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THE DAILY ILLINI sister school, passed a trans-inclusive health measure, which covers gender confirmation surgery within its student health insurance plan. And several other Big Ten universities offer these resources as well. “We find that when we look across all of these sorts of resources, the University of Michigan is very, very far ahead of everybody,� said Ostrowski, who is also a member of CUT*ES. He also cites the option for students to change their legal name — “painless paperwork� — without having to prove a legal name change for issues of security, safety and convenience. Although the University already has diversity and inclusion statements with references to gender identity, gender expression and sexual orientation, “it’s fairly ignored and is something that is almost everywhere now and not trailblazing,� Ostrowski said. Ostrowski is concerned that once the resolution is published, the administration will not take action, instead falling back on its previously published inclusion statement. “But we’re hoping they look at this as a real narrative of the student body and we can see more changes,� he said. Chip Austin, a transgender graduate student, believes all faculty members should be educated on trans issues through trans ally training, along with LGBT ally training. “Everyone is potentially going to interact with a trans student, so they should be able to know what to do about it if there are any problems that come up,� Austin said. CUT*ES, a new registered student organization specifically dedicated to the trans-community, serves to create a safe, friendly and welcoming community for trans-identified members. “My ultimate hope for transgender people on campus is that they are treated as equal students and that they have the opportunity to participate and learn in this educational system as productively and freely as any other student,� Ostrowski said. Gender-inclusive housing is available in all halls, when specifically requested, and students need to work with University Housing to find spaces that “fit their needs,�
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Rabbi Dovid Tiechtel, executive director of the Chabad Jewish Center, lights a menorah during the 11th annual Menorah Lighting Service held on the Quad on Wednesday.
Q: Why do you think it’s important to have sustainable and locally grown food in our dining halls?
University sustainable foods
“It’s good to support the local farms and it definitely feels like the food is fresher when you get it from the local area.�
COMPILED BY STEFFIE DRUCKER STAFF WRITER
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• 17 percent* of University food purchases are made within 100 miles • 23 percent* of purchases are made within 150 miles • 26 percent* of purchases are made within Illinois • Vegan and vegetarian options have increased by 35 percent in the past 5 years for the University • 70 percent of food is sustainably produced and processed • 25,000 meals are served a day • 40,000 meals are served a day including a la carte • 686,000 gallons of milk are collected from on-campus cows *PRE-DROUGHT OF 2012 NUMBERS
SOURCE: DAWN AUBREY, DIRECTOR OF DINING SERVICES, CHRIS HENNING, SENIOR ASSISTANT DIRECTOR OF DINING SERVICES
UI Dining Services uses local, sustainable sources BY STEFFIE DRUCKER STAFF WRITER
Johns Hopkins University recently signed on to the Real Food Challenge, pledging to have 35 percent of its ingredients and food products come from local, sustainable, humane and fairtrade sources by 2020. Though the University of Illinois has not formally signed on to this challenge, it strives to provide students with sustainable and locally grown ingredients and food products in its dining facilities. “In addition to it being the right thing to do, Hopkins takes a stand to be an active member in the city of Baltimore,� William Connor, director of Dining Programs at Johns Hopkins University, said in an email. “By buying local food, we support the local farmers and in turn support the city in which we reside.� The University of Illinois follows a similar practice.
“Our students have entrusted us with the resources of paying for their meal plans and we need to reflect their values in the way that we are using those meal plan dollars,� said Dawn Aubrey, director of Dining Services at the University. “We need to purchase in a way that they would purchase if they were preparing their own meals.� In choosing where to purchase from, Aubrey said Dining Services looks at a variety of factors, including the product’s processing point in relation to its production site, methodology of transport, whether the pricing is fair for both the University and the vendor, and the source’s practices in regard to growing or raising the product. When looking at where products are produced and processed, the University prefers to purchase within 150 miles, and its ideal is within 100 miles, Aubrey said. Before the drought of 2012, which greatly affected producers both
within this radius and across the country, 17 percent of purchases were within 100 miles and 26 percent of purchases could be defined as local, she said. “Local is good, but what we’re ultimately committed to is sustainable,� Aubrey said. “Even though it’s local, it’s got to meet the criteria for sustainable practices.� Currently, 70 percent of food purchases are sustainable, Aubrey said. Many of the vendors Dining Services purchases from use organic practices like using water sparingly and using all-natural pest control methods, even though they may not necessarily be organic certified. One of the University’s suppliers that is both local and sustainable is the 5-year-old Sustainable Student Farm. The farm produces a myriad of products ranging
