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Police Blotter
Compiled by Tom Cronin
March 18, 2004
12:18 a.m. –
While on patrol, an officer noticed a vehicle driving recklessly
on 11th Street. The officer observed that the vehicle
failed to stop at a stop sign and then continued on at a high rate
of speed. While behind the vehicle, the officer also noticed that
the driver swerved from lane to lane and almost lost control of
the roadway. The officer made a traffic stop on Toronto Road and
attempted to conduct a field sobriety test. The subject refused
and was arrested for suspected DUI. After being given consent to
search, the officer found a small amount of cannabis and drug
paraphernalia in the subject’s possession. The vehicle was towed,
and the driver was transported to the Sangamon County Jail. Report
04-0077.
7:08 p.m. –
After receiving a report of a dog locked up inside of an
unattended vehicle in Lot B, an officer was dispatched. When the
officer arrived on the scene, the suspect vehicle was already
gone.
March 20, 2004
12:13 a.m.
–
While on patrol, an officer noticed
two suspicious vehicles in Lot A near Clover Court. The vehicles
were occupied by three subjects who claimed that they were there
trying to visit a friend. When asked about the friend, the
subjects could not identify the person. They were advised to move
along if they had no business on campus. Both vehicles left the
area.
6:46 p.m.
–
While on patrol, an officer noticed
a suspicious vehicle in Larkspur Court. After questioning the
occupants, it was determined that they were just waiting on
someone.
March 21, 2004
2:02 p.m.
– After
receiving a call reporting a
domestic battery in Larkspur Court, officers were dispatched. It
was determined that a resident and a visitor were arguing, and the
resident was shoved into a wall. The visitor was advised to leave
campus. The report was forwarded to the Sangamon County State’s
Attorney. Report 04-0078.
March 23, 2004
8:58 a.m. –
After receiving a phone call reporting a suspicious person in
Marigold Court, an officer was dispatched. It was determined that
the incident had happened several hours before police were
notified. A report was taken. Report 04-0081.
11:15 a.m.
– After
receiving a call from an emergency
dispatcher reporting a 911 call from campus, officers were
dispatched to Brookens Library. After locating the phone where the
call came from, it was determined that there was not an emergency.
March 24, 2004
12:52 a.m. –
While on patrol, an officer noticed a vehicle circling the campus
suspiciously with loud exhaust. The officer made a traffic stop on
11th Street and received consent to search the vehicle
and its occupants. A cannabis pipe was found in the driver-side
floorboard, and one of the passengers was in possession of
cannabis. The passenger was arrested and transported to the
Sangamon County Jail. The driver was cited and released. Report
04-0083.
March 25, 2004
2:57 a.m. –
While on patrol, an officer made a traffic stop on a vehicle in
Marigold Court. The driver of the vehicle had a suspended
license. The driver was issued a citation and released. The
vehicle was towed. Report 04-0085.
March 26, 2004
1:03 a.m.
–
After receiving a call from a
Pennyroyal Court resident assistant stating that some individuals
had fled out of a bedroom window when a noise complaint was
handled, officers were dispatched. Officers checked the area and
the subjects could not be located.
11:25 a.m. –
After stopping a vehicle on University Drive for a traffic
violation, it was determined that the driver was wanted on an
outstanding warrant from Sangamon County and had a revoked
license. The passenger was wanted on an in-state warrant that was
not extraditable from Sangamon County. The driver was arrested and
transported to the Sangamon County Jail, and the passenger was
released. Report 04-0086.
March 27, 2004
12:50 a.m.
–
While on a patrol, an officer had a
vehicle stop on University Drive and ask for directions. When the
officer called in the contact, it was determined that the driver
of the vehicle had a suspended license. The vehicle was towed, and
the driver was issued a citation. Report 04-0087.
10:15 p.m. –
After receiving a call reporting a disturbance in Sunflower Court,
officers were dispatched. It was determined that no disturbance
took place and that two friends just had a disagreement.
March 28, 2004
8:13 p.m.
– After
receiving a call about a
disturbance in Sunflower Court, officers were dispatched. It was
determined after talking to the subjects involved, that there was
a disagreement with one subject hitting the other. The subjects
were separated and a report was taken. No charges were filed.
Report 04-0092.
