The Illinois football team lines up in the north end zone of Memorial Stadium to celebrate their Homecoming victory against Minnesota on Saturday, securing a 6-1 record and the lead in the Big Ten West. For more, see PAGE 14 SYDNEY LAPUT THE
ILLINI
Ownership of the Y Eatery has been transferred to Phourong Noi Phetcha reune, who is looking to transform the restaurant.
Tucked away within the University YMCA, the Y Eatery serves Chinese and Thai food to the public from 10:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on weekdays.
“I enjoy the food,” said Y Eatery customer Mark Joseph, information technology manager of the College of Applied Health Sciences. “(The Y Eat ery) is a convenient place for me to come and eat something.”
Joseph said he noticed the differenc es in ownership over the years, which has brought with it slight changes in the menu and flavors.
After his uncle stepped down from
1001 S. Wright St. Champaign, IL 61820 (217) 337-8300
SYDNEY LAPUT THE DAILY ILLINI Phourong Noi Phetchareune, new owner of the Y Eatery, brings in a tray of fresh food during lunch time on Oct. 11.
managing the Y Eatery, Noi looked into incorporating customers’ opinions into the restaurant.
“The regulars — most of them fac ulty here — I have kind of gotten to know them already,” Noi said. “So I
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was trying to say hi to them as many times as possible.”
In a Reddit post Noi created, one user expressed concerns on the tight hours, which made it hard to get to the Y Eat ery after class.
“(If) the demand is there, we will con sider expanding our hours,” Noi said.
As a father of three, Noi has paid attention to the environment and his kids’ future. Except for the plastic uten sils, most of the waste is made out of paper.
Trying to stay away from food waste, Noi said he gives out the Y Eatery’s left overs to those who ask at closing time.
“If no one takes it, my buddy has chickens,” Noi said. “So we try to use every little bit that we actually cook that’s not salvageable.” fedczuk2@dailyillini.com
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The University of Illinois Police Department officially adopted juris diction over parts of Campustown from the Champaign Police Depart ment on Oct. 1 after the two agencies made an agreement to do so in April 2022.
According to CPD Public Informa tion Officer Joe Lamberson, the Cham paign Police Department faced issues with staffing in previous years, which ultimately led to the drafting of the agreement.
“(CPD) sought assistance from our law enforcement partners to reallo cate our resources in a way that was more responsive and provided greater benefit to the community,” Lamberson said. “Allowing UIPD to take prima ry patrol in this area will allow CPD
to redeploy our resources through out the rest of Champaign, increas ing police visibility and proactivity in other areas.”
According to UIPD Police Chief Alice Cary, since UIPD already held responsibility over parts of Campus town, it was a logical choice to take over the remainder.
“Because this is an area with a lot of student residents and student-focused businesses, it made sense to offer our support to CPD and begin taking Cam pustown calls,” Cary said. “University police have extensive understanding of student needs and concerns from officers’ experiences on campus, and they have a deep working knowledge of campus resources tailored to stu dents’ needs. This allows us to provide really student-focused services.”
Further, according to Cary, UIPD expects faster call response times
across the city. As outlined in the agreement, UIPD hired seven addi tional patrol officers to cover the larg er footprint and better respond to the increase in total calls.
Though not a direct outcome of the agreement, UIPD implemented addi tional changes to better police the community — namely, the addition of a UIPD substation at 505 E. Green St.
“(The substation) is another way that we are increasing our pres ence and visibility in Campustown,” Cary said. “Our Community Out reach and Support Team (or COAST); Response, Evaluation and Crisis Help (or REACH) team; security guards; Community Service Officers (or CSO) and Student Patrol work out of that office.”
UIPD’s new CSO program is not directly related to the agreement, but according to Cary, the two are still
connected. CSOs are unarmed offi cers whose primary responsibilities are low-level calls such as vandalism and theft.
“They can also work with commu nity members to help identify and address ongoing safety issues,” Cary said. “These are things that do not always require a response from a uniformed officer. By giving these calls to our CSOs, it frees up police officers to spend more time engaging in crime prevention work and generally being on patrol and visible to act as a crime deterrent.”
According to the agreement, UIPD will have responsibility over the area through Sept. 24, 2024, though it will automatically renew for an additional 12 months unless a non-renew notice is provided.
