I go to UofI too, just went through my first year. No need to change the look. I rode my
Trek 4300 almost everyday without having it stolen. Appearance was not altered to deter theft. I used a Kryptonite Evolution with a 4' cable for the front tire. Try to lock up on a inverted U rack that's cemented to the ground, as often as you can.
Some places like the Illini Union and Psychology Building have those crappy ones racks like this:
I lock up at Altgeld instead which has the inverted U rack whenever I go to the Union.
There are also a few school yard racks around campus, the Armory and Nevada computer lab would be ones i've had to lock at.
looks like this. I saw a Trek 4900 that was put over the rack to use the middle spaces by putting the rack between the down tube and the fork, the down tube area near the fork had a crack on the bottom because of the rack. I always lock up on either end for those, never in between. If I can't find an open end, i'll walk it somewhere else to lock up. At Nevada, they have quite a few racks and I just take up the entire rack by putting it against the front of the rack so I don't have to bother with the end.
Invest into a good U-lock, like a Kryptonite Evolution, along with a
cable for the front wheel.
Use this locking strategy with the cable for the front wheel,
Sheldon Brown Lock Strategy
This is the worse that can happen by using that technique:
It would take maybe 15 minutes to do that if you're really quick, can't believe they took the bottom bracket too.
Also, invest into a seat binding bolt or or cable for the seat if you want to retain QR functionality. I got a seat binding bolt because I don't need to adjust the height. I just hope people don't carry hex wrenches around.
It was $5 bucks at Durst Cycle (stuff there is overpriced and service isn't that great, I prefer Champaign Cycle instead, which is a bit further out West)
Out of my one year there, the only decent bikes I've seen locked in a rack are a Trek 1000 road bike (which was locked with a cheap cable lock at Loomis), a Specialized Hardrock, another Trek 4300 that looks like mine, Trek 4900, and a few higher end Raleighs. A friend of mine had his nice Giant MTB stolen (only a cable lock) at 6pack over Thanksgiving break.
I brought my bike inside every night, no worries of theft, damage, or weathering, if you can't or just lazy, at least bring it in during the longer breaks, and lock the rear wheel to the frame.