THE DAILY ILLINI
MONDAY November 2, 2020
The independent student newspaper at the University of Illinois since 1871
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Vol. 150 Issue 21
Students experience burnout from classes
LONGFORM
mental health deteriorating as the University increases With the semester 10 weeks course intensity throughout in, Sarah Abdullah, junior in the semester. AHS, is feeling the weight Professors play a large role of the amount of work she in affecting their students’ has to complete on a week- mental health, and supportly basis. Classes continue to ing them is one of the most tear Abdullah away from her effective ways to help them social life and destroy her navigate their classes during mental health without avail. this pandemic. “We’re just suffering Hallie Workman is a teachthrough our assignments er’s assistant this semesjust to get to the next one and ter and has taken up a social it’s a nevsuppor t er-ending role for her cycle Monst udent s day through in hopes S u n d a y,” to relieve Abdulla h t h e i r said. “I just stress and feel like help them we’re not throughreally able out the to catch a course break menof the tally or emosemester. SARAH ABDULLAH tionally.” “I think JUNIOR IN AHS Abdulif my la h has number been strugone goal is gling to balance her aca- to get my students to learn, demic integrity along with I have to make sure they’re her mental health these past okay first,” Workman said. few weeks, like many others Understanding the position nationwide. many students are in during “I know personally I take this semester and being flexithat personal burden on ble with their classes has been myself and give myself an idea Workman’s priority because that I don’t need anyone to she knows that not all the prohelp me through situations,” fessors on campus are doing she said. “I don’t think it’s a the same. healthy way to deal with our “I think professors and mental health.” administrators and departCollege students nation- ment heads need to solicit wide have been thrown into honest feedback from underthe same situation as Abdul- grads” Workman said. “I lah and sympathize with her think that’s kind of the bigrhetoric. Students are heav- gest thing that they’re missily concerned about their ing right now.” academic performance durProviding a sense of secuing the coronavirus and are rity in the classroom and havextremely stressed with the ing professors take students’ current predicament. input into account this semesBurnout has been extreme- ter will help address the conly high in students this semes- cerns many will have in class ter because of the pandemic, because this is a new dynamic and many mental health ser- everyone is trying to adapt to. vices acknowledge this is a “We can’t send students common issue among their online in the midst of a globstudent clients. al pandemic and wide social “I have a lot of clients who unrest and expect them to are students and motivation be as productive as a normal is something that we’re con- semester,” Workman said. stantly battling,” said Erica “That’s insanity. We cannot Aina, a clinical supervisor at keep the same expectations Elliott Counseling Group. as we had last year.” A large misunderstanding With this disconnect between the student popu- between the University and lation and the administration has resulted in student SEE BURNOUT | 3A BY ALIZA MAJID STAFF WRITER
“I just feel like we’re not really able to catch a break mentally or emotionally.”
KEVIN GAO THE DAILY ILLINI
Lawn signs line the grass of the Main Quad outside of the Illini Union voting site on Thursday. Many important state positions are up for grabs in the 2020 Illinois election.
What’s at Stake for State Legislature? Illinois’ legislative elections impact policy, budget ing is set by the Illinois State Legislature. Jacob Baron, junior in LAS, spends much of his time thinking about politics. In addition to his political science major, Baron has an internship with the Illinois Public Interest Research Group, a nonprofit organization that has been encouraging voters to turn out during this election. In addition to the presidential election, Baron believes that voters should be informed on who’s running for State Legislature as well. “Most of the local laws that are affecting your dayto-day life are State Senate and State House and are affected by the candidates we elect to those positions,” Barn said. “Quite honestly, understanding your state legislature is just as important as understanding your national legislature.” What happens in Springfield will arguably have more of a direct impact on University students’ lives than what happens in Washington. Tyler Swanson, sophomore in ACES and political director of the Illini Democrats, emphasizes the importance of downballot elections. The Daily Illini reached out to the Illini Republicans twice by email for comment on this story but received no
BY MATT TROHER ASSISTANT LONGFORM EDITOR
With Election Day on the horizon, the presidential election between Donald Trump and Joe Biden is practically unavoidable. Wherever you turn, there’s a political ad for one of the two candidates or reports about a new development in their campaigns plastered on your social media feed. At times, it may seem like the presidential election is the only thing at stake on Nov. 3. However, nearly 200 state and local elections will occur across Illinois. A third of the State Senate, the whole of the State House and three State Supreme Court judges are up for election this November. While Illinois reliably votes Democrat in presidential elections (Biden is up by nearly 20 points in the most recent polls, according to 538.com) the results of down-ballot elections such as the State Senate and State House of Representatives will give a vital insight into the true demographics of our state. These elections matter just as much to Illinoisians, if not more, than the presidential election. The Illinois State Legislature directly shapes State policy, tax levels and the State budget. More specifically, the University’s state fund-
response. “Regardless of what happens in the Presidential Election, the national and State Senate races will be what really decides how America goes forward for these next six years,” Swanson said. “The majority for either party will be what determines what happens policy-wise.”
