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THE DAILY ILLINI

MONDAY March 11, 2019

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Vol. 148 Issue 49

Tesla coil concert electrifies with fire tunes

BEN TSCHETTER THE DAILY ILLINI

The Tesla Coil Concert on the Bardeen Quad during the Engineering Open House on Friday. The concert featured large electromagnets that played hit songs from Taylor Swift, AC/DC, Bruno Mars and more.

Otter chaos:

University recognized for Mascot referendum fails amid online havoc disability accommodations BY ETHAN SIMMONS STAFF WRITER

The Alma Otter mascot campaign hit a roadblock Friday; 52 percent of participating student voters voted “no” to adopting the otter as a symbol of the University. The question, “Do you approve of making Alma Otter an official symbol of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign?” on the Spring 2019 Illinois Student Government ballot resulted in a 3,510-3,807 vote. ISG Vice President Alice Zheng, student Senator Anna Sekiguchi and Chief of Staff Susan Zhou authored the Alma Otter referendum. Student representatives planned on presenting results of the vote during future meetings of the Chancellor’s Commission on Native Imagery, Zhou said. “This year is the best year

to pose this referendum, whether or not students want the University to move on and accept Alma Otter as the new symbol and mascot,” Zhou said prior to the vote. The student vote signals a new chapter for the viral Alma Otter phenomenon. Three months ago, Alma Otter was nothing but a word association joke between a few friends. On Dec. 13, University juniors Austin Lindell, Connor Latham and John Farwick were celebrating Farwick’s birthday at Cocomero, a frozen yogurt store on campus. Lindell glanced at Alma Mater across Wright Street and made the joke. Latham and Farwick laughed, went back to their apartment with Lindell and photoshopped the pun to life. The group pulled up an image of an otter — specif-

ically with its arms up, to al flourish. This took “like 10 resemble the statue — lay- minutes maximum,” Latham ered on a jersey with “Alma” said. scribbled on the corner and The next day, Lindell postadded the otter’s reflection SEE OTTER | 3A in the water for profession-

PHOTO COURTESY OF AUSTIN LINDELL

Original Alma Otter design posted by UI junior Austin Lindell on the UIUC subreddit on Dec. 14.

KENYON EDMOND THE DAILY ILLINI

The University Solar Farm covers 20.8 acres and is located along the south side of Windsor Road between First Street and the railroad tracks.

STAFF WRITER

The University was recently recognized as the second best college for students with physical disabilities by College Magazine. According to the publication, the 10 schools that made the list were judged on the basis of their accessible dorms, classrooms and transportation. The schools also get the entire campus involved by advocating for awareness and inclusion for students with physical disabilities. Zain Bando, freshman in Media, uses a wheelchair. He said the Universit y deser ves the recognition. “It’s wonderful to see the University of Illinois take great strides in making sure that students with disabilities are considered when attending a major university,” Bando said in an email. The University has implemented efforts to make the college experience more convenient for those with disabilities. For example, Nugent Hall is a disability-friendly dormitory that provides students with assistance for laundry services, daily room services, maintenance, computer tech support and parking. According to the Disability Resources & Educational Services center on campus, each member of the community at Nugent Hall is responsible for contributing in maintaining a positive residential environment so that all members have opportunities for personal growth. Bando said one of the

UI leads Illinois going green BY BENEDICTE MULUMBA YENYI STAFF WRITER

The state of Illinois will move to using 100 percent renewable energy, which includes solar, wind and other naturally replenished energy sources, by 2050, according to the Clean Energy Jobs Act that passed Feb. 27. Rizwan Uddin, director of the energy systems program, said Illinois is the

most nuclear state in the country, as almost 50 percent of its energy comes from nuclear power. “Illinois has always been the center of nuclear reactors and activities,” Uddin said. The Act, also known as Bill SB2132, targets 2050 as the year the state can go fully fossil-fuel-free. Their first step is to generate 45 percent of the electricity of

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the state from renewable sources by 2030. However, Uddin said this bill will be problematic for the state as to what will happen if the wind stops blowing on a summer night. “On a summer night, your windmills are not turning and you don’t have any other source of electricity,” Uddin said. “What is always needed is what we call base load power, some reactor that

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will continue to provide electricity when the wind is not blowing.” Currently, a small amount of energy used in the state comes from solar and wind, which cuts down the carbon, Uddin said. Nuclear is currently counted as nonrenewable, but it is carbonfree, which makes Illinois a wonderful green state.

