The Daily Illini Vol. 150 Issue 44 March 29 by The Daily Illini

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THE DAILY ILLINI

MONDAY March 29, 2021

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CU addresses surge in anti-Asian hate

Vol. 150 Issue 44

Students vote on UI Police reallocation cer told us, he told us that he could locate us at any time and that ‘If you make me mad, I can come find you.” Birchmier also said that this officer was charged with sexual assault on several occasions and had been suspended for these cases from 2015 to 2018. The officer wasn’t suspended a f ter the first few offenses due to the protection of the Police Union, an organization that protects police officers from being penalized for misconduct, according to Birchmier. Birchmier says this was one of the ma ny reasons as to why the police are shielded from consequences. According to the Illinois Crimina l Justice Information Authorit y Research Hub, 7% to 10% of police-citizen interactions involve a citizen with a mental health disorder, and that these officers are 1.4 to 4.5 times more likely to use force during these interactions. “ W hen we were looking at the repor ts of UIPD arrests and tickets, we were constantly asking Chief Alice Kerry and other officers if the Black population is only 5.7%, why are they making up 42.6% of the UIPD arrests and tickets?” said Becca Maree, University alum and Grantmakers for Effective Organizations staff member. “I do really feel there is an unfortunate issue going on with the mental health services,” Sean Jung, senior in LAS, said. “It does not have adequate funding and I have first hand felt that.” A lthough Jung recog-

BY NESHMIA MALIK STAFF WRITER

RYAN ASH THE DAILY ILLINI

Students gather and light candles to commemorate the people whose lives were taken on Friday. Students of all different races gather to support each other. BY ALIZA MAJID ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR

With the recent shooting in Atlanta that occurred on March 16, an outcry arose regarding the rise in antiAsian hate gaining attention throughout the country. The Atlanta attack has launched protests against the rise of anti-Asian hate because the shooter specifically targeted Asianrun spas with the intent to kill and claimed the lives of six women of Asian descent. The increasing hate crimes committed against Asian Americans have only heightened in the past year or so, and people are discussing how to address this issue on campus. “People have become emboldened by racist rhetoric and use of ‘China virus’ or ‘Kung flu’ to refer to the COVID-19 pandemic;

many people believe this has fueled anti-Asian prejudice and bias this past year, said David Chih, the director of the Asian American Cultural Center. “However, anti-Asian xenophobia and scapegoating certainly is not new.” A summary released by the Stop Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) Hate group reported around 3,800 hate crimes from March 19, 2020 to Feb. 8. According to the report, there has been a surge in Asian American discrimination throughout the duration of the pandemic. These numbers are just a small fraction of the racial discrimination people have gone through since the pandemic has started. Asian American students on campus have had

different experiences and reactions to these acts of discrimination. “My initial response was just fear, not necessarily anger,” said Kathy Vo, the president of the Asian A merican Association chapter on campus. “That definitely came afterward, but I think my initial response was definitely fear, and I immediately texted my family members just to get a second reassurance that they were alright.” A study conducted by the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism has found that anti-Asian hate crimes have skyrocketed by 149% in 2020 due to the rise of negativity towards Asians once the pandemic began. The attack in Atlanta in particular has amplified the issue of anti-Asian rhetoric in the country. Many people

have highlighted how scared they are to go in public in fear of being harassed. “I walk around and I still feel like I’m not a true citizen during quarantine times,” Vo said. “I was born here . . . down to my core, I’m American, but during quarantine, I walked up and down Green Street and I just feel like I’m being singled out,” Vo said. In order to address this issue regarding anti-Asian hate within the ChampaignUrbana area, various groups have organized rallies and vigils to show solidarity for the Asian American and Pacific Islander community. The #StopAsianHate Rally has been organized by the Champaign-Urbana chapter of Showing Up for Racial Justice to take place SEE SURGE | 3A

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This past week, students had the opportunity to vote for or against the 25% reallocation of the University of Illinois Police Department’s budget towards resources for the community, students and staff. This referendum was propagated by Def und UIPD, an organization on campus that dedicates its efforts to pushing the redistribution of money from UIPD to the local community and campus necessities. According to a survey put out by Graduate Employees’ Organization and Defund UIPD, about two million dollars are allocated towards campus mental health resources, while about eight million are dedicated toward the police department. This same survey was used to see what students wanted to see more funding in. “It would be great if we could have a referendum that lets us choose where that money goes,” said Drake Materre, University alum and member of the Black Students for Revolution. “We know that is a lofty goal but 25%, two million dollars, that can create community across campus itself because it discusses what all our different students want,” A nother reason that this reallocation is being pushed forward is due to reported misconduct by police officers on campus. C hel s e a Bi r c h m ier, graduate student in LAS, mentioned her experiences taking a required training with a UIPD police officer. “Among many problematic things that this offi-

SEE REALLOCATION | 3A

City of Champaign enforces parking restrictions on Green Street CAMPUSTOWN LOADING AND DELIVERY PARKING OPTIONS

CORRIDOR NO PARKING

SIXTH ST

NO PARKING

WRIGHT ST

STREET

WRIGHT ST

GREEN NO PARKING

SIXTH ST

FIFTH ST

FOURTH ST

HEALEY ST

commercial loading zones Available for trucks and vehicles for food delivery

bagged meters

Available for vehicles for food delivery **Vehicles must be commercially signed**

JOHN ST Source: City of Champaign

JONAH OZER THE DAILY ILLINI

lane of Green Street, in an effort to end the increase A little over a month in illegal parking in Chamago, temporary barricades paign. Now, public offiappeared along the center cials indicate that more BY GEORGE PHELAN STAFF WRITER

permanent solutions will be implemented in order to prevent center lane parking. While the issue of illegal parking on Green Street is nothing new, the increase in delivery orders prompted by the pandemic increased the frequency of centerlane parking, according to Kris Koester, information officer for public works at the City of Champaign. “We’ve seen more delivery activities happening, and instead of using the side streets where there’s loading zones, they would just leave their vehicles in the middle of Green Street,” Koester said. This increase in centerlane parking is not only dangerous because the Green Street center lane’s primary function is strictly for emergency vehicles in

heavy traffic, but it’s also dangerous for drivers and pedestrians, according to Koester. “We’ve witnessed nearpedestrian vehicle accidents, as someone has tried to take off from the center turn lane and not seen a person walking in front of them,” Koester said. “We had one delivery vehicle parked in the center turn lane who opened their driver side door just as a plow was coming through to plow snow off the street.” Alongside the physical lane closure, Champaign also expanded the options for delivery drivers to park on side streets. “We went ahead and designated some individual parking spots as food delivery pickup spots so that smaller vehicles could use those metered spots,”

Koester said. This is to leave loading zone areas open for larger delivery vehicles. Ömer Ece, sophomore in LAS who works as a delivery driver for DoorDash, commented on the importance of Green Street to his work. “Green Street is really useful because it’s right by the apartments and frats or wherever I need to deliver to,” Ece said. The new center lane closure, however, creates an additional delay in a job where time is literally money. “I don’t want to do delivery on Green, because it takes up a lot of time to try and find a place to park and then wait,” Ece said. “It increases a lot of walking distance to park and then go to the restaurant.”

While Green Street is still a valuable place for deliveries, Ece says that the center lane closure makes it more difficult to run deliveries there compared to other locations around town. With regard to the more permanent plan for lane closure, Koester said that Champaign intends to introduce “stick delineators” to replace the barricades. A small round tube affixed to the ground of the center lane, the delineator will be easier for emergency vehicles to bypass them while also deterring nonessential vehicles from parking in the area. These delineators will also be labeled so that they will more clearly “define what that center lane is used for,” Koester said. georgep2@dailyillini.com

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Two former University students are helping to organize an ongoing popup vaccine clinic as part of the cooperation between Walgreens and the Champaign-Urbana Public Health Department. Many Champaign-Urbana community members have been getting vaccinated from their local clinics, hospitals and pharmacies as the vaccine becomes more available. For impoverished and vulnerable communities, the accessibility to these vaccines can be limited. Local activists were aware of this issue and helped organize a local community COVID-19 vaccine clinic beginning March 13, with the partnership of Walgreens and the CUPHD. “These impoverished places are home to many minorities, and we wanted to especially target the African-American community, where we can see clear health disparities during this pandemic,” said Justin Hendrix, former University student who helped organize this pop-up clinic. Drake Materre, also a former University student and a C-U community member that helped organize this event, described how minor-

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A COVID-19 vaccination worker checks in a patient at the Church of the Living God on Feb. 20. Two University students are organizing a pop-up vaccination clinic to serve impoverished community members.

ities in these impoverished communities can struggle when it comes to finding clinical care and having access to personal protective equipment. This pop-up clinic allowed minorities to come out and gain this sense of health security, according to Materre. “This pop-up clinic allowed almost 1,200 people to come out and get the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.” Materre said. “With a great majority being minorities, we also saw students and the elderly coming out to get vaccinated.”

“There wasn’t too much traffic around the location, and all safety precautions such as wearing masks and social distancing were being followed,” said Rene Cortez, sophomore in DGS. “I was surprised mostly by people from all different backgrounds coming to get vaccinated, including University of Illinois students.” Both Hendrix and Materre were invited to serve the local community as part of the pop-up clinic and help spread awareness. “When we were invited to take part in this

pop-up clinic, most of the preparations were underway by Walgreens and the CUPHD,” Hendrix said. “We were the ones who took the initiative and helped spread word to those in our local communities.” The cooperation between Walgreens and the CUPHD is ongoing, and anyone can make an appointment to be vaccinated, including students as well. There is currently no plan to end this vaccine clinic in the near future. royals2@dailyillini.com

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Corrections A previous version of the “Mama Mia” column on A6 stated that Donna communicated with her friends Christine and Julie, the actresses’ names, and not the characters they played: Tanya and Rosie. The Daily Illini regrets this error.