Local residents and students alike gathered Saturday night at State Farm Center to attend the “Ludac ris is Coming Home” concert.
In addition to seeing Ludacris per form songs from various albums, con certgoers also saw Champaign-based rap duo Trouble Chasin,’ as well as charlieonnafriday, a 19-year-old rap per and singer from Washington, who opened for Ludacris.
Trouble Chasin’ and charlieon nafriday separately performed many songs from their recent albums to hype the crowd up for Ludacris to take the stage. Trouble Chasin’ kicked the concert off with the songs “Bora Bora” and “More Bass,” and char lieonnafriday continued the excite ment with his songs “Party Girl” and “Misfit.”
After the openers riled up the crowd, Ludacris and his fellow “Dis turbing Tha Peace Records” crew member, Lil Fate, took the stage and performed a variety of songs from Ludacris’ discography.
Ludacris and Lil Fate performed songs such as “Area Codes,” “Blue berry Yum Yum” and “Get Back.” The rappers also performed songs that Ludacris is featured on, such as “Glamorous” by Fergie and “Yeah!” by Usher featuring Lil Jon.
Oxala Da Silva, a graduate stu dent studying communications, and Eva Rubin, a graduate student study ing kinesiology, were both concert attendees. Both said they did not know what was in store when they came across tickets to the Ludacris concert via their friend who could not attend. However, Da Silva and Rubin said they both had a great time.
“I was pleasantly surprised,” Rubin said. “I didn’t know what to expect — it was really fun.”
Da Silva said her favorite song from Ludacris was the song “What’s Your Fantasy” from the rapper’s album “Incognegro.”
Two other concert attendees, Shau na Miller and Analiese Hettiger, said the song “What’s Your Fantasy” reso nated with them, for it was the first song they heard from Ludacris that turned them into fans when they
Rapper Ludacris sings at State Farm Center on Saturday during the “Ludacris is Coming Home” concert.
were younger. Miller explained that although “What’s Your Fantasy” was her favorite song, her parents did not
approve of her listening to it.
“I was about 12 years old,” Miller said. “I was not allowed to listen to that song, and I would just sneak in my room (to listen to it).”
Shivangi Ambardar, a graduate stu dent studying economics, came to see Ludacris and charlieonnafriday. She said she heard Ludacris for the first time when he was featured in the song “Baby” by Justin Bieber and immediately took interest.
“I was like, ‘Who is this guy?’ I want to know,” Ambardar said.
At the end of the concert, Lud acris and Lil Fate exited the stage, but Lil Fate returned to take photos with fans and throw T-shirts into the crowd. Ambardar and Hettiger both took photos with Lil Fate to remem ber the night.
Ambardar and Hettiger said although they had a great time, they wished the night would have ended with a goodbye.
“It was amazing, but I wish he would have said ‘bye’ at the end,” Ambardar said. “I didn’t get closure.”
akend2@dailyillini.com
LOGAN HODSON THE DAILY ILLINI
Following the COVID-19 pandem ic, many have forgotten about Zika fever, a mosquito-borne disease that spreads through the Zika virus. For most, symptoms include a fever and cold for a few days, but for pregnant women, Zika can mean birth defects.
Since the large Zika outbreaks in the Americas during 2015 and 2016, the number of cases has been on the decline. However, the virus has not been eradicated, spreading in Afri ca, Brazil and other underdeveloped countries; 2021 alone saw over 20,000 cases of Zika fever.
For pregnant women, the Zika virus may cause miscarriages, stillbirths and other birth defects in children, including microcephaly — being born with an atypically small head.
Testing is expensive and timeconsuming, and existing methods include Enzyme-Linked Immunosor bent Assay, or ELISA, and PCR test ing. These tests require highly-trained personnel, purification of the test sam ples and bulky equipment.
A team of researchers at the Uni versity have developed a simple and inexpensive smartphone clip-on Zika virus detector. The team was led by Brian Cunningham, professor in Engi neering, who guided PhD students that worked on the detector.
“We’ve been developing this meth od for several years,” Cunningham said. “We used it initially for HIV, then more recently, we’ve pivoted toward Zika, Dengue and Chikungunya (virus es). During the pandemic, we adapted the test for COVID diagnosis from viral swab media.”
