October 5, 2020 | The Columbia Chronicle

OCT

05

2020

» MENGSHIN LIN/CHRONICLE

Say her name: Protesters denounce lack of justice for Breonna Taylor

Campus, page 6

Arts & Culture, page 8

Metro, page 13

Chronicle alum Chris Coates wins Illinois Press Association’s Editor of the Year award

A photojournalist describes what it’s like to live with an invisible illness

First presidential debate leaves viewers and news organizations reeling

editors’ note

There is no cookiecutter student experience » KENDALL POLIDORI CO-EDITOR-IN-CHIEF TWO WEEKS AGO I spoke on a virtual

panel among educators and policy scholars in higher education around the country, and our audience consisted of congressional staff members in Washington, D.C. I was the only student on the panel.

The event was hosted by the Bipartisan Policy Center for its Campus Free Expression Project and was meant to offer context in regard to the coronavirus, the 2020 election and civics on college campuses. The director of the project had seen the work the Chronicle was doing during the summer and invited me to be one of four speakers. As a student journalist, I was there to provide insight on the student experience in the midst of the pandemic.

For an hour leading up to the discussion, I paced back and forth in my room trying to mentally create a short list of the most important aspects of the student experience at the moment.

If you are a student, you may know that this is nearly impossible—there is too much going on to focus on one thing.

I was nervous and nearly shaking with worry that I would not properly speak on behalf of college students; this panel could determine how some policy makers think about resources given to institutions across the country.

When I was asked to discuss my experience reporting on the coronavirus, Columbia’s reopening plans and the pandemic’s impact on students, faculty and staff, I understood there is no common experience. There is not one thing that can easily be fixed by policy makers at Columbia or most colleges.

There is no such thing as a cookie-cutter student or even a faculty or staff member. We do not have the same 2 THE COLUMBIA CHRONICLE OCTOBER 5, 2020

living situations, the same access to the internet, the same schedules, the same income, the same learning abilities and none of us are in the same mental state.

Every student experiences every aspect of life differently, and with the situation our education system is in now, it is outlandish to assume that one direction is ideal for every student.

I have been covering the pandemic and its effect on the Columbia community for months. I cannot even name the number of students, faculty, staff members and administrators I have spoken to, asking them: “How are you holding up during this time?”

I have focused on others and their experiences with education, work, living situations—you name it. But during the panel I was asked to offer insight on my own experiences, and I was a bit thrown off. As a student journalist, I have not sat down and thought about how I have also been impacted by these changes.

The only words I could muster up were about my experience reporting and writing for the Chronicle and about the first few weeks learning remotely. I work and attend classes at home.

For nearly 12 hours a day, I am in different rooms in my apartment typing away at my computer.

I get distracted very easily, and I am a hands-on learner, meaning remote learning is not my ideal educational experience. I live on my own away from my parents; I pay for my own bills and necessities, and I do not have all of the technological resources needed to properly obtain the education I am paying for.

But I had not thought about this until I was put on the spot on a panel in front of educators and policy scholars on Capitol Hill. My passion for journalism and for Columbia’s incredible community kicked in though, and I felt so proud to speak about what students at Columbia and other institutions need during this time. It made me realize the attention struggling students need right now and the importance of student journalism in reporting people’s experiences in a truly personal way.

We are all experiencing the pandemic and an immense amount of change in different aspects of our lives, including education, but that does not mean an overarching policy will benefit everyone in the same way. In order to understand the “student experience,” we have to look at individual stories, many of which come from students themselves.

KPOLIDORI@COLUMBIACHRONICLE.COM

»staff Editors-in-Chief Director of Photography Senior Video Editor Senior Graphic Designer

MANAGEMENT

Mari Devereaux Kendall Polidori Camilla Forte Ignacio Calderon Shane Tolentino

REPORTERS

Multimedia Producer/Editor Jonah Ocuto News Editor Lauren Leazenby Audience Engagement Editor Paige Barnes Senior Reporter Alexandra Yetter Opinions Editor Summer Hoagland-Abernathy Staff Reporters Isaiah Colbert Dyana Daniels Mateusz Janik Noah Jennings Myer Lee Ryan Rosenberger Charlie Wacholz

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Photojournalists

COPY

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MULTIMEDIA

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GRAPHICS

Jennifer Chavez Gianella Goan Vicki Lei Lucas Martinez Savanna Steffens

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VOL. 56, ISSUE 3

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Big Chicago classes taught in a hybrid format » ColumbiaChronicle.com » CAMILLA FORTE/CHRONICLE

campus

Clear mask project offers fashion, choice and practicality to Deaf community EVRYN SEVCECH, AN ASL-ENGLISH INTERPRETATION STUDENT COLLABORATING WITH FASHION STUDENTS TO PRODUCE MASKS ACCESSIBLE TO THE DEAF COMMUNITY, WEARS THEIR GROUP’S MASK.

» ISAIAH COLBERT STAFF REPORTER PRIOR TO TAKING a summer semester hybrid

course, Josh Adamczak did not think about the issues wearing a face covering can cause within the Deaf and hard of hearing community by blocking visual emotions on the lower half of the face.

Adamczak is a hearing person, who began to refer to himself as such after learning more about Deaf culture during the course.

A junior fashion studies major, Adamczak said he took “Workshop in Fashion Studies: The Accessible Mask Project” because he wanted to take on the challenge of creating a mask that allows Deaf and hard of hearing people to communicate unhindered.

Now that the course has ended, students have three complete prototypes and time to reflect on areas for improvement.

During the course, students were split up into teams of three and four and were given different breathable fabrics as well as Columbia’s requirements for acceptable masks. The groups then presented their final prototypes to a panel of med-

ical professionals, members of the Deaf community, the commissioner of the Mayor’s Office of People with Disabilities and Benro Ogunyipe, an advocate for the Deaf community.