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NEWS FROM 1A

REALLOCATION

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A crowd of students rushed the Main Quad after the Illinois men’s basketball team was named Big Ten champions on March 14. University students have been socializing more now that Champaign-Urbana has been lifting restrictions.

Students increase in-person activities BY THOMAS DEMOUY CONTRIBUTING WRITER

As the winter turns to spring, many students are now seeking new opportunities to break through the isolation of the past year. The celebration of the Illinois men’s basketball team winning the Big Ten Championship is the most prominent example of this. Hundreds of students rushed the Main Quad and Green Street on March 14 during a celebration that lasted hours. Campustown bartender Mitchell Thompsen has noticed a gradual increase in bar attendance as the spring semester has rolled on. “Attendance has gone up over the last couple of months due to people getting vaccinated, and also due to the city lifting some of the capacity limits,”

FROM 1A

SURGE

on Tuesday from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. to address these issues in the community. Matt He n s h a w, co-organizer of the event, contacted SURJ in hopes of creating a rally to show support for the Asian community since he believes it’s an important topic the community needs to address.

where students are walking home from bars and notice officers patrolling the area, “I would say it’s comforting.” Jung stated he feels the community would see a rise in an abundance of other consequences due to the lack of police presence on campus. “I think it ’s a matter of if we try to pull that funding out of something that ’s working well like UIPD, then we’re gonna see a rise of a bunch of other problems that we don’t want to see,” Jung said. “Don’t fix it if it ain’t broke.” “We do not take a position on student advisory referendums, but we have efforts underway to engage in dialogue about how UIPD can best serve the campus community and the greater Champaign-Urbana community.” Patrick Wade, media executive director of the UIPD, said in an email. “This is one part of a broader conver sat ion we are having here and throughout the nation about how we keep people safe. We are listening, and we intend to be among our community leaders who are forging a path forward that works for all people.”

nizes a lack of mental health resources at the University, he feels the UIPD is doing a good job at policing, in comparison to other universities. “When you look at statistics comparing crime rates from our campus to similar state schools, the UIPD does a great job at helping the community keep those crime rates low,” Jung said. According to College Factual, the University’s on-campus crime statistics reported 461 cases in 2019, whereas Indiana University ’s on-campus crime statistics reported 2,107 cases. “I would say it is comforting when you’re walking home alone from the bars and you can see that there’s a couple of UIPD around to assist anyone if needed,” Yung said. According to a survey conducted at Troy Universit y, when ra nk ing what should be done to make campuses safer, 55% of students said “more police officers.” “It’s not like they get a whole bunch of funding and they ’re never there to help us out,” Jung said in regard to the nights nmalik20@dailyillini.com

Thompsen said. As more opportunities have become available for students to socialize, many are likely concerned about how to embrace these opportunities safely. Dr. Rebecca Lee Smith, epidem iolo g i s t a nd associate professor in AHS, advised people to avoid large indoor gatherings and to practice certain precautions when attending outdoor gatherings. “People attending large outdoor events should follow careful guidelines: plenty of distance, mandatory mask-wearing and selfquarantine until you’ve had two negative tests at least four days apart,” Smith said. “I think for the most part, people do a good job (following COVID-19 protocol),” Thompsen said. “The start of the semester was hard because people

weren’t used to it, but after going through it a couple of months, it’s become routine for people.” According to the SHIELD COVID-19 dashboard, cases at the University have remained at the lowest level since winter break, as the rolling positivity rate has not risen above 0.15% during the entire month of March. This decline is attributed to the measures taken by the community, the testtrace-isolate system used by SHIELD and the increased number of vaccinated citizens in the community, according to Smith. Smith explained that keeping overall infections low makes it easier for contact tracers to curb the spread of the virus. Taking proper precautions keeps the virus contained in a “feedback loop.”

Rather than spreading out of control, the virus remains in predictable pockets that can be isolated easily by contract tracers. “ H o w e v e r, large outbreaks could happen if people relax their mask use and distancing too early, or if a large number of people bring infection after travel,” Smith said. According to the Champaign-Urbana Public Health District, 48,013 residents of Champaign County have been fully vaccinated out of the 209,992 total in the county as of Saturday. According to Associate Vice Chancellor Lowa Mwilambwe, 3,151 vaccinations have been administered to the campus community by the McKinley Health Center since March 19.

“We plan to have a QR code people can scan to send them online resources that could help raise awareness on this issue that ’s extremely important,” Henshaw said. Taking accountability and addressing the over whelming discrimination A sia n Americans face has been the main focus for these events and campus members have a large part in this issue as

well. “I can just say this as a white person, I think we can’t dis-identify with the assailants,” said Roland Cusick, assistant professor in Engineering. “I think we need to take responsibility as a community for what leads to events like this.” The response towards anti-Asian hate crimes has fostered many important conversations that are now being addressed in society

and will continue to develop over the next few years, such as the rhetoric used when discussing the perpetrator. “It’s infuriating that some have tried to humanize the killer, rather than the victims,” Chih said. “Many people have told me that they believe that if the killer were non-white, there would PHOTO COURTESY OF TWITTER USER @HAKI_SHABAZZ not have been such a rush to University students denounce the University of lllinois’s Police humanize him.” Department in chalk in front of the Union on March 20. This

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past week, students had the ability to vote for reallocating part of the UIPD’s budget toward other more worthy resources.

Lack of spring break negatively impacts students’ mental health BY PAYAL RATHORE STAFF WRITER

Students have been dissatisfied with the noninstructional days as a compensation for canceling spring brea k, citing mental health concerns. In response to this, some instructors have decided to give a week off to their students. Spring brea k was canceled this year because of COVID-19. Students are getting a few noninstruction days instead which are scheduled during the middle of the week throughout the semester. These changes were recommended by the University’s SHIELD team as the risk of infection could increase with people traveling during Spring break. The University officially changed the start of the semester to Jan. 25 instead of Jan. 19. The three noninstructional days that were added to the calendar were Wednesday, Feb. 17, Wednesday, March 24 and Tuesday, April 13. Teach ing a ssist a nt professor Graham Carl Evans gave his students a week long break for his course CS 225: Data Structures. “I got an email from the professor saying that that many students were burnt out, and hence they decided to not have any lectures for this week,” said Jared Frank, sophomore in Engineering and CS 225 student. Frank added that the

THE DAILY ILLINI FILE PHOTO

A student sits alone on the Main Quad at the University of Illinois on Oct. 29. Students have been dissatisfied with the lack of a spring break and claim it has led to increased worries with their mental health.

course would have a bigger project due later, condensed with more course content to make up for the week off. “It’s a great time to recoup and catch up with things that were left behind earlier and get a breather,” Frank said. “It definitely is not the same however, since you still have classes or midterms the next day. It

feels more like catching up with work, instead of taking a break from work.” Frank added that he was thankful for the professor being mindful about students, especially with the current semester being all the more overwhelming due to being online. Laurie Johnson, professor in LAS, also gave her

students a week off for her course GER 251: Grimm’s Fairy Tales in Context. “I completely agree with the University’s decision to not have a break,” Johnson said. “It was the right call to make, given the public health issue that we are facing.” Having taught this course many times, Johnson had

a week off integrated in the course schedule before classes were moved to an online format. “I moved the week off earlier, since I did not want to inadvertently encourage spring break traveling,” said Johnson. “Through this, the students definitely had more time for other things and were thankful

for the same.” This has raised concerns recently since the online coursework has added to the anxiety of students as they struggle to take care of their mental health while coping with deadlines and their course load during these times. payalr2@dailyillini.com

MONDAY

March 29, 2021 The Daily Illini DailyIllini.com

LIFE & CULTURE

Radio station gives platform to local artists OLIVIA ORLANDI CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Every Monday night, WEFT Sessions goes onair to give bands and musicians the space to play live music for the community. WEFT 90.1 is a local radio station here in ChampaignUrbana that has been on-

air since 1981. Strictly run by volunteers who greatly enjoy what they do, WEFT brings together a group of music lovers through their live studio sessions for artists. “I tell people it’s my primary hobby,” said Mike Feldman, engineer for the

show. “I’m not a professional, I do this for fun and I get my live music fix by having the bands come to me.” Feldman has been working for WEFT since 2000 and said he’s only missed four or five live sessions. Artists invited to play a WEFT Sessions do so in

PHOTO COURTESY OF WEFT 90.1

Anika Emily performs live on WEFT 90.1 FM on July 2, 2019. Emily recently performed on the local radio station WEFT 90.1 with Jake Fava.