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services that helps him the most is DRES, as it provides academic accommodations for classes such as extended examination times and even class scribes. “DRES does a great job of meeting student needs on a regular basis,” Bando said. In addition, the University’s bus system is an asset for helping students make their way around ca mpus. Cha mpa ig nUrbana Mass Transit District buses assist students in getting around campus to classes, dorms and offcampus locations. “This allows students with disabilities to have another way to transport themselves if the weather is restricting them from doing so,” Bando said. However, Bando said he notices the University still needs to improve accessibility in certain aspects. “A drawback of the system is that if you have a special event that you’d like to go to on a weekend evening, you have to call them on the Wednesday (before) the event,” Bando said. “Sometimes, plans can change, and I wish there was a way to find a solution in order to make the traveling experience better.” In addition, as a sports fan, Bando wishes the State Farm Center was more accessible for students with disabilities. He has noticed the Orange Krush entrance is not accessible, which forces him to go through the main west entrance and ask for someone to escort him to his seat.

BY MEGHANA KAZA

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Theft was reported at Meijer, 2401 N. Prospect Ave., around 4 p.m. Wednesday. According to the report, a Meijer employee had been eating food on display at their cashier lane for the last few weeks. Criminal damage to property was reported on the 1000 block of North Fifth Street, around 11 p.m. Wednesday. According to the report, the suspect broke into the victim’s apartment and began to harass the victim. The victim ran outside to call 911, but the suspect

broke the phone by smashing it on the ground. The suspect left the area. Theft was reported on the 3000 block of West John Street, around 2 p.m. Thursday. According to the report, the victim reported their package was sent to the wrong address. The package has not been located.

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600 block of West Elm Street, around 10 a.m. Thursday. According to the report, the victim reported an unknown suspect broke into their apartment and took items from inside. There were no signs of forced entry. Burglary was reported on the 1000 block of Kerr Avenue. According to the report, an unknown offender broke into the victim’s vehicle and took items within the vehicle without the victim’s permission.

Burglary was reported on the news@dailyillini.com

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Crossbred plant to increase biofuel BY DANIEL RENTERIA STAFF WRITER

Researchers from the University and Aarhus University in Denmark have found a new strain of plant which is coldtolerant, making it more efficient to produce biomass and create a green source of fuel. Miscanthus x giganteus, a hybrid plant, will be more efficient after it is bred with its Siberian cousin, Miscanthus sacchariflorus. According to Charles Pignon, the study’s leader, the plant is perennial, grows in poor soil conditions and absorbs carbon dioxide emissions from the air. Despite a ll this, researchers wanted to find a way to make the plant’s growth cycle longer and make it so the plant can be grown in colder climates, such as northern parts of Canada. Stephen Long, Ikenberry endowed University chair of crop sciences and plant biology and an author on the study, said, “The (Miscanthus x giganteus) plant that we tried in Illinois is very productive, but it doesn’t start growing until midApril. So if it could be made more cold tolerant, then you could have a longer growing season

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The breeds of Miscanthus that were studied by University researchers are now being bred to allow for longer growing seasons and more biomass.

