In a 6-3 decision released early Thursday, the Supreme Court struck down race-conscious admission in institutions of higher education — a practice known as affirmative action — labeling it unconstitutional.

Although the repeal of affirmative action was never a foregone conclusion, the American higher education landscape has been anticipating the possibility for months.

When it did come — at the tail end of a packed month for the Supreme Court — the decision cleanly split the court down political lines. Each member of the court’s majority conservative bloc moved in support of striking down race-conscious admissions, while all three liberal members — Justices Sotomayor, Kagan, and Jackson — dissented.

The case, known as “Students For Fair Admissions v. Harvard,” was filed by Students for Fair Admission, an organization founded by anti-affirmative action activist Edward Blum.

Blum represents a group of anonymous Asian Americans who allege they have faced racial discrimination after being rejected from Harvard University and the University of North Carolina. SFFA claims that Harvard utilizes racial quotas that keep the number of Asian Americans at the University artificially low to the benefit of other racial groups.

In a lengthy opinion of the court, Chief Justice John Roberts invoked the equal protection clause of the 14th amendment of the United States constitution in arguing that Affirmative Action infringed on racial equality under law. Roberts then traced the history of the amendment and its relation to landmark cases — from Plessy v. Ferguson and Brown v. Board of Education to Grutter v. Bollinger, the now–overturned 2003 case that asserted race-conscious admissions were constitutional.

However, Roberts did write that “At the same time, as all parties agree, nothing in this opinion should be construed as prohibiting universities from considering an applicant’s discussion of how race affected his or her life, be it through discrimination, inspiration, or otherwise”

S.F.F.A v. Harvard is just the latest chapter in an almost half-century-long tussle over how universities, especially public ones, should choose the students and leaders of the future.

Andy Borst, the University’s director of undergraduate admissions, said his department has been exploring different race-neutral admissions alternatives with each new Supreme Court challenge over the years.

“Unfortunately, race-neutral factors such as socio economics or geography do not effectively capture the complete extent of how individuals from different races and ethnicities experience our society, where unequal funding significantly impacts educational outcomes,” Borst said.

In 1978, Bakke v. California marked the first landmark case over what is now known as affirmative action. In this case, the court ruled that taking into account the racial background of students was permissible, although the utilization of specific racial quotas was not.

The plaintiff, Bakke, argued that setting aside a specific amount of seats at the University of California medical school discriminated against white students. Despite this, the state of California banned affirmative action as part of a statewide referendum in 1996.

In Grutter v. Bollinger, a 2003 decision involving the University of Michigan Law School, the Supreme Court came to the same conclusion. The court concluded that the consideration of race in admissions was constitutional, but that it should be phased out in the future once the goals of equality and increased upward mobility are met.

 Just as California had done, Michigan would ban affirmative action three years later in 2006 as part of a state constitutional amendment. The University of Michigan and other Michigan colleges have been operating with race-blind admissions ever since.

Sean Garrick, vice chancellor of diversity, equity and inclusion, said before the ruling that he could see the repeal of Affirmative action causing a decline in the number of black students admitted to the University.

“If we look at what happened at two of our peer institutions where this sort of thing has happened at the state level, … in 2006, I think the population of African American students enrolled at University of Michigan was 7%,” Garrick said. “Then, something akin to an affirmative action ban went into place in Michigan. In 2021, the population of enrolled African American students at Michigan was 4%,” Garrick said.

Garrick said the same thing also happened at University of California Berkeley.

“And those are two institutions that academically are some of our closest peers — and if you look at Michigan, geographically, it’s very similarly situated to Urbana-Champaign. So it would be a surprise if an equivalent thing didn’t happen here. … It’s hard to say exactly what the number would be, but I would imagine anywhere from a 20 to 45% drop.”

The ruling comes as various University organizations have been pushing for more representation for people of color at predominantly white institutions of higher education.

Black students for Revolution has initiated an initiative called Project1000, which seeks to graduate 1000 black students every year and increase black faculty and staff at the University.

“We are under the guise that this community is very diverse, as we see in the numbers specifically, but the Black population here is not as big as we all believe,” BSFR co-lead Khalia Mullin told the Daily Illini earlier this year.

Andy Borst also mentioned the situation at other peer universities.

“Many peer flagship universities, where the consideration of race has been prohibited in college admissions at the state level, have experienced a decline in enrollment among diverse students,” Borst said. “While we anticipate the possibility of experiencing similar enrollment trends, our commitment to promoting access, equity, and inclusion for everyone remains unwavering.”

Borst said that the University will comply with the court’s ruling, but that it will continue to take equity into consideration in its future admissions decisions.

“We will conduct university business in a manner consistent with the Supreme Court’s decision and continue to cultivate an inclusive and welcoming learning environment for all,” Borst explained.

Borst also said that the undergraduate admissions policy considers a student’s background and “various contextual factors.”

“It is essential to understand a student’s achievements within the framework of different external influences,” Borst said. “Academic performance, test scores and other traditional measures of academic merit can vary significantly depending on a student’s background and disparities in K-12 education contexts.”

Carol Ammons, an Urbana-area Illinois state representative, said in a statement that the Supreme Court has proven they are out of touch with the realities people of color face in their everyday lives.

“The issue of race continues to disenfranchise Black, Latinx and marginalized communities especially those trying to go to college,” Ammons said. “I applaud Justices Kagan, Sotomayor and Brown Jackson for standing up for opportunity for all, but I am calling on the justices in the majority opinion to think long and hard about how their decisions will hurt countless prospective Black and Brown students.”

Cori Bush, a St. Louis area and Missouri state representative, called the Supreme Court a “cesspool of corruption,” after the ruling.

“In its dedication to moving backwards, the Supreme court has once again rolled back protections for people in marginalized communities across this country,” Bush said in a statement.

Garrick referred to universities as the “single greatest lever that society has for bringing folks from one socioeconomic background to the next.”

This, Garrick said, is especially important in low income communities.

“I mean, the number of folks who don’t know anyone who’s gone to college in low income communities, both urban and rural is pretty significant,” Garrick said. “If we, if we have the kind of cuts that have been seen at Michigan and Berkeley, then you can imagine the progress that we’re making in those areas is going to be greatly stalled,”

Garrick continued to say that the University’s efforts will have to be “redoubled.”

“There’s a lot of talent out there,” Garrick said. “I think, again, we simply have to redouble our efforts. To find the talent and ensure that they come to Illinois.”

Garrick also said that the University must work to make their resources accessible to students from various backgrounds.

“Illinois is an outstanding institution,” Garrick said. “We have to ensure that the breadth and depth of our expertise, excellence and rigor by which we do this work, we have to ensure that all of that is made available to those who are most underrepresented, who are most disenfranchised.”

Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, in a blistering dissenting opinion, criticized the court’s ruling.

“With let-them-eat-cake obliviousness, today,” Jackson said, “the majority opinion pulls the ripcord and announces ‘colorblindness for all’ by legal fiat.”

“But deeming race irrelevant in law,” Jackson continued, “does not make it so in life.”

asadovi2@illinimedia.com

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When attending an institution that serves over 55,000 undergraduate and graduate students, it is easy to feel as though each individual is just another number on a page or an unremarkable dot in a sea of faces. 

As the University becomes home to a new cohort of students in the fall, introduction into the campus community can seem like a daunting task. It can be intimidating to consider all of the various means of building community on the University’s campus.

Although classes, majors and academic colleges can foster some degree of closeness with like-minded individuals, many students find that connections across campus are equally important to the undergraduate experience.

Some students encounter personal connections and build community on campus through organizations. Intramural sports teams, Greek life, musical ensembles or RSOs can be extremely helpful in this process, but even with a vibrant social life and various social connections, yearning for cultural traditions, solidarity or reminders of home can magnify the intimidating effect of such a large and vibrant campus.

One of the numerous ways that students remain in touch with their cultural and ethnic identities during the semester is through programs offered at the eight cultural and resource centers on the University’s campus.

Each center celebrates and serves a particular student need or cultural identity, often hosting programming and safe spaces for students across the entire campus community.

• Bruce D. Nesbitt African-American Cultural Center 
• Asian American Cultural Center 
• Diversity and Social Justice Education Resource Center 
• La Casa Cultural Latina 
• Gender and Sexuality Resource Center 
• Native American House 
• Women’s Resource Center 
• International Education Resource Center

These spaces serve to educate, accommodate and support students from across the campus community with dedicated staff and resources.

According to Jazmyne Kellogg, director at BNAACC, cultural centers are spaces for celebration as well as solidarity and struggle on the University campus.

“Our spaces are a place to tell the full story of what it means to be a part of our cultures,” Kellogg said. “Oftentimes, there’s a single narrative story around, like, particular aspects (of our experience) and so we have the opportunity here to talk about our joy, our resilience and everything else that makes us excellent and wonderful.”

Kellogg went on to explain that BNAACC is intended to meet students where they are with both its programming and its staff interactions. 

“BNAACC is whatever meets their needs — I think that there’s a way to be involved with the Black cultural center, whether it’s just coming in and doing their homework because they’re a person who needs to observe the space first, or if it’s like, ‘I really want to learn more,’ come to a program and do that,” Kellogg said. “If they’re like, ‘OK, I’m trying to make friends, build skills, et cetera — join 100 Strong.”

All of the resource centers on campus offer programming that is geared not only towards their communities of focus, but also towards allied individuals who wish to learn more about the issues affecting them. 

“We serve all students,” said Charlotte Davidson, director of NAH. “Not just particular student communities.” 

Across campus, culture and resource centers all host free lunches or dinners featuring expert speakers and dialogues. These “Lunch on Us” days are open to all community members and are intended to foster togetherness and learning.

Although the meals are free and open to all, individuals who don’t belong to the communities centered at these events should be mindful of their surroundings according to Mariana Ortega, director of La Casa.

“Not all of our lived experiences, at least for Latinos, have been positive,” Ortega said. “So they should come in with that lens and really be open and intentional about how they are taking up the space, if they are being respectful. They are not walking into our spaces with chief gear or … other apparel that might create triggers or harm to our current students.”

Ortega went on to explain that students from across the campus community are encouraged to be involved with the centers, but that they should maintain empathy and respect as they do it. 

“It’s okay to come to programs, but just be intentional that you’re being respectful and that we’re not being tokenized because of the free food,” Ortega said.

According to Davidson, NAH and other cultural houses on campus welcome the exploration of various facets of identity — including for those who have limited experience with common aspects of culture.

“We encourage indigenous academic identity development — and regardless of whether a Native, First Nations or indigenous student has grown up in their traditional cultural communities or not, we recognize that they have a connection with place, that they are of a place,” Davidson said. “Oftentimes when we establish kinship relations with one another, a practice that I often do is introduce myself according to my clan relationships, because it’s a way to model for students that whether we are conscious of it or not, we are of a place.”

Ortega suggests that students learn more about the need for these centers by visiting their websites and gaining insight into their history.

“The culture resource centers have a very, very rich history on this campus,” Ortega said. “A lot of our history is on Google or our archives — start there and learn it. I don’t think that necessarily has be the first step, but if you’re being intentional about learning it, a lot of us have some of that history posted or on our Instagram pages.”

The need for these centers, according to Davidson, stems from a desire to preserve and celebrate aspects of culture that have been previously vilified or hidden by cultural norms at predominantly white institutions. 

“From the standpoint of the Native American House, I would say that we —- much like La Casa and BNAACC — serve students who come from communities that have been historically dehumanized,” Davidson said. “What our cultural center offers is it promotes a sense of belonging. Oftentimes, you know, our students might feel like they have to force fit themselves into this environment — and what we strive to do at the NAH is nurture an understanding of the cultural gifts that our Native higher education student community brings with them.”

Davidson said that supporting and engaging with these cultural centers is a process that will work to support not only the most affected students, but the campus community as a whole. According to Davidson, NAH’s work is concerned not only with the uplifting of Native-identifying students, but with introducing them to a larger, more diverse campus community.

“We often serve as the front door for not just first year students, but anyone who may identify as the community in which the cultural house is centered,” Davidson said.

Davidson recounted that the University community has benefited from the support offered by these houses for decades.

“I know that there’s been some mention about being encouraged by the chancellor to create a welcoming campus environment,” Davidson said. “I think our cultural centers have done that throughout their existence, because they have served and continued to serve as the front door for their communities.”

As part of their work, these cultural centers create spaces for students to interact and engage with one another through programs and activities. Across many of the cultural centers, there is an early arrival program wherein students are introduced to campus in advance of the academic year alongside a group of peers.

These programs as well as the open spaces at each of the buildings foster a familial attitude amongst the students, according to Ortega.

“It becomes such a communal thing that if students hear their peers going through something, they’re going to say, ‘Go to La Casa and tell them what happened and they will help advocate or help you navigate that,’” Ortega explained. 

Ortega said that beyond advocacy, La Casa can provide students with understanding and belonging that they may find difficult to encounter at a predominantly white institution like the University.

“It’s important to recognize we’re at a predominantly white institution — look at our percentages,” Ortega said. “I can only speak for La Casa, but it’s going to be a sense of belonging. It’s going to be the place that if you were questioned about your identity or how you look or you were called some derogatory term, you know that’s a place that you can go.”

lisamc3@dailyillini.com

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Noelle Crawford, junior in Engineering, had everything lined up for her graduation. 

After the fall 2022 semester, Crawford had finished her degree requirements over a year early and was planning to accept a job offer that would start in January — but plans changed.

“Throughout the course of last semester, I ended up deciding that that probably wasn’t what I wanted to do, so I asked to be taken off the degree list,” Crawford said. 

Crawford, who continued at the University for the spring semester, said she received assurance from both the college and the Department of Electrical Engineering that she was removed from the list of students set to graduate and that she could stay at the school and continue studying. However, she was told she would have to be manually re-added to the degree list in December of 2023 in order to hold a May 2024 graduation date. 

The electrical engineering student made plans to stay on campus for the coming year, signing a lease and obtaining a research opportunity. She also postponed and ultimately “completely reneged” on her job offer.

Then, Crawford received an email from a dean that would throw a wrench into her plan. 

The email, sent April 24 — a couple of weeks before the end of the year — would say that because Crawford had completed her requirements and was enrolled for the following semester, there would need to be a “chat” with college administration. The email continued to say that if Crawford didn’t respond by that Friday, her fall registration would be canceled. 

Although Crawford agreed to the meeting, she found that her account was still restricted from registration.

In her conversation with the dean, Crawford learned that the complication arose from a College of Engineering policy that requires students to graduate once they have completed their degree requirements. 

The policy “is focused on allowing students who have yet to complete their graduation requirements access to seats in high-demand courses that are needed to complete their degrees,” said college spokesperson Libby Kasich in an email. “This is in recognition that academic trajectories vary by student. Not all students enter the University with the benefit of college credit already obtained and may have less scheduling flexibility than those who do.”

Kasich said this has been a policy for many years and the school is trying to implement it in a “more purposeful and consistent manner than (they) have in prior years.” 

The College of Engineering, which is arguably one of the University’s most prestigious and well-known programs, has the lowest admission rate of any college at the University. For example, the computer science program — which is regularly lauded in university promotional material for its alumni at firms like Paypal and Youtube, which, in turn, has bolstered the reputation of the University — has an admittance rate of just 6.7%. 

In the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences, students are given a maximum of 10 semesters of eligibility for enrollment for completing their degree, while in the Gies College of Business, students are given nine. 

Despite protests from Crawford, the College of Engineering did not budge. 

“(The dean) was, like, ‘There’s absolutely no world in which you’re going to be able to finish out another two semesters as a student,’” Crawford added. 

Crawford said she was told she would not be the only student affected by this policy this semester, with “multiple students” facing similar issues. 

Crawford said her department was supportive of her. 

“My department was pretty on my side about this … and then what I ended up doing was just, like, discussing with a lot of professors, both in my department and in the CS department, on what to do, and the consensus seemed to be just to get people to send emails,” Crawford said.

After trying to figure out ways to circumvent the policy — including possibly transferring majors  — she voiced her frustration on Reddit, encouraging others to write emails to the college’s administration opposing the policy. 

In the comments of the now-popular post, Reddit users expressed discontent and trepidation towards the policy — which many bemoaned as poorly-communicated and unfair. 

“This is terrible,” read one comment “Forcing graduation when a student isn’t ready can be highly detrimental. Not every student wants the diploma and (to) leave ASAP. Some genuinely like to learn and continue enhancing their skills and knowledge.”

Others, through the use of internet archive tool Wayback Machine, pointed out that mention of the policy only appeared at the bottom of the College of Engineering’s degree requirement website about a month after the start of the second semester. Although the archive is unable to pinpoint when the policy appeared on the page between February and April, the archive indicates that as of Feb. 6, it was not present. 

Kasich said that while it is not the intention to “force” students to graduate, the college is “working toward an equitable practice for undergraduate students to make an effort to complete their degree in a timely manner.” 

“I have a lot of friends who would plan to finish the degree requirements early in order to give themselves a buffer but then stay in school while they work on grad school applications and job hunting,” Crawford said. 