a room filled wall to wall with CDs. Todd Hunter, host for WEFT, had a room similar in his home growing up that was filled with records. “It looked like home,” Hunter said. Hunter’s job is to interview the artists during their set, while simultaneously setting up for his second hour of air time after the live set, where he plays strictly local music. Hunter said the sessions are for the artists. He makes sure he can speak with these artists before the play, letting them know “it’s their hour to do whatever they want with.” He said these sessions should be something easy and fun for the people who play them. “Me talking is just to give them someone to talk to to get their information out,” Hunter said. “I’m not supposed to be the focal point, I’m just there to help them.” Mike Ingram, booker for WEFT, played a few sessions before he began booking artists for the station. “It’s a cool room, just

being surrounded by walls and walls of music and the years of history that are in the building, ” Ingram said. Feldman said they wanted to document the legends of the local scene and showcase the newcomers. They ask previous performers to set them up with fresh talent. Any week in which they’re not able to book an act, WEFT does something they call “encore editions.” They will pick a live session from their vault, dating back 20 years, and play it again. The station has only missed one or two performances due to technical difficulties. Before COVID-19, bands and artists were able to bring friends or family to watch their session. Anka Radley, folk-rock artist who plays under The Dawn Patrol, said she brought a bunch of friends to her sessions and has also attended theirs. She said it was fun to be able to joke around with her friends. Radley said the people who run the sessions at the station make the environ-

ment less intimidating. “They’re really friendly,” Radley said. “They set a nice environment for you, and I’ve always felt comfortable there.” A big part of the environment comes from being surrounded by the walls of albums. WEFT is run by volunteers and funded by donations, grants and some advertising. Feldman said the people at WEFT love what they do enough to do it without compensation. Feldman has spent his 21 years with WEFT perfecting his craft, finding ways to create cleaner sound, making sure the setup works well with video and shooting video himself in earlier days. “It’s so gratifying when the band gets to hear their recording,” Feldman said. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the studio is only allowed solo acts or duos during their live sessions. Feldman said that a lot of the shows hosted by DJs are recorded at their homes. odo3@dailyillini.com

March Dance thrives despite COVID-19 limitations Choreographers launch new Q&A session for audience, creators alter performance for livestream MATEO BAUTISTA CONTRIBUTING WRITER

When an artist has an idea, they will stop at nothing to share it with an audience. At this year’s March Dance, these artists have also shown they will find ways to come together and share their stories despite COVID-19 limitations. Four performances were put on at the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, each one choreographed by

Master of Fine Arts students Danzel ThompsonStout, Roxane D’Orléans Juste, Rachel Rizzuto and Jaylen De’Angelo Clay. “When putting on a show during COVID-19 times, there’s so many limitations, but for us as artists, you know that artists take limitations and we run with them,” said Anna Sapozhnikov, assistant head of program administration and engagement. These limitations for the performers and crew ranged from dancers not being able to touch each other to less in-person meetings. Even access to the set was limited until the weeks leading up to the performance. “We had pictures of it, discussion of it in November but we couldn’t use it until we came back,”

PHOTO COURTESY OF NATALIE FIOL

University students perform in the dance called “Délivrance” on March 19 which was choreographed by Roxane D’Orleans Juste.

D’Orléans Juste said. “I had to think and gave myself the week of winter break to think about how am I going to keep the work I am trying to do and have this platform enhancing those ideas.” The hard work for performers and crew started well before this year even began. Choreographers and dancers started their practices as early as September and increased the amount of practice time after returning from winter break. “Around December is when we started getting in contact with choreographers,” said Kayla Sierra-Lee, sound designer. “That’s where I started asking choreographers what their needs are if they need any composition work done or what their vision is.” With these added difficulties, however, came innovative new solutions and designs for the performances, such as ‘talkbacks:’ a portion after the performance when choreographers answer questions posed by audience members. “(‘Talkbacks’) definitely give you some insight to what the shows are about and why the choreographers chose to do what they did for each show,” SierraLee said. Another addition to this year’s March Dance was live streaming each event in order to reach those who could not attend in-person due to limited attendance. Costume designer Vivian

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University students perform in the dance “I’m Ally!” choreographed by Rachel Rizzuto on March 20 at the Krannert Center for Performing Arts. The shows went without a hitch despite having to follow COVID-19 restrictions.

Krishnan said she had to alter costumes for the quality of the livestream. “You might look out on stage and think ‘wow that lighting looks perfect on that person, yes, that’s looking good,’ then you look at the monitor and you’re like ‘I can’t even see my dancer right now,’” Krishnan said. Sierra-Lee explained how the sound crew was strained with the addition of a livestream. “You’ve got essentially three different mixes,” Sierra-Lee said. “You have what your dancers hear, what your audience in the house hears and what your viewers at home hear, and you have to constant-

ly be thinking about that throughout the show.” Ho w e v e r, despite the struggles all the cast and crew went through, Sapozhnikov said they were able to put on a performance they are very proud of. “Those limitations created some really beautiful choices and happenings that you saw on stage but getting there I know was difficult for everyone involved,” Sapozhnikov said. Even with difficulties in acquiring material for costumes, Krishnan was able to design and create most costumes with natural materials and dyes. Sierra-Lee said she is

impressed with the choreographers working around limitations and that even though she saw each performance over 40 times, she noticed something new every time. Although the performances will be taken down on April 5, Sapozhnikov said they will probably remain on KCPA’s Vimeo page for at least a couple days afterwards. Dance at Illinois will also feature other livestreamed events in the future, with Studiodance II happening on April 2 and Senior Concert on April 31 and May 1. mateodb2@dailyillini.com

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Monday, March 29, 2021

Wellness days upset exhausted students AIDAN FINN STAFF WRITER

On Oct. 19, the University senate agreed to make several changes to the spring semester. While a significant amount of changes were made to operations on campus, one of the most eye-catching was the gutting of a regular spring break. In its place came three “non-instructional days,” which should be left free of any mandatory course obligations, and work should not be increased before or after these days to allow necessary rest for students, according to a Massmail. Many students say that the days do not function as adequate breaks. At noon on March 24, one of three non-instructional days, a small group of students gathered on the fourth floor common lounge in Nugent Hall to play the

board game Risk. Jonatha n Aug ust us Albrecht, sophomore in LAS, and his friends played for an hour, but in the back of Albrecht’s mind, the reality that he gets only a few days off this semester rather than a whole week bothered him. “I want a regular spring break,” Albrecht said. Drew Warner, junior in Engineering, had more direct feelings on the matter. “It’s definitely inadequate,” Warner said. “It was kind of helpful that I had one less lecture to attend, but all my work is projectbased, and it really didn’t push any deadlines, thus, I had to do the same amount of work.” The removal of spring break is designed to prevent mass travel to possible COVID-19 hotspots such as beaches in Florida, which

experienced a massive spike in cases during the prior few weeks as many students had spring breaks. While student safety and health is without a doubt a priority, the spring break provided much more than bad sunburns. Many said they feel it is necessary time for the workload of college studies to be set aside for rest and recreation, whether it be a group outing to downtown Chicago, a Wisconsin lake-house getaway or the basement pilgrimage of bingeing all mainline games of the Halo series. Cassidy Lapierre, graduate student in the School of Information Sciences, says the three nonconsecutive break days don’t allow for an actual break. “There needed to be some assurance the professors would actually give a break, especially since this isn’t a typical spring break

JULIA EVERSMANN THE DAILY ILLINI

and this definitely isn’t a typical semester,” Lapierre said. “We need to give grace to every UIUC student because it’s a triumph in itself for going through school during a pandemic.” Emilie Schramer, sophomore in LAS, said that her

break day went similarly to that of a normal work day. “I spent my day working on a big assignment I had due Friday,” Schramer said. She said that the compromise of non-instructional days was realistic but flawed, citing how little

stress has been relieved. “To be realistic, a lot of professors have designed their course so that the break day isn’t really a break day free of classwork,” Schramer said. aidanf3@dailyillini.com

The Kadie Project promotes diversity education JENNI KALLENBACK ASSISTANT FEATURES EDITOR

After her three-year-old daughter experienced an act of racism from a peer at daycare, Ky Newsome, director of advocacy services at Sexual Assault Counseling & Information Service in Charleston, Illinois, and Kate Shanks, sophomore in Education, began looking for local programs that collected resources for diversity

education. They didn’t find any, so they decided to start their own. Newsome and Shanks met when Shanks was a senior in high school, interning at an advocacy center for victims of domestic violence where Newsome was serving as a mentor. They founded The Kadie Project in 2019. The project, named after Newsome’s now six-year-old daughter Kadence, collects

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE KADIE PROJECT

The Kadie Project logo designed by Eastern Illinois student Sova Fox portraying Ky Newsome’s daughter Kadie is shown above.

multicultural resources, such as books, posters and puzzles to be donated to classrooms to promote cultural awareness and inclusion. “The teacher that we’re helping this year and the teachers that we’ve helped in the past didn’t have a large classroom library that represented multiculturalism or interculturalism, and so we’ve gotten really good feedback as far as the benefit and to be able to have this type of program,” Newsome said. The Kadie Project held its first donation drive in 2019, and has so far supplied two day care centers and three classrooms, including this year’s drive, which will benefit a fifth-grade classroom at Jefferson Elementary School in Charleston. Shanks said the project’s mission is important to her as a future elementary education teacher and as a white woman joining a workforce that is already nearly 80% white. “White teachers are responsible for making sure that their classrooms and their curriculum and their pedagogy are as accessible and as responsive to all their students as possible,” Shanks said. Shanks and Newsome create donation wish lists on Amazon, and Shanks