and it would be more productive.” Since breeds of Miscanthus grew in Eurasia as far north as Siberia, researchers from the University and Aaruh University surveyed the region in search of plants with high cold tolerance. Pignon said there are multiple ways to define cold tolerance in plants, but the definition that was used in search of Miscanthus in Siberia was for the plant to still be able to go through photosynthesis despite being in cold temperatures. Idan Spitz, research-

er on the project and plant biology graduate, explained the process of turning Miscanthus into biofuel. “The aim here is to grow this crop, which produces a lot of biomass, and then mulch it and ferment the mulch into bioethanol and that can then be used for cars in place of fossil fuels, and at the moment they’re using corn bioethanol to replace fuel,” Idan said. There is much work to be done in the future with these newly discovered cold-tolerant strains of Miscanthus, such as map-

ping its genome. Currently, the plant is being bred with the original Miscanthus x giganteus and sugar cane. “Miscanthus and sugar cane are so closely related that they’re interfertile and you can produce a hybrid of sugarcane and Miscanthus,” Pignon said. “They’ve called this plant miscane and so that’s already been done now. What we want to do is to make new miscane with the new cold-tolerant exceptions that we have already discovered.” drente2@dailyillini.com

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2019

RESEARCH PARK

career fair TUESDAY, MARCH 12

4 - 7 PM

I-Hotel & Conference Center

1900 South First Street, Champaign For more information: researchpark.illinois.edu/careerfair

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MONDAY March 11, 2019 The Daily Illini DailyIllini.com

NEWS

Landscape architecture earns national recognition

FROM 1A

BY LUIS VELAQUEZ

“If it is not nuclear, they can rely on batteries,” he said. “But the battery technologies are not at a stage where you can store a huge amount of electricity that you can supply the entire state.” The University in its turn has always been a big proponent of renewable energy. Uddin said this bill will be in line with what the University already has a policy on, which pushes toward carbon-free. “But the challenge is not how much electricity we can produce with solar and wind, but the time when there is no wind and sun,” Uddin said. “The University will need something to back it up.” Uddin said the University is environmentally friendly through its use of a solar farm. Also, the University is researching another form of renewable energy called geothermal. The future plans of making Illinois the next energy leader, is first by getting the legislation, Uddin said. “Once the legislation is there, (the University) expects that 25 or 50 percent of electricity in Illinois will come from renewable sources,” Uddin said. The University is important for Illinois to become a leader in renewable energy. There are other states such as Minnesota, Iowa and Wisconsin that have higher percentage of energy coming from the wind. Uddin said cutting back on non-renewable energy is understandable; however, he does not agree on whether nuclear energy should be cut back. “If you take out the coal and nuclear, you become very vulnerable in terms of electricity resiliency, meaning it will come a time that Illinois will have to import electricity from neighboring states and that will be very expensive,” he said. The University is not entirely green either, only a small fraction of electricity comes from solar. Uddin insists it will be hard for the University to go 100 percent green as it will be challenging when the wind is not blowing. “Maybe you can stay 70 percent of the time green and the rest of the time, you might need to buy electricity from someone else,” he said. “That can be done by 2050.” At this point, it is impossible for the whole state of Illinois to completely be green. “It is a matter of development of technology for energy storage,” he said. “I don’t see by 2050 providing batteries electricity for the entire state. We have to be realistic when setting our goals and we should keep nuclear in the next one because it is carbon-free and some people even claim that it is renewable.”

STAFF WRITER

With a total of 60 students, one of the smallest departments at the University, the Department of Landscape Architecture, may not always receive acknowledgement from the campus community. However, the department’s bachelor program was recently ranted No. 3 in the country by College Factual, a website which compares universities for upcoming college freshmen. Located in FAA, the department was first established in 1907. The University was among the first institutions in the country to offer an academic and degree program in landscape architecture, according to their website. Stephen Sears, associate professor in FAA, is proud of how students impact the community. However, he believes one might not be able to recognize a landscape architect’s work right on the spot. “The scope of landscape architecture is about developing projects for the environment, which is a public space,” Sears said. “It is not something that is easily noticeable in comparison to a architecture project because it is a building. We make space and spaces often aren’t perceived as easily.” Students in landscape design require workspaces larger than your average school desk, and the class is more immersive than most classroom environments. Students are given a problem to address for their project, and they work through a process to draw and create physical models. “The design is a process, and so it is about applying a set of skills to a problem to get to an outcome. The work

