INSIDE As we say goodbye to ‘Parks and Recreation,’ let’s reflect on what it has taught us in seven seasons.
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SECTION, C TUESDAY January 27, 2015
THE DAILY ILLINI 5he independent student newspaper at the University of Illinois since 1871
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Vol. 144 Issue 47
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Salaita court date set for February Trial against University to take place at Champaign County Circuit Court BY ABIGALE SVOBODA STAFF WRITER
Steven Salaita, whose appointment to the University’s American Indian Studies program was rejected in September, will appear in court in February for a lawsuit against the University.
The lawsuit, fi led with the Champaign County Circuit Court in November, claims the University failed to comply with the Illinois Freedom of Information Act, which requires public bodies to disclose specific records, unless the records fall
under exemption. The trial will take place on Feb. 13 at 2:30 p.m. at the Champaign County Circuit Court, courtroom B, said Katie Blakeman, Champaign County circuit clerk. At the time the suit was fi led, University spokesman Tom Hardy
said the University would review the case carefully and defend its interests. According to the Illinois Freedom of Information Act, any party found in violation of the act is required to pay civil penalties of no less than $2,500 and no more than $5,000 per violation. In November, Maria LaHood, senior staff attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights and a representative of Salaita, said the suit is not regard-
ing Salaita’s termination, but the requested documents Salaita requested on Sept. 17, six days after his appointment, was officially rejected by the Board of Trustees. The University orally rejected his request, stating that it would require reviewing between 8,000 to 10,000 emails. When the University labeled the request “unduly burdensome,” Salaita downsized the parameters and submitted a new
FOIA request on Nov. 5, 2014. When he received no response, he decided to fi le suit on Nov. 17, 2014. The lawsuit asks the court to order the Board of Trustees to give Salaita the requested documents, to admit to violating the act, as well as award civil penalties, reasonable attorney fees and any other compensation the court deems appropriate.
Abigale can be reached at asvobod2@dailyillini.com.
UIPD arrest man for firearm Police also uncovered open alcohol BY JASON CHUN AND CAMILLE MURRAY STAFF WRITERS
University police arrested Cirron G.Z. Clark, a 20-year-old, for the unlawful possession of a fi rearm early Saturday morning during a routine traffic stop. Shortly after midnight, University police officers pulled over a vehicle with a broken taillight near the intersection of Goodwin Avenue and Nevada Street. Upon approaching the vehicle, the officers detected a distinct odor of cannabis coming from the vehicle. The officers proceeded to remove the three subjects from the vehicle to complete a search. During the search, the officers discovered two open bottles of alcohol and a loaded handgun underneath the front passenger seat. Police determined that Clark, the back-seat passenger, would have been the only one able to access the spot where the handgun was located. Clark was also issued a no-trespassing notice for University property. The extent of Clark’s punishment will depend on whether or not he has any prior convictions. “If the weapon was not found to be stolen or anything like that ... I would say [it’s a] class A misdemeanor, I believe,” Deputy Chief
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KAROLINA MARCZEWSKI THE DAILY ILLINI
Assistant professor Carlos Carrillo teaches Music Theory and Practice II at Smith Memorial Hall on Monday. A new app could help grade students’ theory
Harmonia brings music theory to life
BY LIYUAN YANG STAFF WRITER
The Nationa l Science Foundation granted $225,000 to Heinrich Taube, a music professor at the University, to continue the development of his computer application for teaching music theory. The application, Harmonia, which is already available for free on iTunes, can automaticly analyze music, grade it, determine harmony and anomalies and provide instant feedback of the user’s performance. The best way to think about it, Taube said, is that it is a multimedia version of a textbook, where the examples can change. “It is like having your own teacher in a way,” Taube said. Taube has been working on the program since 2001, he said, because the
opportunities for grants in the arts are rarer than those for grants in science. The funding from the grant will go toward fi nishing the application by Fall 2015 and paying the salary of the instructor who will teach the class, as well as the statisticians who will run an analysis on the program’s effectiveness. Students will be able to use the application for homework and practicing skills in music theory, while getting instant feedback. In that way, Taube emphasized that the application can help students learn better and more efficientlly. Traditionally, Taube said students look at their books and fi ll out their homework. When they get their grades after a week, whether good or not, the course has moved on. With Harmonia, students
can practice every night and then learn from instant feedback. Currently, the grading staff relies on the teachers, which Taube said consumes a lot of their time. Carlos Carrillo, assistant professor of Music, agreed it takes him a long time to grade his students’ work. However, Harmonia will automatically grade students’ work based on the particular notations and musical syntax, which Carrillo covers in his Music 101 and 102 classes. “What we are teaching is how this musical syntax works. So, we talk about how a specific course works within this syntax, how they follow each other and how they connect to each other,” Carrillo said. Because of Harmonia’s automatic grading process, facilitators can concentrate more on teaching instead
of worrying about grading, which Carrillo said would be useful. Because of this, professors will have more time to focus on teaching material. Harmonia is currently in phase one, and Taube is working with the startup company Illiac Software to optimize the application. “If we do well on phase one, and we show that there’s a large market out there and this can potentially make money, then NSF will give what’s called phase two, which lets the company actually commercialize it,” Taube said. The Fall 2015 section of Music 101 will be the test bed for working interactively with the software. “It will be some homework people do with computers, some homework
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“What we are
teaching is how music syntax works. So, we talk about how specific the chords work within this syntax, how they follow each other, and how they connect to each other.”
CARLOS CARRILLO
ASSISTANT MUSIC PROFESSOR
President Easter speaks about funding efforts BY ABIGALE SVOBODA STAFF WRITER
SONNY AN THE DAILY ILLINI
President Robert Easter answers questions to his staff and faculty during the monthly Senate Executive meeting at the English Building on Monday.
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INSIDE
Monday might have been President Robert Easter’s last annual meeting with the Senate Executive committee, members joked, as he is set to retire for the third time as University president. Roy Campbell, SEC Chair, opened the meeting with words of gratitude and appreciation for Easter’s almost four years as president. In the next few months of transition leading up to his June retirement, Easter said he is enjoying working
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with his successor, Timothy Killeen, who has been working with the University as an academic hourly. In his remaining time as president, Easter said he has been dealing with many items typical for this time of year, such as budgetary items. The meeting allowed SEC members to ask Easter questions on a variety of University-related subjects.
Easter on funding Easter estimated the state owes the University over
$300 million at the moment. However, he expects that number to grow until a resolution is met. He and other University officials will meet with Gov. Bruce Rauner’s current higher education counsel in Chicago on Wednesday. Easter is also expecting a budget recommendation from the state in February. “I really don’t think there will be much in the hopper, in terms of budget, until (Rauner) puts something on
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