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said they try to make sure every item was created by a member of the community it represents in order to have accurate and empowering representations of different cultures and to support the work of creators in marginalized communities. They’ve also started using Bookshop.org, a cooperative of small-business bookstores where patrons can support Black, Indigenous and People of Color and LGBTQ-owned bookstores. Newsome said they’ve exceeded their donation goals every year, even during the pandemic. “We have people who donate to us that do not live in Coles County or have any type of connections to our school district, and so it really does something for myself to see that support,” Newsome said. In their first year, when they were able to go into day care centers to deliver the materials, Shanks said the kids were very curious and excited to learn. “It just reaffirms to us how much this hatred and intolerance, it is learned,” Shanks said. “Kids are thrilled to learn about other people.” Newsome said the accuracy of representations of people from different cultures is crucial. “It also provides these

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE KADIE PROJECT

A collection of multicultural books sorted by the Kadie Project for Carl Sandburg Elementary School in Charleston, Illinois lies on the ground. Ky Newsome and Kate Shanks started the Kadie Project to introduce more diverse children’s books into the classroom.

safe spaces for children who might be a part of those cultures where they can see themselves represented in the resources in their classrooms in a positive and accurate way,” Newsome said. In the future, Newsome said she wants The Kadie Project to expand to other counties and school districts and collect resources throughout the year instead

of during a six-week period. The current drive is running through March 31, but people interested in donating can still reach out to The Kadie Project through its Facebook page or email to set up pickups or donate funds directly through PayPal, Cash App and Venmo at thekadieproject. jk31@dailyillini.com

NEW YORK TIMES CROSSWORD ACROSS

1 Players in a play 5 In a while 9 One of thousands in a Rose Bowl float 14 Prussia’s ___ von Bismarck 15 Fat-removing surgery, for short 16 Extreme pain 17 Caboose’s location 18 Ode or sonnet 19 Shrink in fear 20 “Jeez, lighten up, will ya!” 23 Ram’s mate 24 How extraterrestrials come, we hope 25 Think (over) 27 U.S. intelligence org. 28 Bombarded, as with questions 32 Ham it up 35 Score in hockey 36 Black-tie charity event, maybe 37 Sprinted 38 As expected 39 Long-running CBS drama 40The “I” of I.M.F.: Abbr. 42 Abode in Aachen 43 Earns 45 Pieces of evidence in court 47 Grammy winner ___ Nas X 48 Replacement for the lira and mark 49 Faux fireplace items 53 U.S.S.R. intelligence org. 55 Like medical expenses you pay for yourself 58 Long (for) 60 What a wheel connects to 61 Author/journalist Quindlen

47 49

30 36

48 53

25 27

PUZZLE BY BARBARA LIN

62 Cove 63 Order to someone holding a deck of cards 64 Game suggested by the ends of 20-, 38and 55-Across and 11- and 34-Down 65 On/off device 66 Fare for aardvarks 67 Letters on love letters

DOWN

1 Welsh ___ (dog) 2 Had dinner at home 3 It may say “Forever” 4 Suffering 5 Andean animal valued for its wool 6 Mythical woman after whom element 41 is named 7 Abbr. below “0” on a phone

8 Iditarod terminus 9 Get stuff ready to go 10 Bigheadedness 11 Bar from the bathroom? 12 Once more 13 Muse’s instrument 21 “At ___, soldier!” 22 Enough 26 Turkey drumstick, e.g. 28 Hocus-___ 29 Évian and Perrier 30 Alternatively 31 Speaker’s platform 32 Great Lake with the smallest volume 33 Tail-less cat 34 Alert 35 Insect you may swat away 38 State school SE of Columbus, in brief 41 Lucy of TV’s “Elementary”

43 Kind of soup often served at a sushi bar 44 Sign of online shouting 46 Literary Emily or Charlotte 47 Places for tiny U.S. flags 49 Key for Debussy’s “La fille aux cheveux de lin” 50 “All righty then …” 51 Italian city known for its salami 52 What holds up an ear of corn 53 Ukraine’s capital, to Ukrainians 54 Actress Rowlands 56 “Look what I did!” 57 Animals in a yoke 59 Gun, as an engine

The crossword solution is in the Classified section.

MONDAY

March 29, 2021 The Daily Illini DailyIllini.com

OPINIONS Narcissism furiously plagues ‘Mamma Mia!’