ALEX SARDJEV THE DAILY ILLINI

On Friday, Stephen Sears, associate professor in FAA, points to a section of a map where his students worked on a long-term project for his class.

is big and the plans are large since we work at the scale of a city,” Sears said. William Sullivan, professor and head of the department, considers it is not hard to get into the program at the University, but there is a small number of students because of the lack of interest toward the field. There are more people interested in technology design; however, he deeply believes a career in landscape architecture is good because it helps the environment. “We have the capacity to create places that not only provide high-level qualities but opportunities to experience healthy lives. We create

healthier places and neighbors in which people get to know each other,” Sullivan said. Sears believes the University doesn’t leave the department on the side. Upcoming projects within the campus are improving the academia in the department. “The University is committed to designing, particularly through the new upcoming design center that’s being built and a number of other initiatives throughout the campus,” Sears said. Students in this department have received national recognition with their designs, such as being honored by the Illinois Chap-

Professors receive Sloan fellowship Grant to support graduate research projects at Illinois BY TIARA COSBY STAFF WRITER

Two University professors were chosen for the Sloan Research Fellowship for their research in engineering, out of a total of 126 recipients. Professors Haitham AlHassanieh and Diwakar Shukla both received fellowships provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, which aims “to stimulate fundamental research by earlycareer scientists and scholars of outstanding promise,” according to its website. Shukla, an assistant Blue Waters professor in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, said he has been in this field for 12 years. “In my opinion, the field is easier now than it was before. I now have the opportunity of investigating problems that I never could,” Shukla said. Al-Hassanieh said he did not expect to win the award and was anxious because most people don’t get the fellowship for their first nomination.

FROM 1A

DISABILITY

Shukla’s work focuses on understanding complex biological processes by using different models and techniques. “Some of the best work I have done is bringing new perspectives into a completely new field,” Shukla said. “No one has ever applied these perspectives before.” Since the Research Fellowships recognize “unique potential and contributions to their field” in scientists, according to the website, many other qualified research scholars anticipated winning this award as well. “The field of chemistry is so large, with many smaller departments and other related disciplines,” Shukla said. “I know that there were a lot of other people that could get this award and receive this award.” Shukla and Al-Hassanieh both express their gratitude to the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. “If I could use two words to describe this experience, I would say that I am ecstatic and humbled,” Al-Hassanieh said.

The Sloan Research Fellowship awards the winning recipients a prize of $70,000, which can be used to the discretion of the winners. “The money will be used to fund more exciting research projects,” Shukla said. “Projects don’t necessarily have the funding needed, which allows us to put more money into students as well.” Al-Hassanieh also intends on using the fellowship money as a way to support graduate students in similar fields. “I would like to hire graduate students to help with research projects and find more solutions to the field,” Al-Hassanieh said. Both professors have brought new perspectives into their research area. Al-Hassanieh’s work focuses on wiring systems, sensing systems and computer algorithms. “I have worked on different projects. One is computer algorithms that can signal and extract wireless sequences,” Al-Hassanieh said. tcosby2@dailyillini.com

ter of the American Society of Landscape Architects. However, not all students are aware about the success of this department. Jasmine Cuasay, sophomore in Engineering, confessed she did not know the Department of Landscape Architecture was offered to students. “It’s sad to think about how limited my knowledge is of the other departments. UIUC is marketed mostly as a school for engineering and business. I wish there was a way to promote more of the smaller departments, ones that need applicants the most so that they could get the funding to help their