The University lags behind in resources available to the transgender community in comparison to other schools within the Big Ten, specifically in regard to health care, gender-neutral housing and gender-neutral bathrooms, said Stephanie Skora, president of the Campus Union for Trans* Equality and Support. “It’s very concerning because the University of Illinois holds itself up as this bask of inclusion when we really don’t have the right to do that because we are not doing everything that we can right now for such an endangered population,� said Skora, a transgender junior in LAS. To help counter this, Illinois student senator Justin Ostrowski, senior in LAS, submitted a resolution to the senate asking for its support to create a more trans-inclusive campus. “We would essentially use this as a sort of leverage tool in scheduling meetings with administrators, chairs of committees and other people with power,� Ostrowski said. “We can use (the resolution) to say this is something that the student body supports and cares about. It’s much more impactful to have a statement like this than to just come in with three or four people.� At the senate’s Wednesday meeting, Skora called upon the senators to pass the resolution unanimously. “Our mission right now, as stated by Chancellor (Phyllis) Wise numerous times, is to make this campus a diverse and inclusive place,� she said. “This statement would be an excellent first step in doing that.� After Ostrowski told senators, “We’ve been morally beaten down by a bureaucratic hammer,� the resolution passed, 22-3 with four abstentions. B A Davis-Howe, a senior library specialist, said this statement moves toward creating a climate that is not only beneficial to students, but to all of the University’s employees. “It is historically known that Champaign and Urbana are two of the longest standing communities in the country for trans-inclusion,� Davis-Howe said. Last summer, the University of Illinois at Chicago, the University’s
Champaign is the third most lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered, or LGBT, inclusive city in Illinois, according to a new equality index rating ranking five Illinois cities. The Human Rights Campaign is the largest LGBT advocacy group. Each year, it rates cities on a Municipal Equality Index, which rates cities based on how inclusive they are of the LGBT community. This year, the campaign gave Champaign a score of 74 out of 100. Champaign Mayor Don Gerard said he doesn’t believe this truly reflects what he believes the city does for the LGBT community. “It kind of said that we don’t go out of our way to celebrate or acknowledge (the LGBT community),� Gerard said. “I’ve never turned down a request — I’ve
always been supportive ... Progressive equality issues are always important to me personally.� Gerard was one of the first mayors to sign on for marriage equality, after Cook County, “about a year before anybody downstate.� Champaign Community Relations Manager Jason Hood said in a statement why the city may have missed some points. For example, the city does not have a LGBT police liaison or task force, a city contractor equal benefits ordinance, which requires contracts to offer employees equal benefits, or a leadership’s pro-equality policy efforts, due to the city’s lesser level of resources available to it in comparison to larger cities. “Although I recognize the value of the HRC survey and support HRC’s mission, the City may not have the same level of resources as a larger city,� Hood said. “With
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One of the main goals CUT*ES has is to push administration to pay attention to the lack of gender-neutral bathrooms on campus, as many buildings don’t have them, Ostrowski said. Skora hopes to submit a ballot for the spring semester’s student referenda requesting more inclusive bathrooms. If it passes, she said the student body will show administrators that this is an issue they support. “There is a safety issue, there is a comfortability issue, which then all comes down to ‘how can you learn in this environment?’� Ostrowski said. “There is a large narrative around safety issues in bathrooms in terms of someone who looks like a woman that is going into a men’s restroom. That’s not safe for a lot of people because a lot of people are sort of fearful of these kinds of things.� CUT*ES plans to push the administration this year to establish policy requiring gender-neutral bathrooms to be built when any building undergoes significant construction, Skora said. “We are trying to make it so that any construction on a building, even if you are just changing a tile, would require you to ensure that there is a single stall,� Ostrowski said. McKinley Health Center currently hosts a map on its website displaying the locations of the campus’ 37 gender-neutral bathrooms, but it has not been updated in six years, Ostrowski said. McKinley itself has 20 genderneutral bathrooms in the building, which is not a part of the list, Skora said. “Say you are a trans-student in Engineering, you would potentially have to walk across the Engineering Quad to find a safe bathroom to use,� she said. “By the time you get back, you’ll have either missed lecture, or half of your lecture.� She said many buildings have gender-neutral bathrooms in the basement, making it difficult for
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A call for gender-neutral bathrooms
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that said, Champaign strives to be an inclusive community and works tirelessly with our community partners toward that effort.� Chicago scored 100 out of 100 points, but as Gerard pointed out, Chicago has a population of about 3 million, compared to a population of about 80,000 in Champaign. Gerard also said he may look into contacting the HRC to see if there’s a way the index can be broken down between larger cities and smaller cities. “The City of Champaign is a very diverse community, and it is this existing diversity which makes this City such a wonderful place to live,� Hood said. That diversity can also be seen on the University campus. Sam Cushing, junior in Business and LGBT individual, said
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said Kirsten Ruby, associate director of housing for communications and marketing, in an email.
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Champaign embraces LGBT Culture STAFF WRITER
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BY TAYLOR ODISHO
Vol. 143 Issue 55
RSO advocates for transgender issues
Let the light shine in
Police
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