into her egotistical pastime. Early on, the narrative promises it will follow Sophie OPINIONS EDITOR discovering which of Donna’s three former suitors is her father. Nonetheless, he 2009 jukebox musithis focus shifts promptly cal movie, “Mamma away from the film’s storyMia!,” is a groundless, line when Donna rants to delusional film, fortunately, her reliant friends — Tanya constructed around the ethe- and Rosie — about Sophie’s real music of ABBA. extravagant wedding and Despite ABBA’s melodies fiance, claiming “they will shielding the film of complete never leave.” delusion, the plot of “Mamma Naturally concerned, Mia!” is solely comparable to Christine and Julie inquire the surreal creations from if Donna wishes Sophie and the likes of Salvador Dali and her future husband to retreat Pablo Picasso — excluding from the island, Donna steadthe illustrious depth, invenfastly responds with a maniative artists and the addition cal laugh, “I want what’s best of erratic dancing. for her … Course not.” Unlike Dali or Picasso, The Mayo Clinic defines Phyllida Llyod — director a narcissistic personality of “Mamma Mia!” — crafts disorder as “a mental condinothing more than an hour tion in which people have an PHOTO COURTESY OF WIKIMEDIA COMMONS and fifty minutes of pure inflated sense of their own Farmers in India protest at a rally in 2020. Columnist Eddie Ryan argues that president Biden’s Asia-centric foreign policy needs to nuttiness featuring Meryl importance, a deep need focus on integrating India into his plans. Streep’s violent arm-swingfor excessive attention and ing and characters seemingly admiration, troubled relacompelled to intensely sertionships, and a lack of empaenade Donna — Meryl Streep thy for others.” — at her fanatical discretion. Donna exemplifies this Legitimately, the music characterization not only in latory and neoliberal his account suspended must make a geopolitical surrounding the film is notably possessing “troubled prescriptions. after mourning the nearly distinction. exceptional and catchy. How- relationships” — the film’s EDDIE RYAN The legislation in ques1,000 Muslim deaths of Yes, India needs and ever, the words that fill those central dilemma is uncoverCOLUMNIST tion is three-fold: first, the the 2002 religious riots merits American support silent, perilous moments ing which of three men are imposition of a dual-marin Gujarat along with the against Chinese bellicosbetween songs are cumberSophie’s father — but as well ket farming system; secBabri Mosque demolition ity; and yes, democratsome to the audience’s ears as “a deep need for excessive he prudent humaniond, deregulation of farmer of 1992, perpetrated by a ic alliances of the kind passionately pursuing the attention and admiration.” tarian line on Kashand trader contracts; and Hindu nationalist mob. shared by India and the subsequent ABBA song. Elucidated best with Meryl mir, which is incumthird, a removal of priceThe account suspension U.S. traditionally involve Although the musical Streep’s rendition of “Money, bent upon the Biden control storage caps on drew the ire of prominent strategic silence on cermovie radiates charm, the Money, Money,” this peek administration to take — produce. At present, India’s writers like Salman Rush- tain uncomfortable queslacking union of a decent plot into Donna’s inner-workings one which involves harsh- farmers and traders operdie. Moreover, India has tions. However, the utterly overthrows any potential for reveals a greedy fantasy feaer criticisms of human ate within an admittedly threatened to jail employ- supine and cynical mind“Mamma Mia!” to be a conturing junctures of islandrights abuses in Indianimperfect and inefficient ees of WhatsApp, Twitter set of Cold War-style siderable comparison to the ers worshipping, feeding and administered territory, market system — neverthe- and Facebook if data per- “realpolitik” by which des- likes of “La La Land,” “Chica- servicing Donna’s complete along with greater diploless, the semblance of gov- taining to the protests is potism and human rights go” or even the exalted “The pleasures. matic pressure on Prime ernment regulation there- not obediently provided. abuses are ignored so long Muppet Movie.” Donna’s symbolic placeMinister Narendra Modi in keeps farmers afloat. The U.S. response as their perpetrator aligns Lloyd’s perplexed creation ment at the yacht’s bow furto halt them — could easWhen time comes to thus far has been rather with “us” against the understands itself as an ode thermore divulges Donna’s ily absorb as a supplemen- trade, men and women tepid. While the vital“true foe” — now China to the entertaining cataselfish motivations of plactary avenue of pressure at from states like Punjab ity of peaceful protest to — belongs solely to those log of ABBA, yet any effort ing herself at “life’s bow.” In the ongoing Indian farm- and Haryana bring their a country’s democratic with a date at the Hague. to compose a bearable story a provocative fashion simiers’ protests. bounty to the “mandis,” fiber has been duly voiced By all means should Chi- is ditched in place of devotlar to Hamlet’s monologue Led primarily by farmwhere their transactions by the State Departna be pressured consising all energy to singularly revealing, “The play’s the ers from the northern are fortified by government, no real solidarity tently and meaningfully epitomizing ABBA. Likewise, thing / Wherein I’ll catch the states of Punjab and Hary- ment minimum suphas been demonstrated; on its genocidal campaign there is an observable pain conscience of the king,” this ana, these demonstrations port prices set to ensure in fact, the U.S. supports against the Uighurs and for within the story of the unfor- bow incident is an unapolofollowed from a 200 mila base-level return on the new legislation on its authoritarian represtunate islanders trapped in getic declaration of Donna’s lion-strong general strike crops. Without fully abol- the grounds of an intersion in Hong Kong and Tai- this jukebox-limbo fitted for vanity. of laborers in late Novem- ishing the MSPs, Modi’s est in the advancement wan; such measures are of Donna’s prudence. Donna’s — i.e., the queen ber and recently have sur- proposal evolves an adjaof India’s agricultural the highest priority and are Some counter, “The plot of Kalokairi — conscience is passed 100 days in the cap- cent market sphere in sector. not mutually exclusive with does not matter, let the music apprehended continuously ital, New Delhi. which traders can deal While perhaps a passsolidarity for the downtrod- tell the story and enjoy it.” throughout the picture, and Swathes of India’s with farmers outside the able position on a matden of India and Kashmir. That would be an appropriits core is crowded with narimpoverished agriculaegis of government. ter in which the adminis- Additionally, one also ate rebuttal, but the audience cissistic tendencies. tural laborers, numWith freedom of move- tration likely wants little must not omit the most is never given a plot to even Besides the self-centered bers being in the hunment between the halves involvement, the goal urgent and demoralizing speak of — the conclusive illusion with “Money, Money dreds of thousands, have of the dual set-up, farmof increased efficiency East-Asian crisis of the reply to the aforementioned Money,” Donna additionalforeclosed several major ers will inevitably be hardly resonates when moment, Myanmar. counter is straightforward: ly performs with Christine expressways, including impelled to sell their the path outlined for its It is thus crucial for “Specifically name one char- and Julie as “Donna and the the NH 44, while remain- goods at lower costs. In achievement would furthe Biden administraacter from the film, not just Dynamos” and — with the ing on the city’s borders tandem with the elimina- ther debilitate a group tion — as it aims for a Meryl Streep’s Donna.” film’s conclusion — supplants in meager tents. Over 248 tion of the storage cap and already mired in a debt “pivot to Asia” — to make For those unfamiliar with Sophie’s wedding with her have died from sickness or the deregulation of conand suicide crisis. India an integral piece of the film, “Mamma Mia!” previous paramour Sam. suicide, and one protester tract negotiations, this An authentically the program. If the U.S. follows a wondrous Greek Interrupting Sophie’s nupwas murdered by police in slate of reforms invites humanitarian and interis to enjoy the long covisland, purportedly the likes tials, Donna’s self-absorbed one of the tear gas ridden the all-too-familiar outnationalist foreign policy eted relationship with of which Narcissus may arc finalizes in amidst standoffs of these past comes of neoliberalism: on this front necessitates the world’s other great crave. her daughter’s wedding to months. a hand extended to large a diplomatic confrontamulti-national, secuCentered, supposedly on unapologetically bring attenThe resolve of these corporations eager to dic- tion with Modi over his lar democracy, it must Donna’s daughter Sophie, tion to herself; Sophie’s valiant people — amount- tate market prices and mistreatment of the farm- hold that nation’s leaderwho invites three paternal assurances of a wedding ing to about half of India’s deleterious consequences ing masses, even if the ship accountable when it contestants — unbeknownst annihilated. labor force but only a for laborers. ultimate hope of the U.S. shirks its beneficent valto Donna — where shenaniIf not for the stimulatsixth of its gross domesRendering the whole is to see modernization ues and delves into the gans ensue in preparation for ing, atmospheric tunes from tic product — has been repressive climate more along. pits of chauvinism. Sophie’s climactic wedding. ABBA, “Mamma Mia!” is affirmed in dramatic pungent is India’s recent Against the charge However, spoiler alert, there more a nightmare than a dayfashion, and they deserve conduct shown with that no foul word must Eddie is a sophomore in LAS. is no big day for Sophie, only a dream of sending off one’s the utmost solidariregards to Twitter. In be uttered against India ecryan2@dailyillini.com spontaneous celebration for daughter to marriage. ty in the face of Modi’s December, dissident jour- because of its vulnerDonna. Granting that the jet stream of deregunalist Salil Tripathi had ability to China, one Correspondingly, YouTusoundtrack is stellar, the plot ber Jenny Nicholson charis ironically summarized in acterized Donna as being in Donna presenting “The Winthe same vein as Joker from ner Takes It All.” The sole 2019’s “Joker,” with Gotham victor in the game of “Mambeing replaced for Meryl ma Mia!” is Donna’s narStreep’s fictional island of cissistic personality domiKalokairi. nating Kalokairi’s ill-fated Where Joker torments inhabitants. s a first-generation ma is not limited to the only one in three Afrithose who support them. Gotham as his plaything, Mexican AmeriHispanic community. Ame- can American adults seek NAMI recommends nine Donna captures Kalokairi Nathaniel is a sophomore in can, access to menlia Seraphia Derr, Ph.D. help, citing that 63% perways to normalize seekfrom all semblance of realLAS. tal health services was a and LCSW, states that for ceive a mental health con- ing help including showity and snatches the islanders ntl3@dailyillini.com foreign concept when my Middle Easterners, stigdition as a weakness. ing compassion, conscious family and I first came ma was also a barrier to There is a disparity and language and educating to the United States. Not receiving mental health inequality between physi- yourself and others. Dr. because the U.S. lacks services 71% of the time. cal and mental illness/dis- Fauci is concerned the resources to provide menFurthermore, being abilities. It is not always COVID-19 pandemic will tal health services, but part of the Black commueasy to recognize when cause the next mental because for many minori- nity is also mired with someone is hurting from health pandemic. Thereties there is a cultural gap stigma about receiving the inside, as one would fore, let us begin normalwe must overcome: the mental health services. with a physical illness. For izing mental health by stigma of mental health. For example, the Nationexample, is it easier for a supporting, normalizIn many Hispanic al Alliance on Mental Illperson to say they are seeing and encouraging each households, seeking men- ness (NAMI) reports that ing a primary care doctor other — especially for our tal health services can be Black people in the U.S. or for someone to say they minority population. a sign of weakness and are more likely than white are seeing a psychiatrist? PHOTO COURTESY OF IMDB could also be considered adults to report persisWe reduce stigma by Daniel is a junior in Social Meryl Streep and Amanda Seyfried star in “Mamma Mia!” as a form of attentiontent symptoms of sadness, beginning to normalize it Work. which was released on July 18, 2008. Columnist Nathaniel seeking behavior. Howev- depression and hopeboth from the person who opinions@dailyillini.com Langley argues that the film exudes a mixture of narcissism and er, the mental health stig- lessness. Nonetheless, has a mental illness and good tunes. NATHANIEL LANGLEY

Asia exhibits opportunities for Biden

LETTER TO THE EDITOR

Marginalized groups lack mental health considerations

SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS | opinions@dailyillini.com with the subject “Letter to the Editor.” The Daily Illini reserves the right to edit for length, libel, grammar and spelling errors, and Daily Illini style or to reject any contributions. Letters must be limited to 300 words. Contributions must be typed and include the author’s name, address and phone number. University students must include their year in school and college.

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March 29, 2021 The Daily Illini DailyIllini.com

SPORTS

MEN’S BASKETBALL

Big Ten has big problems: League struggles in March

CAMERON KRASUCKI THE DAILY ILLINI

Brad Underwood yells during the game against Iowa on Jan. 29 at State Farm Center. The Big Ten has been widely considered the best conference in the country all season, yet Michigan is the only Big Ten team to advance to the Sweet 16 in the NCAA tournament. BY BRANDON SIMBERG STAFF WRITER

The Sweet 16 and Elite 8 are starting this weekend, and to the surprise of some, the “mighty” Big Ten has just one team alive: Michigan. After a regular season where the league was dubbed as “the best ever” by advanced KenPom metrics and teams consistently made the Associated Press top ten, Big Ten teams fell flat on their faces in the opening weekend of the NCAA tournament. In the first round, No. 2 Ohio State lost to No. 15 Oral Roberts and No. 4 Purdue fell to No. 13 North Texas, which then proceeded to get trounced by Villanova. No. 1 Illinois was the first 1-seed to fall, losing by 13 to 8-seed Loyola Chicago. No. 2 seed Iowa got walloped by No. 7 Oregon. Michigan can potentially make some noise, but that seems highly unlikely without Isaiah Livers. Assuming the Wolverines don’t win the title, that’ll make it 21 straight seasons that the Big Ten has gone without winning a championship. This is a problem for a league that prides itself on basketball success, and it needs to change.

