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Finals are hard and all too real, which is why sometimes you need to escape into a world where people can fly, villains wear ridiculous outfits and history is rewritten to be a lot more interesting.

Of course, I’m talking about comic books. OK, so maybe not everyone gets as excited as I do on Wednesdays, waiting for class to get over so I can read the latest Green Lantern. But there are a large variety of books out there that works well for a quick break and has compelling stories and astounding visuals.

There’s no better time to enter the D.C. Comics universe than now. Having just wrapped up its mega-crossover event, “Infinite Crisis,” D.C. has decided to jump the entire universe ahead one full year and give new readers a great place to jump on board and not be completely confused about prior history. If you’ve been looking to catch up on classic heroes such as Superman, Batman or Aquaman, now is the time.

Personally, I’m a huge Green Lantern fan, and there are no less than three individual titles featuring the emerald warriors. If you’re more of a Silver Age fan of Hal Jordan, pick up the “Green Lantern” title. Coming straight out of the pages of “Infinite Crisis,” Kyle Rayner has transformed into a Lantern that no longer needs a power ring in “Ion.” And the policemen of the universe return in “Green Lantern Corps.”

But hey, maybe you’re not a D.C. Comics fan and, instead, would rather dabble in the Marvel Comics universe. Now would also be a good time to jump aboard - if you like crossovers. Marvel is introducing “Civil War,” where the heroes are pitted against each other after the government introduces a law requiring all superheroes to register. Writer Mark Millar (of “The Ultimates” fame) has placed Captain America and Iron Man on opposing sides of the law for this event. While the miniseries title “Civil War” itself is only seven issues, there are 74 comic books total that feature parts of this crossover. Be warned: crossovers drain your bank account faster than dollar-bottle night.

But perhaps the mainstream big two are not your style. There are plenty of comics out there that do a great job at bringing fun back into the industry. Perhaps most recently is the independent Superverse title “Zoom Suit.” Imagine if a teenager (a la Peter Parker) happens to discover the coolest Halloween costume ever: an alien mechanical suit that lets him fly and move at super speeds. Of course, this wouldn’t be complete without the government wanting this piece of misappropriated technology back. Issue #1 just hit the stands, and it’s worth the cover price, as every page is printed on a high quality paper stock that allows for a metallic-sheen effect that I’ve yet to see reproduced anywhere.

If you’re really looking to take an extended break, picking up collected editions of comic books, also known as trade paperbacks, might be a better bet. As always, revisiting some “classics” such as Alan Moore’s “Watchmen” and Frank Miller’s “The Dark Knight Returns” are picks you can’t go wrong with. Both provide social commentary and go beyond the typical superhero story, and many argue that those books influenced a change in comic books today.

More recent trades worth picking up might be any from Kurt Busiek’s “Astro City” line. Besides featuring wonderful cover artwork from Alex Ross, “Astro City” tells stories of superheroes that don’t necessarily follow the convention of the good versus evil plotline. Instead, it focuses on the lives of those impacted by the actions of superheroes. Busiek takes the archetypes made popular by D.C. and Marvel and frames characters around those to use as a backdrop for the stories of individuals that have a more human element. The stories are more thought provoking than the standard fare, and having collected editions makes for an enjoyable read in one sitting.

So, that’s my quick rundown on some distractions beyond the fourth wall. Check them out if you’ve got the time. Unless, of course, you’d rather be studying.

When he first heard he would be returning home from Iraq, Rob Blockinger said he was scared because of the transition back to life in the United States. But on the day of his homecoming, Blockinger said he was excited to return home from Iraq - and with good reason: he could hold his 10-day-old son, Colin, in his arms for the first time.

“We did what we had to do,” Blockinger said. “And now, it’s time to catch up for lost time.”

Blockinger, a medic, returned with the rest of the 2nd Battalion, 130th Infantry Thursday and said he plans to return home to Wheaton, Ill., to attend school at the College of DuPage.

The 130th came home to a patriotic display for their homecoming after spending more than a year in Iraq.

People lined the roads of Neil Street and University Avenue waving flags, holding signs and cheering as four buses with a police escort journeyed the final distance to bring the 130th home to the National Guard Armory, 600 E. University Ave., Urbana.

“They deserve our thanks for putting their ass on the line,” said John Patten of Champaign, who waited along Neil Street to welcome the soldiers home. “You may not believe in the war, but you better support the troops. They did a hell of a job. They were right in the thick of it.”