March 29, 2004
12:07 p.m. –
After receiving a call about a suspicious vehicle occupied by
three subjects who appeared to being arguing with a resident of
Sunflower Court, officers were dispatched. When officers arrived,
the vehicle had already left the area.
March 30, 2004
9:42 a.m.
–
After receiving a call reporting a
disturbance between workers in the construction area at University
Hall, an officer was dispatched. Once on the scene, the officer
determined that it was a labor dispute and that it would be
handled by the supervisor in charge. Report 04-0093.
10:29 a.m. –
After receiving a call from the Student Life Building reporting
telephone harassment, an officer was dispatched. A report was
taken, and the investigation is ongoing. Report 04-0094.
March 31, 2004
1:15 a.m.
– After
receiving a call reporting a heavy
odor of cannabis in Lincoln Residence Hall, an officer was
dispatched. Once on the scene, the officer found the room emitting
the smell. After knocking and receiving permission to enter, the
officer questioned the resident, who admitted to having cannabis
and turned the cannabis and drug paraphernalia over to the
officer. The subject was charged and released. Report 04-0095.
10:20 a.m. –
A report was taken regarding an individual who had a seizure in
the Public Affairs Center. The subject refused treatment, and the
officer and the ambulance cleared the scene. Report 04-0096.
8:15 p.m. –
After receiving a call that a suspicious person was trying to gain
entry to the backstage area of the auditorium in the Public
Affairs Center, an officer was dispatched. Once on the scene, the
officer determined that the subject was a homeless person who was
trying to get inside the building. The subject was transported off
campus.
April 1, 2004
4:55 p.m.
–
After receiving a call from the
Public Affairs Center reporting a suspicious person, an officer
was dispatched. After an investigation it was determined that the
person was just plugging the parking meter.
8:45 p.m. –
After receiving a call reporting a suspicious person panhandling
in Lot E, an officer was dispatched. It was determined that the
subject was driving up to people and asking them for money. The
suspect was gone when officers arrived.
April 2, 2004
1:42 a.m.
–
While on patrol, an officer noticed
a vehicle sitting in the middle of Lindsay Road and not
moving. The officer approached the vehicle and talked to the two
subjects sitting in the front seat. They explained that they were
having a relationship problem and one of them was crying. The
officer determined that it was a verbal argument and sent both
parties home to their respective residences.
Chancellor considers
on-campus retirement center, driving range
By Tom Cronin
In an effort to generate revenue to
compensate for reductions in state support, UIS Chancellor Richard
Ringeisen has been talking with developers about possibly building
a retirement center on university-owned land. The chancellor is
also considering another potentially profitable development: an
on-campus driving range.
Ringeisen said that he and the
administrators who report to him have been trying to find ways to
use university land to generate funds, and a retirement center and
a driving range are among the ideas that have been suggested.
It was expected at one point that
the 746-acre UIS campus population would eventually reach 20,000,
Ringeisen said. But then these plans changed, leaving much of the
land on campus undeveloped. Ringeisen said that he’s looking to
develop some of this land in ways that would benefit UIS both
academically and financially.
“It’s an opportunity the
chancellor sees, and he’s looking for ways to take opportunities
and resources we have and get the most out of them so that we can
really create a community here that students will enjoy being a
part of, and other people are going to come from outside the
community and be a part of,” UIS Provost Michael Cheney said.
In recent years, it has become
increasingly common for developers to build retirement villages
near university campuses, Ringeisen said. At many of these
universities that are near retirement villages, the proximity of
the villages to the universities has been found to appeal to both
senior citizens and students, he said.
“As we become more residential, as
we have more residential students, I think it’ll be even more
attractive,” Ringeisen said. “You see the concerts here in the
auditorium, and the athletic events, and the library, and they’re
all things that seniors enjoy. And then we have a program where
seniors can take courses fairly easily, as well. So it’s just a
nice place to retire. I think I’ll retire on a university campus
some day.”
According to Ringeisen, he and
other UIS officials have been talking “off-and-on” with developers
about the possibility of building a retirement center on
university land. Most conversations are ongoing, he said.
“There was one point where we
really thought things were moving pretty good with regards to the
retirement center, and then we hit a glitch,” Ringeisen said. “And
that sort of cooled down, so this needs to sort of start again and
do that.”