The device is small, user friendly and can be used at home without any laboratory equipment. One test can be done with about one droplet of blood (12.5 microliters), and the samples do not need processing.
To test, the user mixes their blood and transfers it into a separate chip on the core module. The module is insert ed into the device, where an app on the smartphone captures and processes images of the reaction site.
Han-Keun Lee, a graduate student studying electrical and computer engi neering, is one of the main faces of the project. He highlighted the advantages his teams’ device has over traditional methods.
“Our device requires very minimal training and is much cheaper than the
laboratory tests,” Lee said. “Once factory manufacturing starts, it shouldn’t cost over $5. Additionally, the test is amazingly fast. The sample-to-answer time for PCR is usually more than two hours, and the results come in about half a day. But for now, our device can complete the test in 40 minutes.”
The team is still developing a more compact, smaller version of the instru ment that people can carry around in a pocket, without the hefty price tag.
Weijing Wang, a graduate student studying bioengineering, is one of
the main researchers with Lee. She explained how the image-processing app works.
“Our image-processing app allows us to shorten the whole detection time as compared to the desktop PCR,” Wang said. “One can see the little bal loons forming in the channels. We’ll be able to shorten the time even more, around 5 (to) 10 minutes, because of those images.”
The device can be extended to many more diseases and infections. For instance, swine flu in pigs can be
detected using a modification of the device.
Lee said a major part of the project was collaboration with people from varying fields.
“This project came about through a lot of collaboration, so it is important to be able to work with other people to achieve something better,” Lee said. “Modern research requires a lot of interdisciplinary studies.”
Wang noted it was a pleasure to work with such students from so many fields. She gave insight into how the work was divided in the team.
“If you look at the authorship, some of us were developing the assay, some on the cartridge and others working on image processing,” Wang said. “Everyone worked their part, and we produced an exemplary outcome together.”
aggrwal3@dailyillini.comSEBASTIAN HOLT THE DAILY ILLINI
“This project came about through a lot of collaboration, so it is important to be able to work with other people to achieve something better.”
Han-Keun Lee, a graduate student studying electrical and computer engineering
Beloved University of Illinois squir rel, Pinto Bean, age unknown, was found dead on the side of Springfield Avenue on the morning of Oct. 8. The cause of death is believed to be road kill from a fatal hit and run.
Pinto Bean was a squirrel with pie baldism, a condition that causes a lack of pigment in the skin and fur. Pin to spent most of its time on campus. With a uniquely grey and white spot ted fur coat, Pinto was easy to spot. Pinto Bean soon became loved by the students who crossed the squirrel’s path.
Many students reacted strongly to the death of the squirrel, like Wren Dulnev, freshman in ACES. Dulnev often talked about Pinto Bean with
their friends and was hoping to see the squirrel in person one day.
“When I saw that Pinto Bean was dead, I got really upset and mad to be honest ... I had not seen him when he was alive,” Dulnev said. “I am a very avid squirrel watcher, as is my roommate.”
There is no formal clarification on Pinto Bean’s gender or family life, so there is no real way to tell if it is sur vived by any family members.
Pinto Bean had many successes in life, one of them being immense pop ularity. Pinto was a star, and many students read about Pinto Bean spot tings and sightings on the University subreddit, including Annika Govil, freshman in Engineering.
“I heard about Pinto Bean through Reddit, and I fell in love with the ador able creature,” Govil said.
The impact that Pinto Bean had on students was overwhelmingly posi tive, and many were devastated by the news that Pinto was gone.
Following the squirrel’s death, stu dents collected Pinto Bean from the
side of the road and, through a post on Reddit, expressed interest in preserv ing Pinto Bean’s body with taxidermy. According to several Reddit posts, Pinto Bean’s body was recovered and
handed off to a professional taxider mist. In the coming weeks, their body will be ready to be seen again.
“I think it is really important to continue thinking and honoring Pin to Bean,” Govil said. “That little guy made everyone’s days a little brighter.”
Pinto Bean’s ability to brighten onlookers’ days will be missed by the students who were lucky enough to bear witness. Long live the legend that was Pinto Bean.
Pinto Bean’s legacy was recognized during Illini football’s Homecoming Game against Minnesota on Oct. 15. In the third quarter, the stadium jum botron displayed a photo of Pinto Bean with the caption: “RIP to Pinto Bean the Squirrel, forever in our hearts.”