Amy Stewart waited outside for the procession Thursday morning with her three children along South Neil Street to welcome home the troops, even though she was not waiting to see a specific soldier.

“We want to show visible support for the troops and let them know that we appreciate what they’ve done,” Stewart said.

At the armory, family members waited for their loved ones to return, wearing T-shirts with the unit’s name and carrying balloons saying “Welcome Home, Job Well Done, Blackhawks and Hooah.”

Manuel Carvajal traveled from North Chicago with his family to welcome home his brother, Spc. Edwardo “Lalo” Nieves. Carvajal said although he had a general idea of when Nieves would return, it wasn’t until three days ago that he knew the exact day.

Carvajal said he plans to party and drink with his brother, who turned 21 in Iraq.

“He said it’s completely different over there,” Carvajal said, who talked with his brother through e-mail and phone calls. “It’s nothing like you’d expect here, of course. … He said he had a good experience.”

Lt. Col. Mark Jackson of the 130th welcomed the soldiers back and addressed them inside the armory, which was filled with excited family members. Once the soldiers were dismissed, hugs and tears filled the area.

Jackson, who is originally from Rantoul, Ill., but now resides in Frankfort, Ill., said the support from the community was incredible and after returning home he plans to relax and “do a whole lot of nothing.”

He said the 130th helped build schools and provided health care to rural areas.

“There’s some wonderful people in Iraq,” Jackson said. “Just like back here.”

Champaign Mayor Gerald Schweighart said while he did not know anyone personally that was a member of the 130th, he was happy to know that three Champaign police officers, who were members of the unit, were returning and was pleased to see the community come out to show its support.

“I was there when they left a year ago,” Schweighart said. “I’m glad to see them back.”

Ryan Davis, Daily Illini staff writer contributed to this report.

University officials are warning that e-mails asking for account and social security numbers from University Employee Credit Union members are illegitimate attempts by scam artists.

E-mails that were sent out to potential credit union members warned that their accounts “may have been accessed by an unauthorized third party” and urged users to login to their online account at a phony Web site, which would then collect the information to be used by the scammers later. The Web site deceptively spoofs the look of the credit union’s online banking site. The scammers use the information submitted to create phony ATM cards to withdraw money from a member’s account.

Greg Anderson, executive vice president of the credit union, said a large amount of e-mails were sent out mid-March to seemingly anyone with an “@uiuc.edu” suffix, regardless of whether or not the person had an account with the credit union.

“They’re phishing,” Anderson said, referring to the practice of using the appearance of legitimacy to obtain sensitive information online.

In the most recent scam attempt, the e-mails were coming from Romania, and a hacked server in Hong Kong hosted the fake Web site. Anderson said that the credit union uses an Internet security firm to track back the fake e-mails and works to shut down the scammers’ operations.

“There’s no case where we or any other institution would be saying please verify your account number, your pin number or something,” Anderson said. “Once you step back and look at it a bit you say, ‘well, that’s kind of preposterous that the financial institution would contact me and say put in your credit card number.’”

Several dozen members of the credit union had reported they had fallen for the scam, Anderson said, and the credit union responded by blocking the credit cards of the members and issuing new ones.

Campus Information Technologies and Educational Services has been able to catch and block phishing e-mails through its spam filters once phony e-mails are reported to them, said Mike Corn, director of security services and information privacy for CITES.

“It’s never perfect and you can see we’re always playing catch-up,” Corn said.

Once a new spam or phishing e-mails is caught, it is added to the anti-spam engine, which is updated two to six times a day, Corn said, warning people to be cautious and skeptical.

“I think we’re in a time where more and more people are more comfortable with doing things online,” Anderson said. “Their defenses just get down.”

The Champaign County Republicans elected new officers Wednesday evening, including its chairman position.

Former Chairman Steve Hartman stepped down as Jason Barickman was nominated and elected to the position. Rep. Tim Johnson (R-15) said he knew what degree of commitment the position required.

“His energy, intelligence, wisdom, fresh ideas … are something that will serve this party very well,” Johnson said about Barickman.

Hartman expressed his gratitude for the help he had received during his time as chairman, and said that Barickman would take the party “over the top” and was excited about the new leadership.