crats, and five are held by Republicans. Of the 20 seats up for election in the Illinois State Senate, ten of them are uncontested elections. When an area has a solid voter base for one party or the other, like Chicago or rural southern Illinois, the minority party doesn’t run a candidate to save expenses. Since there is no opponent, these districts are locked for the political party running the sole candidate. Of the ten uncontested elections, eight feature a Democrat candidate, while two feature a Republican candidate. With uncontested districts functioning as locks for the political party running in those districts, political analysts add the sole running candidate to the pre-election party total. After the election, there will be 31 Senate seats that will definitely be filled by a Democrat, and 17 that will definitely be filled by a Republican. Ten Senate Seats will be up for grabs in competitive elections. Even if the Republican candidate were to win each of their elections, the Republican Party would not be able to eliminate the Democrats’ majority. Illinois Republicans know that flipping the State
State Senate: Democrat stronghold, room for Republicans to fight back
Democrats hold a majority in the Illinois State Senate, and it’s not changing any time soon. They’ve held a majority of the Senate since they took control from the Republicans in 2002, and their majority has expanded ever since. Of the Senate’s 59 seats, Democrats hold 40 compared to the Republicans’ 19 seats. A vote in the Senate only needs a simple majority to pass. The majority mark in the Senate is 30 votes, well exceeded by the Democrats’ 40 seats. State Senators serve for terms of either two or four years, depending on the year first elected. Every election year, one-third of the Senate is up for election. This year, there are 20 Senate seats up for election. Of the 20 seats up for election, 15 are held by Demo-
SEE ELECTIONS | 3A
Illinois restricts Region 6 as COVID-19 spikes BY WILLIE CUI STAFF WRITER
The Illinois Department of Public Health along with Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced new restrictions for Region 6 of the state’s COVID-19 response plan, which includes Champaign County. These restrictions, which take effect on Monday, Nov. 2, include the suspension of indoor service at bars and restaurants, requiring bars and restaurants to end outdoor service by 11:00 p.m., and requiring customers to make reservations beforehand when dining out. The restrictions also limit gatherings to a maximum of 25 people. Schools and polling places are exempt from these new restrictions, and the University does not plan on making any changes to in-person instruction. “We will continue courses as planned,” said Chancellor Robert Jones in a Massmail. These mitigation measures are being implemented in response to Region 6 having “an average positivity rate of eight percent or higher” for three consecutive days, resulting in strict-
er mitigation measures. “ St a r t i ng Mond ay, (Region 6) will join the majority of the state in operating under resurgence mitigations,” said Gov. Pritzker in a press release. On Oct. 14, IDPH announced its decision to exclude the University’s saliva-based test results from Region 6’s testing data for the purposes of the state’s COVID-19 response plan. “This will allow us to better identify testing needs and trends in that region,” said IDPH Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike. As a result, the seven-day rolling test positive rate for Region 6 was recalculated by IDPH while excluding the University’s saliva tests. It was most recently updated on Oct. 28, when the figure hit 9%. In addition to these new measures, the cities of Champaign and Urbana reminded the public in a joint press release to continue following public health guidelines such as wearing a face mask in public and practicing social distancing. In state, on campus and countywide, new cases con-
DAILYILLINI, DAILYILLINISPORTS
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Police
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New COVID-19 cases bounce back in October 250
248 new cases in the last week
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PHOTO COURTESY OF REDDIT (/U/_SADCOOKIE_)
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Source: THE IllinoisDAILY ShieldILLINI Team BRIAN NGUYEN
tinue to surge. There were 248 new cases of COVID-19 identified on campus during the week ended Friday, after 109 the previous week and 85 the week before. Since Aug. 15, 3,045 students, faculty and staff have tested positive for COVID-19 using on-campus saliva tests. The Champaign Urbana Public Health District currently reports 6,498 confirmed cases of COVID-19
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Oct. 10 Oct. 16
Concerning graffiti lays painted on the side of the Main Library on Oct. 24. Some students have felt the negative effects of COVID-19 on their mental health.
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in Champaign County, with 527 cases considered active. On Oct. 28, there were 296 active cases in the county. On Saturday, IDPH confirmed another 7,899 cases of COVID-19, a new single-day high for Illinois. Illinois has broken its own daily record for new cases in each of the previous four days.
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