“I will think everyday about how I didn’t get to see him alive, and I will be envious of all those who did,” Dulnev said. “He will live forever in my mind as the unofficial mascot of my freshman class.”
lmsalas2@dailyillini.com
SEBASTIAN HOLT THE DAILY ILLINI
More Americans are able to name the tallest dinosaur that ever lived than recall the name of the sixth president of the United States.
Admittedly, this may not be as much of an established statistic as one that is intentionally eye-grabbing, but hopefully, it did its job. The fact that this statement is believable in the first place speaks volumes. It might be worth while to dissect what the brachiosaurus really has over John Quincy Adams.
It’s not most people’s fault. From an early age, dinosaurs are one of the most captivating subjects imaginable, enough for a number of studies to be conducted on their influence on young minds and how they often continue to hold interest into adulthood.
Now, ask any child who their favor
ite president is, and you won’t hear any response other than the first one or the one with the tall funny hat.
The vigor children hold for things like dinosaurs in their developmental years is healthy and a sign of intellec tual growth. This is aided by encour agement from teachers and parents, who embolden them to dive deeper into their obsessions. Indulging such interests is seen by many experts as a way to construct a firm base of learning techniques that will allow children to more easily grasp complicated subjects in the future.
Yet, John Quincy Adams is left out in the cold.
There is no problem in children learning about Jurassic history, but today’s youth lack and fail to carry an awareness and appreciation of their own history into adulthood.
This is not to say that all Americans
walk around wondering who that giant marble man sitting across from the Washington Monument is, but history is far more than memorizing dates and dusty oil-painted faces. It tells the story of who we are and gives us a greater understanding of our neighbors.
Spanish philosopher George San tayana famously said, “Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” With a clear declining appreciation for history and the fail ure of many schools to touch on inte gral events in the fabric of American history, one may wonder if repetition is closer than expected.
The brachiosaurus is as wonderful as they come. But dive deeper.
We are citizens of a country with more skeletons in its closet than a Hal loween decoration store — as is often the case with nations over 60 sec onds old. Americans have a duty to be
aware of their history, but they so often neglect it.
It is clearly valuable to be merely aware of the core events in U.S. his tory — the writing of the Constitution, the Civil War, the civil rights move ment and so on. But to know the driv ing and opposing ideologies, biases and cultural contexts behind them grants us a better appreciation for how they affect the very world we live in today and teaches us how to best navigate it as educated American citizens.
If you prefer, ditch John Quincy Adams and study someone genuine ly interesting, like his father, the first Adams. Just stay aware of the world around you, and don’t let history repeat itself too soon. Remember how the dinosaurs turned out?
Aaron is a freshman in DGS. aaronda3@dailyillini.com
really know what we go through on the inside,” Kitsinis said.
Udelhofen said that strict atten dance policies force students to go to class when it may be healthier for them to stay home.
By Sarah Bond Staff WriterMany classes at the Universi ty have strict attendance policies and expectations for student per formance in class. Some students and faculty believe these policies are outdated and do not adequate ly account for mental health issues, ability levels and individual student responsibility.
Some classes have attendance poli cies as strict as two absences before grade penalties begin, while other classes have no attendance policy. Some professors require documenta tion to prove that a student was actu ally ill, while others don’t even ask to know why a student missed class.
MJ Lee, a graduate student study ing materials engineering, said class es like seminars and discussions are perfectly valid in asking for manda tory 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 instruc tor 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 contribut ing,” McVicker said.
But McVicker still sees a problem with mandatory attendance in discussions. He said that while instruc tors 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 accomplish es that.”
Billy Huff, a lecturer in the Depart ment 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 pol icies can do more harm than good.
“People struggling … it doesn’t just only affect you three days through out the semester,” Udelhofen said.
Kitsinis asks faculty to be under standing and accommodating. Kitsi nis — who is diagnosed with anxiety, depression and PTSD from a previ ous cancer diagnosis — said she can’t always make herself get out of bed to go to class.
“Please understand that we, as stu dents, deal with a lot, and you don’t
“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.”
Deveshi Thakur, who is enrolled in Engineering but is currently on ret roactive 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.”