The center of this deeprooted issue is stagnation in recruiting. Winning with just freshmen is a daunting task, but you need some talent to win. From 2018 to 2020, the Big Ten landed just two five-star recruits. In that same stretch, the Big Ten also snagged 18 top 50 players. The Pac-12 got 24 in that period, while the Southeastern Conference nearly doubled the Big Ten with 33. With the transfer portal becoming more frequently used, that’s also an area the Big Ten has fallen behind in. The teams still playing this weekend are loaded with transfers; Arkansas starts three, Oregon starts three, three of Baylor’s top five scorers are transfers and Houston’s leading scorer is a transfer. Again, winning with just transfers is not plausible, but recruiting the portal is a necessity. The coaches in the league are good, so that begs the question: Why don’t bigtime players want to play in the Big Ten? It starts with the style of play. The Big Ten is too old school. No Big Ten teams rank in the top 60 in possessions per game, and just three programs rank in the top ten. Meanwhile,

Sweet 16 teams Alabama, Arkansas and Gonzaga are all top 20. The league is too big-man dominated, with coaches unwilling to adapt to the modern game. Of the last 15 All-Big Ten First Team members, just four of those players have been guards, while 11 are front-court players. Since 2010, only Anthony Davis-led Kentucky and Jahlil Okafor-led Duke won a title with a big as its best player, and those guys were both top three picks in the NBA draft. Years ago, teams could get away with post-centric offenses, but in today’s game, offenses with multiple ball handlers and spacing are needed on offense to win. Only three Big Ten teams rank in the top 100 in 3-pointers taken. The conference games are also notorious for tons of whistles. Guards who want to make it to the next level want to play with spacing and better game flow. The old-school big man is also problematic on defense. Against these more dynamic offenses, those bigs got exposed. Loyola Chicago ran all actions through its center and at Kofi Cockburn. Luka

Garza looked lost against Oregon’s more athletic bigs. Even Hunter Dickinson had a hard time keeping up with Louisiana State. This is a personnel issue, but it also stems from the coaching staff. The Atlantic Coast Conference wins titles because they have elite coaches like Mike Krzyzewski, Tony Bennett and Roy Williams. But the SEC has seen a stark coaching change for the better. Eric Musselman and Nate Oats have lifted their respective programs with their style of play and ability to recruit. Will Wade has a knack for landing talent, and John Calipari still looms large at Kentucky. The coaches in the Big Ten won’t go anywhere; Matt Painter and Chris Holtmann have done fantastic jobs with their programs, but it feels like their ceilings are tapped. Gone are John Beilein and Bo Ryan — the last two Big Ten coaches to reach a title game — and while Tom Izzo has a knack for getting the most out of his players, he hasn’t been able to get over the top due to a lack of talent. Who can save the Big Ten? It’s likely Juwan How-

ard. Howard isn’t running his program like Izzo, Holtmann and Painter. Rather, he’s implemented a very modern offense that helped the Wolverines win the Big Ten regular-season title in just his second season after being projected to finish middle of the pack. Their pick-and-roll rate this season was on par with the likes of Gonzaga and Baylor. Howard is also getting it done on the recruiting trail and transfer market. Despite narrowly missing out on two five-stars last year, he still had the best class in the Big Ten. Transfers Mike Smith and Chaundee Brown Jr. are two of the Wolverines’ key guys. Currently, they have the No. 1 class in the country, led by two five-stars and a high four-star. Implement those guys into Howard’s modern scheme, and the rest of the Big Ten is in trouble. Other coaches will need to adapt to keep up with Howard, but I believe they will. Izzo was the first coach to bring in a lot of size, and the league followed suit. If Howard starts winning his way, other coaches should follow. If they don’t, Michigan will remain supreme.

One coach I didn’t mention was Brad Underwood, who has done things in a more modern way. In year four, he was able to implement a dynamic threeguard offense with multiple ball handlers. He’s landed big-name recruits like Ayo Dosunmu and Kofi Cockburn, and he has been active in the transfer market. The 2021 class didn’t go as planned, but he took swings for big-time players, and that’ll pay off in the long run. It’s no surprise the coaches that run their teams the way basketball is played in this era finished one and two in the conference. As they stand today, the Big Ten won’t end its title drought with the way the majority of teams play. Holtmann, Izzo and Painter can take average talent and make them better with designed sets and concepts, but talent and the ability to adapt are why they’ve fallen short, and this postseason debacle was the biggest example. As someone who lives in Big Ten country, I hope this served as a wakeup call. @BrandonSimberg simberg2@dailyillini.com

WOMEN’S GYMNASTICS

Mizuki uses injury issues as motivation, develops leadership skills BY JONAH PEREZ STAFF WRITER

Nobody likes to lose what they’re passionate about. Junior Mallory Mizuki loves kayaking and traveling, but she was at her lowest when she lost gymnastics. When Mizuki first arrived at Illinois, she was nervous and excited at the same time. Like any freshman, she wasn’t used to the amount of freedom and responsibility new college students receive their first day on campus. She already had a foot injury she picked up during her club season in high school, so she started practice late. In October 2019, she tore her right ACL during practice. She was out her whole freshman year and went through rehab and physical therapy like any athlete would. Then, the second ACL injury hit, this time on her other leg. “Mallory has incredible maturity and dedication and determination,” said head coach Nadalie Walsh. “I think that when Mallory was out her first and second year with two separate ACL tears, she had a choice and an option to let the injury kind of overtake her and give her a sense of hopelessness. But instead, Mallory watched, paid attention and she learned from everybody around her so that she wouldn’t have to learn from ... the same mistakes or

MARK CAPAPAS THE DAILY ILLINI

Junior Mallory Mizuki poses on the high beam during the meet against Iowa on Jan. 31. Mizuki continues to train and improve both mentally and physically.

the same processes. “Mallory’s biggest victory comes from upping her mental game to be able to come back and trust her body and trust her gymnastics. So, I think that Mallory has always been an extremely talented athlete, but she’s actually better now than she even would have been her freshman and sophomore year, because her

mental toughness is so much better, and she’s so much more mature than she was even a year or two ago.” Mentally, it was challenging for Mizuki to come out of a hole of depression, but her support system pulled her out and refocused her on what really matters. Cheering on and helping her teammates gave her a new

perspective on what it means to be a gymnast, and now she really notices the difference. “The system was amazing; mostly it was my team and back then we were able to hang out with each other without COVID-19, so I feel like that was something where I was able to be with my roommates and just other girls on the team,” Mizu-

ki said. “We would hang out a lot, and they took my mind off of what I couldn’t do at the time and just kind of focused on everyone as a person. And I feel like our social group was very energetic, and that really helped me have a great support system along with the coaches.” The support from her family was also big. Like a lot of

athletes, their unconditional love is always appreciated and doesn’t discriminate based on how you are doing. Whether you’re at your low point or high point, they’re there no matter what. This season, you can see how talented she is; in her two official times competSEE MIZUKI | 3B

2B Monday, March 29, 2021

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Monday, March 29, 2021

FOOTBALL

McDonald inherits inexperienced receiver corps

PHOTO COURTESY OF FIGTHING ILLINI ATHLETICS

Assistant head Coach and wide receivers coach George McDonald prepares players at a lifting and conditioning practice for Illini football on Tuesday. Though McDonald may be a new coach, he brings hope for a better team in the future. BY GABBY HAJDUK STAFF WRITER

When Illinois football took the field at Memorial Stadium Tuesday for its first spring practice, emotions were high. New coaches walked onto the grass with a whistle in hand for the first time, while players began to prepare for a new start with Bret Bielema at the helm. Nerves and excitement were flowing, especially for Illini wide receivers coach and Illinois football alum George McDonald. Now employed under Bielema, McDonald played four years as a wide receiver for the Illini back in the late 1990s. The look and feel of Memorial Stadium was nothing new, but waking up at 3:30 a.m., eager to begin teaching a group of mostly inexperienced receivers, was a nearly indescribable feeling. “It was a rush of emotions that were kind of odd because I never really felt it,” McDonald said. “You have flashbacks of just moments on the field and experiences on the field. It was special.” While Tuesday’s practice was filled with excitement of

a fresh start for the program, McDonald admits the day was pretty tough for the receiver room, which lost more battles with the defensive backs than they won. McDonald inherited a younger group of receivers with little experience in game situations. With Josh Imatorbhebhe heading to the National Footbal League draft and Casey Washington transferring to Wake Forest, Donny Navarro and Brian Hightower will look to step up as McDonald’s top guys. Navarro started playing consistent snaps late in the 2019 season, which carried over to last season, combining for 35 catches, 433 yards and three touchdowns over the last two years. Hightower, who transferred from Miami before the 2020 season, recorded 11 catches, 209 yards and three touchdowns in his first season as an Illini. When McDonald was asked which players stood out in the early days of practice, he mentioned Navarro and Hightower, but he also brought attention to nearly every receiver in his group, including Carlos

Sandy, Khmari Thompson, Dalevon Campbell, Kyron Cumby and Ty Lindenman. While Imatorbhebhe was the clear star the past two seasons, with the majority of passes from Brandon Peters thrown his way, McDonald wants to focus on spreading the ball around more. “The more we can play as a collective group, the better we’re going to be,” McDonald said. “I don’t think we need to have one superstar receiver. We just have to have guys who can catch the ball, create separation and continue to move the chains for us. As we continue to develop, those big plays and explosive plays are going to come. Coach Petersen calls really good plays; we’ve got really good running backs with coach Patterson. So, it’s just a collective group of a team playing Illinois football and Illinois offense and not worrying about who’s getting the credit for it.” While McDonald has put an emphasis on the group as a whole, one Illini stuck out to him during workouts: kicker Caleb Griffin. Recruited for the special teams unit, Grif-

fin spent a majority of games behind James McCourt the past two seasons, but he was able to get some reps as a punt returner near the end of the 2020 season. But without knowing much about Griffin, McDonald noticed the junior was beating out most of the guys in morning conditioning stations, and with Griffin’s long athletic frame, McDonald began to envision him as an outside receiver. After some encouragement from chief of staff Mark Taurisani, McDonald brought the idea up to Bielema, who gave the approval. “(Griffin) has done a nice job,” McDonald said. “He’s a blank slate. He’s always coming in early in the morning trying to learn the plays, learn the skills, learn the technique. But he’s a natural athlete so I’ve been excited working with him. ... My expectation is for him to score some touchdowns for us.” While the group has a lot of kinks to work out, along with new schemes and logistics to learn, McDonald is trying to take things one day at a

time, focusing on the bigger picture. Immediately after Tuesday’s “rough” practice, McDonald saw some guys back in the facilities, putting in extra work before Thursday’s practice. Those improvements were almost instant, as McDonald saw his crew take a step up on day two, whether it be moving off the line of scrimmage quicker or getting in a better position to make a play. “We threw a lot at them on Tuesday, and they came back and responded well (Thursday),” McDonald said. “I’ve been excited about the hunger they have to get better and their desire to keep developing and pushing themselves forward. “It’s just daily development. We’re just trying to get better every day and continue to grow them. You’ve got to start somewhere. I really don’t worry about the game reps; I just worry about the preparation. We’re excited to get going.” @gabby_h11 ghajduk2@dailyillini.com