FROM 1A

OTTER

department,” Cuasay said in an email. Ellies Martin, sophomore in FAA, enjoys being a part of the department. He appreciates the opportunity of having a close relationship with his professor when it comes to upcoming projects. However, he wants more exposure for his department aside from just advertising. “When you are walking around you don’t really think of who built this. When you walk into a park you don’t think about that, you just enjoy the space. I wish more people got involved more with it,” Martin said. lvelaz20@dailyillini.com

tumed mascot. Their design received over 300,000 impressions and appeared on ESPN’s Around the Horn, a roundtable discussion show. Meanwhile, online forums flooded with student-made mascot proposals, to varying levels of sincerity. An eagle, Chief the Flying Illini, the 22N Illini bus and the Bell Tower as the Eye of Sauron, referencing to popular series “Lord of the Rings,” made the rounds on Twitter, Reddit and Facebook. “Champ” creator Mike Skibski still plans to present his mascot idea to the Board of Trustees, and is discussing a possible collaboration with Alma Otter supporters, Skibski said. With the referendum’s split results, Alma Otter’s future on campus remains unclear. Although online responses are part anger and rabid fandom, the otter’s creators feel little responsibility for the community division. “I don’t feel bad about it because we came up with this as a joke and we wanted people to laugh about it,” said Latham. “The people that don’t like it? Too bad, I guess.”

ed the image to the University subreddit as well as Facebook meme page “UIUC Memes for Underfunded Teens.” On Reddit, it garnered 500 upvotes, on Facebook it received nearly 1,500 reactions. From then on, it was hands-off for the juniors. “We didn’t have anything to do with it after that, support just built through the students,” Lindell said. Their off-hand pun became a rallying point for online student communities. Students came up with reasons to justify the mascot, such as river otters making an ecological comeback in Illinois, Lindell said. The preeminent Alma Otter Facebook page, run by student senator Sekiguchi, sports over 1,100 likes. With virality also came chaos and misinformation. Two weeks ago, engineering honors society Knights of St. Patrick put out a fake ballot, proposing Alma Otter as “college mascot for Homecoming 2019.” University-unaffiliated Twitter editor @IlliniCreative posted its photoshop of Alma Otter as a cos- ecsimmon@dailyillini.com

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walk very far.” The University has organizations to make students with disabilities feel welcomed. Delta Sigma Omicron was founded by Dr. Timothy J. Nugent, whom Nugent Hall on campus is also named after. DSO is an established fraternity on campus, is fully comprised of those with disabilities and is dedicated to education, research and service in rehabilitation. “If anyone that has a disability is considering attending college, look no further than ChampaignUrbana,” Bando said. “I could not imagine seeing myself anywhere else in the country because of how accessible the campus is.”

“I wish there was a way that students in wheelchairs who are part of Orange Krush could independently check in without having an escort take them to their seat every single game,” Bando said. However, Bando agrees the disability friendliness of the campus is the main reason why he decided to attend the University. “I feel like I have gotten a good grasp on how to navigate the campus well enough to where I know where I’m going at all times,” Bando said. “The directions to places are relatively easy, and as far as my classes are concerned, I don’t have to mkaza2@dailyillini.com

GIANNA SOBIESKI THE DAILY ILLINI

The Illini Union has a disability ramp on the Main Quad for those who can not use the stairs.

OPINIONS

MONDAY March 11, 2019 The Daily Illini DailyIllini.com

Food delivery encourages laziness ALICE LEE COLUMNIST

onvenience and lack of effort seem to be two of the most important factors for consumers these days. Instead of reaching for pots and pans, people are reaching for their phones and computers. This increased reliance on food delivery services to provide groceries and meals can be attributed to the behavior of millennials, as can the consequences of laziness and lack of self-sufficiency. Loosely defined as people born in the early 1980s until the late 1990s, millennials have surpassed the baby boomers as the largest U.S. age demographic and hold much of the consumer power. The decisions made by this age group, specifically in the food industry, have a direct impact on the future of homecooked and commercialized meals. UBS Investment Bank published a report forecasting a rise in delivery sales could rise an annual average of more than 20 percent to $365 billion internationally from $35 billion currently. They also found millennials are three times as likely to order food than their parents, and food delivery apps are in the top 40 most-downloaded apps.

