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THE DAILY ILLINI
MONDAY February 1, 2021
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The independent student newspaper at the University of Illinois since 1871
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Vol. 150 Issue 29
Students face more focused non-compliant consequence University implements less disciplinary approach to testing noncompliance BY VIVIAN LA STAFF WRITER
University students in non-compliance with regular COVID-19 testing and minor infractions can face short-term loss of access to University Wi-Fi, Zoom and learning management systems this semester. The new consequences aim to be “less disciplin-
ary and more focused,” said Justin Brown, associate dean of students. “It’s certainly better than potentially being immediately suspended from the University and being unable to attend your classes for months, rather than for the day or so it takes to get a test,” Brown said. Access loss focuses on run-of-the mill things, like testing and keeping student location updated, but not throwing a party, he said. “Limiting access was an additional tool to ‘nudge’ students into compliance,” Associate Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Stephen Bryan said in an email.
Registered students without current location displayed on Self-Service
60 50
51.5%
40
40.5%
30
37%
20 10 0
All students
Undergraduates
Graduates Source: University Registrar
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BRIAN NGUYEN THE DAILY ILLINI
MTD cuts service after student fees decrease BY WILLIE CUI STAFF WRITER
RYAN ASH THE DAILY ILLINI
Pharmacist Katie Lampman deposits needles filled with the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine into a receptacle on Jan. 12. Any questions about the distribution of the vaccine can be directed to the CUPHD at 217-239-7877 or coronavirus@cuphd.org.
Vaccines appointments begin for University staff dent Affairs employees • In-person Technology Services employees • In-person Division of Intercollegiate Athletics employees According to Chancellor Robert Jones, the University believes that “the remaining University employees working in person not listed above will be the next group to receive vaccine appointments.” Another 857 people in Champaign County received the first dose of a vaccine on Saturday. So far, 11.2% of the Champaign County population has been administered a dose of a vaccine, with 1.85% having received two doses. Essential frontline workers are the new target of the vaccine initiative in the county. In all of Illinois, about 1.63% of the population is fully vaccinated. For questions regarding the distribution of the vaccine, contact CUPHD by phone (217-239-7877) or email (coronavirus@cuphd.org).
BY CHIEH HSU STAFF WRITER
The Champaign-Urbana Public Health District announced that COVID-19 vaccine appointments are now available for selected in-person education employees. The first round of eligible education personnel include: • In-person employees at the Childhood Development Lab • In-person employees at University High School • In-person employees at University Primary School • In-person employees at Orchard Downs Preschool • Instructors teaching at least one in-person class for the Spring Semester 2021 • In-person researchers located at sites designated for SHIELD-related saliva collection, research development and/or COVID-19 response; sites contracted for state and local community engagement • In-person Facilities & Services employees • In-person Housing/Stu- chiehh3@dailyillini.com
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Sports: Illini baseball prepares for season
Buzz: Survive winter with these self care tips
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As another semester begins in the midst of a global pandemic, students return to a campus with limited transportation services. The Champaign-Urbana Mass Transit District has reduced service for its campus-based routes to around 40% of what it normally provides as a result of the University’s funding issues. Lowa Mwilambwe, associate vice chancellor for Auxiliary, Health and Wellbeing, said that these reductions were made in response to lower bus ridership and less students on campus. “We looked at the big picture, the ridership at every level,” Mwilambwe said. “And those decisions were made based on what is best for the University.” Mwilambwe notes that students have asked the University for a reduction in fees, which the University accommodated. “A lot of times students complain about the cost of attendance,” he said. “They complain about ‘well, we are online’ or ‘we’re not using the service, can you make a reduction?’ But they don’t want to make a reduction.” University students, faculty and staff make up around 75% of MTD’s ridership, according to Amy Snyder, chief of staff for MTD. However, MTD has seen a large drop in ridership as a result of more students attending class remotely due to the pandemic. “Overall for the service year, ridership is down about 75% across the system,” Sny-
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der said. “We are running more community riders than we are student riders.” Since the start of the pandemic, the University has had difficulty paying for the campus routes that MTD is contracted to service. In March, the University approached MTD for a discount on its contract obligations for the remainder of the semester. Later in the fall, the University once again asked MTD for a discount. “Basically for spring semester 2020, we gave the University about a 25% discount,” Snyder said. “Then we cut down a couple months here and there, and basically for the fall semester, we gave the University a 10% discount.” Both of these discounts led to service reductions for MTD’s campus routes.
Since then, the University and MTD have renegotiated the price and the level of service for the campus routes covered by their service contract. For providing campus service from January to June, the University has agreed to pay MTD $831,674.23, significantly less than the $2,972,965.30 that they previously agreed on, according to an MTD board packet from December. Campus routes are funded by the University through campus fees and are dictated by a service contract between the University and MTD. While all students were required to pay the campus fee this semester — a change from last fall — the University lowered the fees as a result.
This semester, the University charged a $23 transportation fee per student, less than half of the $62 it normally charges. “This time around, we decided that we are going to charge everybody, but it’s going to be a reduced fee,” Mwilambwe said. Mwilambwe notes that these reductions are part of a larger balancing act between reducing fees and providing adequate services. As a result, the University had to make “strategic decisions” about what fees and services to cut. “There’s a cost to everything that we do, and that’s really the challenge: How do you balance the two?” Mwilambwe said. williec2@dailyillini.com
UW-Madison starts semester with UI’s COVID-19 tests test results take more than 24 hours to come back,” he said. “Even more frustrating is that the labs are backed up, and some students have to wait more than one week to get back their results.” Similar to Illinois current testing, UW-Madison students are expected to test every three days, including dormitory students and students living off-campus. Much like the Safer Illinois app, UW-Madison has its own “Safer Badger” app, which functions the same as the Illinois version. “They really are trying to push testing where even last semester, some off-campus UW-Madison students were offered $10 gift cards to get testing done,” Guppa said. “I’m really glad this new testing system was implemented and hope for a better semester.”
BY ROYAL SHRESTHA STAFF WRITER
With the start of a new semester, some colleges have started to implement COVID-19 testing similar to the University’s current method. The University of Wisconsin-Madison has launched its own saliva-based COVID-19 testing this semester with the help of Illinois researchers and students. Last semester, UW-Madison experienced major COVID-19 surges that led to the lockdown of their two largest dorms on campus, where students had to go through a two-week shift for online classes to be implemented. During their case peak in September, their weekly positive testing surpassed 10%. The saliva testing method created by researchers at Illinois was able to keep the positivity rate below 1% on the Illinois campus in the
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RYAN ASH THE DAILY ILLINI
An MTD terminal on Wright Street informs riders when the next buses are coming on Sunday morning. MTD has recently reduced their service.
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PHOTO COURTESY OF JAMES STEAKLEY
The Main Quad of UW-Madison rests quietly on a summer day. UW-Madison has begun to implement UI’s COVID-19 tests on their campus.
fall semester, and officials at UW-Madison are hoping to do the same. The University’s saliva-based testing is in high demand; U W-Madison paid more than a $1 million deposit to leading COVID-19 crisis team, SHIELD T3, to gain access to reserve testing equipment. In addition, UW-Madison will be required to pay $25 for each
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saliva test and it is expected that once the transition has taken place, its campus will go from 12,000 tests weekly to almost 82,000. Akansha Guppa, pursuing biochemistry in the College of Letters and Sciences at UW-Madison, said the rollout has been difficult for students so far. “Students are socially distant in the testing sites, but royals2@dailyillini.com
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