WRESTLING

Byrd continues wrestling legacy, makes NCAA debut BY ANDRE THOMAS STAFF WRITER

All athletes have something that motivates them to continue striving for greatness. What motivates you? Redshirt freshman Lucas Byrd is motivated to wrestle because every man in his family is a wrestler, which is what made him start wrestling at the age of eight. Competing for an NCAA championship was not the beginning of his career, as wrestling has been a part of his whole life. “Everyone in my family are wrestlers, besides my mom, but everyone is an athlete in some way,” Byrd said. “I know I am the youngest, so it was only right for me to continue the legacy of wrestling. Plus, I’m the best out of my family, too, so why not?” Byrd started wrestling at a young age after watching his brothers and father compete at a high level, which made his love for the sport even more surreal. As a sophomore in high school, Byrd competed in the 106-pound weight class, finishing the season with a 50-2 record. With wrestling deep-rooted in his family, an outstanding championship performance was expected of him from an early age. Coached by his brother, Max Byrd, Byrd’s second state championship against Ohio State’s Jake Canitano made their bond even stronger. “My dad and my brother really made me want to enjoy wrestling while giving it my all, which is why I wrestle with some much intensity and confidence,” Byrd said. “I am trying to compete on every level, which means I do not plan on stopping after we win the NCAA Championships. My main goal in my

PHOTO COURTESY OF FIGHTING ILLINI ATHLETICS

Lucas Byrd throws his opponent to the ground during competition. Byrd recently placed fifth at the NCAA Championships.

wrestling career is to win as any championships as I can, but being called an NCAA AllAmerican does have a nice ring to it.” Of all five wrestlers from Illinois who qualified, only two were selected to receive All-American honors. Byrd received All-American honors after beating Pittsburgh’s Micky Phillippi, while teammate Dylan Duncan was also recognized. Byrd represented the United States in Athens, Greece, as a junior in high school at the Cadet Greco World Wrestling Competition. The level of competition at the NCAA Championships

was no surprise to Byrd, but the way he competed opened everyone’s eyes. The NCAA wrestling championship was canceled last season due to COVID-19, so Byrd was not able to watch any of the seven qualifiers from Illinois compete, leaving unanswered questions about what to expect at an event like this. With this only being his second season as a member of the Illini, he had little time to prepare for the tournament. “It felt like any other tournament, just focusing on what we worked on all season and then executing it out there on the mat,” Byrd said. “I was not nervous, but I had moments

where I felt some stiffness in my body. I really focus on what I can do better each tournament to elevate my game. Watching my teammates give it their all inspired me to do the same because we all are working toward one goal.” Byrd secured fifth place in the 133-pound weight class at the NCAA Championships after he pinned Arizona State’s Michael McGee in the third period, maintaining a 6-2 record in his previous matches. “The NCAA championship has been around in all sports, which means we still have time to get that first-place trophy, and I’m ready for it,” Byrd

said. “I know we have other tournaments and championships that we should take seriously, … but the NCAA championship is the goal I have set for myself to complete.” The NCAA Championships will come around again, meaning sophomore Byrd, along with the Illini, will have another shot at taking home that first place championship trophy. “I know it’s more to life than winning,” Byrd said, “but who wouldn’t want to win every time while doing what they love to do?” @dre2xx andrelt2@dailyillini.com

FROM 1B

MIZUKI ing, she won the bars event title against No. 4 Michigan with a 9.900. She also had the highest Illini finish on bars at the Big Five meet with a 9.925. She hasn’t competed much, but whenever she’s been on the mat, she’s made a difference. Focusing on her mentality this summer during the lockdown went a long way for her. Though she’s an upperclassman, it was still her first time competing at the collegiate level, so she had obvious nerves. The mental preparation this summer helped her performance and overall confidence. “She’s very methodical,” Walsh said. “She knows exactly what she needs to do. She pays attention to the rest of her team, and she actually gives a lot of not coaching corrections, but she holds her teammates accountable better than anybody else on the team. “She will catch somebody saying, ‘0h, I don’t know if I can do that.’ And she’ll say, ‘Well, that’s not the right mindset to have, is it?’ And so I think that her routine is, she focuses on what she needs to do, but she also pays attention to what’s going on around her.” Something that developed throughout this season is Mizuki’s leadership. She’s always had the ability, but she didn’t think she could show it because she didn’t travel with the team and wasn’t competing on meet days. Now, her being available all the time has made a big difference. She has the confidence to be vocal and lead by example. She feels the responsibility to bring the energy every day, whether it’s an on or an off day. Before Mizuki started her freshman year at Illinois, there was a coaching change. A lot of people would have opened their recruitment back up, but she stuck with her commitment. “Immediately when she (Walsh) was hired, she called me, and I could just tell she had a lot of energy and a lot of passion toward wanting to bring up this team and this new program,” Mizuki said. “I really stuck with her, and I believed in her, and I believe that she did the same with my other teammates.” Another reason Mizuki decided to stick with Illinois was because of its engineering program. She’s a chemical engineering major, and Illinois has one of the best programs in the country. It also helps to be super talented. Walsh knew Mizuki was already a verbal commit, and she was blown away once she watched Mizuki’s film. She killed it on the floor and was as consistent as they come. What caught her attention the most, however, was her vault performances, where she has the potential for a 10.000. “Honestly, she does one of the hardest vaults in women’s gymnastics, so she’s getting pretty close to putting that out on the competition floor,” Walsh said. “It probably is so much fun for her to go out there and do something different than everybody else. And for her to just kind of have that extra sense of positive pride, like, ‘Hey, I am great, and I have a 10.000 vault, and I’m doing everything I can for my program and for my team.’” This season Mizuki hasn’t run into many health-related problems, and while vault is her favorite, she usually trains all-around. It’s her favorite because of how fast it is, alongside how much power she has, which is necessary to excel in the event. She may not be as superstitious as she used to be, but a lot of athletes have some sort of routine they follow. “Normally I am very relaxed the night before (a meet), and I don’t really do a lot, but this season I’ve been wearing ... the first Illinois shirt that I ever got,” Mizuki said. “I wear that to bed every night before the meet . . . It’s a big orange shirt and it says Illinois . . . It was thrown to me at my first Illinois football game.” @jonahap2 jonahperez@dailyillini.com

4B Monday, March 29, 2021

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Monday, March 29, 2021

CU addresses housing inequality BY JULIA YOUMAN

buzz calendar

STAFF WRITER

In honor of International Women’s Day and Women’s History Month, Habitat for Humanity of Champaign County continues to empower women in the community. Although Habitat for Humanity’s annual Women’s Build Week was virtual because of the pandemic, the organization still spent the month raising awareness of gender inequality in housing. “There are a lot of women who are heads of households and a lot of single women who are raising their families,” said Kim Gollings, Community Development Director for Habitat for Humanity of Champaign County. Gollings said that oftentimes, these women struggle to access affordable housing while trying to balance fulltime jobs and caretaking responsibilities. They are then forced to make tough decisions on how to spend their limited income. “We are an incredibly rentburdened community,” she said. “If you are giving more than 30% of your income to housing, we know for a fact that other things are going to fall to the wayside.” Things like healthy food, medication and child care are no longer affordable for women when so much of their income goes towards housing, she said. This year’s Women’s Build Week, an international weeklong event in conjunction with Lowes, largely focused on addressing the costs to provide for a family and what buying a house entails for women. The Habitat also focuses on bringing awareness to the fact that women have been hit especially hard by the pandemic. While women struggling to afford housing is nothing new, the pandemic has only worsened the problem. According to The National Women’s Law Center, all of the jobs lost in December were held by women. In addition, the

BY RUKAYAH HUSSEIN BUZZ CALENDAR EDITOR

The buzz calendar is a compilation of events happening in the Champaign-Urbana area. Follow our top picks in Monday’s and Thursday’s papers for ideas on what to do on any night of the week, from where to eat to what to watch. Want to submit an event? Email calendar@readbuzz.com.