BRIAN NGUYEN THE DAILY ILLINI

A driving factor behind this revolution for food delivery is the ease of ordering and the time saved, but this also creates a handicap for millennials who depend on these apps for most, if not all, of their meals for the day. Millennials are often stereotyped as being lazy and entitled narcissists who still live at home with their parents and can’t maintain a job because

they have no work ethic. Though the majority are myths, there is bearing to the main differences that make this age group stand out from previous generations. Millennials are unique problem-solvers who seek to work smarter, not harder. Delivering food and saving time seems to be the most logical answer. However, this creates a routine in which millen-

nials become conditioned to have things delivered to them, instead of going to get them. Even the meal kits that still require cooking are delivered right to your front door, a “just add water and watch it grow” toy for adults. We live in a time in which revolutionary breakthroughs are increasing the quality of life while decreasing how much work humans actu-

ally have to put in. We have technology audio assistants searching up information so we don’t have to, smart cars that can drive so we don’t have to, but at what point do we stop creating tools which take away the functions that make it meaningful to be human in the first place? The Disney-Pixar film “Wall-E” captures this idea quite perfectly: Humans are the will-

ing and naive consumers of large corporations who pander to their superficial whims and leave them lazy, bored and unfulfilled. It should be jarring to realize the large, obese people moving around in the robotic couches could too easily be us in the foreseeable future if things don’t change. Alice is a freshman in LAS. alicewl2@dailyillini.com

There’s trouble in ‘the Resistance’ to Trump stars looking to turn their “wokeness” into cash. The others are anti-Trump COLUMNIST Republican intellectuals who find themselves in search of a new home. he enemy of my Grifters come in all enemy is my shapes and sizes, but friend” is a provthe most blatant examerb that sounds wise if you ple in the Resistance are don’t think too hard about the Krassenstein Brothit. Since the election of ers. The pair are Twitter President Donald Trump, warriors who spend their a loose network of peotime tweeting pointless ple self-titled “the Resisand unoriginal things at tance” has arisen. The the president. Through Resistance has no binding this, they have amassed ideology other than stand- a combined 1.5 million ing in opposition to the followers. president. It has no leader Before Trump, they but many important figwere investigated for their ures. Some people saw this ties to an alleged Ponzi new mass movement as a scheme and have applied chance to gain influence. that same business spirit Many liberals, who aren’t to fighting Trump. They thinking too hard about released a children’s book that proverb, invited these called “How the People opportunists with open Trumped Ronald Plump” arms. depicting Robert Mueller, There are two kinds of characterized as “Robproblematic people in the ert Moral,” a buff shirtless Resistance. The first group superman fighting “Ronis grifters. These peoald Plump” and other fample are usually political ily members like “Jared comedians or social media Nepotism.” But their bad JOSEPH DILLIER

“T

jokes are not the worst part. They even created their own news website and podcast to recycle anti-Trump clickbait to generate ad revenue. The next set of grifters are the late night comedians and cringeworthy Saturday Night Live cold opens which have used the opportunity created by the president’s incompetence to boost ratings. Their humor rarely has a punchline or builds on itself, and instead simply references to things in the news. A-list celebrities are brought in to create the feeble idea that all antiTrumpers are in the fight together. The main problem with the grifters category is not just they are only in it for the money, but they are taking space away from actual substantive commentary on Trump. They are smug ways for most liberals to feel good about themselves. Take a recent Krassenstein tweet respond-

SCREEN GRAB FROM TWITTER

Columnist Joseph points out the problems of “wokeness” regarding outspoken critics of President Donald Trump on social media platforms like Twitter.

ing to the president who was promoting a book which reviews him positively: “Robert Mueller is currently writing ‘A case against Trump.’ It will be epic!” This bad attempt at humor got almost five thousand likes despite doing nothing but making some liberals feel better. Just because someone is anti-Trump does not make them a liberal or good source of information. After all, despite all the bad things the president represents, his unusual rise to power means something is wrong and thus needs to be fixed. There are plenty of people who are a part of this problem who, only because of their opposition to the president, are being welcomed in by liberals. Take writer Kevin D. Williamson. A few years back, The Atlantic, a leftleaning magazine, wanted to hire a Republican antiTrumper, so they chose National Review writer Kevin D. Williamson. The magazine felt the spirit of resistance and saw they had a common enemy, but this alliance was short-lived. He was soon fired for saying women who get abortions should be hanged. It makes one wonder why he was hired in the first place. Diversity of thought is an admirable goal, but some ideas are simply dumb and do not push the conversation forward. For example, Williamson also wrote an article about how white working class communities “deserve to die.” In the wider context of the article, all he is doing is urging people in the rust belt to get out, but Williamson does not seem to get the pointlessness of this. First, not a lot of ex-factory workers are picking up the National Review in search of Williamson’s advice, so really it is just a piece for the National Review’s actual readers — wealthy conservatives —

