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Downtown Bars
Flourish, Despite Recent Problems
By Chris Sabo
Downtown Springfield has seen an
increase in police presence due to recent concerns of local
residents and business owners.
Jeff Sutzer, a local bar patron
and downtown resident, feels safe in his apartment and enjoys
the extra police presence.
“I’ve lived down here for four
years now. I really haven’t seen an increase in activity.
Broken glass and loud music are two things that come along with
living in a downtown area.”
 Sutzer
thinks many problems are centered around a few bars in
particular. “PT’s and 11 West seem to have the most problems.
If you chose to play loud dance music at night you’re going to
attract big, rowdy crowds.”
Sutzer has noticed
the extra patrol officers at night but is unsure if they are
making a difference. “Every time I see them they seem to be
talking to each other outside of their cars. I don’t actually
see them patrolling or anything.”
Many bartenders and bar managers
have been proactive, however. Craig Smith, a bartender at Catch
22 and Stella Blue, sees the increase in police presence
essential to ensure everyone has a safe and enjoyable night.
“We have police walking through the bars on occasion just to
make sure everything is going smoothly.”
There have been several changes
instilled within the last year to accommodate the growing bar
scene. Last year, the Springfield Police Department had two
patrolling officers along with two horse patrols. The horse
patrols have since disappeared and been replaced by officers on
mountain bikes.
Dave Barringer is a downtown
patrolman with the Springfield Police Department. He has seen
many changes since the bikes have been put into use. “The
mountain bikes help the officers to be more proactive and more
visible,” said Barringer. They are able to go down alleys and
get to where they need to be fast.”
Barringer patrols downtown
during the day and often notices glass, broken flowerpots and
trash littering the street. “I really haven’t seen a huge
increase in problems. Everything seems to be pretty
consistent.”
Barringer has had concerns
voiced to him by local business owners. “Occasionally residents
will tell me they heard loud mufflers and music. This is pretty
common, but has increased over the past six months.”
Not everyone feels the late
night scene downtown is a problem. Paul Kmett often goes
downtown with his friends and feels totally at ease. “We come
down here all the time. We spend quite a lot of time at The
Alamo and Catch 22. As long as you stay away from the hip-hop
bars, you shouldn’t have a problem, Kmett says.
When asked if UIS students
should make the drive downtown for some weekend excitement Kmett
says, “Take a cab or have a friend drive you down. It’s a great
area with cheap drinks and good music. Everyone is sure to find
something they like.”
Elections add new
members to the SGA
By Stephanie Orr
The Student Government
Association has three new members as a result of the Sept. 21-23
elections. At the SGA meeting on Sunday, two representatives at
large and a representative from public affairs and
administration were inducted.
Sarah Jahn of Waukegan, Ill., is
a junior majoring in political studies. She was elected to the
SGA as a representative at large. Jahn transferred to UIS this
semester from College of Lake County. Jahn had always been
interested in student government and thought serving on the SGA
would be a good experience.
 Jahn
is hoping to use her position on the SGA, in part, to see that
housing offers a weekend shuttle service for resident students.
In her position statement, Jahn said this service was especially
needed for students with disabilities as well as international
students. “I have spoken with international students who cannot
get to a grocery store because they don’t have cars,” Jahn wrote
in her statement.
Jahn also hopes to help UIS
become more accessible for students with disabilities. She says
there needs to be more communication on campus in order for
people to know what the school has to offer.
“I think this school has a lot of
potential,” Jahn said. Students are welcome to contact her at
sjahn2@uis.edu.
LaTrice Nettles of Springfield,
Ill., was also elected as a representative at large. A freshman
majoring in accounting, Nettles said she was “interested in
getting involved and helping improve the campus.”
In her position statement,
Nettles said the future of UIS was her priority. “I would like
to see campus life flourish with unity among the UIS students,
on and off campus, administration, and faculty,” wrote Nettles.
She says recognizing diversity among students and offering
opportunities for everyone is a challenge, but strong leadership
can turn the challenge in to an opportunity.
Nettles would like to see more
student involvement on campus. She also wants to bring the
community in to bond with UIS. Students can contact Nettles by
e-mail at lnett2@uis.edu.
Liz Moran of Burbank, Ill., was
elected to represent public affairs and administration. She is a
senior majoring in political studies at UIS. Moran became
interested in running for the SGA after attending a meeting.
Moran said that she was impressed with the leadership of Tyson
Roan, president of the SGA. “It was the first time that I saw
the SGA as a legitimate governing body,” said Moran.
Moran wants to make sure that UIS
is living up to its mission of being a public affairs
institution. She would also like to organize students and
inspire them to take leadership roles on campus. “I don’t think
students have a voice on this campus,” Moran said. One of her
goals for before she graduates from UIS is the creation of a
central meeting place for students and faculty to communicate.
“If we can get that dialog
started then we can take that information and be a better
student government,” said Moran. She can be contacted via e-mail
at lmora@uis.edu.
SGA urges students
to conserve water and energy, inducts new members
By Stephanie Orr
The Student Government
Association passed a resolution on the conservation of water and
energy and inducted five new members at its meeting on Sunday.
This year, students living in
townhouses and apartments on campus are being charged a
flat-rate of $35 each month for their electricity usage. The
charge has created a controversy on campus. The Resolution in
Support of Water & Energy Conservation says that the flat-rate
may cause students to be less conservative when using their
utilities.
The resolution states that “it is
in the students’ best interests to conserve energy and promote a
cleaner tomorrow for themselves and their children.”
The resolution also states that
University Housing, anticipating an effort by students to
conserve energy on campus, has changed the utilities fee to
range between $20 and $30 a month for 2006.
In the resolution the SGA offers
suggestions to students on how they can reduce their water and
energy usage. The SGA “encourages students to turn lights,
appliances, stereos, TVs, and other household devices off when
not in use.” The SGA further recommends that computers, VCRs,
DVD players, and similar appliances be turned off instead of put
on standby mode.
The resolution further recommends
the use of “energy saving light bulbs, as they last longer and
save power.”
For water conservation, the
resolution suggests that dishwashers be run only for full loads
and that students not keep water constantly running when washing
dishes by hand. It is also recommended that students take
shorter showers and turn the water off when shaving or brushing
their teeth.
The SGA also inducted five new
members at the meeting. Liz Moran, representative from public
affairs and administration, LaTrice Nettles, representative at
large, and Sarah Jahn, representative at large, were the winners
of the Sept. 21-23 elections. Moran, Nettles and Jahn were sworn
in to their positions by Dan Kovats, sergeant at arms.
In addition to the three elected
representatives, two others were appointed to the SGA.
Shareen Mullins of Danville,
Ill., is a graduate student at UIS. Mullins was inducted in the
SGA as the representative from the school of education and human
services. This is her first time at serving on student
government. “I have to find out what it’s all about,” said
Mullins.
Mullins said that UIS needs more
family housing. She also said getting financial aid settled was
“a huge headache,” and would like to see the process become
smoother for all students. Mullins can be contacted at smull02s@uis.edu.
Akshat Agarwal, a junior majoring
in psychology and business administration, was also appointed to
the SGA. Agarwal will be serving as the representative from the
school of liberal arts and sciences. Agarwal is a transfer
student and was involved in student government at his former
college.
Agarwal said he had heard UIS was
looking to bring a Greek system to campus, and that he would
like to help with that. He can be contacted via e-mail at
aagar2@uis.edu.
The next SGA meeting will be held
on Oct. 10, 2004, in the PAC conference room G. The meeting is
open and students are encouraged to attend. |