“Get ready to work hard,” Hartman said. “We have a wonderful opportunity ahead of us.”

Barickman said that Hartman has been a great mentor for him and was grateful to have Johnson’s support. Barickman also said he was looking forward to working with fellow members.

Taking back the county board to a Republican majority and getting local candidates elected to state office were goals mentioned by Barickman for the local party’s future. Barickman said what they could provide would be grassroots support.

“We’re all going to sit in a room on election day and say, ‘We turned our county red again,’” Barickman said. “We can carry Champaign County.”

The local party also nominated and elected Greg Knott for vice chairman, Lisa Mettler for secretary, Brett Penick for treasurer and Jerry Clark for state central committeeman.

When the University holds a ceremonial groundbreaking on April 28 for the Business Instructional Facility on the corner of Sixth Street and Gregory Drive, it will signify more than just another building on campus; it will be the beginning of a greener building philosophy.

The facility will be the first “green building” at the University, which means it will incorporate several features in its design to make it environmentally friendly and energy efficient and to develop it for long-term sustainability. Construction is expected to be completed by the fall semester of 2008.

“The idea of green buildings is to construct buildings that have a much lighter impact on the environment and at the same time are much better places to be and work,” said Donald Fournier, research specialist in sustainable planning and design at the University.

Fournier is a member of the central Illinois chapter of the United States Green Building Council as the program chair and was initially involved in an advisory capacity with the facility. He said green buildings take into account holistically every part of the building, right down to the carpeting and paint on the walls - in addition to better-known design aspects, such as energy efficiency.

From the beginning, Rafael Pelli, the principal in charge for Pelli Clark Pelli, the architectural firm that designed the project, brought the idea of a sustainable design to the University during the feasibility study three years ago.

“Because sustainable design was carefully incorporated from the beginning, many of the most important ‘green’ features will be unnoticeable to most people,” said Craig Copeland, senior associate and design team leader for Pelli Clarke Pelli.

The facility is expected to consume as much as 75 percent less energy than the average older campus buildings and as much as 40 percent less than a new facility designed to the University’s current standards.

“We looked to do what is called integrated design,” said Jean Ascoli, capital planning architect for facilities and services at the University. “What that means is instead of taking a building and saying ‘I’m going to put green architecture components on it,’ you think of the whole building and try to think every step of the way ‘How can I make this a more sustainable building?’”

Copeland said a collaborative and integrated process was particularly effective in solving problems to fit the specific needs of the facility. He said one example of these processes in action, was the design of the central commons - the three-story atrium space in the heart of the building

“On one hand, we wanted the commons to be a very open and inviting place, infused with natural light,” Copeland said. “But, on the other hand, creating so much glass area was counter to making a thermally efficient envelope.”

The design transformation ended with the implementation of a 30-foot overhang on the south façade over the commons area to minimize heat during the summer months, which would keep the area fully shaded. Designers added perimeter heating to the glass area and a ventilation system called displacement air, which is helpful in large volume spaces.

Other features on the facility will include occupancy sensors and carbon dioxide sensors for heating, ventilation and air conditioning control. Also, motion, infrared and light sensors will be installed to control lighting systems in the building’s rooms.

The building’s exterior will have visible green elements. The University received funding from the Illinois Clean Energy Community Foundation to install photovoltaic solar cells to assist in providing the building with electricity.

“We’re going to end up generating about five to seven percent of the electrical needs of the building with the photovoltaic array that will be on the roof of the auditorium,” said George Freeman, director of facilities and research planning for the College of Business.

Also on selected portions of the facility, plants will cover the building roof. The plants will be indigenous and require no ongoing irrigation. This will allow the plants to change from green to brown during the drier and colder off-seasons.

“People who see the building will see this seasonal change with the building,” Copeland said. “This will be a different look that hopefully will help students and faculty be more aware of the building and the University’s sustainable design mission.”

The Illinois Commerce Commission approved a new process for Illinois utility companies Jan. 24 to purchase electricity amid protests from consumer advocacy groups and state government officials.

The commission’s decision will mark the end of 10 years of a heavily regulated utility market in Illinois and end a rate freeze that has been in effect since 1997. While both advocates and dissenters of the move to a new purchasing system disagree on whether or not the new procurement process should move forward, both agree that it will ultimately mean a rise in electric bills for consumers.