to feel okay about what is going on. Second, Williamson never has any interest in helping them move. There is no talk of re-education or investment. Ultimately, like his abortion comment, it is just a glib rebuke of a group of people who do not fit into his political agenda. So why should a liberal newspaper like The Atlantic hire Williamson? Their only stated reason is he is an anti-Trump conservative — a phrase that should be synonymous with irrelevance. If the left wants to win in 2020, reaching out to working-class communities, instead of telling them they deserve to die, may be a good strategy. Liberals should let this bygone conservatism go instead of paying it money to talk more. The National Review or the Wall Street Journal are not interested in hiring a nice liberal columnist because they actually want to win. The left would be smart to copy this instead of letting people who have nothing to add on board. Tucker Carlson even wrote a surprisingly thoughtful piece asking why many neo-conservatives, specifically Max Boot and William Kristol, who wanted the Iraq War and are not sorry for it, are still given credence. They have been consistently wrong, and their writings, like “The Weekly Standard,” are not even profitable. It is sad far-right figures like Tucker Carlson see this problem while some liberals are joyfully embracing the very people whose negative influence on the country helped elect Trump in the first place. Despite many of the bad things Trump represents, there were legitimate problems he addressed during the campaign. His unexpected victory over a more traditional candidate such as Hillary Clinton means something is

structurally wrong with America, a fact many antiTrump liberals refuse to believe. People like Boot, Kristol and Williamson advocated for policies that created this mess and have now been rejected from their own party. Democrats should not let them into the conversation simply because they also do not like Trump. There are some Democrats who are so mad at Trump they are not seeing the bigger picture. Trump’s criticism of the foreign policy establishment and pledge to “drain the swamp” have been mostly hypocritical. He brought on John Bolton, who helped sell the “Weapons of Mass Destruction” lie to the Bush administration, and has advocated for further American military involvement in world affairs. Early on, Trump also hired Paul Manafort and Roger Stone, who created modern influence peddling lobby by selling their close relationship to Ronald Reagan for cash and helped modernize money in politics into the well organized super PACs we know today. Their firm, Black, Manafort, Stone and Kelly, soon became mocked as the torture lobby for taking money from dictators in exchange for influencing U.S. policy. Despite the hypocrisy of these goals, which are shaking up the Foreign Policy establishment and getting money out of politics, they are still admirable and the left should consider them as a part of their platform for 2020. Democrats have a real shot at beating Trump this time around. To do this, however, Democrats need to keep the swamp monsters and grifters out of the conversation. Just because they are also anti-Trump does not mean they are friends. Joseph is a junior in LAS. dillier2@dailyillini.com

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.