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 stu dent studying aerospace and astro nautical 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 doc tor’s note as evidence of an excused absence. The University’s Student Code states that “Because McKin ley Health Center does not provide medical excuses, instructors should be aware that a student may not be able to provide formal documenta tion for minor illnesses of less than three days.”
Thakur, who has a chronic illness, agrees that sickness documentation can be difficult to obtain.
“Who has that money?” Thakur said. “Are you paying for the appoint ment? No, I don’t think so … I’m a student. I don’t have time to be run ning 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
AMY SANCHEZ THE DAILY ILLINIStudents cite mental health, issues with documentation as burdens for attendance
“At best, it’s wanting to have a lively classroom full of discussion. I don’t think an attendance policy often accomplishes that.”
Zachariah McVicker, Instructor in the Department of English
that they missed class for health rea sons and provided the professor with a doctor’s note from Carle. There was a test in class on the day the stu dent 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 infec tion 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 atten dance policy because he believes they are ableist.
“I used to actually have an atten dance 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 stu dents who had the ability to come to class everyday and that not all stu dents had that ability. I was being ableist in that policy.”
Thakur said having a disability makes attending class a more com plicated process for her than for oth ers. 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 alterna tive assignments if her disability pre vents her from functioning for a day. Her DRES specialist told her that she may run into issues using the accom modation within the Department of Computer Science.
“She said one of the (other) stu dents she worked with … had strug gled 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 pro fessor 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 retroac tive medical leave. She said she per formed well on tests and did class work, but it was her attendance that brought her grades down. She felt that her transcript was not an accu rate 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.”
Another student who wished to remain anonymous was sexually assaulted in 2021, and in an unre lated 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 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 accom modations in order for a professor to treat their mental health or phys ical health seriously,” the student said. “I would love to be a normal human with no depression, no anxi
ety, 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“If I said I was sick, I was probably f****** sick.”
Deveshi Thakur, student in Engineering on retroactive medical leave
After Italy’s latest election, Europe is in danger of housing a forefront of zealous right-wing populism. While the French may wipe their brows knowing their own would-be fascist didn’t pre vail, no one should feel good about new Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Melo ni’s victory.
Meloni leads the “Brothers of Italy,” a far-right party descended from Italy’s post-Mussolini fascists. The Brothers garnered a plurality of the vote, win ning parliament and the prime min ister’s office. While Meloni is Italy’s first-ever female prime minister, she’s also the leader of its most far-right government since the hideous reign of Mussolini.
Her agenda aligns with fellow rightwing European governments. Meloni opposes same-sex marriage, adoption by LGBTQ+ parents and Muslim immi gration. She’s eager to tear a hole in the fabric of the budget with a slate of major tax cuts, and she’s not fond of welfare benefits — which actually lost her the support of Sicilian workers.
With these policies, one is tempted to say that the Brothers ought to just don the black shirts and be done with it. But this would betray the party’s rela tive subtlety, the trait which makes it and other similar groups particularly dangerous.
Meloni herself can seem enigmatic. As we should all be learning to expect from such figures, she does not quite live up to the traditional ideals she espouses — surprise!
One wouldn’t expect the new steward of Italian conservatism to be unmarried with a child by a longtime partner, let alone openly. Meloni says she doesn’t believe she should be allowed to adopt in her current arrangement. Even trick ier is her abortion stance; she says it should stay legal, though many believe she’ll try to make it inaccessible.
Meloni is just the latest to master the secret brand of illiberalism sweeping Europe. Like Hungarian Prime Min ister Viktor Orbán, Serbian Presi dent Aleksandar Vučić and Polish President Andrzej Duda, Meloni seems poised to erode democratic institutions from within. Unlike Donald Trump, Jair Bolsonaro or even Vladimir Putin, she won’t do it with so much bluster.
The threat Orbán and company pose is in some ways more damaging than that of the Russia-China-Iran network. While the latter prefers overt hostil ity toward liberalism, the former — minus Vučić — operates within the European Union and routinely hinders its efforts to combat Russian aggres sion. It’s a threat the EU has faced for years and one which it didn’t do enough to stop.
It’s also worth distinguishing Meloni from another new female conservative leader, Liz Truss, prime minister of the U.K. Meloni clearly has greater cultural resonance than Truss. Whereas Britain is used to stale conservatism, Meloni’s movement is fresh with a fascist tinge.