Crawford was eventually told she could stay enrolled at the University for another year.

“So in my second meeting … we were supposed to discuss what I was going to do instead of staying in school,” Crawford explained. “I was immediately told ‘Okay, we’ve realized this is maybe not a good idea, so we’re gonna let you stay.’ They made it sound like it (would apply to) everyone.” 

After her second meeting, Crawford said she received another email from a dean insinuating that her case was an exception. 

According to Kasich, “Each semester, we inevitably have students who have completed their degree requirements and do not desire to graduate for a variety of reasons.” 

These decisions are made “in consultation with the Assistant Dean for Academic Affairs.”

“These situations are handled on a case-by-case basis and some exceptions are, indeed, made,” Kasich explained.

Though Kasich did not discuss whether the policy is being re-assessed, she said Grainger “solicit(s) and appreciate(s) student feedback and concerns” and that the administration considers student opinions as they “regularly evaluate academic policies.” 

In the same email, Kasich laid out a timeline for communicating with students whose situations are affected by the policy. 

“Each semester we contact all students enrolled in a schedule that, if successfully completed, will result in them completing their degree requirements,” Kasich explained. “These students are asked to confirm their graduation intentions by placing themselves on the pending degree list. Otherwise, they are asked to discuss with college advisors if they have any unusual or extraordinary situation.”

According to Kasich, this email was sent to those projected to graduate in spring of 2023 near the beginning of the semester, adding that students still not on the pending degree list midway through the semester were contacted again. 

“These students are asked to place themselves on the pending degree list or discuss their situation with college advisors if they have any unusual or extraordinary situation,” Kasich said. “This spring semester 2023, these follow-up emails went out on April 11.”

Crawford said her friend received similar information about the policy in an email from a dean.

“This semester, the notifications started going out in January,” Crawford said, reading from the email. “That’s an interesting thing because I’ve been in the case where I’ve completed all my degree requirements for two semesters now and never received an email.” 

Crawford, who has communicated with other affected students about the policy, said others also hadn’t received the initial email. She also said she received the “follow-up email” on April 24 rather than the 11.

According to Crawford, upper level electrical engineering classes have numerous prerequisite requirements, placing students in a difficult position.

“It creates a situation where you almost have to fulfill your degree requirements, like excluding Gen Eds, in order to even begin taking upper level technical classes,” Crawford explained.

Crawford said that “forcing” students to graduate early means that “significantly less qualified students” are graduating from the University.

“This policy punishes students who are interested in learning, so it is probably not great for the University in general,” Crawford said. 

asadovi2@dailyillini.com

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Dubbed the world’s “oldest planned surgical procedure” by 20th century anthropologist Sir Grafton Elliot Smith, circumcision’s roots can be traced to religious and cultural traditions dating back millennia.

Circumcision is a surgical procedure that involves the removal of all or part of the foreskin of a penis. 

The foreskin, a sheath of retractable loose skin surrounding the tip of a penis, is surgically removed from the majority of baby boys born in the United States. Up to 80% of men between the ages of 18 and 59 are circumcised in the United States, compared to around 38% of men worldwide.

Today the most prominent groups who perform ritual circumcisions are followers of Abrahamic religions, namely Islam and Judaism. 

Roots in religion 

“(Circumcision) is a very interesting ceremony,” said Thom Lobe, a pediatric surgeon at the University of Illinois Hospital and Clinics. “It is probably the oldest ceremony that we do in Judaism.”

Lobe specializes in the use of minimally invasive surgery to treat neonatal cancer and has contributed to the development of new laser therapies for the treatment of disease.

The surgeon is also a prominent Chicagoland mohel, or “mohala” in Aramaic. A mohel is a practicing Jew trained to perform ritual circumcisions.

Ritual circumcision is a requirement outlined in the Torah, the central religious text of Judaism consisting of the first five books in the Hebrew Bible.

In the 17th chapter of the Book of Bereshit, the Hebrew title for the Book of Genesis, God appeared to Abraham — who is often described as the founding father of Judaism — with the intention of establishing an enduring covenant with him.

In exchange for fertility, land, power and “a multitude of nations,” God asked 99-year-old Abraham to circumcise the foreskin of his penis and commit to circumcising all of his descendants.

Dr. Lobe said that the ritual of circumcision is traditionally observed on the eighth day of an infant boy’s life and never earlier.

According to an interpretation of Bereshit written by Rabbi Matthew Berkowitz, a faculty member at the Jewish Theological Seminary in Jerusalem, there is a specific reason for this scriptural requirement. 

It is written in the Torah that on the eighth day of the earth’s creation, God invited humankind to join him in the design of the world. This timeline, according to Berkowitz, is why circumcision, humankind’s contribution to the body, is required to take place after the eighth day of life. In other words, the eight-day minimum is rooted in the idea that the body, like the earth, is the product of both God and man.

The Jewish ceremony of circumcision, or a “bris,” is traditionally performed by a mohel in a synagogue with input from a rabbi and the child’s family. 

“For me, it’s always an emotional thing,” Lobe said. “I get very involved, and it’s meaningful to be able to participate with the families. For some Jewish families who don’t practice the religion but have a male child, it may be the only Jewish thing they do in their lives.” 

In the process of continuing the millennia-old tradition, Lobe underwent a 12-week course from the National Organization of American Mohalim, a reform Jewish organization tasked with mohel training and education. 

According to Lobe, the course highlighted the importance of inclusivity and understanding in cases where parents are members of the LGBTQ+ community, interfaith or otherwise nontraditional.

Along with Jewish ritual circumcisions, Lobe has performed many secular circumcisions in a hospital setting, listing social norms, aesthetics and hygiene-related benefits as some of the reasons that a nonreligious family may choose to circumcise their son.

Lobe said that circumcision is completely optional in most cases and that the decision not to have the procedure done does not make a Jewish person any less Jewish.

“It’s really in the perception of the family — the belief is that there’s no penalty if you don’t get circumcised,” Lobe said. “There are some reform rabbis who think ‘Yes, while we understand the historical significance, we shouldn’t be doing this to babies without their consent.’”

“Intactivism”

In recent years, dialogues surrounding the ancient surgical practice have inspired a surge in self-proclaimed “intactivists,” or activists who believe infant circumcision is a human rights violation.

Intact America is a national organization that advocates against the circumcision of those who are unable to provide consent, especially those who cannot consent on account of their age.

The Daily Illini spoke with Georganne Chapin, founding executive director of Intact America and former health care executive, to gain insight into the organization’s mission.

“Intact America grew out of a movement that has really been rolling since the 1970s — there were a number of grassroots organizations that had been advocating against routine cutting of baby boys, but we needed a new organization,” Chapin said. “We had a donor, and at the end of a year-long process … he offered to fund the startup of (Intact) in late 2008.” 

Chapin said that for many people, the debate over circumcision is one that causes feelings of discomfort or shame.

“A lot of people don’t want to talk about it, especially if they have been cut or if they’ve agreed to have their child cut or if they’ve actually cut somebody’s foreskin off,” Chapin said. “Doctors — they don’t want to think about it or talk about it.”

According to Chapin, the organization has been successful so far in promoting its mission and reducing the stigma surrounding dialogues about circumcision. 

“When we started, it was a conversation that people couldn’t wait to shut down or, you know, they start looking for the exit, right?” Chapin said. “It made people very uncomfortable. We’ve done a lot of research, and I think our main contribution is that we have made this a topic of mainstream conversation.”

One program conceived by Intact America in an effort to destigmatize the conversation surrounding foreskin was the inaugural Foreskin Festival livestream on April 4, a date the organization hopes will become an annual holiday called “Foreskin Day.” 

Robin LaVerne Wilson, an activist, poet, storyteller, artist and 2016 U.S. Senate candidate from New York, known to their audience as Dragonfly, served as the host of the event, beginning the livestream with a triumphant mantra.

“We’re here to change hearts and minds — one phallus at a time,” Wilson said, beaming.

“I am a multidisciplinary performance artist, and I do work that is in the intersections of art, activism, advocacy and education,” Wilson said in an interview with The DI. “The task came to curate this festival, and it really inspired some really serious, in-depth personal introspection as well as conversations with people in my community about the full extent of what bodily autonomy means.”

Wilson said their experience as a member of the Black community has informed their decision to support the intactivist movement.

“As someone who is very hypersensitive and conscious of how medical apartheid is used in my community, there is an actual circumcision industrial complex at play in this country that benefits from willful ignorance,” Wilson said.

Chapin said that the prominence of infant circumcision in the U.S. can be partially attributed to coercion of mothers in hospitals.

“We did a survey a couple of years ago and found that the average number of times a woman is asked in the perinatal period to sign a consent form for a circumcision is 8.4 — and even more for Black women and Latina women,” Chapin said. “If parents wanted it, they wouldn’t have to be asked (eight) times. It’s a sales job.”

According to Chapin, the assertion that foreskin removal is linked to lessened HIV/AIDS risk is based almost entirely on studies in sub-Saharan Africa with “imperialist” intentions.

“These studies are going to go down in history as a travesty, as medical imperialism and as having stolen body parts from Black men, African men who were not given formal consent, who were given money to be circumcised,” Chapin said. “Those so-called ‘studies’ in Africa were circumcision projects. They were not really well-designed, ethically designed research studies. If you look at the studies — that 60% rate that’s trotted out — that is a relative statistic.”

The studies

The 60% figure that Chapin referenced likely arose from a seminal 2007 research paper written about the connection between circumcision and HIV transmission entitled “Male circumcision for HIV prevention in young men in Kisumu, Kenya.”

The study was designed by Robert Bailey, a professor emeritus of anthropology at the University of Illinois at Chicago and public health and former adviser to entities including the World Health Organization, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Republic of Kenya’s Ministry of Health. The study presented the findings of a randomized trial designed to determine whether knowledge of the decreased risk of sexually transmitted infections among circumcised men in Kenya would contribute to unsafe sexual behaviors and thereby greater incidence of HIV, a phenomenon known as risk compensation.

Bailey’s research found that circumcision had a protective effect of 60% against HIV transmission in the intervention group over two years. In other words, the study found that circumcision was able to decrease the risk of transmitting HIV by 60% within the sample. 

In an interview with The Daily Illini, Bailey discussed the influential study and his work in the sphere of HIV/AIDS prevention.

“A provincial medical office in western Kenya heard about my work,” Bailey said. “(They) said, ‘Can you come here? We’re in an area with the highest HIV rates in all of East Africa and men here do not circumcise, whereas people all around us do circumcise and their HIV rates are about a quarter of what ours are.’”  

Upon receiving the invitation to Kisumu, a city in Kenya, Bailey designed a randomized trial consisting of 2,800 uncircumcised men who indicated that they were interested in having the procedure done for the study.

“So, I went to Kisumu and did a preliminary study to see what the level of knowledge about circumcision and HIV was and whether or not men would ever accept to be circumcised in a traditionally noncircumcising community,” Bailey said. “I found that actually a lot of the men, about 65%, said they would get circumcised.”

According to Bailey, the project underwent rigorous ethical protocols. Its purpose was not to promote infant circumcision in the U.S., but rather to demonstrate the harm reductive effect that elective circumcision can have in an area where HIV transmission rates are already high.

“We spend a lot of time counseling and telling young men the risks and the benefits of circumcision — we’re not doing infant circumcision,” Bailey said. “We do adolescent and adult male circumcision, where the young men are fully informed and they’re capable of asking questions and doubts. It’s fully voluntary — there’s nothing coercive about it. They volunteer, they’re not paid and they’re informed about the risks and benefits of circumcision.”

According to Bailey, the trial’s design accounted for many confounding variables by being completely random.

“We recruited almost 2,800 young men between the ages of 18 and 24 and asked them if they would be willing to be circumcised,” Bailey said. “Those that consented were randomly assigned to be circumcised right away or to remain uncircumcised for two years. That random selection is the way you get around possible confounding variables, you know, like sexual behavior, age or cultural beliefs or anything.”

Bailey identified the study as his most widely influential project and explained that it has contributed to an improvement in circumcision accessibility in areas where the procedure has the potential to make significant differences in HIV risk.

“We’ve now done 28 million circumcisions of young men in 13 different countries in sub-Saharan Africa, and that all really comes from our trial in Kisumu and two other trials — one in Uganda and one in South Africa,” Bailey said. “These are the seminal studies that have nailed down the protective effect of circumcision and caused the (World Health Organization) in early 2008 to declare that … in areas where most men are not circumcised and HIV rates are high, we should scale up male circumcision.”

When asked for his response to criticisms of the study’s intentions, Bailey said that the qualms are often misguided and that he has his own ethical reservations concerning infant circumcision. 

“The benefit of adolescent circumcision is that at least you can get informed assent from an adolescent,” Bailey said. “My major misgiving about infant circumcision is — I think there are a lot of benefits to circumcision — but when you’re permanently altering someone without their consent, I think that raises ethical questions. If people accepted adolescent circumcision here as they do in Africa, in many ways, that would make more sense.”

Bailey added that his study’s results are not as relevant to HIV risk in the Western world as they are in sub-Saharan Africa. He explained that the most common means of HIV transmission in the United States and Europe are sex between men and intravenous drug use — both cases where circumcision does not have a substantial impact on HIV transmission.

In sub-Saharan Africa, where the most common means of HIV transmission is sex between men and women, circumcision has a far greater impact.

“In Europe and the United States, most HIV infections are actually due to receptive anal intercourse and injecting drug use,” Bailey said. “In those two situations, male circumcision is going to have minimal or no impact at all on HIV. So purely for prevention of HIV, advocating for male circumcision in Europe and the United States would not be effective.”

Bailey said that for men in the U.S., there are numerous benefits to getting circumcised, but he wouldn’t identify HIV prevention as a primary motivation for the procedure. In fact, Bailey said that the decision to circumcise often has nothing to do with religion or health.

“The benefits of circumcision in general are a lower risk of genital ulcer disease, lower risk of human papillomavirus, which can cause penile cancer and cervical cancer in the female partners,” Bailey said. “However, in many cases, giving a good explanation of the risks and the benefits (to parents) almost falls on deaf ears, because they usually have made the decision themselves. … (Parents make) the decision based on their culture and whether the father was circumcised.”

According to Bailey, the procedure has over a century of history in the U.S.

“It started in the First World War,” Bailey said. “A lot of men were circumcised during the war because they were getting infections of the foreskin, and then in the Second World War, it had escalated even more.” 

The anthropologist then said that the procedure became routine over the decades following World War II. 

“In the 1960s, infant circumcision was routine,” Bailey said. “I mean, literally, the baby would just be taken away, put in another room, circumcised and then brought back to the mother without even asking. But, in 1970, there was an ethical review and the Academy of Pediatrics said that infant circumcision should not be routine and that parents should be informed.”

Bailey says that he agreed with the Academy’s decision, stating that the option to circumcise a child should be presented to parents in the hospital, but it should include a detailed description of both benefits and drawbacks to the procedure.

“A sober and objective and realistic explanation of both the costs and the benefits of infant circumcision should be offered to parents,” Bailey said. “They should (be able to) make an informed decision about whether or not to have their infant circumcised.” 

lisamc3@dailyillini.com

mcbales2@dailyillini.com

The post Uncut: Dissecting circumcision appeared first on The Daily Illini.

It all starts with letters. In a neat script on carefully creased paper, one incarcerated writer makes sure to cast a wide net for their request to ensure they get something they like. Film and TV. Cooking. Photography. How-to guides. Philosophy. Math.

In this basement crammed with bookshelves, there’s nearly as much heavy reading as there is light. One soon to be mailed stack of letters is buttressed by a glossy blue textbook on electric circuits. Bibles in various languages, including Greek, are neatly stacked together. 

Another incarcerated individual, who writes of more than a decade spent as a tradesman, asks for trade books — commercial preferred, but residential will do, they say. The prison’s supply of HVAC and mechanic manuals they’ve already consumed are  outdated. 

“They’ll have libraries in prison,” said Rachel Rasmussen, UC Books to Prisoners program and volunteer coordinator. Technology, however, changes. “(The writer) doesn’t need the stuff that came out in the ’90s,” Rasmussen says. 

UC Books to Prisoners is a working group of the Urbana-Champaign Independent Media Center that works to send books, most of which are donated, to incarcerated individuals throughout Illinois — free of charge.

To date, the organization has sent 174,548 books to 23,894 individuals in custody in Illinois since 2004. They also maintain a lending library in the Champaign County Jail and supply books to the Juvenile Detention Center.

The letters from incarcerated people requesting their desired books come by the hundreds every month. 

While touching the spines of the organization’s highly coveted collection of textbooks, study materials and dictionaries, the latter being the most requested book of all, Rasmussen called education “the most important intervention in a life of crime.”

“So, yes, it’s about giving books to prisoners, but it’s also about helping the whole community understand that we have a large part of our neighbors 45 miles from here, in a prison, and most of them are coming home,” Rasmussen said. 

“Who do you want to come home?” she continued. “I’d like (for) those who got a chance to study and learn pass their GED. You know, explore some career paths and stuff, too.”