“Our argument is that Exelon is pushing for a series of rate hikes that would raise customer bills by 39 percent,” said Jim Chilsen, spokesperson for the Citizens Utility Board, a non-profit organization that represents interests of residential utility customers.

Chilsen said that while Commonwealth Edison will not be making major profits from the auction, their parent company Exelon would.

The ICC-approved procurement process will use a reverse auction that will allow energy suppliers to bid lower prices in rounds of bidding until the needed amount of electricity is provided to the customers. The new rates based on this system would take place starting Jan. 1, 2007.

ComEd spokeswoman Judy Rader puts the total increase on consumers’ bills at a lower 15 to 20 percent.

“We can’t really predict what the auction results will be, because that’s based on market prices,” Rader said. “We have proposed a customer safety net that would limit customer rate increases to single digits in any single year for three years. That would keep rates at or below 1995 levels for 2009.”

In 1997, the Illinois legislature passed a law that reduced the rates customers were paying by 20 percent and implemented a rate freeze, which has now lasted nearly a decade.

“We did an independent analysis that shows Exelon … is the most successful and the most profitable energy company in the United States, and that’s been under the current rate freeze,” Chilsen said.

The Citizens Utility Board has pushed for the rate freeze to be extended and has found support in the state legislature with a bill sponsored by Rep. Lisa M. Dugan (D-79th) that would freeze electric utility rates for another two years. Since Feb. 24, the bill has been in the rules committee.

“Absolutely nobody likes to see any kind of cost increase in anything, whether it’s our property taxes or the gallon of milk in the store,” said Natalie Hemmer, spokeswoman for Ameren. “But I think there are very few things that you can look at that have not had an increase over the last 10 to 25 years.”

ComEd and Ameren are currently locked into energy distribution contracts that expire at the end of 2006, and state law requires the frozen rates that regulate how much suppliers charge consumers for electricity to be lifted.

“If Illinois is to meet its electric energy needs and consumers are to actually have power when they flip the switch, these companies … will have to buy energy from someone,” said Avis LaVelle, media liaison for Consumers Organized for Reliable Electricity, a coalition that supports the deregulation of the electricity industry.

LaVelle said attempts to keep the rates frozen are shortsighted.

“You can try to suppress rates and hold consumers to pay the same rates for energy, but the electric energy distributors … are not able to buy energy for what they bought it for 10 years ago,” LaVelle said. “What you’re essentially doing to the companies is forcing them to buy at a high price, but requiring them to sell electric energy for less than what they bought it for.”

On Thursday, the University of Illinois released proposed tuition increases for all three campuses, which will await approval of the Board of Trustees on April 11, 2006.

The tuition increase would start July 1, 2006, and would increase $666 per year for Urbana-Champaign students who are either incoming freshmen or not covered by the guaranteed tuition program. This rise would be a 9.46 percent hike over the previous year’s tuition rate for new in-state students.

The tuition increase comes at a time when the University would only receive a 1.48 percent increase in state appropriations if the 2007 fiscal year Illinois state budget is approved by the legislature. Even if the budget is approved, the University would receive state funding that is below 2003 fiscal year levels, with no increase in support for inflation.

University President B. Joseph White said the tuition increase would attempt to get the University back to a resource level that it had during the 2002 fiscal year.

“In regards to academic quality, … it means retaining key faculty that our students depend on,” White said.

“It means hiring more teachers, offering more classes and making sure there’s course availabilities so our students can graduate on time.”

If the Board approves the tuition increase, tuition will go up $586 per academic year at the Chicago campus and $1,000 at the Springfield campus for incoming freshmen or students not covered by the guaranteed tuition program.

The guaranteed tuition program was signed into law in July 2003 to ensure that the cost of tuition would not rise for new undergraduate students for four years in Illinois public universities. The law does not cover housing costs and fees.

In addition to a tuition increase, White said fees will increase three to four percent to recover inflationary costs, and room and board rates will have a similar increase.

Students will also see another fee on their bill, the Academic Facilities Maintenance Fund Assessment, pending Board approval. The $500 per year fee at both the Urbana-Champaign and Chicago campuses will be used to combat the University’s $800 million deferred maintenance problem in conjunction with state support. The Springfield campus students will have a $250 per year fee for the fund.

The state has not provided the University with a capital appropriations budget for the past four years, and White said the problem has been accumulating over time and is now headed to the point of no return unless it is remedied.