The French comparison is more apt. Meloni’s win is a reminder that France isn’t out from under the cloud of a poten tial Marine Le Pen presidency, just as Trump still haunts the American politi cal scene.
In view of this, the next decade of European politics will be defined by the ability of governments to bolster demo cratic institutions and protect existing civil rights against the wave of reaction already cresting.
Vučić and Orbán’s latest antics are inauspicious signs of what Meloni’s tenure could look like. Orbán, a Con servative Political Action Coalition alum like Meloni, recently called Trump the answer to the war against Ukraine. Vučić canceled this year’s Eurovision Pride parade, citing pres sure from right-wing interest groups. The last thing Europe needs is more of this asinine behavior atop one of its largest democracies.
That said, there may be a way to drive a wedge between members of this cohort. That possibility lies with Ukraine.
Duda and Meloni have been staunch supporters of Ukraine; Orbán and Vučić have wavered. Really, the latter duo has gone along to get along, submitting to the EU when necessary but taking every opportunity to impede and criti cize its sanctions.
The U.S. and EU may have a narrow window to split this new illiberal bloc by continuing to push a policy of uni fied Western support for Ukraine. If Hungary and Serbia come around, this strategy would at least distance the bloc from Russia.
Of course, the true battle lies beyond the realm of realpolitik. The EU must find ways to check the bloc’s collective attempts to normalize authoritarian ism. The U.S. cannot hold its tongue when LGBTQ+ Italians and Muslim migrants face heightened persecution.
The far-right phenomenon sweeping the globe often gets a simplistic democ racy versus anti-democracy framing. In fact, it’s a symptom of this era’s rapidly evolving cultural norms and entrenched economic inequality. The confusion and frustration this engen ders, along with technology’s facilita tion of mass movement making, has helped bring seedier characters to power.
Last month, the Croatian Weekly Express ran a photo of Meloni, Orbán and Vučić with Hitler mustaches and the headline “Achtung! Croatia between Three Mini-Fascisms.” People ridiculed it and called it tasteless. But make no mistake: There’s work to be done to ensure these Croats don’t turn out prescient.
Eddie is a senior in LAS. ecryan2@dailyillini.com
PHOTO COURTESY OF PRESIDENZA DELLA REPUBBLICA/WIKIMEDIA COMMONS
Newly elected Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni speaks during a consultation for the “Brothers of Italy” party at the Quirinal Palace in Italy in 2019. Senior Columnist Eddie Ryan warns readers of the growing far-right phenomenon in Italy.
By Kaitlyn Devitt Contributing Writer
Under blue and purple lights at the Rose Bowl Tavern, emily the band, a three-piece queer girl group took the stage.
The band began its set with an orig inal alternative style pop song and switched between tunes written by its lead singer and covers by other bands throughout the night.
emily the band features three musi cians — Emily Antonacci, the lead singer and ukulele player, Cami Proc tor, who plays guitar and works back ground vocals and Abbey Haste, who plays the drums. The group official ly formed in April of 2021 after con necting in Peoria, Ill., where they all grew up.
Antonacci said she has been writing songs since she was a child after her best friend gave her a ukulele for her 13th birthday.
“Having a ukulele was nice to kind of grab those ideas, and I just kept going with it,” Antonacci said.
Before starting many of the band’s songs, Antonacci said she took the time
to describe the experiences that influ enced her to write their music — mak ing live performances more personal than streaming their discography.
“I spent all day studying while lis tening to their album, and it is amaz ing,” Aly Cigelnik, junior in LAS, said. She added that she first heard of emily the band after watching them perform during the University’s pride weekend.
“It’s just as good or even better, espe cially with … their personalities all together and every little story that Emily shares about the meaning of the songs adds to it,” Cigelnik said.
emily the band identifies as a queer girl group that gives audience mem bers the opportunity to connect with music on a deeper level, focusing on relatable experiences within the per sonal experiences with growing up queer.
“I know a lot of our fans who are openly queer, and they have voiced that they felt a safe space within our music and within our performance, or they come out to our shows and they know they’re safe to be queer, because the stage is full of queer musicians,” Proctor said.
emily the band and their show open er, Disaster Kid, decided to perform together after Disaster Kid’s drum mer, Connor Criswell, mixed the sound for emily the band at the Make Music Normal Festival.