Rasmussen, referencing what she called “abominable” health care in prisons, said prisoners also often request books that help them take care of their bodies.

Rasmussen, who volunteered at Danville Correctional Center for five years, emphasized the humanity of those imprisoned. 

“I worked with magnificent (people) that are incarcerated,” Rasmussen said. “They’re human beings.”

Upstairs, even more books were splayed and stacked on tables from one end of the high-ceilinged room to the other. People came in and out and flipped through volumes before purchasing.  

The organization, in partnership with the connected Books to Prisoners RSO on campus, sold tables of books that aren’t requested by prisoners, are in poor condition or that they have enough of on April 8 at the Urbana-Champaign Independent Media Center.

This book sale, which happens twice a year during the fall and spring, is done in order to “bring the community out” and raise funds, because UC Books to Prisoners is a nonprofit that encounters a lack of storage and a need to unload books every six months. 

University students, according to Rasmussen, comprise at least 75% of the organization’s volunteer labor force. 

“We couldn’t do this without their labor,” she said. 

Syd Mark, vice president of the Books to Prisoners RSO, said each sale has been “amazing.”

“It’s really just a community effort with all the volunteers, whether it’s adults in the Urbana-Champaign community (or) if it’s a lot of undergrad students coming together,” Mark said. “I mean, just this past Thursday, we were hauling boxes of books from downstairs that we’ve collected over to these tables and kind of getting the magic running.”

Rasmussen described a line of volunteers snaking up a set of spiral stairs, passing books hand-by-hand in preparation for the sale.

The RSO is also hoping to host talks by previously incarcerated individuals as well as more events that “engage the community.”

“We also are looking to have guest speakers and probably previously incarcerated guest speakers to talk about what it means to be in the mass incarceration system,” Mark said. 

UC Books to Prisoners tells incarcerated people to write once every three months. The Illinois Department of Corrections limits prisoners to five books per shipment and Books to Prisoners limit shipments to three and a half pounds. 

Although restrictions can vary by individual prison and whether the institutions are lower or higher security, IDOC has restrictions on what book topics are allowed. These include, but are not limited to, not allowing books about tattooing, that promote hate, about assembling weapons and with nudity, according to Rasmussen. The organization also does not send books in poor condition, especially because they can raise suspicion that the book has been tampered with. UC Books to Prisoners makes sure to clean all books they receive.

In 2019, Danville Correctional Center in Eastern Illinois came under scrutiny for removing hundreds of books from their library after IDOC found “racially motivated” editorial cartoons that were used as references in a book about the incarceration of Black people, prompting prison staff to search the library and remove more books they found to have “controversial” content. 

The initial book and others removed were being used as part of an educational program for prisoners led by a University professor. 

According to a report from Illinois newsroom in 2019, IDOC spent less than $300 on books for prisoners in 2017, although previously the department would spend “three quarters of a million dollars per year on books in the early 2000s.” The IDOC director pointed to budget choices made by state lawmakers for the lack of funding at the time.

Back in the basement, Rasmussen unfolded a larger letter where one incarcerated person said they’ve been transferred to a different prison without warning, and their books didn’t follow them. They wrote the organization a week before the transfer asking for more books, but they were moved before a response could come, they say. 

Not to worry, because according to Rasmussen, UC Books to Prisoners keeps close track of orders, and this requester won’t miss theirs. 

“In a world of lackluster support,” they write, “you are doing what’s appreciated.” 

asadovi2@dailyillini.com 

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On Oct. 6, right-wing political commentator Matt Walsh visited the University for a screening of his documentary “What is a Woman.” The same night, the Illinois Student Government posted a statement on its Instagram account. While expressing its support for the LGBTQ+ community as pointing out that Walsh’s claims are hateful, the statement declared that “free speech permits such discussion to occur.”

Students flooded to the Instagram comments, including Soumil Biswas, sophomore in ACES. He argued that the University, which prides itself on the inclusivity of LGBTQ+ individuals, should have prevented Matt Walsh from spreading hate speech against trans people.

“I don’t know if hate speech really consists of free speech, but the hate that was brought to trans people because of this event definitely does not align with the University’s beliefs, so they should not allow that to happen,” Biswas said.

Biswas said he believes ISG should have censored the event. He noted that the student government should represent the voice of the student body, and many in the student body were calling for condemnation.

“The statement ISG put out was very lackluster,” Biswas said. “It was kind of a dumb response because they could just condemn it or just stay silent.”

Four days after the incident, Vindhya Kalipi, junior in LAS, resigned from her position as the vice president of ISG. According to ISG’s announcement, Kalipi resigned over “a fundamental difference of opinion regarding free speech.”

Before Walsh’s arrival, Kalipi talked to administrators and looked through existing laws. She said she understood the Supreme Court has upheld that hate speech is technically protected under free speech. However, Kalipi said she was upset and believed ISG should take a stand and prohibit hate speech.

“We represent students, and we should be listening to what the student body that elected us and believed in us wants,” Kalipi said. “If the administration doesn’t want to do anything about it, at least we should be doing something.”

Kalipi recalled that she was frustrated when she found out she was the only executive member who believed hate speech should be prohibited.

President Garrett Forrest, junior in LAS, said that though he agrees Matt Walsh’s visit was harmful, he believes free speech is the foundation of democracy.

“The price of having free speech — the price of having a society where you don’t have to worry no matter who’s in power of your views being suppressed or you being punished for advocating for something … The price of that is hate speech,” Forrest said.

He mentioned the counter-protest outside Walsh’s discussion.

“When Matt Walsh was here, there was a counter protest outside there, highlighting the beautiful diversity of the LGBTQ+ community,” Forrest said. “I think it’s on those of us who are opposed to hate speech, who are opposed to the ideas being spread by people like Matt Walsh, to be even louder to convince even more people that we’re right.”

Forrest noted his other concern was that the demand to ban Walsh could impact his relationship with University administration. 

“It would have reduced my ability to negotiate and work with them on trying to address all of the other issues that I’m really focused on trying to make progress on this year, whether that’s campus safety, textbook and course material or (providing help to) students dealing with sexual assaults,” Forrest said. “They do appreciate and have respect for the fact that I didn’t ask them to do something that they legally couldn’t have done.”

Kalipi said she initially drafted a lengthy response that discussed why hate speech should not be protected, but the executive team decided to trash the whole statement and started a new one. Kalipi said she regrets approving the second statement and signing her name on it.

“For a second there, I fell into the politicians’ trap,” Kalipi said. “I was so nervous about how it would be if the executive (team) disagreed. I think that ultimately, I was just scared.”

Patrick Porter, senior in LAS and ISG Senator, said that the executive team excluded regular ISG members from the drafting process.

“There wasn’t even any discussion whatsoever, so when everybody else saw it, that was the first time I saw it,” Porter said. “I didn’t expect to see that kind of response.”

Porter said he and many in the Senate disagreed with Forrest’s rhetoric, which looks like it was “copied and pasted.” Porter argued it is the student government’s “minimum responsibility” to reaffirm their support for the LGBTQ+ community. He pointed out that redirecting the targeted transgender students to the University’s resources is not enough.

Knowing the lack of response from University administration, Porter said ISG could have taken this opportunity to show more decisive leadership. He said the response was so disappointing that he published a statement of his own, claiming that ISG must stand against hate speech.

“There are clearly many of us within ISG that weren’t happy with the position that we as an official body took … some of us don’t want to necessarily be associated with the statement,” Porter said. “If we were able to deliberate on this a little bit more to add our own insight into it, I’m not sure if it would have made any significant difference in this instance.”

Forrest clarified that multiple people were involved in the decision-making process, including Kalipi, who Forrest said was “a strong defender” of the position of Porter and many other ISG members. Forrest asserted that he has the right from the Student Government Constitution to unilaterally make a statement on behalf of ISG.

“I am the leader of this institution, and I’m not obligated to bring more people into the discussion when I’m making a post like that,” Forrest said. “I had to make what I believed was the right decision, and having more people involved in that discussion, I could say wasn’t going to change my mind about that fundamental issue of free speech.”

Mia Macias, junior in LAS, said she was mad when reading ISG’s response. She said she understood the free speech standards but believed more precautions could have been taken to protect transgender and nonbinary students. She said she expected to see informative massmails and helpful resources.

“I feel like there’s a lot that (ISG) can do in their power to at least try and stop something like this from happening again,” Macias said. “But, even if they had, it’s possible that someone like this could still come to campus, but it’s also the fact that they weren’t really willing to try.”

Forrest explained that he and Kalipi intended to put out a message earlier but suspended the decision because of their disagreement. Kalipi wanted to form an advocacy coalition to petition for change on a governmental level, an action that was opposed to Forrest’s arguments on free speech.

“The problem there was Vice President Kalipi’s position, essentially firmly that unless we’re calling for a ban, she wasn’t wanting to put a statement out,” Forrest said. “It was last minute because (of) the pressure that both of us wanted to say that we affirm the LGBTQ+ community and we don’t agree with Matt Walsh.”

Kalipi said Forrest “didn’t want any room for disagreement in the executive,” and she decided not to compromise to stay in ISG.

“I am really glad that ultimately I stuck to my morals because that’s what I should have done in the first place,” Kalipi said.

Macias said she was glad that Kalipi resigned.

“Really acknowledging the issue and resigning honestly spoke volumes because it shows that she cares,” Macias said. “But unfortunately, because of her co-workers, there was only so much that she could do.”

Porter noted there is a lack of communication within ISG, whether between branches or between the executive and regular Senate members. He said ISG had “awful” outreach and transparency to the student body.

“The only time that the student body really sees anything that ISG does is through these social media posts, and that really tarnished (its) reputation,” Porter said.

Under a recent Instagram post, ISG responded to Macias’ comment regarding trans rights, telling her that the student government has big plans to engage the LGBTQ+ community on campus. Marcias said she recognized the positive movement but felt upset about the late action initiated after LGBTQ+ students had already expressed their concerns.

“Okay, it’s great that you’re acknowledging it, but it’s something that should have already been done,” Macias said.

Biswas questioned how ISG would implement these plans.

“I don’t know what that means,” Biswas said. “Have they reached out to LGBTQ+ organizations? I want to see something.”

Kalipi and Porter both said they were not aware of previous discussions around the plans. Kalipi added that she believes there is no way for ISG to make up for what it did.

“Unless they spin it around and fight for hate speech not being protected under the First Amendment, there is nothing they could do that can override the mistakes that they made,” Kalipi said.

Forrest said ISG and the administrations are taking more steps on proactive communications. He said he is also getting feedback from critical workshops within ISG and open discussions with various student leaders. He said he agrees he didn’t do enough regarding the Matt Walsh situation and promised to do everything he can to protect students from hate speech.

Biswas said he thinks Forrest should resign, as Biswas believes the president fails to represent the students’ voice. He said he has been upset with the student government for a while and decided to run for senator next semester. He emphasized that he wants more ISG candidates who care about minorities.

Forrest said he understands why many students disagree with his insistence on free speech, and he feels incumbent to listen.

“There is so much more that unites us in terms of our commitment to protecting diversity … and we shouldn’t have to look at each other as enemies,” Forrest said. “I know that many of them look at me right now as a fundamentally bad person, as someone who doesn’t care about them, but I do care. And I am listening.”

Kalipi pointed out that the general morale in student government is low. She said she saw people wanting to make a change ended up shaping an “elitist institution.”

“I had hoped that a new assembly and the new VP would never be involved in student government culture, so things would be different,” Kalipi said. “But I think this whole thing just goes to show that there will always be an elite force that controls everything, so I don’t know.”

yuzhul2@dailyillini.com

The post Matt Walsh controversy continues for ISG appeared first on The Daily Illini.

Many classes at the University have strict attendance policies and expectations for student performance in class. Some students and faculty believe these policies are outdated and do not adequately account for mental health issues, ability levels and individual student responsibility. 

Some classes have attendance policies as strict as two absences before grade penalties begin, while other classes have no attendance policy. Some professors require documentation to prove that a student was actually ill, while others don’t even ask to know why a student missed class. 

MJ Lee, a graduate student studying materials engineering, said classes like seminars and discussions are perfectly valid in asking for mandatory attendance. 

“If someone worked a bunch on their seminar presenting their research … and then no one shows up, that’s not okay,” Lee said. “It’s highly unprofessional and frankly, it’s rude.”

Zachariah McVicker, an instructor in the Department of English, agrees that discussion classes need to be interactive.

“Nothing is worse than just an instructor or a professor talking for an hour and a half at the front of the room and no one else is contributing,” McVicker said. 

But McVicker still sees a problem with mandatory attendance in discussions. He said that while instructors may have attendance policies to encourage lively participation, that is not always the outcome.

“Oftentimes, a strict policy can do just the opposite, right?” McVicker said. “If you’re making students sit in a chair, then there’s a good chance that a portion of those students are going to, in my experience, sort of visibly express the fact that they’re required to be there.”

McVicker said attendance policies can have the opposite outcome than the expected.

“At best, it’s wanting to have a lively classroom full of discussion,” McVicker said. “I don’t think an attendance policy often accomplishes that.” 

Billy Huff, a lecturer in the Department of Communication, believes tradition is one of the reasons these attendance policies still exist.

“We tend to teach the way we were taught, right? And so these things keep getting passed down,” Huff said. 

Kiki Kitsinis, senior in Media, thinks many professors are not accustomed to considering students’ mental health in their attendance policies. 

“A lot of these professors come from a time where college was very different for them — universities were so different,” Kitsinis said. “For them, mental illness was taboo. It wasn’t something they talked about.” 

Madeline Udelhofen, senior in LAS, said attendance policies that only allow two or three days off in a semester do not meet students’ needs. Especially if a student is struggling with mental health issues, these policies can do more harm than good. 

“People struggling … it doesn’t just only affect you three days throughout the semester,” Udelhofen said.

Kitsinis asks faculty to be understanding and accommodating. Kitsinis — who is diagnosed with anxiety, depression and PTSD from a previous cancer diagnosis — said she can’t always make herself get out of bed to go to class. 

“Please understand that we, as students, deal with a lot, and you don’t really know what we go through on the inside,” Kitsinis said. 

Udelhofen said that strict attendance policies force students to go to class when it may be healthier for them to stay home. 

“People force themselves to go to class because they’re scared that their grade is going to go down and that can exacerbate … mental health issues,” Udelhofen said.

Deveshi Thakur, who is enrolled in Engineering but is currently on retroactive medical leave due to health issues, deals with anxiety and said that explaining her absences from class was stressful. 

“I was really scared of potentially emailing the professor to let them know, ‘Hey, I missed class today because I was sick’ … and just the possibility that they would reply not believing me,” Thakur said.

Udelhofen said that whenever she tells a professor why she was absent, she feels the need to go into detail so she’s more likely to be believed. 

Elisabeth Funck, a graduate student studying aerospace and astronautical engineering, sees a disparity between students who are not athletes and student-athletes are treated. 

She said that she was unable to get excused absences for attending a conference related to her career, yet student-athletes are always excused for sport-related activities. She does not think this is fair. 

Some classes still require a doctor’s note as evidence of an excused absence. The University’s Student Code states that “Because McKinley Health Center does not provide medical excuses, instructors should be aware that a student may not be able to provide formal documentation for minor illnesses of less than three days.”

Thakur, who has a disability, agrees that sickness documentation can be difficult to obtain. 

“Who has that money?” Thakur said. “Are you paying for the appointment? No, I don’t think so … I’m a student. I don’t have time to be running to Carle every single time (I get sick). 

“If I said I was sick, I was probably f****** sick.” 

One student who wished to remain anonymous said they got sick the day before they were planning to travel. The student informed their professor that they missed class for health reasons and provided the professor with a doctor’s note from Carle. There was a test in class on the day the student missed, but the professor did not allow the student to make it up.

“She said it was too fishy and that it was like I had planned this, even though I had a signed letter from Carle saying that I have a sinus infection and that I needed to stay home,” the student said. 

Huff said he doesn’t need to know why students miss class because he wants to respect their privacy. He does not currently enforce an attendance policy because he believes they are ableist.

“I used to actually have an attendance policy,” Huff said. “I can’t believe it when I think back on it.”

Huff said his mind was changed after a student talked to him about attendance policies.

“I had a student who was a chair user who came up to me one day after class and he said, ‘You know, disabled kids never got the attendance award in school, right?’” Huff said. “It made me realize that I was rewarding students who had the ability to come to class everyday and that not all students had that ability. I was being ableist in that policy.” 

Thakur said having a disability makes attending class a more complicated process for her than for others. She wants faculty to understand that there are many factors that go into a student missing class, and it’s different for every student. 

“It presents a lot of issues for me,” Thakur said. “Sensory issues are a big one. I feel like as soon as I leave my dorm, I was asking for a lot for the day. Like, riding the bus over to campus, the volume and lack of space … was kind of debilitating for me.

“That was a hurdle I had to cross every single time I had to go to class. And the amount of brainpower that takes up doesn’t really leave a lot for actual learning.