“The problem is that we’re spending half of what we need to spend, which is why it’s getting bigger,” White said. “We’re counting on the state over the course of the next 10 years to provide 15 percent of the total we need to spend. Even though, frankly, we have no idea if they will.”

Tuition could be increasing $700 for students at the Urbana-Champaign campus starting July 1, 2006, according to a document obtained by The Daily Illini. The same document also revealed tuition increases of $1,000 at the Springfield campus and $600 at the Chicago campus for the 2006-2007 academic year.

The document said the recommended tuition increase would bring an additional $27 million to the University during the 2007 fiscal year, with $16.1 million coming from the Urbana-Champaign campus.

University spokesperson Tom Hardy would not confirm the authenticity of the document, but did state in an e-mail exchange that after viewing the document “it would be inaccurate to report that the numbers contained in the document … are the tuition rates that eventually will be recommended to the BOT.”

University President B. Joseph White said during a Feb. 14 interview that he expected a tuition increase to be announced by the Board during their April 11 meeting.

“Even in the face of significant tuition increases of the past and surely those that will come, which by the way we impose only to maintain the quality of the University of Illinois, I think we offer one of the greatest educational values in America and I’m very proud of it,” White said during a WILL-TV interview on Feb. 14.

White also said in an e-mail exchange that only the Board has the final authority to set tuition and fees after University administration recommendations.

The document is titled “FY2007 Tuition Recommendations (Jan 06 BOT Meeting),” and also has the text “BOT would act on FY07 tuition recommendations at January 2006 Board meeting.” However, no tuition increases appeared on the Jan. 19 Board meeting agenda.

White said tuition recommendations to the Board were delayed because the University “had a sense in January that there might be proposed budget action from the (state government) affecting higher education and (the University) wanted to see more cards. This turned out to be true.”

Hardy said the tuition recommendation could have been held because of a possible need to wait for the outcome of the state legislative process to approve Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s budget proposal, which has yet to be passed.

“The Board of Trustees is taking a look at the tuition year in and year out,” Hardy said. “There are a whole variety of factors the University has to consider. Among those are increasing costs. When utility costs go up, or when health care costs go up, or just the cost of providing incremental salary adjustments go up, you need to cover that somehow.”

In the University’s Strategic Plan, released in January, one assumption of the plan includes increased funding through an expectation of “tuition to grow at close to 10 percent annually” and for “state funding to grow modestly” at not more than one percent annually.

Although the numbers obtained in the document are not final, the document said the guaranteed increase in tuition rates for incoming, in-state freshmen would be 9.9 percent at the Urbana campus, 21.9 percent at the Springfield campus and 9.7 percent at the Chicago campus.

If the proposed budget is approved by the state legislature, the University will receive an increase of 1.48 percent in state appropriations from last year.

Funding for the University goes through a multi-step process. The University first submits a request to the Illinois Board of Higher Education for the upcoming fiscal year. The IBHE then makes a recommendation to the governor who submits a proposed budget for the legislature to approve. Once approved, money is appropriated to the University.

For the 2007 fiscal year, the University submitted a request to the IBHE for $781.6 million. The IBHE recommended to the governor that the University receive $706.1 million. Blagojevich’s recommended budget, which is pending approval from the state legislature, appropriates $708.2 million for the University.

If the state budget is approved, the University would receive about $10 million more in the 2007 fiscal year from the state than the prior year. However, the increase in state appropriations will still be less than the funding received at 2003 fiscal year levels.

Blagojevich spokesperson Lena Parsons from the Illinois Office of Management and Budget said the reduction in funding during 2004 was because of a historic $5 billion deficit, but that funding for core programs for the neediest students were not reduced and that the University has helped to reduce administrative costs that do not directly impact students.

“Everyone, whether it’s the Board of Higher Education or the University or … anyone else, has been doing their part,” Parsons said. “Education has always been a key commitment of the governor.”

During the 2006 fiscal year, the University received $697.9 million from the state. If the state were to fund the University at the same level during the 2007 fiscal year, the University would require $725.7 million just to cover the inflation rate - assuming no other cost increases, meaning the University would need an additional $17.5 million.

Parsons said the governor’s budget proposal has always taken the recommendation from the IBHE and this year added an additional $2 million to it.