“As they were on stage, I texted these guys and was like ‘We have to find their contact info because we gotta play a show for them,’” Criswell said.
Disaster Kid has been playing togeth er since 2019 and frequents the Chi cago area where the group originally formed. They attributed part of emily the band’s success to the relationship between the band members.
“They had a great vocabulary dynamic,” said Seamus Kreitzer, the lead singer and guitarist of Disaster Kid. “They could get real loud, real intense and then dial it back in an instant and then just do that for every song. That was great.”
Disaster Kid is releasing a new song this Friday, and emily the band is still promoting its own new release “the heartbreak album.” Both bands can be found on Spotify and Apple Music. emily the band has recently expand ed to playing in out-of-state shows and
JAMES HOECK THE DAILY ILLINI emily the band lead singer Emily Antonacci sings at the Rose Bowl Tavern while playing her ukulele alongside the rest of the band on Friday.
is set to perform in Nashville a week after its Rose Bowl show.
“I definitely feel like when I’m in a rocking chair, and like 100 years old, I’m going to be like, ‘That was a great time,’” Antonacci said. “‘That was the best time of my life with my best friends.’”
kdevitt3@readbuzz.com
Celebrity favoritism is nothing new; everyone seems to have a favor ite public figure. The information age has given way to digital microcelebrities, called influencers. How do these everyday people appeal so well to other everyday people?
Carrie Wilson-Brown, professor in Media, discussed the origins of this concept.
“In many respects, the way that social media platforms make their money is no way different than the way that TV makes its money strict ly (based) on advertising,” WilsonBrown said. “It’s a new technology, but the model is old.”
There are four types of influenc ers: nano, micro, macro and mega. Their distinct differences are the amount of followers they procure. Nanoinfluencers have the smallest, with around one to 10 thousand fol lowers. Megainfluencers can have up to 1 million followers or more.
“There’s this misnomer that you have to have a really large follow
ing to be considered an influencer and to somehow monetize yourself or have partnerships,” Wilson-Brown said. “More and more nanoinfluenc ers are becoming really important to the marketplace.”
For example, fast fashion com panies like H&M will reach out to influencers who have a smaller reach since they tend to have stron ger engagement with their follow ers, which in turn strengthens the brand’s appeal to the general public.
Besides having an above-average follow count, there are other quali ties that people believe those in the public eye need to possess in order to be considered a “real” influencer.
Aniya Davis, sophomore in Media, said she believes that to be an influ encer, it “takes talent and vulnera bility because you have to be ready for people to always critique you.”
Some argue that influencers lack a critical factor — talent.
“There’s a lot of people out there that don’t have actual talent, but they’re still influencers,” said Yas men Pugh, junior in LAS.
Emily Lee, junior in LAS, said she
believes that there is more to being an influencer than just talent.
“Good personality, a lot of energy (and) good time management skills (are needed) to handle what’s going on with your outside life as well as your social life,” Lee said.
For some, it’s about content. Activi ties like hauls and giveaways, which influencers often do, can spark joy in others.
“When really, it’s the same thing I used to do when I used to go to the mall with my friends, but you’re doing it (as) an influencer,” WilsonBrown said.
By getting a glimpse into their life, fans sort of begin to think of them as a friend, which attributes to the influence of influencers.
The real importance of influenc ers is how they make people feel like they belong to a community, and as simple as it may seem, influencers can provide people with more than just entertainment. Whether it’s cha risma, comedy or just plain content, it’s there, it’s growing, and there’s no way of closing the floodgates any time soon.
ANGIE ORDONEZ THE DAILY ILLINI
“There’s this, like, human connec tion with this person,” Wilson-Brown said. “I don’t think we can underes timate the human connectivity asso ciated with influencer culture being online as well.”
cs103@readbuzz.com
By Carson Gourdie Sports Video Editor
The latest three-game stretch would determine if Illinois was a pretender or a contender in the Big Ten West Divi sion race.
The Illini passed with flying colors. Illinois outscored Wisconsin, Iowa and Minnesota 69-30 and out gained them in yards 1,092-609. The Illini are now the favorite to represent the West division in the Big Ten Football Cham pionship, as they hold crucial tiebreak ers against the trio of opponents.
Head coach Bret Bielema met with the media after the game and discussed the path forward for his program.
