March 11, 2011
Daily Illini
dailyillini.com
Deadly tsunami in Japan spawns disaster, research
The strongest earthquake to hit Japan in recorded history tore through the nation island's shore Friday, collapsing bridges and buildings, fanning flames and destroying walls of water. The damage from the magnitude 8.9 earthquake caused an estimated death toll of at least 137. Meanwhile, UI researchers on Asia's natural disasters, infrastructure and recovery spoke about their understanding of the situation.
Japan's earthquake disaster is the most powerful one recorded in 140 years and the fifth largest since 1900. The most serious tsunami damage occurred along the coast of Sendai in Miyagi. Yet, this disaster is something Japan was well-prepared to handle, said Rob Olshansky, professor of urban and regional planning.
"[Japan is] not surprised to have tsunamis," Olshansky said. "They have elaborate systems of warnings. The sirens go off. People evacuate. They have huge seawalls overfishing parts to protect them from the tsunami."
Although the damage is concentrated, the implications and costs of Japan's earthquake and tsunami should not be underestimated.
"It's a huge disaster, but it isn't an overwhelmingly catastrophic disaster that would take out a whole city," Olshansky said. "It's going to require a lot of money and take 5 to 10 years to rebuild the coast."
The recovery process requires enormous amounts of money and reconsideration. Japan may reevaluate whether to rebuild certain areas that are relatively low or nearing sea level, Olshansky said.
"What's interesting about this [tsunami] is, [Japan] might think about to what extent they want to rebuild all the places—not just because of the tsunami but because of the sea level," Olshansky said. "Some places are lower lying, so I'm guessing there will be some locations where [rebuilding] will be an issue. Otherwise, it's going to be a complicated, expensive process."
Along with the heavy costs of recovery, reconsideration on infrastructural design concepts is another important component of the Japan disaster.
Hussam Mahmoud, a doctoral researcher at UI's Mid-America Earthquake Center, said he is currently doing research in earthquake engineering.
"In terms of research in earthquake engineering, Japan is on the leading edge," Mahmoud said. "They have the largest shake table in the world." A shake table is a lab with infrastructure models that can undergo a simulation of an actual earthquake.
Although Japan has the research and technology to create infrastructural designs that will withstand earthquake disasters, they can't predict the impact of unforeseen factors, Mahmoud said.
"There [is] a lot of debris and things moving under the bridge's pier and so you could have a structure of a bridge that performs well under earthquakes, but the debris that hits the bridge could cause it to collapse," Mahmoud said. "You could have an earthquake that hits the infrastructure so instead of the structure being vertical, it's leaning a little bit.
Then you get fire following an earthquake because of shortages in the electric circuits. This will have an impact on the material used for the structure and, in essence, it weakens the structure's columns and beams so it could collapse because of the fire."
Mahmoud added that about 50 aftershocks, many of which are higher than magnitude 6, followed the earthquake. He compared the level of impact each earthquake made to the amount of explosives each is worth.
"If I tell you that a magnitude 6 is similar to releasing 1 million tons of trinitrotoluene [TNT] or explosives, then a magnitude 9 is 32 billion tons of TNT. The energy increases by a factor of 32 with one unit of increase on the Richter scale."
The research involved from the effects of the tsunami in Japan are important, Mahmoud said.
In other words, Japan's tsunami disaster will open new research opportunities in the civil engineering community.
APRIL 29, 2011
Daily Illini
dailyillini.com
DREAM Act to ignite support days before bill receives vote
The issue of immigration reform has rallied popular support after months of stagnation and collecting dust behind closed doors. Several supporters of immigrant protection laws, including University President Michael Hogan, will attend a rally in Chicago this Saturday from 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m to support the Illinois DREAM Act.
On May 4, incumbents in the Illinois Senate will vote on the Illinois DREAM Act, which provides undocumented students with opportunities for education and a means of identification.
Confirmed guests include University President Hogan, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) and President of the Senate John Cullerton. Invited guests include Chicago Mayor-elect Rahm Emanuel and Rep. Michael Madigan.
The latest registration update indicates 1,300 people will be attending the rally, according to Jose Sanchez, president of La Colectiva and junior in LAS. Over 270 people have confirmed on Facebook that they will be attending the rally as well.
About 50 students are expected to fill the bus departing from the U of I at 7:30 a.m. The roundtrip fee is $10.
Hoyt said he expects the pews of the church to be packed tomorrow because the event has many keynote speakers.
The rally for tomorrow will encompass three major talking points under the Dream Act, Sanchez said.
“What this means to me is people are excited about this, and people really want to push for legislation on a state level,” Sanchez said. “This means the community is really getting behind undocumented people, and it’s something we’re just beginning to fight for. So I’m excited to see what the next few months are going to bring.”