Ringeisen declined to provide
further details about the “glitch” that interfered with the
discussions about developing a retirement center.
SGA President Jason Stuebe said
it’s understandable that administrators have suggested developing
a retirement center on campus, considering the current budget
situation of both the state and the university.
However, he said that trying to
improve the budget situation by setting aside land for a
retirement center is “going a little far.” The university’s
business should be in areas such as academic instruction, research
development, student life and housing – not leasing land for major
development projects, he said.
“In regards to a retirement home,
quite frankly, that’s bogus,” Stuebe said. “And I mean no offense
to any administrator who ever said that, but as a student that’s
incredible. I really am kind of just shocked by that.”
Ringeisen said that he doesn’t
think the presence of a retirement center on campus would
adversely affect student life. Students and senior citizens would
benefit from interacting with one another, and conflicts between
the university’s collegiate atmosphere and the retirement center’s
low-key atmosphere would be avoided by building the retirement
center in an area of campus that’s distant from student
residences, he said.
“You don’t put the retirement home
right next door to the residence hall,” Ringeisen said. “Generally
speaking, that’s not a good idea. But actually, people all around
the country where this has occurred have found it to be attractive
to both groups. So I don’t think it would be a detriment to either
one.”
A driving range on or near campus
would benefit students, as well as faculty, staff and community
members, Ringeisen said. Other institutions have successfully
generated revenue by setting up driving ranges, and discussions
about a possible driving range at UIS are in the preliminary
stages, he said.
UIS Student Trustee Andrew
Hollingsead said that he thinks a driving range would provide
another outlet for student life on campus and possibly even create
some extra student jobs.
“The devil is often in the details
with the driving range, so we’d have to keep looking at it, and
maybe we’d find something that would make us say, ‘No, we don’t
want to do that,’” Hollingsead said. “But as far as it looks now,
it sounds like a pretty neat idea because that’s something that
folks can do in the spring, summer and fall.”
According to Cheney, a driving
range would be relatively easy and inexpensive to set up, and a
lot of people would probably use it.
“I don’t know the ins and outs of
doing a driving range, but it seems to me it’s a fairly easy kind
of facility to build and maintain, and it would generate profit,”
Cheney said. “There is also not a driving range that is around
here that I know of that is sort of accessible.”
If the idea of setting up an
on-campus driving range becomes reality, the facility would be
owned by either the university or an outside company or
organization, Ringeisen said.
“It would depend on how we set it
up,” he said. “It could be anything from we would build it and
operate it, to we would have a commercial developer develop it and
then we would share in the profits.”
If a driving range is built on the
UIS campus, Stuebe said he thinks the university should assume
ownership of the facility.
“I would say you operate it just
like … any other school would operate a student union,” he said.
“Unions have bowling alleys and stuff that’s staffed by university
people, university students, et cetera. Keep it within the
university.”
Stuebe said that he doesn’t think
the university’s public property should be leased to private
entities. But according to Ringeisen, it’s possible to legally
lease the property to a private entity, although it must be done
carefully to ensure compliance with applicable state and local
statutes.
Additionally, some of the land at
UIS is owned by the University of Illinois Foundation, which is a
private organization, Ringeisen said. For projects such as the
possible retirement center – projects that involve leasing land to
private entities – it would be easier for the university to use
the foundation-owned land than the university’s public land, he
said.
“I would hope within a year or so
we will have some plans for these kind of activities,” Ringeisen
said. “You never know. I made some bold predictions about a campus
town a couple years ago. Never worked out because our friends in
the private sector weren’t interested. But we have so many things
going on now, it’s hard to know where to put our priorities.”
New Rec Renter in
developmental stage
By Heather Shaffer
A new recreation center was
proposed last spring and in a campus-wide vote, students agreed to
a student fee hike to finance construction of the new building.
Last year, The Journal reported
that the university would like to construct a large recreational
center and performance arena that could help draw more tournaments
and tours to UIS. It was reported that the new recreational
center will have two main areas. The first will be a recreational
center, including a new fitness room. The second area will be an
arena that will be able to hold approximately 2,500 and can help
meet the needs of the growing sports community on campus.