“I felt so guilty, you know? I don’t think anybody who’s in these sorts of situations wants to be; we’re not slacking off. We don’t want to not come to class and then miss out on whatever everybody is learning … It’s just like being backed into a corner.”

Thakur has accommodations from Disability Resources & Educational Services (DRES) but has had issues with an accommodation that allows her one day extensions or alternative assignments if her disability prevents her from functioning for a day. Her DRES specialist told her that she may run into issues using the accommodation within the Department of Computer Science. 

“She said one of the (other) students she worked with … had struggled with something,” Thakur said. “They were trying to make use of that accommodation. When they reached out to the professor, the professor argued. You’re legally not allowed to deny a student use of them. So then the specialist had to email this professor back and forth for two weeks.

“Just the thought of having to engage in something like that stressed me out so much that, in my mind, as soon as she said that, I was like ‘OK, so I’m never gonna use this.’”

Thakur’s health declined during the Spring 2022 semester, which is why she is currently on retroactive medical leave. She said she performed relatively well on tests and did classwork, but her attendance was a factor that brought her grades down. She felt that her transcript was not an accurate reflection of the work she put in for the semester.

“Sometimes, I still wonder if it would have been manageable if the environment didn’t feel so hostile,” Thakur said. “I really feel like the College of Engineering, when it comes to things like these, is a lot less accommodating. The culture they cultivate, it doesn’t seem very compassionate at all.” 

A student who wished to remain anonymous was sexually assaulted in 2021, and in an unrelated incident, their apartment was broken into by a stranger having a schizophrenic episode. The student is diagnosed with ADHD, anxiety, depression and PTSD.

The morning after the stranger broke into the student’s apartment, the student emailed their professor regarding a quiz due the next day. They asked for an extension and explained that they had one of their worst panic attacks to date because of the upsetting night. The student said the professor was not accommodating. 

“He basically told me that it would be unfair to other students in the class if I was given an extension … I received a zero on the quiz,” the student said. 

The student currently has DRES accommodations but did not at the time of the incident. 

“I think it’s absolute bullshit that a student would need to get accommodations in order for a professor to treat their mental health or physical health seriously,” the student said. “I would love to be a normal human with no depression, no anxiety, no PTSD based on my sexual assault, but I’m not. I was given this lot, I can’t change it. I have to deal with it.” 

Funck said that the University is more about everyone working for themselves. Likewise, Thakur thinks students should be responsible for their own attendance. 

“At the end of the day, everybody that comes to college comes after having turned 18, for the most part, we’re all adults, so it should be on us,” Thakur said. 

Funck thinks the student should always be the priority.

“At the end of the day, it’s about the student, not the professor,” Funck said.   

sbond21@dailyillini.com

The post Strict attendance policies adversely impact students  appeared first on The Daily Illini.

The University made headlines in 2021 for accepting its largest freshman class in University history, with 8,303 new students headed way. University enrollment broke 50,000 for the first time in fall 2019 and has stayed above ever since.

The University also made headlines this time last year, when stresses from the COVID-19 pandemic led to University Housing converting lounges into temporary dorms. The record number of incoming freshmen also coincided with a large number of students opting to return to campus housing following a year of remote instruction.

The number of students on campus, both new and returning, has been increasing year after year, raising concerns about whether or not University Housing has enough living space for every accepted student.

Every first-year undergraduate student, including first-year transfer students coming to the University with less than 30 credit hours, must live in University Housing to fulfill their residency requirement. In addition to University Housing, students can live in one of the University’s 13 Private Certified Housing options to fulfill the requirement.

According to Mari Anne Brocker Curry, director of housing information & marketing for University Housing, University Housing has a maximum capacity of roughly 9,400 spaces, plus an additional 2,900 spaces in Private Certified Housing. These roughly 12,300 spaces provide ample space for incoming freshmen, plus returning students who don’t wish to begin off-campus living yet.

Curry said that University Housing is currently well equipped to handle increasing numbers of students.

“(We have) no plans to expand/increase capacity in the immediate future,” Curry said. “We value the diversity and support provided through communities that have a mixture of new and continuing students. In general, our capacity is configured to have enough space for both new and returning students.”

The exact number of students in each incoming freshman class varies from year to year. This year’s incoming class saw a slight decrease from the record high in 2021, with 7,957 freshmen coming to campus for the Fall 2022 semester. Despite some single year-to-year decreases in admitted students, the freshman class has been increasing on the whole throughout recent history.

In 2014, 6,937 freshmen made up the incoming class — over a thousand students less than this year’s class. 20 years earlier, in 1994, only 5,690 students made their way to campus. At current rates, it would take until 2076 for the incoming freshman class to be too large to fit into University Housing.

Dan Mann, associate provost for Enrollment Management, noted that there is no hard-set upper limit for the number of students admitted into a given class. Instead, enrollment targets are set after thorough discussions with administrators across campus.

“Representatives from Undergraduate Admissions and the colleges meet each year to discuss enrollment targets for the next freshmen class,” Mann said. “Enrollment targets are normally determined based on current enrollment levels, available resources, market demand and plans for future program changes. After these conversations, recommended enrollment targets are prepared and sent to the provost to review and approve.”

One challenge any college admissions team faces is the yield rate. The yield rate is the number of students who accept their admission over the number of students offered admission. While an admissions team can control the number of students they accept, they cannot control how many of those students accept their offer of admission and end up enrolling.

While the University does not make their yield rate public, other colleges and universities have run into housing problems when their yield rate was higher than expected. A situation like this at Purdue made headlines in 2018 for dismal pictures of makeshift dorms. Taken to its extreme, a higher than expected yield rate can result in colleges rescinding offers of admission, such as UC Irvine did in 2017.

Some students suggest that University Housing is far from having a shortage of living spaces. Mike Liu, a graduate student studying aerospace engineering, said that even though he was late to apply to University Housing, he was able to secure a spot with no problem.

“I signed the housing contract pretty late and still got a single room, and they put me in another room on the same floor for summer housing because I arrived on campus too early,” Liu said. “So (it was) pretty smooth to me at least.”

Liu, who is also a first-year international student, said housing options were limited at his previous universities and he was surprised that there were still campus housing options available when he signed the contract in early July.

Having space to accommodate not just freshmen, but also returning students in University Housing remains a top priority for Curry and University Housing. According to Curry, utilizing University Housing for more than a year often correlates with academic success.

“Students who live in certified housing for two or more years are more likely to graduate and graduate in four years than a student who moves out after only one year,” Curry said.

mtroher2@dailyillini.com

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At the University of Illinois, researchers have been developing carbon nanotubes — manufacturable, adaptive material with many applicable uses. They are only one-to-two nanometers in size but have great tensile strength, great thermal conductivity, strong electromagnetic interference shielding performance, solid water-repellant properties and established multi-functionality.

The issue is that these properties aren’t available in bulk and used to be expensive. However, the Lyding Group has found that there are ways to circumvent these issues.

When trying to make the nanotubes stick together while retaining the properties of an individual tube, the Lyding Group found that if they mixed nanotubes with a different polymeric material — a cold blend of nanotubes plus polymer — the exquisite properties were watered down. The group’s study found a way to make pure, straight carbon nanotubes without the polymer, which resulted in a dramatic enhancement of these properties.  

“By eliminating the use of a polymeric tightening agent to hold the nanotubes together, we get closer to the intrinsic properties that carbon nanotubes have,” said Joseph W. Lyding, professor in Engineering and leader of Lyding Group. “We still have a ways to go, but we made a big step in improving the properties.” 

He detailed another development that improves the carbon nanotubes further. “We have an agent that allows the carbon nanotubes to be converted into an ink that we can 3D print,” Lyding said. “We can get rid of (the agent) completely after the printing, so we are just left with pure carbon nanotubes.” 

Brendan Wolan, a graduate student studying electrical and computer engineering and co-author of the Lyding Group study, mentioned that in the paper, they were able to demonstrate a way that they could give a significant amount of direction to these tubes without much effort. 

“It’s really tricky to find ways to manipulate countless amounts of these particles in a really consistent manner,” Wolan said. “And so what we did in the paper is we disperse it back into a solution.” Wolan noted that this is done by injecting the carbon nanotubes into a coagulation bath through a long syringe needle. 

According to Wolan, because the tubes are very long but very skinny, there is a fluidic force exerted upon them. That makes them all want to line up within the syringe because it’s going to lower the resistance to the flow. With all the carbon nanotubes lined up in the syringe, they eventually lie down and align with the direction of printing. 

Wolan explained that with the 3D printer, one could program it to do whatever shape they want, which includes the film associated with the carbon nanotubes. According to Wolan, this method allows for “radical improvements in terms of tensile strength, electrical conductivity and thermal conductivity.” 

This development makes the thermal conductivity of the carbon nanotubes better than that of copper, while the nanotubes themselves weigh less than copper as well. Wolan noted that these characteristics make the single-walled carbon nanotubes promising for industries such as aerospace.

According to Lyding, this material has many general applications as well. Lyding explained that the material is very good at electromagnetic shielding, so if one wanted shielding and a phone immune to electromagnetic interference, they would be able to use this material, as it is quite thin and light. In addition, carbon nanotubes are already being used in high-end sports such as skiing, golf and tennis. 

From an electronics standpoint, Lyding noted that many companies want to be able to make transistors — electric components used in electrical circuits to either amplify or switch electrical signals or power — smaller.

However, once individuals try to go smaller, they enter the quantum world, which opens up more issues such as a quantum tunnel, which contains a leakage current between two metal transistor electrodes. The leakage happens when the gap between the electrodes narrows to the point that electrons are no longer contained by their barriers. 

The value of a transistor is whether an individual knows if it is on or off and because carbon nanotubes have a directional orientation, they help in answering that issue.

Regarding the future of carbon nanotubes, there is a lot left in terms of improving the properties of these materials. For example, connecting pieces of metal together often involves welding or soldering, but that isn’t possible with carbon nanotubes. However, there has been progress. Brendan Wolan was able to set up this process of 3D printing carbon nanotubes in a facility at Northrop Grumman in summer of 2021.  

In addition, undergraduate students have been allowed access to this technology in classes such as ECE 481: Nanotechnology and ECE 518: Advanced Semiconductor Nanotechnology. Lyding said that in these classes, they aim to not repeat the same experiment but instead explore other experiments with the material, allowing for further insights into the technology. 

According to Wolan, Beckman has done a great job in allowing opportunities such as the carbon nanotubes study to be researched further. “Beckman and the (College of Engineering) do a really great job of centralizing all this expensive technology that so many people are using, and you have access to these experts in their field regarding these instruments,” Wolan said.

Lyding echoed the points that Wolan said regarding Beckman. “Interacting with people at Beckman and all these people wandering around the building and talking to each other in an informal sense leads to people starting to work together and realizing they can help each other out,” Lyding said. “Having all those perspectives in one place under one roof makes a huge difference, and that’s what Beckman is all about.”

asayal2@dailyillini.com

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When Lauren Aronson, professor in Law, first joined the University in the fall of 2019, she helped start the Immigration Law Clinic on campus, which is an initiative geared toward providing law students the opportunity to gain real-life experience through engaging in different cases.

The Immigration Law Clinic and other entities on campus provide services to DACA and undocumented students and community members as DACA faces uncertainty in the political realm.

Aronson provided an overview of how DACA policy has shifted ever since its inception in 2012 by the Obama Administration — a history that started with the desire to provide more opportunities to undocumented individuals.

To qualify for DACA, individuals must have entered the country before June 15, 2007 and before they turned 16, have five years of continuous presence since arrival, have graduated high school or been honorably dismissed from the military, been under 31 years of age when applying and have a relatively clean criminal record that is free of a DUI.

“At that time, lots of people obviously signed on for it,” Aronson said. “All that DACA gives you is deferred action, which is not a status, so you’re not in legal status when you have DACA. All you have is sort of a pseudo guarantee — which I say pseudo because everything is a little nebulous — that the government will not remove you from the country.”

Aronson clarified that the government will not deport DACA individuals for two years so that during this deferred action, they would have opportunities to apply for work authorization. Authorization can lead to legal work, the ability to support family and an official social security number.

“So, these people who have DACA are contributing millions — probably more than that — of dollars to our social security system and to our tax system and are really getting zero benefit from that currently, which is, I’m sure for them, very frustrating,” Aronson said.

Aronson also mentioned that this level of contribution from people who have DACA has affected the entire American political spectrum.

“It’s also part of the reason that we have seen more bipartisan support for DACA,” Aronson said. “Even people who may not be the most pro-immigration recognize the contribution that these young people are making.”

However, Aronson said that despite bipartisan support, DACA still faces challenges as people continue to fight for DACA and what it has accomplished.

According to the latest development listed in open.illinois.edu, the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services is still not processing any initial DACA applications due to the July 2021 Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals decision.

“There’s some litigation in the Fifth Circuit that will likely move up to the Supreme Court, which basically is trying to eliminate DACA completely,” Aronson said. “It’s expected to create a circuit split, which is why the Supreme Court will need to make a decision about it.”

Aronson acknowledges that the heavy conservative lean of the Supreme Court may be an obstacle regarding the future of DACA, but the bipartisan support might still be an important factor for consideration.

“However, again, DACA is very well supported by the public and does go across party lines,” Aronson said. “Even maybe this very conservative Supreme Court could come out in favor of DACA. It’s theoretically possible.”

When it comes to the services that the Immigration Law Clinic provides, Aronson said while not everything connects to DACA, students are able to gain a broad view of what the immigration process looks like and what work across the immigration spectrum might be.

“We always have several clients who are completely without authorization,” Aronson said. “We have clients who are in the middle of applying to change their lawful immigration status, and then we often have clients who are lawful permanent residents applying to be naturalized citizens.”

Beyond the immigration process, the Immigration Law Clinic also offers the service of renewing for DACA without requiring any fees to be paid other than ones already required by the government, such as the required $495 to renew the actual DACA.

“Historically, there have been funding sources for (University) students who are applying to renew their DACA so that they don’t have to pay that $495 fee,” Aronson said. “Right now, we’re working on seeing if we can negotiate a little more money for that because the student government had allocated a bunch of money, but then when the new student government came in that old allocation expired.”

Students who are interested in utilizing the Immigration Law Clinic’s service can call the clinic at 217-244-9494 or send a message to the clinic’s email: law-clinics@illinois.edu.

Gioconda Guerra Pérez, executive associate vice chancellor for Diversity, shared that students and other individuals can learn more about DACA developments, resources and University initiatives related to DACA by checking the open.illinois.edu website, the admissions.illinois.edu/apply/undocumented website and past Massmails as well as attending DACA briefings on campus.

Pérez also highlighted the collaborative effort it takes to ensure support for undocumented students is sustained, referencing different entities on campus who have contributed much of their time and energy.

“The support for students is through a holistic approach,” Pérez said. “We will not be able to do this without the support of La Casa Cultural Latina, without the support of immigration opinion and without the support of the other cultural centers … You will see that it’s several units working together to provide the resources.”

In addition, the open.illinois.edu website details a fall 2022 Ally Training session that will take place Friday from 1 – 4 p.m. in the iSchool Multipurpose Rooms on the fourth floor of 614 E. Daniel St. Registration is through go.illinois.edu/UndocuAlly.

When considering the makeup of undocumented students, Pérez warned of the danger of stereotyping certain groups as undocumented.

“It’s important that we recognize that it’s not just Hispanics or Latinos who are undocumented or DACAmented,” Pérez said. “(There are) students from all over the world that we are excited and happy to welcome because they are so brilliant.”

As she looked to the future, Pérez expressed the desire for more progress and change on both the institutional and state level.

“I think that there are probably more changes that we want to see,” Pérez said. “We want to continue to see what else we can do in the state of Illinois to be very welcoming and to see how our institution can continue to be very welcoming.”

When reflecting on the future of DACA, Aronson again highlighted the uncertainty with DACA within the political realm due to the relationship between both parties.

“I think that DACA is viewed as kind of a bargaining chip,” Aronson said. “Perhaps neither (party) wants to say, ‘OK, yeah. Let’s just do DACA — flat out do it.’ I think it’s like, ‘Well, let’s do DACA, but let’s also increase border security,’ or ‘Let’s do DACA, but let’s also make it easier for other immigrants to stay in the country.’”

Aronson emphasized that DACA should not be used as a bargaining chip within party negotiations or prerogatives and instead should be seen as a separate issue away from party lines.

“I would certainly hope that on an issue like this — it’s something that could sort of bust through the party lines or the conservative versus liberal or whatever, so that’s what I would hope for as the future of DACA,” Aronson said. “It’s gray. It’s not black and white.”

jlegar4@dailyillini.com

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Oil, or petroleum, is often nicknamed “black gold” for its critical value in society. It can be refined into various forms of fuel, like gasoline or diesel, which power modern machinery. Oil remains a staple in the lives of many in the United States due to its role in the economy; the modern infrastructure of the US relies on oil to run.

Recently, the price of gasoline has increased significantly, causing great concern throughout the country. This rise in gas prices rests upon complex processes rooted in economics and politics. Since oil is a finite, naturally occurring fossil fuel, it is a highly valuable commodity to countries with access to it, leading to political and economic engagements that can restrict that same access. 