Two of the teams gave themselves the nicknames Firepower and Mask Force.

Adamczak was a part of team Firepower.

He said their futuristic prototype was inspired by the movie “Tron” and included a cotton hood, a fog-resistant face shield and a harness to secure the full head covering.

As an athlete himself, Ogunyipe said he liked the prototype mask from team Mask Force members because their design involves less work than putting on a face shield or a hood, making it more user-friendly.

Their design has adjustable ear straps to be worn in different ways and a kaleidoscope-patterned clear material around the mouth.

Ogunyipe said having the option to chose from different masks designs is similar to wearing different pairs of shoes.

“A lot of Deaf and hard of hearing people may have a different preference,” he said.

“It all kind of depends on what people like.”

Renee Kuhel, a sophomore fashion stud-

ies major and a member of team Mask Force, said the biggest issue for each team was finding clear materials within the five-week time limit that were reusable, fog-resistant and breathable, without using vents.

Kuhel said it was a rewarding experience because of the fast-paced environment and the completion of a final prototype. Her group made a face mask with a clear area around the mouth and loopholes to accommodate for hairstyles and cochlear implants.

She said they came up with the idea because they wanted to make a mask that was fashionable and multi-functional.

“The time limit that we had was definitely something I’m not used to,” Kuhel said.

“The fact that we had five short weeks to do all of this, and we did it ... was crazy.”

Every week, Kuhel said fashion students watched videos of various American Sign Language signs for clothing and colors in order to be able to communicate with American Sign Lanugage majors and show what they were learning.

She said it was her first time having an ASL interpreter on a Zoom call, but did not find it distracting.

“We had to pause a little bit to make sure we could see everybody and we had to make sure that [we] could pin the interpreter for whoever needed it,” she said.

Justin LeBlanc, an associate professor in the Fashion Studies Department, said feedback from panels provided an evaluation of the Accessible Mask Project, including advice on moving forward.

“We’re hoping to continue this project into the Fall semester and ... create a final prototype that could potentially go into production,” LeBlanc said.

Although there are plans to continue the project, students Kuhel and Adamczak said they would not be able to attend due to scheduling conflicts.

Despite conflicts, Adamczak expressed a desire to continue the work outside of the hybrid course, including the possibility of integrating it into his senior thesis project.

“The biggest takeaway for me is that there are aspects of lives that I will never understand,” Adamczak said.

ICOLBERT@COLUMBIACHRONICLE.COM

OCTOBER 5, 2020 THE COLUMBIA CHRONICLE 3

campus

‘Share this’: CFAC hosts town hall on health concerns for students, faculty » K’VON JACKSON/CHRONICLE

» DYANA DANIELS STAFF REPORTER ON A BRISK Tuesday, some faculty mem-

bers held their in-person classes in Grant Park before an evening virtual town hall hosted by Columbia’s part-time faculty union, CFAC. The town hall was held over Zoom and included a panel of experts who discussed health and safety-related issues with returning to higher education during the pandemic.

Currently, around 25% of courses at Columbia are held on campus in a hybrid or completely in-person setting, with the number of courses with some in-person interaction reduced from approximately 50% that were on the schedule this summer.

Following CFAC’s previous town hall with the Illinois Federation of Teachers and scientists and health experts on Aug. 4, CFAC’s goal was to make sure that faculty and students were informed.

“After we were able to do that, we did have some faculty who had the ability to move over to remote learning,” said Diana Vallera, president of CFAC and adjunct faculty member in the Photography Department, in the Tuesday, Sept. 29 town hall. “But the problem is not everyone had a choice.”

“It is the role of the union to make sure we can provide a safe working environment for our members,” Vallera said. “There are faculty and students left with a work environment that is hazardous.”

Vallera was joined on the panel by John Miller, University Professionals of Illinois president and associate professor of communications at Western Illinois University; William J. Mills, associate professor at the College of Engineering and Engineering Technology at Northern Illinois University; Sheila Simons, professor and graduate coordinator at Eastern Illinois University; and Gabriel Guzman, professor of microbiology and chairperson of the Science Department at Triton College.

“Many of our faculty wrote in to the college and said it is an unsafe work environment,” Vallera said. “And they have a right to do that.”

On Sunday, Sept. 27 two unions on be4 THE COLUMBIA CHRONICLE OCTOBER 5, 2020

ADJUNCT FACULTY MEMBER LAURA STURM TEACHES CLASS IN GRANT PARK ON SEPT. 30 TO FULFILL THE IN-PERSON INSTRUCTION REQUIREMENTS.

half of CFAC accused Columbia’s administration of sending “threatening and reckless” letters to members of CFAC who were refusing to teach in conditions that would “pose a threat to their health and safety,” as reported by the Chronicle Monday, Sept. 28.

“It was a threat,” Vallera said. “The worst thing an institution could be doing during this time is to threaten our members. We need to feel supported; we all need to be helping and achieving the same goals.”

In partnership with the Illinois Federation of Teachers, CFAC released a statement on Sept. 22 demanding the college allow its faculty to “choose to teach remotely this semester until CCC addresses fundamental COVID-19 safety concerns,” as reported by the Chronicle.

Without a positive response from the college, some adjunct faculty members teaching in-person courses took classes outside to Grant Park, 337 E. Randolph St., on Sept. 29 to prioritize their safety and students’ safety, according to Vallera.

“Our first day we decided to go out in the park and teach,” Vallera said. “And it worked out really well. We made sure that we did not disrupt the educational process; we prioritized safety, and we didn’t allow administration to put us at risk.”

