Reasonably Logical

I don’t have any details yet, but I got a facebook message from someone I know in PRIDE at UIUC indicating there had been an assault late Saturday night on Green Street. The only blog entry I can find is - shall we say - not very reliable, so I don’t know much yet. I would appreciate any information anyone might have. I will update this when I know more.

Update (4-23-08): I spoke with a knowledgeable friend who confirmed that there was a hate based attack last weekend (4/12-13). Apparently, the attacker spotted someone he thought to be gay and punched the victim knocking him out. It turns out the victim is someone I know, though not very well. He was kept overnight at the hospital then released. He is physically fine, but understandably a bit shaken up. The attacker was arrested and is now out on bail.

There is a response being organized from Friday night after Day of Silence. If you’re in Champaign, I would encourage you to go.

I just got back from the MBLGTACC 2008 conference. I was there for four days, but the time went by so fast it felt more like four hours. I spent a lot of time volunteering at the conference, and the rest spending as much time with as many friends as possible. Being back in Champaign reminded me just how much a part of me wishes I hadn’t left.

The end result of everything else I was doing was that I only attended two workshops and one of the three keynotes. Probably my lowest attendance record ever for a conference. Well, that happens when you spend all your time running the thing. (For once, I was not in charge. Yeah!)

And on that note, let me offer my congratulations to the conference committee and in particular the co-chairs. Nicely done guys! Now go get some sleep. You all need it.

Well, my Europe trip has officially been over for a couple of days. I got back late Friday evening after some hellish security at Heathrow. (I’m not complaining mind you.) Talked with a friend for a while then crashed.

Saturday, I got up and drove with two friends to the Equal Marriage Illinois statewide conference. I hadn’t planned on being able to go, but since I was back anyways, I figured what the heck. It was a productive day. I got a chance to briefly meet Representative Greg Harris - the author of Illinois Civil Union bill - and saw a wonderful play that illustrates why marriage is often so important for same sex couples. (I’ll probably be writing more about that latter.)

On Sunday, I spent the day madly packing and then had dinner with a good friend. Monday, I got up continued the packing until the movers showed up at noon then made a series of panicked phone calls to arrange the rest of the move. Ryan and I finally got out of Champaign around 5:30 pm. We drove through the night and arrived here in Stamford, CT at around 11am. The rest of the day has been spent moving in, resting, and taking care of outstanding bills from Europe.

Thanks everyone for reading my blog and keeping in touch with me while I was in Europe. Hope you enjoyed the trip as much as I did.

— Stamford, Connecticut at 6pm local time

Well, as seems to happen every year, there has been a string of laptop thefts from popular study spots and offices. Don’t leave your laptop unattended.

The University Police Department would like to inform our community about
eight reports of laptop computers being stolen from campus buildings since
April 27, 2007. In each instance, the owner of the computer has left their
possessions unattended for brief periods of time. Computers have been
taken from study areas, unlocked offices, classrooms and the Illini Union.
Thefts have occurred between the hours of 11:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m.
Additionally, purses and wallets have been taken under similar circumstances.

We realize many are studying for final exams and it is easy to become
complacent about securing items. It is imperative that everyone secure
their possessions or ask a trusted friend to watch them even for brief
trips to vending areas or restrooms. University of Illinois Police
officers are conducting additional walking patrols throughout campus. We
seek your assistance in preventing the thefts and encourage everyone to
report suspicious individuals to the police.

Chief Krystal Fitzpatrick

Just passing this along for those of you who attend UIUC. Be careful folks.

The Division of Public Safety at Urbana-Champaign works hard with our
community to provide a safe and secure campus for our students, faculty and
staff. I write this morning to inform you of four armed robberies that
very recently happened in the campus district.

Between midnight and 2:40 a.m. today (March 31, 2007) four armed robberies
happened in the campus area. These crimes took place in Illini Grove, the
natural area located at the northwest corner of Lincoln Avenue and
Pennsylvania Avenue; at Busey Avenue and Nevada Street in Urbana; at Wright
Street and White Street in Champaign; and at Locust Street and Chalmers
Street in Champaign. In each case a man approached the victims and
displayed a handgun. This suspect was described as a black male,
approximately 5′ 08″ and heavyset. He was wearing black clothing including
a black knit cap. Another suspect was seen standing near where the crimes
happened. This suspect is described as a black male, thin and
approximately 6′01″. In each incidents, the suspect took personal items,
but no one was physically injured. Both suspects walked or ran from the
scene following the robberies.

University Police are working closely with city police departments to
apprehend the criminals. If you have any information to assist with this
investigation please call Crimestoppers at 217-373-TIPS or the University
Police at 217-333-1216. Most importantly, if you feel something is
suspicious, immediately call our local emergency number:
911 from your cell phone or 9-911 from campus phones.