Buses from UIC, DePaul, Northwestern, Loyola, U of I and U Chicago are available and will shuttle students to and from St. Nicholas of Tolentine Church, 62nd and Lawndale in Chicago.
“We have 40 people so far,” said Jesse Hoyt, La Colectiva member and senior in LAS. “We’re definitely expecting at least 50 students going from the bus alone, and we got other students making their way there on their own.”
“We’re gonna be packing the pews,” Hoyt said. “Basically, the turnout for this thing is going to be massive. Because there are a lot of keynote speakers a lot of people are going to attend to hear what they’re going to say as well as show support for the different bills. There are two issues we’re fighting for: the Illinois Dream Act and Smart Enforcement Act.
First, it will encourage high school counselors to provide resources to undocumented students. The regular training will help counselors understand education opportunities available for immigrant youths. Secondly, the bill will create a privately-funded scholarship, which undocumented students can access. That way, immigrant youths coming from households below the poverty line can have an opportunity to pay for tuition. Lastly, the bill will provide driving certification to undocumented students so they can have permit and an identification card, reducing the number of uninsured drivers.
In tandem with the Dream Act, the Smart Enforcement Act is also under consideration.
“Basically [the Smart Enforcement Act] allows counties to opt out of secure communities that the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Department put together,” Sanchez said. “ICE agents speak to different county sheriffs. They give presentations to local counties about collecting all these extra information about arrested immigrant criminals. It helps ICE stream line the process and allows them to know when there are being undocumented people being held in jail, which speeds up the deportation process.”
The Smart Enforcement bill allows communities like Champaign County that currently follow the secure communities code to opt out of it.
“We’ve seen a number of families torn apart by this,” Sanchez said. “Many of the legislators didn’t even know [Champaign County’s criminals] were under review because it was an agreement between Champaign County police officers.”
He added that by passing this bill Champaign County will be able to “opt out of this legislation that targets immigrants.” The rally is expected to receive strong support from the community, Sanchez said.
“I think it’s going to be a fantastic event,” Sanchez said. “I think the politicians are going to see strong support from people who really want to see these bills passed. On top of that, University students will see their president speak about this incredibly important issue, and the president will see the kind of momentum behind this movement.”
The Dream Act and Smart Enforcement Act both have been drafted in the past few months, and they’ve been presented to a lot of legislators in passing or behind closed doors, Sanchez said.
“It’s something that’s new but something that’s needed because the people are getting behind it, and they’re coming out in large numbers in support of this,” he added.
September 2, 2011
Daily Illini
dailyillini.com
WWII bomber to touch down in Danville
The Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) will showcase “Aluminum Overcast,” a B-17 bomber at the Vermilion Regional Airport in Danville, Ill. for the 2011 “Salute to Veterans” national tour from Sept. 13-14.
The public will have the opportunity to fly in the plane or tour it on the ground as they get an up close and personal experience of an actual bomber plane during World War II.
“We want to take the plane out and show them what a B-17 looks like, feels like and smells like,” said George Daubner, B-17 program manager at EAA.
There will be five flights per day starting at 10:15 a.m. and ending at 1:15 p.m. The maximum capacity per flight is 10 people. Those who reserve early will receive a discounted ticket price of $399 for EAA members and $430 for non-members. Walk up reservations will be $425 for members of EAA and $465 for non-members.
The EAA is a national organization that embodies the spirit of aviation and engages the community through building, restoring and flying recreational aircraft, according to a press release. The purpose for purchasing the B-17 is to do “humanitarian work,” Daubner said.
“The intent of purchasing the B-17 in the 1970s was to do humanitarian missions around the world,” Daubner said. “This happened about the same time OPEC came alive and drastically increased the price of oil, and these doctors couldn’t afford to make this mission, so they donated it to us to continue the work.”
Among the specific areas of aviation, the EAA encompasses the war birds of America. The B-17 was chosen as the war bird of the World War II era because it represents a pivotal moment in American history.
“This was an iconic airplane during World War II, designed and built primarily to serve as a daytime bomber over Europe,” Daubner said. “It played a key role in breaking the back of the German war machine.”
The national B-17 tours have been recurring each spring and fall since 1994. Each tour is meaningful because it provides an educational opportunity for the community and commemorates the veterans, Daubner said.
“We fly it every year in honor of the World War II veterans,” Daubner said. “We’re losing more and more of our veterans every year. This tour is our opportunity to thank them for what they did.”
The EAA supports the Young Eagles Program, which teaches kids ages 7 to 18 about flying. The program entails taking the students up for a free ride and giving mini ground tours on how planes function.
“We are about education. We are about family. We are about introducing kids to aviation,” Daubner said. “A lot of the revenue generated by the B-17 goes toward supporting our education programs for the kids.”
The B-17 tours 25 states and 57 cities each year from April to December.