During the Sept. 29 town hall, panelists discussed whether face coverings are effective for multiple hours of in-class instruction, the importance of proper venti-

lation and what the coronavirus could do to artists’ health and careers, no matter their age.

Being in a classroom is different from being in a grocery store, Mills said. In a grocery store, a person can get in and out quickly, but a class can last for hours at a time. Because of that, people must understand a room’s ventilation plays a role in safety.

“Wearing a face mask properly is important for what we call source control,” Mills said. “The issue is, we can not just say that all face masks are going to be equally effective. They are effective; they do provide protection. I am certainly an advocate of them, but I can’t say the way that [what someone else] is wearing it is going to be the same mask material.”

Masks are used to prevent particles from passing from one person’s mouth or nose to another’s, Guzman said. Each of the panelists stressed that a room with people in it for three or more hours must be ventilated and purified in addition to wearing face masks.

“Just having people wearing a mask then, even if a load is small, the exposure time is still going to be too long for everybody in there,” Guzman said, “which makes it of paramount importance to have the room properly ventilated and the air properly clean.”

The college assessed the rooms on campus holding classes deemed “high-

er exertion or higher projection activities” such as music, theatre and dance spaces for proper ventilation, but not all due to guidance from medical experts at Rush University Medical Center and the University of Chicago. Because of this, ultraviolet germicidal irradiation, or UVGI, were put in select rooms on campus in certain areas.

The union is pushing the college to ensure every room on campus is safe.

Vallera said she hopes events like the town hall encourage the college to provide union members with a contract that protects CFAC’s safety and the right to choose how and where they wish to teach.

Both Vallera and Miller encouraged viewers to share the town hall recording to spread awareness to students and their families, while also pressuring the college to address CFAC’s concerns.

In a Friday, Oct. 2 email to the Chronicle, Associate Vice President of Strategic Communications and External Relations Lambrini Lukidis said the college and union “had a couple of meetings” throughout the week to discuss concerns.

“To the students and to the faculty, we absolutely have the right to a safe work environment,” Vallera said. “Share this video. ... Please demand that the administration bargain with us because it is really for all of our safety.”

DDANIELS@COLUMBIACHRONICLE.COM

campus » JENNIFER CHAVEZ/CHRONICLE

Columbia introduces new community outreach platform, CampusGroups » RYAN ROSENBERGER STAFF REPORTER WITH THE 2020-21 academic year in full

swing, the college has unveiled a new community platform with the hope of bringing students closer than before, despite most fall interactions taking place online.

The platform CampusGroups, sometimes called the Engage Portal by Columbia students, has a social media element which allows students to connect with one another, according to Kari Sommers, associate dean of Student Life. The virtual outreach also gives student organizations the opportunity to connect with students and allows employees from across the college to easily work with one another.

“It’s a way to bring the people across the college who work in different buildings together so they can support students,” Sommers said. “The essence of this tool is student support and engagement.”

Senior television and cultural studies major Isaiah Moore said CampusGroups is similar to Facebook. Students can create their own profiles and add their bios and

be searched based on their year, major and any hobbies or interests they indicate on their profiles.

Moore, president of the Student Organizations Council, said student organizations can create their own pages, post their events and designate leaders. Students can also directly RSVP to events on the app.

Collegewide events can be accessed through the app, like new student orientation and virtual convocation recently were, Moore said.

Rolled out in time for new student orientation during the summer, Sommers said the college placed an emphasis on having small group interactions to make it easier for new students to make friends during the pandemic. Orientation consisted of between 350-400 small group sessions of 25 students or fewer over a three week period, she said.

“Coming in as a new student, it’s terrifying [trying to make friends] under normal circumstances, and it’s even harder when you can’t physically meet people,” Sommers said.

She said the rollout of new platfrom did

not come as a result of the pandemic, as the college has been working on implementing CampusGroups for “a couple of years” and began seeking input in October 2019.

June Keating, a sophomore TV executive producing and entrepreneurship major and president of the Cult Cinema Club, said CampusGroups will play a vital role in getting students involved on campus d uring the pandemic.

“It’s a weird time for everybody ... people are going through their online classes, and even though it’s more work, I think people are less likely to put in extra effort to go to clubs,” Keating, a former Chronicle staff reporter, said. “It’s important to have something like that where we’re encouraging students to still be involved in campus activities during the pandemic.”

Keating said because Columbia’s virtual convocation was held on CampusGroups, her student organization garnered plenty of interest from attending students.

The launch of the new platform has not gone without flaws though, according

to some student organization leaders.

Julian Banzon, a junior acoustics major, president of the Asian Students Organization and vice president of the Acoustic Society of America Columbia Chapter, said some of his peers had trouble logging on to the app, as a “404 error page” would pop up numerous times before t hey finally got in.

Sommers said login issues have taken place because the single sign-on feature was not fully developed and ready for the platform in time for orientation—a feature which has since been added by the IT department.

Sommers said despite an “imperfect” start, she is proud of the college’s efforts.

“There will be experimentation during this time ... not just from students, but from other parts of the college,” Sommers said. “Experimentation means things are not ever perfect. [But] when they’re good, they’re better than your wildest expectations.”

RROSENBERGER@COLUMBIACHRONICLE.COM OCTOBER 5, 2020 THE COLUMBIA CHRONICLE 5

campus » CHRIS COATES/COURTESY

Chronicle, Columbia alum Chris Coates awarded Editor of the Year in Illinois ALUM CHRIS COATES, WHO GRADUATED FROM COLUMBIA COLLEGE WITH A DEGREE IN BROADCAST JOURNALISM IN 2004, EXPRESSED DEEP GRATITUDE FOR HIS TIME WORKING WITH THE CHRONICLE.