“The last time we beat Minnesota, Iowa and Wisconsin was 1983. I was 13 (years old).
“When we beat Wisconsin at Wiscon sin, they gave me a game ball inside, right. But what I didn’t tell him as I was going to hold it till after this week.
“Because I wanted to be able to put on that game ball that you’d beat Wiscon sin, Iowa (and) Minnesota. I’m going to put it all in one big ball right that they can have for the rest of our lives cause they’re doing some things that nobody else has ever done.”
Bielema tries to keep his player’s focused on the current matchup, but the head coach is well aware of the mile stones his program is achieving in his second season. Illinois was picked to finish last in the division, and it just defeated the top three projected teams in three straight weeks.
In 19 games, Bielema has devel oped a program that can dominate the trenches while also adding flair to the offense. The addition of Barry Lunney Jr. as offensive coordinator helped the Illini balance their offense with quick throws and an up-tempo offense while still being able to run the ball at will.
“My wife always texts me and calls me about everyday the first thing she said — I didn’t even get to say hello to my children — is Tommy playing?
“I think anytime your quarterback plays well, that’s a big deal. Right? I can tell on film when I first watched him, I was like he got some swag to him.”
Illinois defense swarms Minnesota’s offense on Saturday. The Illini won against the Golden Gophers 26-14.
The Artur Sitkowski-led offense against Iowa performed poorly, and it’s why Minnesota jumped out as a 6.5-point favorite this week when it was unclear if DeVito would play.
DeVito delivered the best game of his Illini career, finishing with 252 yards, a touchdown and a 95.3 QBR. DeVito’s ankle didn’t seem to bother him at all, as he was still mobile in the pocket and extended plays with his legs.
DeVito seems to fit well with Lunney’s up-tempo scheme and his quick release on short throws consistently helped the Illini gain first downs.
Credit to Bielema for actively seek ing a transfer portal quarterback even though Sitkowski was still on the roster.
Penn State and Minnesota stuck with the status quo — Sean Clifford and Tan ner Morgan — and their offenses have suffered because of it.
“I’ve been reaching out to the people I know … if (started coaching the Illini three years ago), I think he would be right in the thick of the Heisman race as we speak.”
“But if there’s a better player in col
lege football that has had an effect on his program, I’d like to know who it is.”
Brown is leading the nation in rushing after registering 180 yards on 41 car ries against Minnesota. He also thrived in the passing game today, scoring a 40-yard touchdown pass on the first drive of the game.
For Brown to become a Heisman finalist, he will need to have a monster game against Michigan. Crazy to say, but what is Brown’s Heisman moment so far? 41 carries and still producing is impressive, but Brown hasn’t reg istered SportsCenter-worthy high lights this season. Wisconsin, Iowa and Minnesota are elite defenses, but they’re also unranked.
Last season, Michigan State’s running back Kenneth Walker III didn’t earn Heisman-hype until upset ting the undefeated Wolverines with his five rushing touchdowns.
Brown’s Heisman hopes are low right now, but his play has jump-started a stagnant program and has the Illini on a path to a realistic Rose Bowl bid.
“We backed off from them on Tues
day. I explained to him why I was doing it and took them out on the field for lit erally just about 45 minutes. We did a double walk-through (limiting the physicality).
“(I said), ‘If you guys can take care of us on Saturday, I’ll take care of you this week.’
Brown’s 41-carry performance has to take a toll on him, regardless of the success. Bielema regularly coached Heisman-level running backs at Wis consin — Montee Ball and Melvin Gor don — and he tries to limit the physical demands as much as possible.
After last year’s season-finale victo ry over Northwestern, Bielema did not allow Brown to be tackled once dur ing spring or fall practice, waiting for Brown’s first contact to come during the Wyoming-opener.
Bielema expects sophomore running back Josh McCray to return to the field against Nebraska, which can help take the load off of Brown. McCray had a breakout season last year, specifical ly against Purdue when he ran for 156 yards.
The Illini’s opposition has yet to slow down Brown, who’s recorded at least 100 yards in each game. It will be inter esting to see if DeVito can win a game with his arm alone, if a team like Mich igan can bottle up Brown for around 75 yards.
@gourdiereport gourdie2@dailyillini.com SYDNEY LAPUT THE DAILY ILLINI LOGAN HODSON THE DAILY ILLINI