The increase in the price of gas is also tied to an increase in the price of oil, which has been caused by a few distinct factors. When viewed as a market commodity, oil is subject to processes of shifting supply and demand.

Don Fullerton, professor in Business, said that generally, there are constant trends of increased industrialization around the globe that drive up demand for oil while depleting an already finite supply. Then, the equilibrium price (the point at which demand and supply meet) gradually increases because the demand curve expands while the supply curve contracts. Although the increase in demand is constant, the decrease in supply is not, leading to a fluctuating price. 

“I love when someone asks me a question like, ‘Will the price increase or decrease?’ because the answer is yes,” Fullerton said. “It will do both.”

Though the global supply of oil is being depleted in the long-run, in the short-run, it moves up and down due to various surprise factors like wars or economic and political situations or new extraction technologies. The volatility of the oil supply leads to the equilibrium price fluctuating either to meet demand or to lag behind it. 

For prices to have increased so suddenly and sharply as they have this year, multiple surprise factors had to occur. 

“There are transient political factors, seasonal factors and some long-term trends,” said George Deltas, Department Head of Economics, in an email.  

The political factors are rooted in unfavorable engagements with oil-producing countries. In fact, the war in Ukraine is a major catalyst for the situation; given how oil is a major Russian export, the sanctions imposed on Russia have cut off access to a significant supply of oil.

“The transient political factors consist of the disruption in the global oil market following the sanctions imposed on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine coupled with the unwillingness of some key Middle Eastern OPEC producers to increase their output,” Deltas said in an email, OPEC standing for Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.

Another political factor lies in efforts to avoid severe impacts from the sanctions by negotiating with OPEC producers. However, some of these producers have not been willing or able to increase output to meet demands. 

This web of political and economic factors coincides with two additional, trend-related factors. One of these is a seasonal factor related to a yearly-occurring trend, and one is a long-term factor related to oil production investments.

“The seasonal factor is simply the tendency of gasoline prices to increase in the summer because of the vacation-induced demand in North America and Europe,” Deltas said. “The long-term trend is more subtle.”

Deltas explained the logistics of the long-term trend, clarifying the change of oil producers’ actions from the past to the current state of affairs.

“In the past, oil producers would respond to high oil prices by ramping up development of oil fields,” Deltas said. “Over time, this would help bring prices down. Nowadays, oil producers appear reluctant to invest heavily in new fields, especially those with large up-front costs. This is possibly out of fear that climate change concerns will eventually reduce oil demand and prices, and they will not be able to recoup the initial investment.” 

The increase in prices that was gradually taking place from trends was sharply accelerated by the political factors that took shape. The outcome of this situation could take various routes. 

Deltas claimed that the situation is very likely to stabilize. The transient political and seasonal factors mentioned earlier are, by definition, not permanent. The summer peak season is on its way out, which should stabilize prices, and though the war in Ukraine will not likely end anytime soon, there are ongoing diplomatic talks with OPEC countries to get them to help with oil production, which will likely stabilize the price.

Fullerton brought up the further uncertainty of surprise factors.

“We cannot anticipate surprises,” Fullerton said. “We don’t know whether the next surprise will make prices go higher because of another war or lower because a whole new oil reserve is discovered somewhere in the world.”

Fullerton added that if the war ends soon, or if sanctions are lifted, or if some agreement is reached with OPEC producers, the price should fall again and return to relative normalcy. He noted that there is a chance that the situation could worsen, but this would depend on the war itself worsening and especially if sanctions continue or if an embargo is placed on Russia.

While the situation develops into one of the possible outcomes, there are ways that one can navigate through it and prepare for any other similar scenarios.

Fullerton recommended looking into owning an electric vehicle, especially given how the price of oil is expected to steadily increase over time. He added that if the use of electric or hybrid vehicles increases enough, it would drive the demand and, therefore, the price of gas down. 

According to Fullerton, some long-term remedy will have to come from adoption of electric vehicles, political agreements or economic deals with other oil producers. Regarding the short term, Fullerton emphasized that one should “prepare for possible short-run jumps upward” because they often happen without warning. 

Furthermore, Fullerton noted that students will not be too heavily impacted by rising gas prices because their lifestyle generally requires minimal driving. He explained that those who will be most impacted are people who live in more car-dependent areas like suburbs, which many students come from. Many citizens of Urbana-Champaign are dependent on cars as well, so they are liable to be impacted in the same way.

For University students, Fullerton suggested living closer to campus in an apartment within walking distance of stores and school, using a bike, getting an electric or hybrid vehicle, carpooling or utilizing public transport. 

Public transportation in Champaign-Urbana remains a popular option for students to travel around campus due to its availability and accessibility for students. The buses in Urbana-Champaign are designed to be fuel-efficient and sustainable, making them reliable and resilient during fuel-related economic situations.

Amy Snyder, MTD Chief of Staff, said that buses have not been very affected by the rise in gas prices because they run on diesel fuel, which is cheaper, and because most buses are hybrid. 

“Ninety-eight percent are hybrid and use batteries that are powered by a regenerative braking system, which results in a thirty to forty-five percent reduction of fuel consumption,” Snyder said.

There are 114 buses, four that run completely on diesel and will be retired by the end of the year and two hydrogen fuel cell electric buses powered by hydrogen that is made on site by solar power. The rest are hybrid, using a combination of diesel and regenerative braking.

Snyder added that buses are not very fast, averaging about 11 to 20 miles per hour, which means they don’t use a whole lot of fuel. 

The main problem to watch out for regarding buses is a workforce shortage. MTD is still recovering from the pandemic’s effects on the available workforce, so there are not enough bus operators to run at full capacity. Snyder said that there is “twenty percent less service and less frequencies on some routes.” 

The routes that will be affected in the coming school year are 22/220 Illini, 12 Teal Daytime, 13/130 Silver and 10 Gold, which will see less frequency. As advice to those interested in using public transport more often, Snyder said to plan fresh trips (meaning trips that aren’t planned from memory of routes in past years), use updated GPS real-time information available on the MTD app and website and sign up for an account on MTD, which allows users to get real-time updates.

Deltas emphasized that the situation taking place now with gas prices is nothing new and will inevitably be over soon and that there will be a return to some level of normalcy.

“If you go back to 1979 and 1980, the price per gallon is lower, but if you adjust the price for the purchasing power of the dollar, the price is not much higher than it was before,” Deltas said. “It’s an unpleasant experience, but the prices will go down; it doesn’t last very long. This will pass sooner than people think so we shouldn’t overreact.”  

Although the situation will pass, it is still part of the ongoing long-term trend of lessening supply and increasing demand, and it provides an insight into the effects of short-term surprise situations, which are liable to recur. 

“The general trend that people should expect in the long term is increase in the price of gasoline,” Fullerton said. “They shouldn’t be surprised if, in the long run, the price goes up to six or seven dollars a gallon.” 

joserb3@dailyillini.com

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As you step outside, the sun shines down on you, and the air is humid. You start your journey with a small bag in hand and follow the long line of excited students that stretches from the Illini Union to Foellinger Auditorium — a walk you first took three years ago.

But this year, the walk is different, as you are a senior attending Quad Day for the last time. 

“Why would a senior go to Quad Day in the first place?” you might ask, wondering what the event could offer you. After all, you’ve done this several times already.

You arrived freshman year in 2019, your eyes bright at all the clubs you could possibly join that day. Then, in 2020, the pandemic struck, and Quad Day was virtual. Last fall, the event was held in person but was barely the same, especially if you were immunocompromised.

Now, it’s 2022. As a senior, you have one proper Quad Day left — an opportunity to go outside, enjoy the beautiful weather Champaign has to offer and look at the possible RSOs you could join during your final year. In fact, explore the RSOs you might have been unable to join these past three years due to prior time commitments.

While you’re exploring and navigating the Main Quad, visit your friends that are at tables for their own clubs. As you walk around and build up a sweat, go inside the Union for some air conditioning and purchase a poster for yourself at the poster sale. Choose something to spruce up your apartment.

Marvel at the incoming class and see how starry-eyed they are just as you once were. While you’re observing the freshmen and transfer students, help them out if you notice them struggling in the swarm of people — you may even make some new friends in the process. 

Don’t forget about free items and merch that organizations hand out on Quad Day. You might have plenty of pens and random stress balls, but you never know when you might misplace a pen. In addition, stress may arise in the future when the time to study for a midterm arrives, and that extra stress ball can help you focus and relax. 

Another free item that is common at Quad Day is the water bottle, which is especially useful for the hot, humid weather in Champaign-Urbana during the early months of the fall semester. Still, if free stress balls, pens and water bottles aren’t appealing, you can always scavenge for free candy at the event. 

Searching for free items could even lead you to find an RSO that excites you and would help you make the most of your final year in college.

Dustin Shattuck, advisor in the Division of General Studies, said seniors should look at RSOs that could provide quality experiences in the final year of college. Shattuck mentioned when he was a student at the University, he never missed a Quad Day. He said there was one specific item that always drew him back.

“That was always one of the draws for me — to get a free student planner,” Shattuck said.

During his senior-year Quad Day, Shattuck also kept an eye out for new groups that seemed like they would be fun or interesting. For example, he discovered an RSO that piqued his interest called the Pipe Club, as in a tobacco pipe club, where people would smoke tobacco pipes.

If you go to Quad Day as a senior, you’ll perhaps find an RSO just as interesting, if not more interesting, that has events throughout the school year.

Shattuck also enjoyed the energy Quad Day provided. During his time as a student at the University, Shattuck spent most of his summers on campus, which was a substantial change in pace from the regular semester. 

“It had a really good energy,” Shattuck said. “To go back into that fall semester and to see everyone back on campus and altogether in that way — it was sort of reinvigorating to start back into classes.”

Shattuck said one piece of advice he would provide seniors is to be present and conscious and appreciate the experience of being on campus before graduating. He also advised seniors to sign up for experiences and take an initiative within a community where they will learn, enjoy their time and meet new people.

When considering the opportunities that seniors can further pursue, whether through RSOs at Quad Day or otherwise, Shattuck emphasized the importance of the quality of the experiences over the quantity.

“I think the quality is the thing to really think about because that is what connects us and makes the experience real for us,” Shattuck said. “But when we’re trying to communicate to other people, the depth of that is certainly more important than just the title or saying you were involved in a whole bunch of things.”

asayal2@dailyillini.com

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Introduction and Early Life

In certain parts of Illinois, when the wind blows in just the right direction, the smell of soybeans becomes overwhelming. Champaign-Urbana is one of those places.

Illinois is one of the country’s foremost soybean producers, with the state’s farmers raising 672.6 million bushels of soybeans in 2021 alone. Last year’s production, equivalent to roughly 40 billion pounds, was the highest in the country. The University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where the crossroads of academic and agricultural research lie, drives much of the state’s research on the crop. 

On the corner of Pennsylvania Avenue and Dorner Drive sits a prominent yet unassuming building — the National Soybean Research Center — a testament to the college town’s support of the crop. 

Dr. Donald Ort, a professor of plant biology at the University, spoke to the region’s predisposition to soybeans, citing central Illinois’ geographical location and uniquely fertile soil.

“The reason to do soybean (research) here is it’s right where 40% of the world’s soybeans are produced,” Ort said. “One of the reasons why this particular area of Illinois, in addition to having the right geographical location, also has these incredible soils — these are some of the best soils in the world. That’s just geological record. After the glaciers (melted), most of the soil blew in from other areas.”

From the soybeans of Illinois came one of U.S. foreign policy’s most egregious offenses. Research conducted in a central Illinois lab sparked a chain reaction, affecting millions of people thousands of miles and an ocean away. 

Through research conducted by Arthur Galston, a Ph.D. student at the University from 1940 to 1943, came the invention of Agent Orange, a herbicide used during the Vietnam War which caused health problems in millions of Vietnamese in the wake of the war. 

Galston, a dedicated botanist, never intended for his research to be used this way. Toiling away in a laboratory, Galston never imagined the implications of his work extending to the antisocial and the militaristic. He tried to stop it. He succeeded, although too little too late, discovering even the most innocuous of discoveries has the potential to be used for harm.

———

Arthur Galson was born in 1920 to a small Jewish family in Brooklyn, N.Y. His parents, Hyman and Freda Galston, had high hopes for the young Arthur, urging their son to become either a doctor or a lawyer. 

But the Great Depression hit hard; Hyman had lost his job, and Arthur’s sisters quit schooling to support the family.

“I knew there was no way on God’s green earth that I could get the support to go to college and medical school,” Galston said in a 2002 interview. 

Toward the end of the depression, Arthur struck a compromise. He learned that tuition at Cornell’s veterinary school was free for residents of New York state. Although he was not overjoyed by the prospect of studying veterinary medicine, he applied, looking for a way to a prosperous life. He was accepted and started at Cornell in 1938.

Cornell’s veterinary medicine students were initially enrolled for a year of pre-vet study, fed through Cornell’s agricultural college. During his year of pre-vet courses, Galston became enamored with Dr. Loren Petry, a botany professor. 

Petry, a Quaker who would run evening discussions in the Cornell student union, was everything a young Galston wanted to be. He decided to pursue botany, maintaining enrollment in Cornell’s agricultural college and graduating with a bachelor’s of science in botany in 1940. Throughout his career, Galston was known to keep a framed photograph of Petry in his offices.

A successful student during his undergraduate years, Galston applied to a variety of schools for postgraduate study in botany. The University of Illinois was the only one to offer him a teaching assistantship, which was how he planned to pay for graduate school. He accepted, boarded a Greyhound bus and made his way to Champaign.

He arrived at Illinois in the fall of 1940, where he worked alongside his advisors: Dr. Harry Fuller, a plant physiologist, and Dr. Otto Tippo, a botanist. His research focused on finding a chemical means to make soybeans flower and fruit faster, culminating in his dissertation entitled “Physiology of flowering, with special reference to floral initiation in soybeans.”

Throughout his research, Galston discovered that a molecular compound called 2,3,5-triiodobenzoic acid (commonly known as TIBA) speeds up the flowering of soybeans. Galston also discovered that an over-application of TIBA would kill the soybean.

Due to the ongoing World War, graduate students at land-grant universities earned their degrees in an expedited process, with some segments of academia contributing increasing amounts of resources to military use. Dr. Fuller, one of Galston’s advisors, was sent to South America for war-related research and was unavailable during much of Galston’s time at Illinois. Galston received his master’s in ’42 and his Ph.D. in botany in ’43.

As Galston was finishing up his degree from Illinois and his mentor was off in South America for wartime research, the U.S. Military was developing a program to study and develop synthetic rubber.

Natural rubber derives from Hevea Brasiliensis (commonly known as the rubber tree), which is most commonly found in Malaysia, at the time occupied by the British. Furthermore, most of British-occupied Malaysia’s rubber plantations were captured by the Japanese Imperial Army, leading to a rubber shortage for the Allied Powers. Rubber, essential to modern warfare, quickly became a military priority.

Dr. James Bonner, a biologist at the California Institute of Technology, was tapped by the military to lead the artificial rubber research program. Dr. Herbert Carter, a biochemist at Illinois, happened to know both Bonner and Galston and recommended Galston to the program. Galston was accepted and spent a year working with Bonner at Caltech.

Galston and Bonner’s research in this area was largely left unapplied; the pair focused on deriving alternative rubber from guayule, a type of woody shrub, while the military preferred petroleum-based rubber. Still, this was the beginning of Galston’s long and tumultuous professional relationship with the U.S. Military.

In July of 1944, Galston was drafted into the U.S. Navy as an enlisted man. He served as a Natural Resources Officer, stationed in Okinawa, until his honorable discharge in 1946. Galston returned to civilian life, serving as an instructor at Yale for a year until he was offered a position as a senior research fellow at Caltech.

While back at Caltech, Galston made his mark in the botanical field, identifying riboflavin as a photoreceptor involving the bending of plants toward light, overturning a commonly held belief in the field that carotene was responsible for this phenomenon. This reversal of previously-held scientific belief established Galston’s name in the field, yet it would remain only the second most important discovery of his career.

TIBA, the chemical his dissertation research centered on, would go on to have impacts far beyond what Galston imagined from his lab in central Illinois.

Agent Orange

Scorched-earth strategies have been practiced by militaries since antiquity, aiming to destroy anything that can be useful to enemy combatants — mostly food stores and agricultural sites. 

Around 370 B.C., the Greek general Xenophon recorded that Armenian troops burnt crops and destroyed food stores to gain a military advantage. As warfare developed in the later half of the 20th century, scorched-earth took to the skies as herbicidal warfare was introduced to the battlefield.

The British army experimented in using chemical defoliants during the Malayan Emergency — a guerilla conflict fought between pro-independence Malayans and the British military — when attempting to remove foliage from ambush sites. Surrounding the period of British use, conversations arose in the British parliament regarding whether herbicidal warfare violated the Geneva Convention. Nevertheless, the U.S. considered British precedent as rule and decided using chemical defoliants was a legal warfare tactic.