These robberies are known as “crimes of opportunity,” because the criminals
look for people they consider easiest to victimize. That means that we can
all take steps to reduce our chances of becoming a target. First, pay
close attention to your surroundings; do not place yourself in a position
where you are unable to detect individuals who may be approaching you. Use
well lit and populated routes whenever possible. Always walk with a friend
or join a group. Better yet, use the services of either SafeRides
(217-265-7433) or SafeWalks (217-333-1216).

Your safety is very important to us. In meeting our goal of keeping our
campus safe, you need to always be aware of your surroundings and to let us
know if you see any suspicious activity. If you would like to talk to an
officer about additional safety tips, please call us at 217-333-1216.

Thank You,

Chief Krystal Fitzpatrick

If they keep this up, I may have to revise my opinion of the DI. First, their good editorial on the Chief Illiniwek issue and now this. They seem to have a pretty decent editorial staff this year.

Civil union bill an opportunity for Illinois
By The Daily Illini Editorial Staff
Posted: 3/29/07 Section: Editorials

http://www.dailyillini.com/home/index.cfm?event=displayArticle&uStory_id=96637380-cac2-4c4f-a6c3-267bb5789971

An equal marriage bill was introduced in the Illinois House last week. Cosponsored by Rep. Greg Harris, Rep. Sara Feigenholtz, Rep. Constance A. Howard, & Rep. Harry Osterman, the bill would change the definition of marriage to be between any two persons (not closely related by blood) rather than “a man and a woman”. There is a group of people getting together next Tuesday March 6th at 5:30 in the Geneva Room of the McKinley Foundation to hash out what type of action we could take to help the bill pass. Anyone who wants to attend is welcome.

Please RSVP to me (reames@uiuc.edu) if you want pizza (which I will be buying). Feel free to just show up, but if you don’t RSVP I won’t promise there will be enough pizza for you.

5:30 pm, Tuesday, March 6th
Geneva Room
McKinley Church and Foundation
809 S. Fifth St.
Champaign, Il 61820

House Bill 1615:
http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/BillStatus.asp?DocTypeID=HB&DocNum=1615&GAID=9&SessionID=51&LegID=30427

Equal Marriage Illinois Champaign County - the local equal marriage activism group in Champaign-Urbana which is hosting the meeting
http://www.equalmarriagecc.org/

Yesterday, I met again with the group planning the information phone line for the GLBT community in Champaign and Urbana. During the course of the meeting, we decided that what we really wanted to focus on was creating the information guide. The medium is very much secondary. Since there is so much liability potentially involved with a phone line, we decided to get a website up and running first. In the process of gathering information for the resource guide, we’re going to be interviewing a number of folks who have been active in the community here for many years. We intend on broadening the scope of this interviews to obtain as much historical information as we can. (Or at least that is my intent.) I’ve already gone ahead and registered the domains we’re going to be using, but nothing is up yet.

The Champaign County LGBTQA Resource Guide will soon be available at: www.CClgbtqaResourceGuide.org

The next meeting is:
Saturday, March 3rd at 2pm
Urbana Public Library in the conference room downstairs (turn right after taking the stairs down)

All classes has been canceled for the second day in a row. Anyone know if UIUC classes have *every* been snowed out for two days in a row? I don’t thing they have. I know the last single snow day was back in the 70s or something. We’ve gotten somewhere around 16″ of snow and are expecting more. (Just my by eye estimate!)

Update 2-15-07: The last snow day was in 1979 and there have never been two consecutive snow days in the history of UIUC. Total snow fall was just over 12″ (estimated from area reports). It looks like more than that to me, but hey…

I spent the morning working on preparations for the Midwest conference this weekend and starting the ground work for the the CU GLBT Info Line mentioned yesterday. This afternoon I spent on the quad in a giant snowball fight with a bunch of friends. Hell of a blast. In a few minutes, I’m heading over to Gary’s for a “no school tomorrow so lets enjoy ourselves” party. Overall, I could start enjoying this weather.
As a side note, I *HATE* my new Internet service provided by my landlord (Advantage Properties). We used to have great service w/McLeodUSA, but they switched us all to Insight. My connection is almost never up and when it is, its as slow as molasses!

Sunday night I attended a meeting to discuss the starting on a GLBT community center for Champaign-Urbana. I went mostly just to find out more about it and to see how promising it looked. As it happened, I got dragged right in. (Big surprise there right?) Instead of an actual community center, what is being proposed is an information phone line that would be staffed by volunteers. We’ll be working out the details over the next couple of weeks, but it seems like it might actually be workable. We’ll definitely be taking things slow though, particularly after what happened with OUTpost.

The idea of a community center was tried once before, back in 1996. Called OUTpost it lasted until mid 2000. From what I heard last night and in previous conversations, OUTpost pretty much self destructed due to internal conflict, overworking its volunteers, and (according to some) outright fraud by two of the board members. Suffice to say, we’re trying not to repeat their mistakes. That is why we’re starting out small and growing from there if needed.

Before OUTpost, there was another GLBT info line in Champaign-Urbana, but I really don’t know much about it.

The next meeting to discuss the info line is:
Saturday, February 24th at 2pm
Urbana Public Library