» MYER LEE STAFF REPORTER LATE ONE FRIDAY night a few months ago at

the Herald & Review, Chris Coates worked until midnight to prepare stories for the weekend.

Coates, the Central Illinois news editor for Lee Enterprises, and his coworker Allison Petty, local news editor at the The Pantagraph, were the last people in the office. They were listening to the police scanner for stories but did not hear anything newsworthy, so they decided it was time to go home.

On her way home, Petty’s phone rang. “[Coates] calls me and says, ‘Hey, I’m at a fire. Can you post something? I’m going to send you pictures,’” Petty said.

Shocked, she asked him how he found the fire. Coates told her he saw the firetruck and followed it.

“I chase a lot of firetrucks,” Coates said.

“You see news, you go chase news.”

It is this dedication to journalism that led the Illinois Press Association to award 6 THE COLUMBIA CHRONICLE OCTOBER 5, 2020

Coates the 2019 Editor of the Year award.

The Illinois Press Association recognizes outstanding journalism at its convention each spring, but due to the pandemic, the event was held virtually this year.

The organization issued awards for work done in 2019, and this is the first year they honored an Editor of the Year, for which Petty said Coates deserved recognition.

“He is extremely dedicated and very passionate about journalism, storytelling and communities,” Petty said.

Coates said attending Columbia and working at The Columbia Chronicle are the main reasons behind his success. He graduated in 2004 with a degree in journalism and a concentration in broadcast journalism and has since worked at publications in California, Delaware, Illinois and Iowa.

He became the Central Illinois editor in 2018 and oversees four publications in Illinois: The Pantagraph in Bloomington-Normal, the Herald & Review in Decatur, the Journal Gazette/Times-Courier in Mattoon and the Woodford County Journal in Eureka.

His journey started at the Chronicle, which he said offered him experience as a copy editor, arts and entertainment editor, campus editor and ultimately editor-in-chief. He said the experience taught him the importance of reporting on local communities.

“Everything that the Chronicle represents to me is [it] taught me how to work hard,” Coates said.

Analisa Trofimuk, government reporter for Lee Enterprises, said Coates is inspiring. He is her editor, and she said he usually works long days and is constantly helping reporters improve their stories.

“It doesn’t take long to recognize how much he cares about creating meaningful journalism,” Trofimuk said. “He just never stops working.”

Petty said Coates is dedicated to working with young journalists and often provides them with professional development opportunities to help them grow and progress in their career.

He likes engaging with readers to address criticism about stories and is con-

sistently generating new story ideas, Petty said.

“He is energized by how much he loves journalism and stories,” she said. “When he finds a new story, he gets very excited.”

Coates said creating ideas to tell people’s stories in an interesting way is what is most important in journalism. His innovative, ambitious spirit as a journalist came from working at the Chronicle, he said.

Coates said he remembers working late on production nights and feeling a sense of camaraderie with his coworkers, which he said prepared him for the work he is doing today.

He is still working late nights, writing interesting stories and doing whatever is necessary to fulfill his duties as journalist—even if that means chasing firetrucks.

“There is no greater gift than this responsibility we have—which is chronicling this first draft of history as it’s happening,” Coates said. “I can’t think of any higher cause than that.”

MLEE@COLUMBIACHRONICLE.COM

arts&culture

Columbia alum on writing for new ABC series » ColumbiaChronicle.com

» PAIGE BARNES AUDIENCE ENGAGEMENT EDITOR DESPITE DREAMING OF composing music

for films since he was 10 years old, for the last two decades Alexander Rybak’s music career has mainly focused on singing and songwriting.

He performed at the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize concert for former President Barack Obama, is the voice of Hiccup in the Norwegian version of the “How to Train Your Dragon” trilogy and rose to fame after winning the Eurovision Song Contest in 2009 for his song, “Fairytale.”

Now pursuing his Master of Fine Arts degree in music composition for the screen at Columbia, Rybak said he is ready for “Alexander’s musical career 2.0.”

He said winning Eurovision was a catalyst for traveling around the globe to perform. Rybak’s desire to compose for movies was solidified after he received positive feedback from film directors and producers after submitting the song, “Into a Fantasy” to DreamWorks —which was later included in the European and Slavic versions of the “How to Train Your Dragon 2” as a bonus track.

However, Rybak said he held off on sending more music to producers or directors because he knows a lot about playing pop music but was not wellequipped in the movie-making process.

“It was so strange to tell directors that ‘I would love to work with you, but not yet,’” Rybak said. “Then I realized that I’m so used to really studying everything that I want to show people —I want to know it by heart first.”

Ryback said it was Kubilay Uner, assistant professor in the Music Department and director of the music composition for the screen MFA program, who convinced him to attend Columbia. Rybak was impressed by Uner’s musical expertise, experience and willingness to instruct others.

Despite his success, Rybak said he is not one to mention his accolades during classes.

Currently, Rybak is studying from home in Norway in a village near Oslo, but said he hopes to come to Chicago when it is safe.

Rybak also does not identify as a one-genre artist and has explored pop, folk, soft rock, crossover and more.

» ALEXANDER RYBAK /COURTESY

Alexander Rybak makes a musical encore at Columbia Unlike his musical counterparts who play folk and pop music, Rybak said he does not play the guitar or mandolin.

Instead, he has played the piano and violin since he was 6 years old.

While he said many music critics have emphasized the importance of building one’s image, he said the field of music composing encourages artists to be multifaceted—which is something he said should apply to music.

This fall, he is taking six classes and said it is rare to find a music program like Columbia’s that offers a curriculum where all the classes work cohesively, with all of the instructors working toward a common goal.