Executive Director of the IBHE Judy Erwin confirmed this practice and said that the IBHE has to juggle all the budget requests from public universities, community colleges and scholarship funds and weigh that against what higher education is likely to receive from the governor’s office.

“Do they have more needs than that? Absolutely,” Erwin said. “Unfortunately, because of limited revenue … we have to prioritize what the needs are.”

University Trustee David V. Dorris said these are tough times for the University and for the people in the state government.

“The people in Springfield are in a vise and one of the pressure relief points is us, at the University,” Dorris said. “Do I want to beat up on them? No.”

White also said that he was not disappointed with the governor’s budget proposal and that an increase in appropriations was very welcome after four years of cuts and no increases.

“Unfortunately, the proposed increase is so modest that we need to continue to rely significantly on increased tuition to maintain the University’s academic quality,” White said. “We also face a very large deferred maintenance problem - over $700 million - in our academic facilities with little prospective incremental help from the state. We need to find a way to get on top of this problem.”

Hardy said the incremental increase will not eliminate all the pressure on tuition and other revenue sources for the University, but it will help.

“This University and other public universities around the state have had to make a lot of strategic re-allocations, cutbacks in the level of spending,” Hardy said. “Some of the impact of that is the deferred maintenance of our facilities, courses available and thus larger course sections and a larger faculty-to-student ratio. Those kind of things are documented and well known.”

Dorris said that it would be a sad day for him personally if he ever had to vote for a tuition increase, but his mind was not made up yet.

“We’re doing the best we can to keep two things in balance,” he said. “Giving every qualified student in the state access to the University of Illinois, and keeping the University at a very high-level status.”

Jason Koch, Vasanth Sridharan, Danielle Gaines and Nick Escobar contributed to this report.

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. - With 15 days until the primary elections on March 21, four Republican gubernatorial candidates debated Tuesday night, each saying how they would improve the state economy and business climate.

The debate was held at the Hoogland Center for the Arts in Springfield, Ill., and was sponsored by the Illinois Chamber of Commerce, National Federation of Independent Business and the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce. Topics ranged from funding roads, reducing and repealing taxes and fees, and funding education. Candidates in attendance included State Treasurer Judy Baar Topinka, State Senator Bill Brady and businessmen Jim Oberweis and Ron Gidwitz.

Sugar Grove native Jim Oberweis said he is not a politician and would come into the governor’s office as a reformer and restated his pledge to not accept campaign donations. When asked about former Gov. George Ryan’s ongoing trial, Oberweis said that he has seen two Republican and two Democrat governors on trial.

“This governor (Rod Blagojevich) seems bound and determined that he’s going to break that tie,” Oberweis said.

When asked about recent allegations made by former Deputy Treasurer Martin Kovarik about shredding documents and state employees doing campaign work in the state treasurer’s office, State Treasurer Topinka said that none of the allegations were true.

“We do not shred official documents,” Topinka said. “We respect them.”

Topinka also said that in her office, employees do not do political work on company time and refuted Kovarik’s statements.

“Kovarik was a tax cheat and unfortunately we had to terminate him,” Topinka said.

State Sen. Brady (R-Bloomington) described himself as a mainstream conservative and pledged not to increase taxes and to repeal business fees to help the state economy.

When asked about the rising health care costs for small businesses, Brady said he would reform medical malpractice lawsuits, reform the Medicaid system and fight against mandates that increase premiums.

“Our policies ought to motivate people to be on health care,” Brady said.

Businessman Ron Gidwitz said the Illinois job climate and economy was made lousy by Gov. Rod Blagojevich’s administration.

“We are a high cost state and the governor has made it higher by closing loopholes,” Gidwitz said. “We need to roll back the loopholes he closed to make Illinois more viable.”

Gidwitz also said he would reform education and that test scores showed some schools with ample resources are not doing their jobs to educate students and accountability in education must be increased.

Topinka and Brady both opposed affirmative action quotas in admissions to public universities. Brady said the universities should be used to recruit and attract minorities, and Topinka said that while opportunities needed to be opened up to minorities, the issue should not be forced with a quota.

On subsidizing ethanol in Illinois, Oberweis clarified his position from a prior statement he made in 2001, saying that he never opposed ethanol, but generally was opposed to subsidies.

“We must do whatever we can to reduce our dependency on foreign oil,” Oberweis said. “We need to move to a free market.”