In 1943, when Galston was working at Caltech on rubber research, he was also contracted by the U.S. Military to extend his doctoral research and study the effects of 2,4,5-Trichlorophenoxyacetic acid and 2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4,5-T and 2,4-D, respectively) on cereal grains and broadleaf crops.

The U.S. Military developed the idea of using aerial applications of herbicides to destroy enemy crops and disrupt their food supply from these studies, although Galston was left in the dark as to the potential applications of his research.

While Galston was deployed in Okinawa, the U.S. Military continued research where he left off. In 1945, the U.S. Army ran tests of various mixtures of 2,4,5-T and 2,4-D at Bushnell Army Airfield in Florida. With Galston back to civilian life at Yale and Caltech, the U.S. Military committed to a full-scale production of the mixture of 2,4,5-T and 2,4-D most efficient at defoiling, with the intent to use the mixture in Japan had the war continued into the following year.

The mixture, equal parts 2,4,5-T and 2,4-D, had a distinctive orange hue from which it would derive its common name — Agent Orange.

In the years following World War II, the U.S. Military conducted field trials at British stations in British-occupied India and Australia to document the chemical’s effects in tropical conditions, laying the groundwork for what was to come.

By the onset of the Korean War, the U.S. Military was prepared to use the chemical compound but didn’t receive approval from Eisenhower nor Truman. John F. Kennedy, however, approved use in Vietnam.

Inspired by the British, the U.S. Military decided to use herbicidal warfare in part of their campaign during the Vietnam War. Dubbed “Operation Ranch Hand,” the U.S. Military deployed roughly 19 million gallons of herbicide in rural South Vietnam to deprive the Viet Cong of both food and foliage cover. 

Of the 19 million gallons of herbicide deployed, roughly 11 million gallons were Agent Orange. Over 6 million acres of Vietnamese crops were sprayed with herbicides throughout the operation.

Bioethics

In 1955, Galston took a full professorship at Yale — partly to be closer to his family, who still lived in Brooklyn. While Galston was at Yale studying auxin physiology and photobiology, the Vietnam War escalated from a foreign conflict to an American-involved proxy war, with Galston’s research playing a major role in the war’s development.

During his first few years at Yale, Galston slowly became aware of the research conducted by the military which was based on his dissertation on TIBA. He was immediately concerned about the applications of his research, and these concerns only grew over the course of the war. Galston knew there was a lack of research into the side-effects that exposure to Agent Orange could cause in humans and feared what the herbicide’s liberal application in Vietnam could cause.

By the mid-1960s, with Operation Ranch Hand in full effect, Galston could not stand by and watch and began lobbying to end the use of Agent Orange. He publicly noted that the Geneva Protocol of 1925 stated: “The use in war of asphyxiating, poisonous or other gasses, and of all analogous liquids, materials or devices, has been justly condemned by the general opinion of the civilized world.” 

Although the U.S. participated in the writing of the protocol, the U.S. never ratified it, rendering his argument void. However, Galston also argued that the use of Agent Orange violated the United Nations Resolution of December 5, 1966, which the nation did ratify. 

At the 1966 annual meeting of the American Society of Plant Physiologists, Galston proposed that the society send a formal letter of inquiry to President Lyndon B. Johnson. The society voted the proposal down. 

Galston, who held some sway with the society after serving as their president in 1962, was indignant at the group’s disinterest in submitting a formal inquiry. Galston later found that Robert Bandurski, the society’s president at the time of the meeting, held a research contract with Fort Derrick (the military’s center of the U.S. biological weapons program) to study defoliation.

Galston broke rank with the society and gathered a group of roughly a dozen colleagues to send the letter independently. Galston, co-signed by his colleagues, wrote: “The undersigned plant physiologists wish to make known to you their serious misgivings concerning the alleged use of chemical herbicides for the destruction of food crops and for defoliation operations in Vietnam … The toxicology of some herbicides is such that one cannot assert that there are no deleterious effects on human and domestic animal populations. It is safe to say that massive use of chemical herbicides can upset the ecology of an entire region, and in the absence of more definite information, such an upset could be catastrophic.”

In September of 1966, Galston received a response from Dixon Donnelley, the Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs, which read: “Chemical herbicides are being used in Vietnam to clear jungle growth and to reduce the hazards of ambush by Viet Cong forces. The chemicals are used extensively in most countries by both the Free World and the Communist Bloc for selective control of undesirable vegetation. They are not harmful to people, animals, soil or water.”

Galston, disappointed with Donnelley’s response, was not convinced of his claims. He was familiar with these chemicals and believed their over-application would lead to harmful side effects.

In 1970, along with Matthew Meselson, a molecular biologist at Harvard University, Galston successfully lobbied the Department of Defense to research the toxicology of Agent Orange — eight years after the U.S. Military began using the chemical in Vietnam.

The Department of Defense was slow to release their findings. Yet, according to the New York Times, the resulting research found a causal link between Agent Orange and birth defects in lab rats. Then-President Richard Nixon banned use of Agent Orange in 1971, four years before the end of the war and nine years after the toxic chemical had first been dropped in Vietnam. 

Galston’s scientific career had a fraught relationship with public and foreign policy — his research led to the development of a uniquely harmful chemical weapon, yet his advocacy led to the cessation of that weapon’s use. According to Dr. Ort, the desire to influence policy through science is nearly universal yet seldom actualized.

“I think, the positive aspects of Galston’s career, it’s an aspiration for many of us,” Ort said. “When we do science and we understand things, we would like to influence public policy. It’s more aspirational than reality. Part of academic research is having science influence policy, but it doesn’t happen all that often.”

Roughly 4.9 million Vietnamese people were exposed to Agent Orange throughout the duration of the war. 

The International Red Cross estimates that roughly 1 million Vietnamese people became disabled or suffered long-term health consequences due to Agent Orange. The United States disputes this figure.

Prevailing research led by Dr. Nguyen Viet Nhan, a Vietnamese researcher, asserts that children born in areas where Agent Orange was deployed have been affected by health problems, including mental disabilities, cleft palate, neural tube defects, spina bifida hernias and extra fingers and toes. Additional research by American biologist Joe Thorton asserts that high levels of dioxin — a toxic chemical pollutant — were found in the breastmilk of South Vietnamese women and in the blood of U.S. veterans.

Roughly 12,000 square miles of Vietnam were sprayed with Agent Orange during the course of the war — 17.8% of the nation’s total forested area. Residual dioxins from Agent Orange made reforestation nearly impossible, as the loss of tree cover led to large amounts of erosion. Aggressive invasive species, such as bamboo, only made reforestation more difficult. 

Dioxins remain in Vietnemese soil to this day, with Agent Orange’s societal and ecological impact still being felt.

———

Galston did not cease advocating for bioethics after Nixion’s decision. In 1971, Galston, along with Dr. Ethan Singer from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was invited to China on a historic visit. The two became the first American scientists to visit China in the wake of the Cultural Revolution, signifying that Galston’s outspoken criticism of the war extended beyond the American scientific community.

Galston taught bioethics at Yale from 1977 until his retirement in 2004, where he served as the chair of the former botany and biology departments. The 2003–2004 section of his introduction to bioethics class attracted 460 students, one of the university’s largest classes according to the Yale Daily News.

Biology, ethics and politics coalesced when Galston became affiliated with the Yale Institution for Social and Policy Studies, where he helped found the interdisciplinary center for bioethics.

Dr. Scott Holley, a professor at Yale and the chair of Yale’s molecular, cellular and developmental biology department, noted that the impact of Galston’s career extended far beyond what is typical for a scientist in the field.

“It’s rare that scientists end up in that position where you make a discovery in a lab that ends up having such a broad impact,” Holley said. “Normally, we’re making small discoveries that cumulatively, with other small discoveries, build up over time to advance our understanding of biology. It’s rare that you get something that has such a massive effect.”

Holley also noted that most scientists never imagine for their work to be used in manners they don’t approve of and that Galston’s position throughout his career was a unique one.

“For him to all of the sudden find his work was being used in a way he didn’t approve — it’s hard for me to think about how that would affect me as a scientist if I were in his shoes,” Holley said.

Galston saw it as his duty to both science and mankind to follow the story of his research through to its end. To Galston, science and social responsibility were not two mutually exclusive topics. The two were intertwined with each other, and it was the duty of the scientist to see their work — and all its applications — through to the end.

“In my view, the only recourse for a scientist concerned about the social consequences of his work is to remain involved with it to the end,” he wrote in “Science and Social Responsibility”, an essay published in 1972. “Science is now too potent in transforming our world to permit random fallout of the social consequences of scientific discoveries … As a plant physiologist involved in early work on this type of compound, I felt compelled to involve myself in the continuing investigation and occasional agitation on this question.”

mtroher2@dailyillini.com

The post In retrospect: Arthur Galston and the fight against Agent Orange appeared first on The Daily Illini.

Pengfei Song, assistant professor in Engineering, has continually worked on ultrasound imaging technology at the University of Illinois. He described the process through an analogy wherein he and others build hammers, look for the nails and ask themselves, “What is this technology good for?”

Meanwhile, Daniel Llano, neuroscientist and associate professor in LAS, has focused on research projects surrounding different aspects of brain physiology, Llano’s specialty being Alzheimer’s disease.

However, through the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, Song and Llano have had the opportunity to collaborate to develop ultrasound imaging tools that can help study Alzheimer’s disease in ways that have not been done previously.

“Beckman houses people from all over campus, so this is an ideal environment for us to explore applications for our technology,” Song said. “I think one thing that this technology is really good at is to see the minute vessels in tissue, and then naturally, we found Dan, who was a neuroscientist who probably at that time needed a tool like this to explore what he’s interested in, so that started the conversation.”

Llano highlighted how essential and beneficial the collaboration with Song has been because optical imaging, the type of imaging that he did prior to working with Song, has limitations. More specifically, optical imaging uses light to image the brain, but since light does not go deep into the brain, Llano was limited to surface-area imaging.

“I was floored by the images that Pengfei was showing me — just beautiful images of the detailed microvasculature of the whole brain,” Llano said. “I thought this is going to be a great way to be able to do some really interesting neuroscience studies that nobody else is doing.”

Llano contextualized his and Song’s study in the greater history of the study of Alzheimer’s disease, emphasizing that their research involves relatively new ideas. He also noted that the first study of Alzheimer’s disease started over a century ago when Dr. Alois Alzheimer performed an autopsy on a patient and discovered what was happening with the brain’s pathology.

“It took another 80 years before people really understood what was happening in the Alzheimer’s brain, and the field has been mostly focused on an abnormality of something called amyloid,” Llano said. “Amyloid is a protein that in Alzheimer’s patients is present in excessive amounts. It deposits in the brain.”

According to Llano, most of the treatments for Alzheimer’s disease focus on amyloid since many individuals believe that amyloid causes the symptoms associated with the disease. However, Llano noted that treating Alzheimer’s is not as simple as removing amyloid from the brain.

“The problem has been that many of the new treatments that do remove amyloid from the brain don’t seem to be as effective as people had hoped,” Llano said. “I would say over the past 10 years, there’s been a lot more interest looking at other causes and other problems in the Alzheimer’s brain.”

Llano expanded on one important discovery regarding the brains of Alzheimer’s patients, citing that the blood flow is very diminished in specific parts of the brain.

However, Llano acknowledged that no optimal way for studying the brain’s blood flow exists because the problems are located in the capillaries, which are blood vessels in the vascular system that are the size of a human hair.

“The idea that the vasculature is a potential major site of technology and Alzheimer’s — it’s a pretty new idea, but what’s hampered its development has been the lack of a tool to be able to actually look at those blood vessels,” Llano said, again referencing the imaging that has been done before his work with Song. “You can look at them after the organism has died and do a methodology autopsy specimen, but that’s obviously not going to be very useful to really understand what’s going on in the brain.”

Jeffrey Moore, director of Beckman Institute, echoed Llano’s and Song’s emphasis on building upon existing research to develop new imaging tools for the study of Alzheimer’s, stressing how development of new tools and perspectives brings new discoveries.

“If you look at the history of science, imaging or, in general, tools have been able to really be the advancement that’s needed in order to crack a problem,” Moore said. “Anytime any scientist — and go back to Galileo or whoever you want to — has been able to crack a big problem, it’s because they brought a new tool to that problem, and we’re able to see things differently than they had ever been seen before.”

Song described how his and Llano’s focus has been on preclinical trials, which translates to animal experiments, since clinical trials, which translates to human studies, are still limited. In fact, Song and Llano have been studying the brains of mice, and most of their first year of collaboration was spent figuring out how to best obtain images of the brains.

Song clarified the nature of limited clinical trials and the clinical gap as being similar to the chicken-and-egg conundrum.

“Clinically, this is another chicken and egg problem like, ‘Why don’t you study the vessel? Because we don’t have the tool,’” Song said. “And because people don’t have a tool, if you pitch the idea of studying vasculature, people tend to be dismissive about it.”

As Song and Llano worked with the mice, they reinforced a fact that they’ve reiterated regarding imaging — the fact that optical imaging continues to be limited.

“Even on a small-animal models, optical imaging has difficulties of scanning through the entire brain,” Song said.

Song explained that the difficulties go back to how this type of imaging cannot penetrate the brain deeply. Even so, Song mentioned that they were eventually able to explore another path away from optical imaging and instead utilized better resolution MRI and super resolution imaging for the mice.

Ultimately, Song noted that different types of imaging other than ultrasound imaging can involve issues other than the inability to penetrate the brain, such as long scanning times and restrictions on specimen use. However, Song acknowledged that even ultrasound imaging, the imaging they are working toward and developing, has its own limits but that it remains the optimal type of imaging for progress.

He explained that a concept known as phase aberration can mess with and weaken the ultrasound signal but that there is a specific part of the skull that may be key to accessing more of the brain.

“Through the temporal window, there is opportunity to do this in humans clinically,” Song said. “It provides something that is not available with existing imaging modalities.”

Once they were able to obtain appropriate, clear photos of the mouse brains, Song and Llano focused on the aspect of aging before the topic of Alzheimer’s disease. They compared the blood vessels of younger mice and the blood vessels of older mice and discovered that there were major differences in the blood flow of older mice compared to younger mice and how bendy the blood vessels were.

After Song and Llano confirmed their discoveries, they then moved on to the next stage of research, which is where they are now.

“We’re actively working on, as we speak, our early data, (which) are showing very significant but very specific differences in a mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease compared to normal mice,” Llano said. “We’re finding those differences in regions that correspond to the disease regions in human patients with Alzheimer’s disease, so that’s work that’s ongoing.”

Song’s and Llano’s overall work was recently supported to a further degree by a recent two-year grant they received from the National Institutes of Health that will help fund their research. Moore noted that more people are recognizing collaborative grants as very influential and powerful.

“It’s how to get the most bang for the taxpayer buck,” Moore said. “You really want to make sure that you can make the most progress in that period of time, and any way to accelerate that process, like we were speaking about, is going to give you the most progress for the dollar that is being invested in that short period of time.”

Song and Llano both emphasized the support they’ve received from Beckman and how Beckman has played a key role in their research. Specifically, they highlight how Beckman is a unique space where faculty from different disciplines like themselves can collaborate in the same space as opposed to being siloed in different campus areas.

Moore also cited Beckman’s nature as a space of unique, transdisciplinary and collaborative research, expressing his excitement for what Song and Llano have already accomplished.

“The opportunity to bring not only Dan and Pengfei together but their research teams together is really why Beckman exists,” Moore said. “It’s really a pleasure to see the research progress and to see our experiment — the Beckman experiment, the Beckman Institute experiment of interdisciplinary collaboration — playing out in such an important problem.”

Moore even offered his own thoughts on what form the research could take later down the road, emphasizing early diagnosis and a deeper understanding of science as two potential goals that might be accomplished.

“One possible thing that I could imagine as being what I hope that this accomplishes is diagnostic tools that would be able to identify the possibility of Alzheimer’s in someone who otherwise hasn’t been diagnosed yet,” Moore said. “Another outcome that would be helpful would be to discover aspects that are currently not known, that will allow the science to advance to possibly come up with new targets or new directions as to how that intervention might eventually go.”

When considering what the future of their research might look like, Song discussed the development of the next phase of technology that may include the transition from 2D to 3D imaging, the increase in imaging speeds and other improvements that might allow animals to not have to undergo anesthesia during scanning.

Another potential future development that Song emphasized is the further creation of better animal models.

“We’re collaborating with collaborators at Central Michigan University and also working on that effort — trying to basically have a better technology and better animal model,” Song said.

Llano also discussed his hopes for the future of his and Song’s research.

“Once we understand what’s wrong, it’d be really cool if we could try to fix it,” Llano said. “There’s different treatment modalities that can be useful, and then we can use imaging to measure how those animals improve in terms of their microvasculature, and then beyond Alzheimer’s disease, there’s lots of diseases that involve the microvasculature.”

In Llano’s perspective, the study could expand to stroke, traumatic brain injury and even basic science problems unrelated to disease since all of these can be examined through imaging.