Because of his career, Rybak is used to spending only 20 days in Norway out of the year. Many think he is a “party star,” Rybak said, but he enjoys occasional periods of solitude and would rather skip the after-party.

“Being around people is an inspiration to me—it’s something I do 10% of my day,” Rybak said, “And then I like to go home and think about all the clever things that they said. That’s why I love this program so much because … it’s a boost of energy and then I can be alone.”

PBARNES@COLUMBIACHRONICLE.COM

ALTHOUGH RYBAK IS ENERGETIC ON STAGE, HE SAYS HE PREFERS TO SKIP AN AFTER-PARTY AND ENJOY A QUIET NIGHT AT HOME WATCHING MOVIES.

ALEXANDER RYBAK SAID HE IS GLAD HE CAN STUDY ONLINE FROM NORWAY AND LOOKS FORWARD TO THE “COLUMBIA EXPERIENCE” WHEN IT IS SAFE TO TRAVEL TO THE STATES. OCTOBER 5, 2020 THE COLUMBIA CHRONICLE 7

arts & culture

» K AYLIE SLACK PHOTOJOURNALIST I OFTEN MOURN the person I used to be. I

was an athlete. I played soccer and lifted weights, ran races and set records. I had long, thick hair and I could stay awake for 12 hours straight.

I did not fear going outside when the temperature was higher than 75 degrees, and I had a normal heart rate. My face was not oily, my neck not sweaty and my head not dizzy. But that version of me is so far gone now that I can barely even remember her.

During the summer of 2015, when I was 17, I spent a week in the hospital. I watched “Mamma Mia” 10 times and had twice as many IVs. I had spent the last few years feeling dizzy, tired, hot and maintaining a racing heart rate. Every time I visited the hospital, I was told it was just anxiety and all in my head. I needed to calm down, maybe try some yoga or read a book. But I had anxiety before—I was diagnosed with it years prior. I knew what it felt like, and it was not like this.

I knew something was wrong; I just needed someone to believe me.

A few months later my mother and I drove five hours north to the Cleveland Clinic’s cardiology department.

We spent three days there, and I took dozens of tests. On the last day I took a tilt table test, where I was strapped to a horizontal table and slowly moved to a vertical position. The test was supposed to last 40 minutes, but I passed out after 11. It was after this that I was finally diagnosed with postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, or POTS, a form of dysautonomia.

POTS is an autonomic nervous

system disorder that affects virtually everything your body is supposed to do automatically. It disproportionately impacts women, the group most often told by the medical community that they are imagining their symptoms.

As it turns out, the dizziness was my blood not circulating correctly and pooling at my feet; the tiredness was chronic fatigue; the heat was an inability to regulate temperature; and the heart rate was tachycardia.

It took me two years to be diagnosed, which was actually quicker than most. I finally had an answer, but I was not even close to a solution. I was on beta blockers and steroids at 18, quit soccer and ate better, but nothing helped. I gained 30 pounds in one month, lost chunks of my hair and regularly visited the hospital.

Being sick is a peculiar heartache.

There is no treatment and there is no end. I will not die of this, but I will not be cured either—time cannot heal me.

After spending years struggling to exist, I am finally trying to live.

It’s not that I won’t let my illness stop me, because it has and it will. It has taken me a while to get to this point. I used to believe that I could persevere, that my life did not have to change.

As I battle my illness, I also battle my internalized ableism.

The fact of the matter is that my life has changed, albeit through no fault of my own. I cannot do the things I once could, even if my physical appearance is mostly unaltered. My daily life is different in a hundred publicly unnoticeable ways. I walk slower and breathe heavier; I miss out on events and faint occasionally. I cannot wear my hair down when going to the grocery store; I take more time standing up, and

AFTER GETTING HOME FROM WORK, CLASS OR OTHER ERRANDS, I REMOVE MY SHIRT AND SIT IN FRONT OF MY FAN FOR 20 MINUTES TO COOL OFF AND BRING MY BODY TEMPERATURE BACK DOWN. 8 THE COLUMBIA CHRONICLE OCTOBER 5, 2020

» K AYLIE SLACK /CHRONICLE

Just because you can’t see it, doesn’t mean it isn’t there: Life with an invisible illness

THIS IS THE SWEAT PRODUCED FROM 30 MINUTES OF CLEANING MY APARTMENT. BECAUSE OF MY INABILITY TO REGULATE TEMPERATURE, I RUN HOT AND PRODUCE AN IMMENSE AMOUNT OF SWEAT.

I live in a constant state of dizziness.

I consistently deal with people not believing me, saying I “don’t look sick,” even within my own family. But I am not faking being sick. I am faking being well. Millions of people who suffer from invisible illnesses go through a thousand unseen struggles every day just to survive. I am no different.

It is excruciating to get out of bed every morning, but we do it anyway. And sometimes we do not.

Being sick is an individualized experience, and just because you cannot see something, does not mean it is not real.

For now, I will continue to grow through this and fight each battle as it comes, reminding myself that some days will be harder than others. I will remember that this illness does not define me. I am not a sick person; I am just a person who happens to be sick.

KSLACK@COLUMBIACHRONICLE.COM

DURING DIZZY EPISODES, I LIE DOWN WITH MY LEGS AGAINST THE WALL TO SLOW DOWN THE BLOOD POOLING. GRAVITY HELPS RECIRCULATE BLOOD FLOW AND BRING IT BACK TO THE CENTER.

arts & culture

» K’VON JACKSON/CHRONICLE

FEATURED PHOTO

COLUMBIA STUDENTS PARTICIPATE IN AN OUTDOOR ACTING CLASS TAUGHT BY CFAC MEMBER AND ADJUNCT FACULTY IN THE THEATRE DEPARTMENT LAURA STURM ON WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 30.

