MANAGEMENT INFORMATION

The University’s student demo"#&&& graphic"#$"% is proving to be progressively global as the preliminary !"#$% enrollment figures for interna! "#$"% tional and out-of-state students reach record-high numbers. According to figures released by the University’s Division of Management Information, 8,291 international undergraduate, graduate and professional students enrolled this semester, 701 more than in Fall 2011. These numbers are preliminary and based on enrollment for the fi rst day of classes of the Fall 2012 semester. Campus spokeswoman Robin Kaler said a 10-day report with the official enrollment numbers will be released in mid-September. She declined to comment further on the enrollment numbers until official figures are

released. Almost 20 percent of University students are from outside the U.S., with students representing over 100 countries. China has the highest number of international students with a total of 3,739, followed by South Korea with 1,317 and India with 878, according to the preliminary figures. Chancellor Phyllis Wise said many international students come to the United States for their fi rst time and she wants to make the campus a “welcoming place” for them. She said that she is working with Renee Romano, vice chancellor of student affairs, in developing international student programs to make the University more “assertive in the area of diversity.” The preliminary summary also shows an increase in the number out-of-state students. Out-of-state students number

13,573 this year, compared with the 12,612 non-Illinois resident students last year. “I count out-of-state students as part of the diversity,” Wise said in an interview with the Daily Illini Editorial Board. “I think that when you can learn next to someone from Alabama or New York or California or Montana, you can learn something about the world and the country.” However, Wise said the University feels a responsibility to be composed of “primarily students from the state of Illinois.” About 28,000 students on the campus are Illinois residents, which is about 66 percent of the overall student body. She added that the University does receive a lot of out-of-state applications, but the campus’s fi rst mission is to “meet the need of the state of

See INTERNATIONAL, Page 3A

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Champaign passes on pumper truck bids

Teach me how to tango

BY BRITNEY TURNER STAFF WRITER

The Champaign Fire Department may have to wait a little longer for new pumper trucks. Champaign council members voted to reject bid proposals for the purchase of up to three new vehicles at their weekly meeting Tuesday, saying the proposals were incomplete and bids came in too high. In June, two proposals for the purchase of new fire engines were submitted to the fire department. However, after being reviewed, Deputy Fire Chief Eric Mitchell said staff determined that the proposals did not meet their specific requirements and cost too much. Cost was also a factor in rejecting the proposals. “It just strictly came down to pricing, and the vendors’ (costs were) more than we budgeted to pay,” Mayor Don Gerard said. The vehicle replacement fund budget allocates a net amount of $562,000 for each truck. City staff has not yet made a recommendation on how many trucks will be needed. Michael LaDue, District 2, said the cost depends on how many trucks have to be purchased. One to three trucks could be bought, but LaDue said “the more trucks we get, the more potential savings.” Mitchell said the city will not lose any money during the process of finding new vendors. He said the city is looking for more vendors to submit proposals than were previously submitted. “We hope that by making revisions to specifications, it will create more competition between vendors and become cost-effective for the city,” Mitchell said.

Illinois library services start building new media centers

PRITEN VORA THE DAILY ILLINI

Nicolas Bottan, left, and Daria Zubareva, both graduate students in economics, dance together at Tango Tuesday Opening Night at the McKinley Presbyterian Church and Foundation on Tuesday. The night was a preview of the Foundations of Tango five-week course, which starts Sept. 11 and is taught by Rob and Susana Weigel.

Minrva App

The UGL released an Android application students can use, which was developed at the library. Called Minrva, the application allows students to find books on the shelves and check for available technology to borrow. (http://minrvaproject.org/download). A similar application for Apple’s iOS is in development and to be released soon.

New Web Page

Searing said they did a lot of user studies on the site in order to respond to components users were complaining about. Those who participated said they thought the home page was hard to navigate and it was too text-heavy. The new page now has tabs to make it more user-friendly.

BY STEVEN VAZQUEZ STAFF WRITER

The University libraries are adapting for the future, hoping to meet more of the needs of students and faculty. Sue Sea ri ng , i nteri m associate librarian for User Services, thinks the change that will affect the most people is the library’s new Web page, which is now up and running. “The remodeling we’re doi ng, the movi ng of collections, that all affects the people who come here and walk in the door. But many, many more people access us remotely,” Searing said. The fi rst fl oor of the Main Library is going through a

See LIBRARY, Page 3A

INSIDE

Media Commons

The UGL has hired new staff and is purchasing equipment in order to create a “media commons” area. Here students can get training in media creation tools, learn multimedia hardware and software and increase their media literacy, Searing said. PHOTO ILLUSTRATION BY JOSEPH LEE THE DAILY ILLINI

Two targeted in fundraising scam DAILY ILLINI STAFF REPORT

Two elderly residents from Ogden, a town 16 miles east of Champaign, reported being targeted in a fraudulent fundraiser for Shriners Hospitals for Children on Aug. 24. Both had recently lost someone close to them, and each had obituaries printed earlier that week. Two gentlemen arrived at their houses in a gray or light-colored car. While the driver remained in the car, the passenger identified himself as Scott, a student at the University selling books and magazines for the hospital. The victims described him as a 6-foot-tall, slender male in his early 20s. “There may be (other) victims out there who ordered books or magazines for the hospital,” said Dan Walsh, Champaign County sheriff. In one of the instances, the man was invited into the survivor’s home, where he took one of two $100 bills that had been donated on behalf of the deceased. Upon realizing she had been robbed, the survivor canceled her order. According to Walsh, the man who called himself Scott said he lived in their town and knew the deceased, but the victims did not recognize him.