PHOTO COURTESY OF HABITAT FOR HUMANITY OF CHAMPAIGN COUNTY

A group of women lift a prefabricated wall while working with Habitat for Humanity of Champaign County. In honors of Women’s History Month, Habitat has spent their time raising awareness of gender inequality in housing.

center estimated that women accounted for 55% of total net jobs lost since February 2020. Gollings said that a contributing factor to the loss of so many women’s jobs is a lack of child care. For single women raising a family and working fulltime, child care is pertinent. “Women are notoriously the caretakers of their family,” she said. “If you don’t have child care, you are put in an incredibly tough situation.” One home buyer The Habitat recently worked with was an employee at the University of Illinois who faced that exact dilemma. When her day care provider found out she worked in the dorms and was possibly exposed to COVID-19, they were no longer comfortable taking her child. With no one to watch her child, she couldn’t go to work. Many women face similar problems. In fact, Gollings said around 90% of the houses they build are single women households. Out of the past seven houses they’ve built, only one has been for a married couple. “Women are ready to show up and do the work,” she said. “They want to provide stability and a future for their children, and this is one of the ways that they can do it.” However, even when women want to buy a house, they can’t always get a loan, she said. Habitat for Humanity alle-

viates this problem by offering homes with no interest. “If you work a full-time job that pays $13 or $14 or $15 an hour, the bank is not going to give you a traditional loan, no matter how long you have been employed,” Gollings said. She said that while highinterest rates often double the price of a mortgage, Habitat for Humanity gives interestfree loans by selling a house at its exact appraisal price. This way, a lot of the women they work with can afford the housing. In keeping with the spirit of the annual week-long event, the committee is focused on empowering women and offering a supportive network. A large part of that is bringing in money to sponsor a women-built home. Even though they weren’t able to build houses for Women’s Build Week as they normally do, they have continued to build houses throughout the pandemic, and Gollings said that raising awareness is just as important for their mission. “Housing is a way bigger problem in our community than people are willing to look at,” she said. “Our community is only as strong as the person that is struggling the most, and we can either talk about doing the work or we can actually do it.”

MONDAY, MARCH 29TH

Let’s Learn with WILL-TV

 11 a.m.  Virtual event hosted by WILL-TV  Free This event is for 3-8-year olds who don’t have virtual learning access and aren’t going to school right now. WILL-TV will be broadcasting “Let’s Learn,” an instructional TV series for 3-8-year olds featuring educators teaching from their homes.

Pet Photos with the Easter Bunny at Market Place Mall  5-7 p.m  Market Place Mall, 2000 N. Neil St., Champaign  Free Bring your furry (or not so furry) family members to the mall to meet the Easter Bunny! Dogs and cats of all shapes and sizes are welcome.

TUESDAY, MARCH 30TH

Spring Exploration Activity Guide  All Day.  Online event hosted by Champaign County Forest Preserve District  Free Spring is here! Head outside to look for signs of spring: from wildflowers to migrating birds and the return of the butterflies! Download the activity guide or pick one up at one of our facilities to help you explore nature at the preserves or even your own backyard this spring. Grab your gear and start exploring!

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 31ST

Crafty Story Time with the Urbana Free Library

 10 a.m..  Virtual event hosted by the Urbana Free Library  Free This is the perfect event for children ages 2-5! They can enjoy music, books and fun crafts from their homes and interact with others on Zoom. The group will work on early literacy skills in a creative, fun and supportive environment. All participants will need are scissors, paper, glue and crayons. Register today at the Urbana Free Library website.

Lunchtime Live Storytelling

 1:15 - 1:45 p.m.  Online Event hosted by Spurlock Museum  Free Take a soothing lunch break and join Kim Sheahan Sanford, our assistant director of education and resident storyteller, for family-friendly stories from around the world.

Get Out and Ride: Bike Basics

 7 - 8 p.m.  Online event hosted by Champaign County Bikes and Ride Illinois  Free, registration required Are you ready to spring into biking? Have a bike in the garage that you want to ride? Get Out and Ride confidently this spring after attending this Bike Basics presentation via Zoom.

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‘Beholder’ questions morals, tests user’s spy expertise AIDAN FINN STAFF WRITER

Are you paranoid? Are you someone who always checks over their shoulder and is never able to really shake off that feeling of being watched? Are you regurgitating your fears in your head yet never able to properly put them into words? Are you always anxious that even the littlest of things will go wrong and bring your whole world and livelihood crashing down? Well, you’re in luck! “Beholder” is a Russian management strategy video game title by Warm Lamp Games with a uniquely disturbing twist. You play as a government-installed landlord in a fictional totalitarian state. The state appoints you to spy on the tenants of your building, and you’re able to bug rooms and spy via surveillance cameras, search belongings and take swift action to foil any feelings of insurrection, however legitimate. The player is instructed to report any illegal or subversive activities, but can break off and side with the oppressed tenants or go on a power trip of suffocating bureaucracy and illegitimate scrutiny, leading to the player having to juggle whether to do what’s right or what’s legal. It’s not a unique or new premise, and it’s even the core of Terry Gilliam’s 1985 mini-masterpiece, “Brazil,” which is about a low-level government functionary whose attempt to fix a typo makes him an enemy of the state in pure Monty Python

PHOTO COURTESY OF NINTENDO

The front cover of the video game “Beholder” is pictured above. The game was released on Dec. 06, 2018.

slapstick and silliness. Despite such, it is still an incredibly horrifying and anxiety-inducing nightmare of bureaucratic paranoia and systematic injustice. Where “Brazil” masks its themes of Big Brother in humorous subtlety, “Beholder” pulls no punches with its depiction of fascism behind the surveillance. “Beholder” is a twisted yet undeniably charming title with its cathartic

take on having the player assume the role of Big Brother. You run the show, and you call the shots. The method of how you approach this title greatly changes not only how the game ends but also how miserable the story will play out. Will you strive to do the right thing despite knowing that you’ll inevitably get caught, or will you play it by the book and not lean for anything? It strikes the same chord

as other games like “Papers Please” (2013) and “Not Tonight” (2018) in tasking players with being on the other side of mass surveillance and being the judge, jury and executioner of the oppressed population, essentially making the act of paperwork a life or death matter. Some titles like “Do Not Feed the Monkeys” (2018) do this in a ludicrous and stupidly hilarious fashion. “Beholder” goes nine yards in the other direc-

tion, crafting a depressing and hopeless world that you will feel insignificant in. Simply put, this surprisingly populated subgenre of paranoia-fueled management games has many colors, and “Beholder” is as cold-hearted as it gets. Despite its 2D limitations and mild repetition in design, the freedom and choice in the player’s ability to tie their unwitting tenants up in knots of delusion, fear and unyielding

paranoia are fascinatingly dark and twisted. There is pure cathartic fun in playing Big Brother or being the foil to Big Brother and defecting to aid the little man we all feel a little bit of ourselves in. All in all, it’s a title you shouldn’t sleep on if you can stomach it. Beholder is available on iOS, Xbox One, Playstation 4, Nintendo Switch and PC. aidanf3@readbuzz.com

Characters grapple with difficult truths in new Marvel show RUKAYAH HUSSEIN BUZZ CALENDAR EDITOR

With the remarkable reactions of fans and critics alike to Marvel’s original series “WandaVision,” many are probably eager for more from Marvel’s new line of exclusive television series. With the aftermath of “WandaVision” barely behind us, Marvel has just released the first episode of its new series — “The Fal-

con and the Winter Soldier.” This new series premiered on March 19, and it already has everyone buzzing. This series focuses on two companions of Steve Rogers, who is the original Captain America. One is Sam Wilson, also known as the Falcon, who is portrayed by Anthony Mackie. The other is Bucky Barnes, otherwise known as the

Winter Soldier, played by Sebastian Stan. For those who have not caught up with the Marvel Cinematic Universe and have astonishingly avoided spoilers regarding the franchise through the movie “Avengers: Endgame,” I caution you to not read any further. The first episode brings us up to speed on the state of the world six months after the Avengers and oth-

PHOTO COURTESY OF IMDB

Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan star in “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.” The first episode of the series was released on March 19.

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er Marvel heroes defeated Thanos and brought back the other half of the universe’s population. Sam Wilson currently has joined forces with the Air Force and is taking some time to help his sister with the family business. Jame Buchanan “Bucky” Barnes is currently in therapy to deal with his past, which is complicated to say the least. These two characters became unlikely acquaintances through their relationship with Steve Rogers, but following the events of “Endgame,” they have lost touch. Or more specifically, Bucky is avoiding Sam’s texts. Steve, who decided to take a detour on his journey of returning the Infinity Stones, which are important gems that have the power to alter existence as we know it, has grown old and retired. He passes on the mantle of Captain America to Sam Wilson and hands over the infamous shield as well. Throughout this pilot episode, we see Sam struggle with the reality of the task that Steve has grant-

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ed him. He recognizes the weight to be carried with the symbolic relic and the important role of Captain America in protecting the world post-Endgame. However, he just does not think he’s the man for the job. Not only that, but Sam and his sister now have to deal with the distressing financials of maintaining the business their parents started. As Sam is working on his relationship with his family and forming new ones within the Air Force, Bucky is currently on the path of personal development. Plucked out of time just like Steve Rogers, Bucky was brainwashed to become the elusive Winter Soldier, an assassin with a metal arm, by the fictional terrorist organization known as HYDRA. Now that he’s finally free to be himself, he works on making amends and dealing with the trauma of being controlled and forced to commit heinous acts. Unfortunately, but unsurprisingly, it is proving to be more difficult than he’d appreciate, and he is forced to reckon with his past both through-

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out his day-to-day life and in his own nightmares. While the show is called “The Falcon and the Winter Soldier,” these two characters have many personal issues to deal with before they are ready to come together. In the background of the episode, just as expected, there are people up to no good — and not in the catchy sort of way like “Agatha All Along.” The episode was definitely not as intellectual as the theatrics found in “WandaVision,” but it was certainly a rollercoaster of action and emotion. It was an impactful introduction to this lesser-known hero and anti-hero duo. Viewers can strip away from the force of the Avengers and see what it’s like to come home after being a hero and needing to deal with your private demons too. The conclusion of the episode will surely make you want to throw your remote at the screen, but that is just what Marvel does — keeps you coming back for more. rukayah2@readbuzz.com