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Fig Newtons Portillo’s chocolate cake Mint chocolate chip ice cream Chocolate strawberries Candy corn!

Brownies Chocolate chip cookies Banana cake Cinnamon rolls Blueberry muffins

Chocolate chip muffins Milkshakes Cinnamon rolls Scones Banana Bread OCTOBER 5, 2020 THE COLUMBIA CHRONICLE 9

metro Protesters take to Chicago streets after di Chicago journalists hold ‘Lens on Lightfoot’ panel » ColumbiaChronicle.com

» KENDAL POLIDORI CO-EDITOR-IN-CHIEF »MARIELLE DEVEREAUX CO-EDITOR-IN-CHIEF AMID A SEA of signs, names written in

fake blood, solemn moments of silence and raucous chanting, the name of Breonna Taylor hung heavy in the air on the night of Sept. 23.

Hundreds gathered at different locations across the city—including Chicago Police Department headquarters at 35th Street and Michigan Avenue and Millennium Park near Columbia’s campus—to protest the decision not to charge the officers involved in the killing of Breonna Taylor with murder.

On Wednesday, Sept. 23, a Kentucky grand jury officially charged former police officer Brett Hankison with wanton endangerment for the shots he fired outside of Taylor’s apartment March 13, according to the Associated Press. The grand jury did not charge Jonathan Mattingly and Myles Cosgrove, the other two officers involved in the shooting.

The FBI is still investigating potential violations of federal law in the case.

Taylor was shot and killed by Louisville, Kentucky, police officers during the execution of a warrant as part of a drug investigation on March 13, and in the following months, people from around the country came together calling for the arrests of the officers responsible for her death.

Her name has since been shared in

documentaries, on magazine covers and through thousands of social media accounts, and has come to represent the injustices of police brutality toward Black women in particular.

Mia Robinson, a freshman social media and digital strategy major, said she and 15 other Columbia students joined the Justice For Breonna Taylor protest on 35th Street and Michigan Avenue the night of Sept. 23 to march in solidarity with those in Louisville, Kentucky.

“We see how wrong it is,” Robinson said.

“We are the future of our generation. We have to start standing up for the things that the people before us did not stand up for.”

A Sept. 23 email to students from the Office of Student Affairs recommended those experiencing anxiety or other feelings due to recent events to reach out to the offices of Student Relations and Counseling Services for in-person appointments or telephone consultations.

On Sept. 22, the day before the grand jury announcement, Louisville Mayor Greg Fischer declared a state of emergency “due to the potential of civil unrest,” according to reporting from NBC. Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Mayor Lori Lightfoot addressed the grand jury’s decision in a press conference Sept. 23.

Lightfoot urged Chicagoans to peacefully protest and partake in a city-wide moment of silence in honor of Taylor at 7 p.m. Sept. 23, and to share their reflections on social media with the hashtag #SAYHERNAME. Pritzker said Illinois stands with the people of Louisville and that he is working with local leaders to ensure citizens are protected and able to

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» ISAIAH COLBERT STAFF REPORTER

PROTESTERS BLOCK THE INTERSECTION OF EAST MADISON AND NORTH STATE STREETS WHILE RABBI MICHAEL BEN YOSEF (MIDDLE) GIVES A SPEECH ON THE NIGHT OF SEPT. 23.

exercise their right to peacefully protest.

However, Pritzker said he was prepared to use the National Guard if protests turn violent.

“Our hope, our prayer and what we urge is for peace,” Lightfoot said.

A collegewide email sent on Sept. 23 stated Columbia’s Campus Safety and Security team would actively monitor “the situation on and around campus to help protect members of our community and facilities if events warrant.”

Protesters sang and chanted “No Justice, No Peace” and “Say Her Name” as they marched through the city, with some in the South Loop stopping to form a circle at the intersection of East Madison and North State streets.

Carlos Nelson, CEO of the Greater Auburn Gresham Development Corporation, said reciting the names of Black lives lost due to police violence during protests makes them feel isolated, even though “it has been going on for generations.”

“There are an unknown number of Black people that have been persecuted and killed at the hands of either white police officers or white civilians,” said Nelson, who attended a protest near the intersection of Racine Avenue and 79th Street in the Auburn Gresham community.

Tiffany Frank, volunteer at Purpose Over Pain, an organization that supports parents who have lost their children to gun violence, also attended the Auburn Gresham protest. Frank said she

» K AYLIE SLACK /CHRONICLE

» MENGSHIN LIN/CHRONICLE

PROTESTERS MARCH LED BY THE CHICAGO ALLIANCE AGAINST RACIST AND POLITICAL REPRESSION AND DEMAND A CPAC, OR CIVILIAN POLICE ACCOUNTABILITY COUNCIL. 10 THE COLUMBIA CHRONICLE OCTOBER 5, 2020

NICO JORDAN, A WOODLAWN RESIDENT, HOLDS A SIGN THAT READS “#NOMORE” AT DUNBAR PARK, 300 E. 31ST ST., AT THE PROTEST FOR BREONNA TAYLOR AND VICTIMS OF POLICE VIOLENCE.

metro

isappointing news in Breonna Taylor case

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PROTESTERS BLOCK THE INTERSECTION OF EAST 35TH STREET AND MICHIGAN AVENUE. THE GROUP LISTENS TO LAMAR WHITFIELD, CEO OF THE NO MORE FOUNDATION, WHO SAYS THE POLICE “ARE OUT HERE TO PROTECT THEIR BUILDING; WE ARE HERE TO PROTECT OURSELVES.”