These plans may change slightly in
the future, but Stephen Chrans, Assistant Vice Chancellor of
Student Affairs, said that for right now the building plans remain
the same. “We have to wait and see what we can build and design
based on the amount of funding we receive for the project. Right
now, however, the original plans have not changed,” he said.
The vote to increase student fees
was only the first step in the developmental stage of the new
recreation center. Nick Adams, Director of Athletics said, “Once
that fee was approved, the administration began working on a
finance plan to present to the board of trustees.” Right now, the
process is waiting for the university administration to approve
the finance plan.
Only after approval from the
administration will the finance plan be presented before the Board
of Trustees for approval. Following that step, approval must be
received from the Illinois Board of Higher Education. “This is
required because of the change in fee structure,” said Adams.
Stephen Chrans said that approvals
could start as soon as next month. According to Adams, after all
the approvals are completed, a Request for Proposal will be
prepared to solicit and select an architectural and engineering
firm to design the new recreation facility. Once a firm is chosen
they too must be approved by the Board of Trustees.
The next phase will involve the
actual designing of the facility. The selected architectural
company will gather input and provide the necessary plans required
to bid for construction. “Once the drawings are completed and
approved by the Board of Trustees, then contract documents will be
put out for competitive bid by construction companies,” said
Adams.
Developers anticipate that this
whole process will take approximately one year. “Once
construction actually begins, we are looking at 18 to 24 months
for completion of the project,” said Adams.
“The new facility is expected to
be done in January of 2007,” Chrans said.
UIS community loses
student, friend
By Tyson Roan, Editorial Board Director
The UIS community was shocked
to hear of the death of student Will Rogers on Saturday, February
28, 2004.
 Will,
26, was born November 16, 1977 in Chicago and attended Central
before coming to UIS. He graduated from UIS with a criminal
justice major, and was working on a second degree. He was
actively involved on campus as a resident assistant, shuttle
driver, snow removal crew member, and cleaning crew member. Will
aspired to be a police officer.
Friends, colleagues, and
administrators all described Will as full of life, fun-loving, and
a go-getter.
“Ever since I came to
campus, Will was always right by my side,” said Barbara Wheatly, a
colleague and friend of Will’s. “Whenever I needed
something—needed to talk—he was always there.”
“Every memory on this
campus reminds me of him,” she said. “He was like my backup on
everything.”
Both in his capacity as an
RA and a friend, residents at UIS all expressed how much Will
meant to them.
“He was like a dad, like a
brother, like a friend,” said fellow-RA Abby Fitch, adding, “He
was a great guy, it’s a great loss, a great tragedy, and he will
be missed.”
Will loved baseball, Taco
Bell, mischief, and good times with great friends.
“One time, we found a
softball bat while we were cleaning,” said Brad Ward, a sophomore
who first met Will working on the summer clean-up crew. “While
everyone else was still cleaning, we were playing home-run derby
behind the housing commons.”
Former RA Angel Smith said,
“We became really, really good friends, and he became my best
friend… He’s the one person I could have fallen on at RA training
and took it the way he did.”
Angel was referring to a
ropes course that the RAs participated in as a part of their
training. When Angel couldn’t make it over a 10 ft. plus wall
with the assistance of her RA team, she fell back down onto Will,
putting both of them in a compromising position.
John Ringle, Director of
UIS Housing, shared fond memories of Will also. “He was a good
kid that’s gonna be missed. I beat him at bowling (for charity) on
Friday night,” adding that he got to buy Will one of his last
beers.
Tiffany Dorris, Will’s
girlfriend of two years, said “I believe that he is up there. I
do believe that I’ll see him again… I know he’s thinking
everything’s okay. And he’s telling me to finish school.”
Preliminary indications are
that Rogers died peacefully in his sleep from natural causes.
When Will did not show up
for RA duty on Saturday, housing staff called his roommate, who
reported that he hadn’t seen Will all day. The townhouse RA
on-duty was then called to check Will’s room, where he found the
body and called the police.
Ringle said, “I don’t think
that there’s anything that anybody could have done to prevent what
occurred. It’s one of those tragic things that just happens.”
Funeral services were
incomplete at the time of publication, but UIS housing will be
taking a shuttle to the service, and an on-campus memorial service
is being scheduled. |