“There’s a lot of different directions to go,” Llano said. “There are technical issues that we’re trying to fix as Pengfei mentioned. Being able to image through the skull is something that we’d like to be able to figure out how to do, so we just need enough resources and time, and we get all sorts of things that we could do with this technology.”

jlegar4@dailyillini.com

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College academics can quickly become a beast to tackle as soon as one steps into a college classroom for the first time. The sheer size of the room, the number of other students searching for seats and the professor preparing for lecture — any one of these factors can make the first day (or even first week) of classes feel overwhelming.

Maggie Katsoudas, senior in LAS, acknowledged having a similar feeling when she stepped into her first class freshman year. She described how that feeling quickly disappeared.

“I know that I was very intimidated going in because my first class was a big lecture hall in Gregory Hall,” Katsoudas said. “It was not as bad as I expected.”

Katsoudas noted that many professors understand the nerves that accompany attending a college class for the first time. She cited a moment when her professor made the new students feel welcome.

“My professor was literally like, ‘So who here is a freshman? Whose first class is this?’” Katsoudas said. “I saw a bunch of other people raising their hand, so that’s really nice. I think … the main thing is remembering that you’re not the only one doing this.”

When considering the differences between high school academics and college academics, Katsoudas emphasized the need for larger time commitments for college academics since students need to do more work outside of lectures, discussions and labs to be fully prepared for every class.

Jessi Kim, an academic advisor and engineering undeclared program coordinator, discussed the variability of schedules in college compared to high school and its effects on freshmen student learning and habits.

“In high school, you’re meeting every day,” Kim said. “In college, it’s a little bit different. One day, you’re meeting in the lecture. The next day, you’re meeting in discussion, and sometimes you’re only meeting once or twice a week, so it’s easy to kind of forget what you learned that week if you aren’t consistent with reviewing every day.”

Katsoudas spoke about the importance of the relationship between students and professors, noting that professors want students to succeed and are very open to connecting with them.

“When I was dealing with a lot of burnout last semester, I reached out to a few of my professors, and they were very understanding and accommodating,” Katsoudas said. “They are really nice and fun to talk to, and especially if it’s a class where you have a lot of interest, conversation doesn’t have to only be about that class.”

Kim added that the connections between students and their advisors can be impactful as well.

“I think the advisor role really is to be resourceful for the student and to point them to utilizing the resources that will hopefully improve the student experience here on campus,” Kim said. “That might mean going to the Office of the Dean of Students or finding support through McKinley or the Counseling Center but also just in that one meeting, that 30-minute session, (showing) the student that they are important (and) that we care.”

After discussing how her professors were empathetic regarding her burnout, Katsoudas shared a practice that has helped her tackle burnout.

“Something that I found that really helped me was taking things one at a time rather than looking at the big picture,” Katsoudas said. “If I can get one thing done, then I will be happy with myself for a second, you know, and just kind of like doing little rewards.”

Kimberly Powers, academic advisor in LAS, acknowledged there are different reasons that students might experience burnout and imposter syndrome. She stressed the importance of having strong support in addressing both.

“Be around people who constantly reaffirm that (you) belong,” Powers said. “That’s going to be different for different people, but I think that’s what’s really valuable, and I think getting back to the very first point I made — everyone worked really hard to get here.”

Calen Gutwein, academic advisor in DGS, also offered advice that applies to tackling imposter syndrome, highlighting how students have their own unique skill sets, interests, talents and strengths.

“I really, truly believe that everyone has different gifts and talents and passions and how are we going to use those during the life that we have?” Gutwein said. “And so that is the foundation — coming not from a deficit perspective but from a strength perspective.”

Since the very first day of her freshman year, Katsoudas has continually developed her talents and pursued her passions.  She has become president of University RSO Girl Up and an editor and social media manager of Montage Arts Journal alongside her studies.

When it comes to balancing her studies with other aspects of college, Katsoudas seeks to blend the academic and social aspects whenever possible, such as holding study sessions with friends.

Katsoudas highly recommended that freshmen participate in Quad Day to discover organizations to join and to continue exploring various organizations through the Involved@Illinois website, mentioning that this exploration led her to finding Montage Arts Journal.

When reflecting on one final piece of academic advice she would want to offer incoming students, Katsoudas focused on the idea of understanding one’s work habits and preferences and how they might lead to exploring more of campus.

“I definitely think that you need to learn how you work first,” Katsoudas said. “It took some trial and error, but now, I kind of understand that I’m somebody who needs to work in a public place and see other people working, so then I know like, ‘OK, I’ve got to get stuff done.’ It’s also a good excuse to explore campus because there are so many places to study … There are a lot of different places that you could go.”

jlegar4@dailyillini.com

The post Healthy habits, connections ease academic transition appeared first on The Daily Illini.

Veo, a bike-share system previously known as VeoRide, remains a central part of the university and overall Champaign-Urbana community, providing students and other users a way to quickly go from one place to another.

According to Shea Belahi, Veo operations manager for Champaign-Urbana, Veo first came to the C-U community in 2018 when the company offered pedal bikes as a mode of transportation. The following year, the use of e-bikes was approved.

In April 2022, the cities of Champaign and Urbana allowed the integration of Cosmo-e e-bikes, the new version of e-bikes, into the overall area. However, the use of these Cosmo-e’s on campus remains in limbo as the University continually considers current policies that limit the types of bikes allowed on campus.

Belahi delineated the benefits that the Cosmo-e’s can bring to both the greater community and students and faculty.

“As far as the Cosmo-e’s go, we can repair them super fast,” Belahi said. “They are throttle driven, so people that even have some disabilities are able to ride the vehicles if they can’t pedal.”

Belahi even mentioned that people in the community have used the Cosmo-e’s not only for going from one place to another but also for leisure, citing the fun that people can have since the Cosmo-e’s are throttle driven.

When considering the environmental impact of the Cosmo-e’s, Belahi returned to Veo’s ultimate goal of reducing the number of cars and trucks on the road and committing to a future that involves real, sustainable transportation.

“Our (bikes) are battery-driven, so we have people that go out every week or every day of all hours of the day and swap batteries and relocate vehicles from low ridership areas back to high ridership areas,” Belahi said.

Belahi also compared Veo’s Cosmo-e’s and additional services to existing modes of transportation that are popular among the community.

“The more modes of transportation the better,” Belahi said. “The bus is great. Not everybody has the time to spend an hour on the bus waiting … It’s cheaper than Uber or Lyft. Again — keeping yourself out of cars and getting outside into nature.”

Jack Reicherts, chairperson for the Student Sustainability Committee, offered his thoughts on Veo’s impact on campus as well as the company’s connection to greater conversations of sustainability and accessibility.

He noted that for Veo to contribute positively to campus sustainability, whether that be through the Cosmo-e’s or other available bikes, there has to be divestment from passenger vehicles to bikes, explaining that the impact of Veo wouldn’t be as strong if the only users are those who already just walk around campus.

According to Reicherts, the aspect of accessibility involved both pros and cons since the abundance of available bikes can also become physical obstacles for certain populations.

“I certainly think there is something to be said for how having bikes all over the place around campus is going to increase the accessibility of bikes,” Reicherts said. “Having bikes all over campus can also mean that I have bikes in the middle of paths. It could mean I have bikes in the middle of wheelchair ramps.”

In Reicherts’ perspective, the impact of Veo greatly hinges upon the reasons that students choose to utilize its services in the first place.

“Having Veo competing with the existing transportation modes like buses — I don’t know if it’s necessarily a matter of (students having) to choose one or the other or having one thing takes away from the other thing,” Reicherts said. “It depends on why students are using Veo. Are they using them instead of cars? Are they using them instead of walking? Are they using them instead of buses? It all depends.”

However, when comparing Veo to buses, Reicherts emphasized that the buses are free to students and can go into integrated no-ride zones, which can mean greater accessibility for some students and limited routes for others.

Sarthak Prasad, sustainable transportation assistant at the University, discussed how Veo and its services connect to the Illinois Climate Action Plan, or iCAP, the University-signed 2008 commitment to be carbon neutral no later than 2050.

Prasad specified that the plan advocates for active modes of transportation, which include bikes.

“We want to promote active modes of transportation,” Prasad said. “We want to encourage walking. We want to encourage biking. We want to encourage riding the bus, and we want to encourage ride sharing, whether it be bicycles or carpool or taking a shuttle like a Peoria charter instead of driving alone. The main objective here is to reduce single-occupancy vehicles.”

In addition, Prasad expanded upon the relationships among the university, Veo and the cities of Champaign and Urbana.

“There is a contract — concession agreement — with the company that they have to abide by to be able to operate on campus,” Prasad said. “We continue to support affordable bike sharing in the community as part of the intergovernmental agreement between the university and Champaign-Urbana.”

Prasad described the university’s current policies surrounding the types of bikes allowed on campus and the restrictions that affect the implementation of the new Cosmo-e’s already being used in the greater C-U community.

“Conventional bicycle share and Class 1 e-bikes that are the electrical assist bicycles — they are allowed on campus property, on university-owned property including on-campus bike lanes and pathways to be able to operate,” Prasad said.

“The bike-share companies are only allowed to operate bicycles and not motorized e-bicycles or e-bikes. What I mean by motorized e-bikes are bicycles with throttle assist, so if you can move your bicycle with just throttle only, we are not allowing that at this point.”

In other words, since Veo’s Cosmo-e’s are throttle driven, as referenced by Belahi’s earlier comments, they remain restricted from use on campus property.

“Our position has been the same for motorized rental bicycles or scooters because of our pedestrian safety concerns,” Prasad said. “Our campus is not built — or our infrastructure is not built — for the scooters, and again, as I’ve said before, the safety of our students, faculty and staff is of the highest importance to us.”

For further biking rules, logistics and resources, Prasad noted that individuals can check the bike.illinois.edu website and email bike@illinois.edu with any questions they may have.

While the future use of Cosmo-e’s on campus remains in limbo, Belahi emphasized that Veo still desires to advance their modalities with the university and that the voices of the students are very important to this potential advancement.

“Having more student voices too is crucial to … helping the university make decisions based on the opinions of their students,” Belahi said. “We all have to work together with the best interests of who we’re serving in mind.”

Belahi also discussed fostering partnerships with businesses, individuals or park districts in the cities to create more opportunities for the community, such as allowing actual scooters and organizing a community ride.

Reicherts stressed that conversations between Veo and the individuals that its services affect are essential to ensuring that the impact remains positive and that needs are truly met.

“I think that it’s important that projects like these try and communicate with those who are most affected and actually get input from their stakeholders so they can hopefully, preemptively avoid issues,” Reicherts said. “I think that’s really important, and I think that that probably happens to some degree already.”

jlegar4@dailyillini.com

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Last October, 24-year-old Urbana resident Liam Gasser was excited to make a hyper-realistic costume based on Disney’s “The Mandalorian” for a Halloween party.  

“He was going to go to (JOANN Fabric and Crafts) to get foam and rubber for the costume,” said Terry Von Thaden, Gasser’s mother. “When he left, I said, ‘OK, I’ll see you later and help you finish up your costume.’”

However, Gasser would not get the opportunity to finish his costume.

While driving near the Target store on Prospect Avenue in Champaign, Gasser was cut off by another car. He honked at them.

At the next intersection, the car maneuvered to the side of Gasser’s vehicle, rolled down a window and shot Gasser in the head. The shooter sped away and has yet to be identified.

According to the Champaign Police Department, shooting crimes in Champaign increased from 76 incidents in 2018 to 259 in 2021 — a 240% increase.

In Urbana, the numbers are just as high. According to the Urbana Police Department, shooting crimes in Urbana increased from 32 incidents in 2018 to 117 in 2021 — a 259% increase.

Although gun-related incidents in both cities are down in the first quarter of 2022, officials and community members say the number of shootings has risen sharply in recent years.

José Atiles Osoria, a professor of criminology at the University, said what is happening in C-U reflects the increase in violence across the U.S. According to the Pew Research Center, gun-related violence in the U.S. increased 43% over the last 10 years. 

According to the New York Times, in 2020, more than 45,000 Americans died in gun-related incidents. This is the highest amount of incidents reported since 1994.

Atiles Osoria said the COVID-19 pandemic could have caused the influx of shootings. During the pandemic, a lot of people lost their jobs and had a hard time accessing the unemployment system.

“A lot of people who lost their income would resort to other mechanisms to make a living,” he said. “The fact that there were people who didn’t have access to basic income affected their livelihood, and that caused a lot of people to engage in criminal behavior.”

Champaign Mayor Deborah Frank Fienen believes the pandemic affected the number of shootings in C-U. The data from the C-U police departments show that between 2020 and 2021, shooting incidents increased 37% in Champaign and 117% in Urbana.

Fienen said mental health worsened during the pandemic, and it was harder for people to seek services. She also said it was more difficult to identify “at-risk” youth since teachers were not in the classroom with their students to intervene.

“When you have kids in a classroom, reaching out to kids in those families is a little bit easier because you’ll have a connection,” Fienen said.

Atiles Osoria hopes that, since the number of COVID-19 cases has been going down, the number of shootings will decline too. So far, his prediction has been right. In the first three months of 2022, there were 49 total incidences in C-U, down from 59 this time in 2021.

However, Atiles Osoria is concerned the number could spike in the approaching warmer months. He said crime is historically higher in the summer because people are outside more. In C-U, shootings that occurred between May and September made up 42% to 56% of the yearly incidents from 2018 to 2021.

“It can get worse, or it can get better,” he said. “There’s no telling.”

Atiles Osoria also said rising economic tension in the U.S. could contribute to the uptick in gun crimes. A study by the Pew Research Center revealed that in 2016, upper-income families had 75 times as much wealth as lower-income families. In 1983, that number was 28.

Atiles Osoria said violence heavily occurs in “racialized, poorer communities.”

In Champaign, the violence is concentrated in predominately Black neighborhoods where the median household income is under $36,311. The average median household income in Champaign is $53,936.

“It has to do with social economics, race and class, and it is oftentimes concentrated in those areas because people have been forced to live in those areas by historic reasons such as redlining,” he said.

To try to combat the rise in gun crimes, the Champaign City Council passed a $3 million plan to combat gun violence called the Blueprint on Feb. 22.

According to Mary Roberson, the community relations specialist for Champaign’s Equity and Engagement Department, the Blueprint is a collaboration between the city government and preexisting community action agencies.

Roberson said Champaign will partner with nine agencies that were already working on curbing gun-related violence through addressing income inequality, preventing reoffending, reaching out to youth and more.

The Blueprint will put more funds into those agencies and create other resources to “fill in the gaps” that Champaign did not already have. Some partners include the Trauma and Resilience Initiative, First Followers and Crime Stoppers. 

“We’ve got agreements with all of these partners as to what programs and services they’re going to provide, what population is going to be impacted and how many they’re going to serve,” Roberson said.

Fienen said she is optimistic about the Blueprint’s impact on Champaign.

“Being able to give people financial opportunities is going to make a difference,” she said.

However, not everyone is as optimistic as Fienen.

John Boch, the executive director of Guns Save Life, said the Blueprint will not do anything.

“Afterschool programs and crap like that are not what the city needs,” Boch said. “What the city needs is to hold the violent accountable and put them away for a long time. That would be productive.”

Boch was specifically critical of the part of the plan that would connect those formally charged with a gun-related crime to services that would help them merge back into society. He said both C-U and Illinois have been “soft on crime.”

“We’re basically releasing bad guys back out into the streets … who go out and hurt more people,” Boch said. 

John Blake, founder of Citizens Against Gun Violence in Urbana, said while he supports the Blueprint’s mission, he does not think it will work the way the city government is expecting. 

“You have to have people willing to show up and complete those programs,” Blake said. “So, I continue to bring up why don’t they put some of that money into a program with a response that sees results now?”

Instead of the Blueprint, Blake praised Champaign for approving the installation of automatic license plate readers across the city in December 2021. This fit into Blake’s idea of a program that would bring results now.

However, Urbana, where Blake lives, did not vote to install the readers. Blake, a victim of an Urbana drive-by shooting in November 2021, was not happy.

“I said, ‘No, this is wrong,’” Blake said. “What you’re trying to do is convince your fellow community members that you represent that it’s okay to let this violence continue.”

Maryalice Wu, an Urbana City Council member, said she was disappointed.

“I voted for it,” she said. “The primary reason they shot it down was that they felt like there wasn’t clear evidence that it would actually address the issue.”

Boch was happy the vote did not pass in Urbana. He said he was uncomfortable with the readers because of privacy risks.

“Anything that we do for the government sooner or later gets abused,” Boch said. “I think that stuff is too easily abused by the agencies that implement them who have rogue employees that tend to abuse the surveillance information.”

Boch suggested that the surge of gun-related violence in C-U was a result of the police being short-staffed. CPD reported that out of the 25 vacancies, 14 are patrol officer jobs.

Boch said that law enforcement needs to be supported, not attacked. He referred to police “defunding” movements.

“Criminals are more inclined to commit crime when we’re attacking, defunding and not supporting our police,” he said.