“What happens when you turn the volume all the way up [is] you get feedback,” Pfleger said. “And we’re going to give them some feedback.”

The Sept. 23 collegewide email said Columbia supports “expressions of rejection of injustice” and advises those on campus to be aware of activities happening in the city and to take proper precautions.

“It is your absolute right as a citizen to participate in any protest to make your opinion known,” the email said.

“Should you decide to participate in the peaceful protests … we want to remind you to keep yourself safe by being aware of your surroundings and avoiding violence [and] vandalism.”

» K’VON JACKSON/CHRONICLE

was angry to hear about the grand jury’s decision but not surprised.

Frank said she is protesting against police killing Black people as well as crime happening within Black communities.

“Some people say Black people are [also] killing Black people, but crime is crime,” Frank said. “I don’t think that should be an excuse for police getting away with killing Black people.”

Rev. Michael Pfleger, the senior pastor at Faith Community of Saint Sabina church who organized the Auburn Gresham protest, called for consistent non-violent disruption in Chicago, and the country, until members of the justice system understand people are “not going to take the justification of murder of Black and Brown lives.”

CHRONICLE@COLUM.EDU LASHAWN LITTRICE, CO-FOUNDER OF BLACK LIVES MATTER WOMEN OF FAITH, LEADS PROTESTERS SOUTH ON STATE STREET SHOUTING “WHOSE STREETS? OUR STREETS.” OCTOBER 5, 2020 THE COLUMBIA CHRONICLE 11

metro » ZACHARY CLINGENPEEL/CHRONICLE

If a sunflower blooms in a city, does it make a difference?

CIA DOLUPTAT QUAE REPELIT RE REPERATUR, SENIM EARUM LABORIATE CON CUS AMUS AUT POREICIENT IMOSAPID QUISITATES VOLUT. THE LAST ROW OF SUNFLOWERS REMAIN IN BLOOM AT SUNFLOWER CITY UNDER THE GARFIELD GREEN LINE STOP AFTER SOME WERE MISTAKENLY CUT DOWN TOO EARLY.

» DYANA DANIELS STAFF REPORTER WHAT WAS ONCE a vacant lot under Green

Line train tracks is now home to nearly an acre of sunflowers.

If the flowers are taken care of, these natural pollinators will bloom at least two to three times a year and help draw toxic chemicals out of the air.

Sunflower City, 5345 S. Prairie Ave., is a nonprofit sunflower patch in its third growing season. It began as a research project for Robert McHugh, Sunflower City’s founder and director of operations, and a couple of associates in 2012.

When Sunflower City was created eight years ago, only a handful of sunflowers were planted. Similar to an initiative in Philadelphia where vacant lots were turned into green spaces, Sunflower City was created to demonstrate what it means to heal the environment and a community.

McHugh has a background in clean energy and once created fuel out of cooking oil. He wanted to test what growing a biofuel crop in contaminated soil would do.

“We looked at sunflowers grown in contaminated soils and if we could pro12 THE COLUMBIA CHRONICLE OCTOBER 5, 2020

duce a seed oil that remained free of lead and other contaminants,” McHugh said.

Sunflowers were chosen because they can grow well even in contaminated soils, McHugh said. They can also contribute to clean energy and product development through the use of sunflower oil. The experiment soon became secondary, McHugh said.

When the sunflower heads turned downward for the first time in 2012, McHugh knew it was time to harvest them. But he found the residents of the Washington Park neighborhood wanted the sunflower patch to become a permanent fixture.

“Over time, I realized that there was something more important than a technical-scientific research project,” McHugh said. “There was something that took precedence over that, and that was what can natural beauty do for neighborhoods.”

In addition to being beneficial for wildlife, green spaces in urban areas are also important for “our own human benefit and emotional well-being” to break up what is otherwise a concrete jungle, said Michele Hoffman-Trotter, adjunct faculty member in the Science and Mathematics Department.

In Chicago, groups such as Chicago Eco House, 6439 S. Peoria St., are using urban agriculture to beautify neighborhoods while educating residents. When living in an urban environment, it can be easy to disconnect from Mother Nature, said Quellen Blackwell, president of Chicago Eco House.

Because of this, the group is there to establish a new connection between human beings and nature by turning vacant lots into 100% sustainable flower farms.

“The industry in the United States is pretty small for flowers; about 80% of the flowers that you see at the market come from overseas,” Blackwell said.

“Very few urban flower farmers are located within the city.”

Despite this, McHugh believes Chicago is a great place for urban agriculture.

“Unlike New York City or Los Angeles, we are situated in the middle of some of the most productive agriculture in the world, some of the finest soils, even though they have been degraded in the city,” McHugh said.

This year a miscommunication between McHugh and an equipment operator who was taking care of the flowers

resulted in the sunflowers accidentally being cut down before they had time to bloom in late August.

Sunflowers are native to Chicago and able to endure rough conditions but can harm pollinators, such as bees and grasshoppers looking for nectar, when cut down before it is time to harvest them, Hoffman-Trotter said.

“If you cut them down before they have the chance to go to flower, it is going to deprive all those pollinator species of the nectar that they depend on,” Hoffman-Trotter said.

Even though it is only Sunflower City’s third year of operation and the sunflowers were cut earlier than expected, McHugh hopes these seasonal flowers will bloom again next year to bring joy and sustainability to the Washington Park area.

“When something beautiful is within one’s own neighborhood, that is shown to have a different effect from when that same natural beauty is halfway across town,” McHugh said.

DDANIELS@COLUMBIACHRONICLE.COM

metro

Presidential debate results in a shouting match, drowning out policies Editors’ note: President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump reported testing positive for COVID-19 early on Friday, Oct. 2.

