C-U Soon: 7/17/20
Hi! Welcome to C-U soon. Here, you can find some local news commentary and all of the new local podcasts released this week on Champaign Showers dot com. Hope you like it! -Boz (Blog Purveyor)
New Podcasts:
I Have to Ask: Tom Ramage (Parkland College President)
Elizabeth chats with Parkland President Tom Ramage about how the college has adapted to the pandemic, and where things may go from here.
Champaign Is Also A Band: SoulSavage
Sven sits down with SoulSavage for a discussion about his boom-bap hip-hop track “Breaking The Mold,” among other things. You should listen to this one. It’s the most unique C-U rap I’ve heard in years.
The 200 Level: Ryan Baker
Ryan Baker, host of CBS Chicago’s morning show, stops by for a chat with Mike about media, sports, and what the Flyin’ Illini may have thought about the current state-of-affairs for student athletes.
The 200 Level: Casey at the Bat
Carp dives into the latest on fall sports from Josh Whitman, and then is joined by Future Sox writer Casey Boguslaw for an MLB preview.
Good Reads:
Are college sports going to happen? Probably not. But maybe.
The U of I released their plans for fall sports on Thursday, which seems kind of like a Hail Mary, but maybe it’ll work. Who knows. Here’s the plan:
-No fans at indoor sporting events
-20% capacity in Memorial Stadium (the most overdone Twitter joke of the week was to reply to this and say “well that shouldn’t be a problem for the Illini!”)
-No tailgating
(Scott Richey / News-Gazette)
Champaign council members applaud update of police use-of-force policies
I’ll take “The Bare Minimum” for 500, Alex.
District 2 representative Alicia Beck said those changes should have been made “quite some time ago” and said the discussion “needs to go deeper.”
“We need to be talking about the culture of policing, and we need to be talking about and examining what it is that policing is going to look like in the city of Champaign, because I think that what we’re being asked to do is re-examine both of those things,” she said. “This is going to have to be a long term and incremental plan that we work toward, creating new ways of thinking about addressing social issues outside of policing.”
She’s right. It’s still a step in the correct direction.
(Ben Zigterman / News-Gazette)
Champaign district's shift to online learning leaves some parents in lurch
I’m not sure how in the hell schools are going to operate this fall. I can’t really imagine what it’s going to look like, but three things are pretty clear:
1-School isn’t just school for a lot of folks. It, in conjunction with after school programs, allows parents time to work full time hours while occupying their children. If the in-person aspect of schooling is dropped, many kids will have nowhere the go and their parents will be left without any options for care.
2-Ubiquitious in-person learning can’t really be equally achieved online for a variety of reasons. Some families don’t have internet. Others don’t have computers. Others have many family members in one house and can’t find a place to concentrate.
3-Schools will absolutely incubate the virus, that’s (from what I can tell) a scientific fact, and if we open them we are asking already-underpaid teachers to essentially play with fire in their own classrooms, opening themselves up to substantial personal risk.
If I had it my way (which we should all probably be thankful doesn’t ever happen), we would close the schools but make sure that every parent in need has child care options available and the resources necessary for home learning. After building that infrastructure, we should look for ways to make sure that home learning is robust and accessible, with an emphasis on the fact that it is merely a temporary solution, and for most, can not permanently replace the value of a classroom.
Smile Politely wrote a good editorial about this, too.
(Anthony Zilis / News-Gazette)
Library plan: No more late fees
Small victories in Champaign.
(Tim Ditman / News-Gazette)
Dr. Ngozi Ezike Addresses Rising COVID Cases And Masks
The 21st, a state-wide radio show produced in town at WILL, interviewed the state’s foremost expert on COVID-19 yesterday, and the listen is well worth your time.
(Brian Mackey / Illinois Public Media)
Shiners Moonshine is closing
Who would have guessed that a moonshine store would succumbed to an unprecedented pandemic in the year 2020?
Jokes aside, it sucks to lose yet another business that made C-U unique. Surely there has to be a small business boom when this is all over, right? *laughs nervously* Right?
Pekara’s location downtown is also closing, but I have a feeling (and maybe a little information) that whatever is going into that space is going to be amazing! ;)
(Jessica Hammie / Smile Politely)
International Students At The U Of I Relieved After ICE Rescinds Restriction
All the real ones hate ICE. Abolish ICE.
(Lee Gaines / Illinois Newsroom)
Taste of Champaign Goes Virtual for 2020
Naturally we must be skeptical that no virtual experience will ever replace the Champaign rite-of-passage that is eating a slice of Domino’s pizza while watching that one guy from the Gin Blossoms who is obviously perturbed to be playing the Taste.
Anyway this song rips:
The School of Social Work is hosting their next poverty discussion on July 24th
(Julie McClure / Smile Politely)
At Least 100 Migrant Farmworkers In Illinois Have Tested Positive For COVID-19, Clinic Director Says
(Christine Herman / Illinois Newsroom)
This Tweet is pretty scary
The fixed 309’s elevators via helicopter yesterday
Not sure why this is so fascinating but it is. Photo via Reddit user u/love4boats.
FILL OUT YOUR CENSUS
Have a good weekend!
And wear your mask! It’s not hard!