Letters to the Editor

In response to the March 10 article on women in Engineering titled “A Strong Support System”, I would like to begin by saying that I was one of the female engineers who took the survey asking if I felt that I had been treated differently in the college because of my gender.

Although there are a plethora of dining and nightlife opportunities here on campus, I feel that your paper is neglecting to inform the student population of the possibilities in downtown Champaign. The Daily Illini in general doesn’t seem to want students to enjoy themselves off campus. I feel that this is a disservice to all the readers of The Daily Illini who look to you to provide them not only with their news but also with their inspiration for Friday night.

Islam Awareness Week addresses ignorance, prejudice
There are an estimated six million Muslims in the United States and 1.5 billion Muslims worldwide. On this campus alone, there are more than 700 undergraduate Muslim students. The Muslim Students Association (MSA), a registered student organization, is a means by which Muslim students increase their faith in a college environment as well a tool by which the larger student body, as well as faculty and staff, can learn about Islam.

I am writing to share my disgust at the recent actions taken by members of the Illinois Student Senate against Vice Chancellor Renee Romano and Associate Vice Chancellor Anna Gonzalez. We are currently in a time of unprecedented turmoil at the University of Illinois, with the recent removal of our president, chancellor and the departure of our provost.

After two and a half years on campus and multiple parking tickets reminding me so, I have reached the point where I can no longer stand the parking available on our campus.

In 2009, we had a goal to begin an on-campus student farm that would supply fresh, locally-grown vegetables and fruits to the campus residence halls and University dining services as part of the effort to make our campus more sustainable. This was not a new idea but one that a number of different groups on campus had previously tried to start, but had not been successful. In May of 2009, we began harvesting and delivering salad greens to the University Dining Services, and by the end of 2009, we had delivered nearly 19,000 pounds of vegetables and fruits and over 4,000 ounces of fresh herbs.

In an effort to become a more informed voter, I attended the last two student trustee debates. One was hosted on Tuesday by the Illinois Student Senate and one was held on Thursday by the Graduate Employees Organization. At these events, all four candidates expressed their platforms and answered a wide range of questions.

I strongly support the “student sustainability fee” increase from $5 to $14 per semester. These are difficult economic times to request a fee increase; however, this fee forms an important foundation that provides our student body with a strong voice for initiating and incentivizing our campus administration to aggressively pursue topics of interest to many of our students. As a retired faculty member, I have no vested interest in the fee. I do, however, care a great deal about our university and the future of our students.

The Department of Dance strongly supports the pending ballot referendum that would raise the Sustainable Campus Environment (“green”) Fee from $5 to $14 per semester. This fee, allocated by the Student Sustainability Committee (SSC), has been instrumental in moving the campus administration forward in this area.