“MESSY,” “CHAOTIC” AND “train wreck”: That’s how mainstream news outlets described the first presidential debate between President Donald Trump and Democratic presidential nominee and former Vice President Joe Biden.

The debate, which took place at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, on Tuesday, Sept. 29, was moderated

by Fox News anchor Chris Wallace, who asked the candidates about their records, the Supreme Court, COVID-19, the economy, race and violence in cities and the integrity of the election.

But, while discussing these topics, the candidates often talked over each other, disregarded the moderator’s instructions and even launched personal attacks at one another.

Anna Busalacchi, sophomore public relations major, said she was upset the debate was more about personal jabs than actual policies.

“When Trump kept taking jabs at [Biden’s] son, [Biden] really got angry.

You saw a rise in him,” she said. “I wish [Biden] had that same power in his voice when he talks about the policies that apply to the American people.”

Isaiah Moore, a senior double major in television and cultural studies, said the debate was “juvenile” and there was nothing that separated the candidates for undecided liberal and conservative voters.

“Getting into shouting matches isn’t productive,” Moore said. “They need to just answer the questions and let people know what they’re thinking.”

In case it got lost in the noise, here’s how the candidates answered some of the night’s most pressing questions: WHY IS YOUR POSITION CORRECT ON SELECTING A SUPREME COURT NOMINEE IN AN ELECTION YEAR?

Trump nominated Amy Coney Barrett for the Supreme Court following the passing of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

But, Ginsburg’s last wish was that she not be replaced until a new president is elected, according to NPR.

Trump said he was right in his decision to nominate Barrett, a judge on the Chicago-based 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, because he won the election and “elections have consequences.” “[Barrett] is going to be as good as anybody who has served on that court,” Trump said. “We won the election, and we have the right to do it.”

Biden said the American people have a right to say who the Supreme Court nominee is through their votes for senators and the president. Because this nomination is taking place as people are casting early and mail-in votes, he said they will not get that chance.

“We should wait and see what the outcome is of this election because that is the only way the American people get to express their view,” Biden said.

WHY SHOULD AMERICANS TRUST YOU MORE ON DEALING WITH THE CORONAVIRUS?

“[Trump] still hasn’t even acknowledged that he knew how dangerous [COVID-19] was going to be back in February, and he didn’t even tell you,” Biden said.

Biden said because Trump does not have a plan, 40,000 Americans have contracted the coronavirus each day and between 750 to 1,000 people die from it at the same rate.

The former vice president also addressed the financial impact of the pandemic.

“You’ve got to provide these businesses [with] the money to be able to reopen with a PPE, as well as with sanitation they need,” Biden said.

Trump said both Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Disease at the National Institutes of Health, and Democratic governors said he did a “phenomenal job” and “saved thousands of lives.”

Fauci did say Trump saved lives through his travel restrictions, and some Democratic governors thanked the White House for being responsive early in the pandemic but did so without using the same language Trump repeated, according to USA Today.

“We’ve found that elderly people with heart problems and diabetes are very vulnerable,” Trump said. “Young children aren’t, and even younger people aren’t.”

The risk for severe illness from the coronavirus does in fact increase with age, with older adults at highest risk, according to CDC. But there is “not enough data to show whether people with

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» ISAIAH COLBERT STAFF REPORTER

diabetes are more likely to [contract the coronavirus] than the general population,”according to the American Diabetes Association.

Trump said Biden wants states to shut down, which will hurt more Americans.

Biden said he wants businesses to open, but only if it is safe to do so.

WHY SHOULD VOTERS TRUST YOU MORE THAN YOUR OPPONENT TO DEAL WITH RACE ISSUES?

While not yet accomplishing equity for every American, Biden said he never “walked away” from trying to achieve it like Trump.

“This is a president who has used everything as a dog whistle to try to generate racist hatred—racist division,” Biden said.

Biden said there is systemic racial injustice in America and although he is in favor of police reform, he said he is opposed to defunding police departments. If elected president, Biden said he will bring together civil rights groups and police officers at the White House to work out a solution so there is transparency and accountability when racial violence happens.

But when Trump had the mic, he refused to condemn white supremacists and militia groups when given the opportunity to by both Biden and Wallace. Instead, Trump answered with: “Proud Boys, stand back and stand by.”

Trump said he ended racial sensitivity training in federal agencies because the training itself is “racist.” He said people who taught racial sensitivity training were paid hundreds of thousands of

dollars to teach bad ideas.

HOW CONFIDENT ARE YOU THAT THIS WILL BE A FAIR ELECTION?

Millions of people are going to be voting by mail-in ballot—like Trump does—because of the coronavirus, Biden said. “[Trump’s] own Homeland Security director and FBI director said there is no evidence mail-in ballots are a being manipulated,” Biden said.

Biden encouraged people to visit iwillvote.com to choose how they plan on voting and said poll watchers will ensure people are socially distant. He is confident it will be a fair election and that polling locations will open on time and stay open until all votes are counted, he said.

“Once the winner is declared after all the votes are counted, that will be the end of it,” Biden said. “If it’s me, that’s fine. If it’s not me, I’ll support the outcome.”

Trump said mail-in ballots are going to be a “fraud like no one has ever seen.”

“As far as the ballots are concerned, it’s a disaster,” Trump said. “They’re not equipped to handle it.”

Trump said he is urging his supporters to go in to the polls and watch carefully, and he is counting on the Supreme Court to settle any disputes with ballots.

The second presidential debate is scheduled to take place, pending the president’s health status, Thursday, Oct. 15 at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts in Miami.

ICOLBERT@COLUMBIACHRONICLE.COM OCTOBER 5, 2020 THE COLUMBIA CHRONICLE 13