Fienen had a similar belief. She said that while she understands the need for police reform, having fewer officers does not make the community safer.

“If you talk to (police), there would be some that tell you that it is a stressful job that has become more stressful,” she said. “It’s hard to do that job if you’re not being appreciated.”

Atiles Osoria disagrees with Boch and Fienen. For him, gun crimes “are not just a law enforcement problem — it’s an economic, racial, gender, mental health and law enforcement problem.”

While the rising number of gun crimes in C-U may be influenced by multiple causes, there is one effect: The victims’ lives are forever altered.

Gasser, who just wanted to build his Halloween costume, survived being shot.

Today, Gasser is back in his Urbana home with Von Thaden. He lived despite a traumatic spinal cord injury, and he came home from a Chicago rehab facility on March 16.

However, surviving was only half of the battle. Gasser cannot walk on his own or properly use his arms or hands without support.

Von Thaden, a widow, is his primary caregiver, but she said doing it all on her own is difficult. Gasser needs comprehensive physical therapy, but their health insurance limits their options.

“I don’t know what the future holds,” she said. “We can’t even get him the help he needs now.”

Von Thaden said that dealing with the insurance issues has not been the hardest part of his recovery.

“The hardest part is seeing the excruciating pain Liam is in,” she said. “That’s the most traumatizing for all of us.”

faithaa2@dailyillini.com

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Five years ago in April 2017, Yingying Zhang arrived at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign as an international student and a visiting scholar to pursue her doctorate. After her education, she planned on marrying her fiancé and eventually returning to China to become a teacher.

However, in June 2017, Zhang was raped and murdered by Brendt Christensen when he lured her to his car by posing as an undercover cop and taking her back to her apartment.

In a previous article published by The Daily Illini on June 29, 2017, friends, students and community members organized a walk and concert for Zhang to show her family how much love and concern there was for Zhang and how the campus community came together. 

Two years after her passing, there was a vigil and fund to honor her and assist international students and their families. In a previous article published by the Daily Illini on August 19, 2019, her family described that they set up Yingying’s Fund because they wanted to honor Zhang’s willingness to always help others and to give back to the campus community and those that have helped them. 

The hope is that, in the future, international students and their families can receive financial support during times of crisis and not feel as helpless as Zhang’s family did when they first arrived in the United States. 

Five years later, Zhang is still remembered in other ways, her death now fitting into the greater conversation of the need for better campus safety and society’s views of Asian Americans today.

“The scariest thing or the thing that stood out to me the most was the fact that she was at the wrong place at the wrong time,” said Samantha Boyle, graduate student studying library science and former writer for The Daily Illini who covered Zhang’s story.

Boyle discussed how events like the violence against Zhang still occur today and wondered what tangible steps could be taken to tackle the issue. While the actual crime was the focus of various news stories, Boyle did emphasize the importance of remembering that Zhang and other victims of similar violence were human beings who had families.

The importance of humanizing Zhang led Jiayan “Jenny” Shi, video journalist and documentary filmmaker, to create a documentary titled “Finding Yingying” that explores who Zhang was as an individual and the journey of Zhang’s family as they sought justice for her murder.

“To me, it was really important to highlight who Yingying was,” Shi said. “The mainstream crime story narrative is really investigation-heavy and also focused on the perpetrator, but sometimes we forget about people left behind (in) those tragedies, so that’s why I wanted to tell a story on Yingying and her family.”

As she talked with Zhang’s family and other individuals that knew Zhang, Shi discovered that Zhang embodied many different roles and positive characteristics and was very connected to those around her.

“Just based on how her friends, her colleagues and her parents and family members described her, I feel like she was a very talented, promising young scientist,” Shi said. “She was also a very good friend, and she was good at many things other than studying (and) research. She was a singer in a band when she was in college. She always smiled, and she always brought happiness to everyone around her.”

Boyle described how not a negative thing could really be said about Zhang, citing how motivated Zhang was for school and how Zhang wrote down many optimistic quotes in the journal she had.

Shi referenced that one of the most challenging parts of creating the documentary was the fact that the documentary would tell a sad story. In addition, others had to be convinced that Zhang’s story was an important one worth telling, and once the process of creating the documentary started, Shi also had to consider how much of the actual crime to include.

While a key goal of the documentary was to provide a holistic picture of who Yingying was and how much her life impacted others, Shi wanted to spark a conversation focused on international students, dispelling stereotypes that surround them and increasing support and safety for them as they get acquainted with the United States.

“I’m just hoping that the universities can really think about how they can better support international students, their life in the U.S. and also specifically think about campus safety,” Shi said. “I think that’s another thing we thought about in terms of what kind of impact we want to create after the film was released.”

Shi discussed the stereotypes surrounding not only international students but also Asian and Asian American women.

“I feel like, in mainstream culture, again people still have a sort of stereotype of Asian women,” Shi said. “Even in mainstream media, when we see an Asian woman, we don’t really see that person as someone who has power.”

After the documentary was released, Shi even had conversations with other filmmakers that focused on the representations of Asians and Asian-Americans in media. Shi further explained that Asian and Asian American women are often seen in more supportive, passive roles.

Shi even emphasized how Zhang broke away from stereotypes surrounding Asian and Asian American women, highlighting the inaccuracy that accompanies these stereotypes.

“She was such a powerful woman,” Shi said. “It’s exactly the opposite to the stereotype that a lot of people had about Asian women, so I think that’s why we really wanted to highlight her (and) introduce her to the audience.”

According to Shi, the timing of the documentary’s release was also appropriate and important since the cultural and political climate of the nation during the release involved much hate and discrimination against Asian-American populations.

“I think we released the film in a perfect time because we released the film in 2020, and that was the time during a very strong anti-Asian sentiment and also COVID-19,” Shi said. “I think we just really need a film to really show who we are … It’s really helpful to create a kind of neutral understanding and to reduce misunderstanding of Asian women.”

When reflecting on how Zhang and other victims of similar types of violence can continue to be remembered and honored, Shi discussed how news coverage focused on minorities and people of color needs to improve through better accuracy in reporting their names and through restructuring the way the narratives are told.

According to Shi, the restructuring happens when more personal stories are told, highlighting how individuals would not know much about who Yingying was as an individual if they didn’t’ hear her or her family’s personal stories.

Shi added that sometimes the personal stories involve learning from tragedy and, ultimately, remembering that these personal stories help remind others that these victims had lives of their own.

“Doing news coverage, telling the story again after almost five years — it’s still something good,” Shi said. “We are (remembering) her and honoring her life.”

jlegar4@dailyillini.com

asayal2@dailyillini.com

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From harvesting to cooking, produce is transferred from one place to another, leaving consumers on campus unsure about where their food is coming from. Environmental advocates such as Justin Vozzo, graduate student studying natural resources and environmental science, are invested in a systematic approach to improve efficiency on campus — aquaponics.

“What got me into aquaponics ultimately was emulating the natural systems in our agricultural systems and again, like, closing those loops to make things more efficient,” Vozzo said.

Aquaponics is a production system that combines raising fish to maintain plants in water, a mix between aquaculture and hydroponics. The system does not require soil and instead allows plants and fish to complement each other to create a symbiotic relationship.

When fish excrete ammonia, the ammonia is broken down through nitrifying bacteria and turned into usable nitrogen, which is normally found in soil. As fish feed the plants, the plants provide clean water in return. Therefore, this system can reduce water usage, fossil fuels and transport costs. 

“It’s not just about cutting carbon,” Vozzo said. “It’s about how can we use those resources that we have available to use on this planet most efficiently so that we can … sustain them for as long as possible.” 

Despite the challenges in organizational and funding logistics, dedicated organizations and staff members supported the fruition of his project. After his freshman year, Vozzo submitted his idea of implementing an aquaponics system to the Student Sustainability Committee in 2015 for funding. 

“This is definitely only possible because we have a funding body on campus like the Student Sustainability Committee,” Vozzo said. “Otherwise, it just wouldn’t have (ever) happened.”

Following the success, Vozzo found Carter Phillips, instructional chef in the Food Science and Human Nutrition Department, who was able to provide a permanent home for the project after Vozzo’s undergraduate graduation. Throughout the implementation, they harvested generations of fish such as tilapia and grew leafy greens.

“Aquaponics has been something that I’ve been interested in for many years,” Phillips said. “I had a small aquaponics system set up at my house. Just the symbiosis between the fish and the plants — it really kind of spoke to me.”

The system continues to run for Bevier Café on campus. Phillips and his team members at the café maintain the aquaponics through weekly checks on the fish and water quality. The benefit of having aquaponics in the staff’s proximity is how it serves as an educational tool. Phillips sees students come from urban areas that do not have the opportunity to grow their own produce forming a connection with food.

“To put a seed into the ground or, in this case, an aquaponics system and watch it grow, there’s a connection with that food that gives you a little more respect not only for where it came from, but, you know, there’s some mental peace of mind as well in that process,” Phillips said.

Bevier Café is not the only location that houses an aquaponics system in the greater C-U community. On March 24, Holy Cross School in Champaign revealed its own aquaponics system that was provided by Sky-High Aquaponics, a division of Tryon Technologies Inc.

Holy Cross School’s aquaponics system is very similar to the University’s system, composed of many of the same integral parts. The school’s system includes a closed-loop process where tilapia and plants provide nutrients to each other, eventually resulting in the growth of food within the system. 

Greg Koerner, principal of Holy Cross School, previously expressed his desire to have a curriculum that would allow the school to stand out among other schools. When a community member on Koerner’s marketing team suggested aquaponics, Koerner and the rest of the team explored what aquaponics involved and connected with the CEO of Tryon Technologies Inc.

After research was conducted, designing the curriculum was a key next step.

Meghan Burgess, a fifth-grade teacher at Holy Cross School, valued the opportunity to be one of the teachers that would construct the curriculum. Burgess used the skills she learned from her master’s degree in Curriculum & Instruction at the University to create a curriculum that would provide students the opportunity to learn about aquaponics in all their classes.

“One thing we’re working on right now is being able to develop a curriculum that doesn’t just teach this in the science class,” Burgess said. “If a kid can see that something you learn in science also relates to what you’re learning in social studies and in writing and in art, that makes the experience that much more meaningful for them.”

Burgess provided specific examples of teaching aquaponics in subjects other than science. She described the potential for students to explore aquaponics’ past and future in history class, measure and collect data in math class and draw the plants and the stages of their growth in art class.

The benefits of the school’s aquaponics system extend beyond the students’ education and the provision of food for the school’s lunch program. Koerner envisioned potential partnerships with clubs and organizations such as the Daily Bread Soup Kitchen, Harvest Market and the Champaign-Urbana Rotary Club in the local community so that community needs are met.

Burgess explained that the impacts on the students and community are connected since the curriculum can lead to students’ greater understanding of community needs. Burgess said that students are the future and that their understanding of the resources in the community influences them to think on a larger scale with resource issues.

“If (the students) are able to actually be part of the process of planting the seed, growing the food, giving it to somebody and seeing how it can actually be used in an actual dish for those who, you know, maybe are less fortunate or cannot get the meal that they need, I think that’s going to be huge for the students,” Burgess said.

Even with the challenges that accompany the development of the aquaponics system, Burgess highlighted how these opportunities for problem solving can be part of the students’ education as well.

“It’s gonna be a lot of learning as we go, and I think that that’s really important for kids to see as well, that we are kind of all learning this together,” Burgess said. “They get to learn like, ‘Okay, what do we do to fix this?’”

When considering the future of the aquaponics system in the school, Burgess wondered how much space is available for more towers to be introduced while Koerner discussed the possibility of expanding the system to other schools.

“In the 2023-2024 school year, we have the curriculum, and if any other Catholic school in the diocese wants one of these towers, they can get a tower,” Koerner said. “I see that expansion through the diocese. I also then see the expansion to public schools if they want that opportunity to serve and create agricultural programs.”

Koerner said he wonders what it would look like if the towers were suitable for the public, exploring the potential for the development of aquaponics to increase beyond its existence within the University and Holy Cross School. 

“I’ve also talked to Tryon about downsizing these towers to make it more sustainable for somebody at home to have one of these in their basement or backyard,” Koerner said. “We also want to help Tryon with the promotion of these towers to every household that wants one.”

ljpan2@dailyillini.com

jlegar4@dailyillini.com

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Nestled on the third floor of the Illini Union is the LGBT Resource Center, one of the few physical spaces dedicated to LGBTQ+ communities on campus. However, many LGBTQ+ communities have shifted to gathering in online spaces because the number of physical spaces for them on campus continues to be limited.

“I’m not sure if there are any LGBTQ+ fraternities on campus,” Soundjata Sharod, sophomore in LAS said. “I don’t think there is any. There really isn’t a dedicated gay bar on campus either.”

Last semester, Sharod created and organized a Discord server for LGBTQ+ communities on campus when he noticed that there weren’t any servers for them within the central Illinois hub. He expressed his desire for the server to be an informal, social space.

“I feel like a lot of LGBTQ+ queer youth on this campus are, like, isolated and, like, lonely,” said Sharod. “We’ve all been in those spaces where, like, we really can’t talk about our genders, or we really can’t talk about relationship interests … so I think I just really wanted to create a space where people can fully show up as themselves.”

Genna Ellingson, senior in ACES, recently created and organized a new group within the server titled Dungeons & Dragons and Tabletop Role-Playing Games for Marginalized Genders at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Ellingson said she wants the group to eventually meet in person and be a safe space for those interested in joining and learning more about tabletop games and different gender identities. Ellingson also spoke to the benefits that online spaces such as Discord provide for LGBTQ+ communities.

“I think part of the big draw to Discord and other online communities is … the anonymity behind it,” Ellingson said. “You can put out whatever parts of your identity you want to or don’t want to and then join spaces specific to those parts of your identity.”

Damian Vergara Bracamontes, professor in GWS, said online spaces are necessary for individuals who work multiple jobs, commuter students and people who haven’t shared their sexuality or who can’t be seen in certain spaces. He referenced YouTube as another online space where LGBTQ+ individuals have shared their voices and perspectives.

“YouTube … has been such an important space especially for trans communities of color,” Bracamontes said. “I think that really gave people an opportunity to learn about the range of what it could be to be transgender or gender nonconforming. People shared their testimonies and their experiences. It became a resource-sharing site, and it created a kind of community of friends (where) people have followed each other.”

While these communities continue to gather online, the lack of dedicated physical spaces to gather remains a barrier. Sharod said this can be attributed to a lack of funding.

“The LGBT Resource Center is grossly underfunded compared to other organizations on campus, which is crazy because … there is a statistic out (that says) one in six people identify as LGBTQ+,” Sharod said. “That is a large percentage of our campus.”

Sharod said within the LGBTQ+ community, there are hardly any resources that help promote wellness. He said “The Next 150” highlights the University’s goals for the next five years, and there is no mention of wellness.

“There is next to nothing about student wellness,” Sharod said. “There’s, like, one line.”

Sharod said the University’s lack of focus on improving the quality of education for their LGBTQ+ students is a big reason why the LGBT Resource Center is underfunded. He said because of this, the responsibility lies on individuals.

“To go back to the Discord initiative… if (the University) is not going to do it, it’s up to me to create a space for people to feel welcomed and for people to have life-sustaining relationships,” Sharod said.

Sharod said Leslie Morrow, the director of the LGBT Resource Center, wants to hire a dedicated mental health adviser for LGBTQ+ individuals. Sharod added that the center also needs funding for more resources such as medicine, gender affirmation and mental health initiatives.

Bracamontes said that compared to LGBTQ+ spaces at different universities, Illinois does not have as many dedicated LGBTQ+ spaces.

“It seems like people are trying to connect in these spaces, but there doesn’t seem (to be) a physical hub where people can go other than the LGBT center or the GWS hub,” Bracamontes said. “I think it’s hard because I think this campus has the … department, and then they have the student clubs, so it’s a very different form of community building than maybe other universities I’ve been at.”

Bracamontes said other universities have cross-cultural centers and centers containing multiple gathering spaces that promote community building among LGBTQ+ communities.

While many said there is still more progress to be made regarding the number and quality of physical spaces for these communities, a few of these spaces such as the Department of Gender & Women’s Studies are planning future initiatives that provide more opportunities for community building and gathering.

According to Bracamontes, some of these future initiatives include the department’s development as a hub for transgender studies scholarship and transgender reading groups.

As Dungeons & Dragons and Tabletop Role-Playing Games for Marginalized Genders plan for more in-person meetings, Ellingson voiced her plans to have the organization be officially certified as an RSO in the future. Sharod also considered RSO certification as a possibility for the general online organization since certification would open opportunities to reserve spaces, making access to certain physical spaces more streamlined.

Ellingson offered advice to those who are searching for LGBTQ+ spaces to explore and join or are interested in helping create spaces for these communities.

“These spaces exist. You might need to look a little harder for them, but to the people who are looking for these spaces … connect with the people that are out there. Do your research,” Ellingson said. “If you look for them, you will probably find them, and if you don’t, and if you feel confident with it, then start one yourself.”

jlegar4@dailyillini.com

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