THE DAILY ILLINI | WWW.DAILYILLINI.COM

Monday, March 11, 2019

Student hits home run with analytics BY NANDIKA CHATTERJEE STAFF WRITER

Before arriving at the University, Charlie Young never dreamed he would go into baseball. He became interested in baseball analytics after the Chicago Cubs won the World Series his freshman year. Illinois Baseball Analytics is a sort of subset of the baseball team that analyzes data for the University's team. Young, junior in LAS, started the group around two years ago. Already a passionate baseball fan, Young learned the Cubs’ general manager at the time, Theo Epstein, worked with the analytical manager of the Red Sox when they won, prompting Young to use his own computer science skills to analyze baseball as a hobby. He got himself a database online with statistics dating back to the 1890s. Young taught himself database management, web development and a little bit of statistics. “I found that A, I really enjoyed it, (and) B, I was pretty good at teaching myself,” he said. In time, Young consumed all the material he could find relating to the topic. He read books he bought for Christmas on data analytics. In one of the books he read, he came across a pioneering analyst, Alan Nathan, a professor at the University. Young approached him to share and discuss all he had learned. Coincidentally, at the same time, the baseball team had approached Nathan asking for advice purchasing Flightscope, a device used to calculate various measures of players’ skills. The team had also asked Nathan if he knew of any students who could run the Flightscope for them. Nathan asked Young if he wanted to run the program, to which he agreed. Gradually, Young started showing the team some of what he was working on regarding baseball analytics. They were impressed, and Young began working with the team to analyze the data. Young now provides the coaches with whatever data they request. He has even used his programming experience to write some code to work on data that Flightscope

COLLEEN ROMANO THE DAILY ILLINI

did not have. Now, as the end of his junior year approaches, Young decided to bring on others to help him. He said the increased academic load of junior year, the need for new ideas and the project’s longevity after he graduates incited him to grow his own analytics team. Members of the team, also referred to as student managers, come from diverse majors and years in

school. But together, with backgrounds in statistics, math and computers they are able to work toward achieving the same goals. Nate Jensen, freshman in Engineering, is one of the members of the group. He said his favorite part of being a part of the team is being able to see his actions have some real impacts. “I think the coaches are actually approaching us,” he said. “They are telling us

what data they want.” Fellow group member, Aman Gulrajani, sophomore in Business, agreed he could see the changes in the players’ games based on the data he was analyzing. He is extremely proud to be part of the group. He said he was basically living out his childhood dream and he plans to pursue sports statistics as a career path in the future. “This is like the one thing

that seems like an assignment but its not,” he said. “I do not mind dedicating time to this.” The group plans to continue what they are doing, but also introduce an application for the coaches to use on their own in the near future. Because he is graduating soon, Young hopes to excite others to join the group. Many members are excited by the possibili-

ty of sports statistics and data analytics as future jobs. Kyle Troy, senior in LAS, said he too wanted to explore this field as a career. For Troy and other members, Young is helpful because of his knowledge, experience and contacts. “I feel like people don’t completely grasp just how much Charlie knows, or how smart he is,” Troy said. nandika2@dailyillini.com

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1 Two of a kind 5 Buildings near barns 10 Stinging insect 14 Bone alongside the radius 15 Jack in a deck of cards 16 Camera setting for amateur photographers 17 Paranoiac’s headgear 19 Walked (on) 20 Up, in baseball 21 Straps for an equestrian 22 Soak (up) 25 Present en masse 28 Pen pal’s plea 30 Like a Monday crossword, typically 31 Actress Chlumsky of “Veep” 32 Part of the eye 33 In the past 36 “This means trouble, my friend” 41 Motor oil product 42 Hero fighter pilots 43 Partner of “go seek” 44 Celebrity 45 Keeps under surveillance 48 Blueberries and fatty fish, nutritionists say 51 Visitors from outer space, for short 52 Without toppings 53 Walled city WNW of Madrid 55 Watermelon waste 56 Dirt … or what 17-, 25-, 36- and 48-Across all have? 61 Gives a tattoo to 62 ___ and true 63 Not spicy 64 Soup to go with sushi 65 Delicious 66 Potato, informally

19 21

40 43

44 48

20 22

PUZZLE BY ALI GASCOIGNE

DOWN

1 “___ ’er there!” 2 “The Greatest” boxer 3 Lodging for the night 4 Tennis great Nadal, to fans 5 One who’s always looking for a lift? 6 What a worker who oversleeps will be 7 Christine of “The Blacklist” 8 Eggs in a lab 9 Cry between “ready” and “go!” 10 Diluted, as a drink 11 ___ Goldfinger (Bond villain) 12 Something skipped across a pond 13 Racing vehicles for Anakin Skywalker 18 Nebraska native tribe

21 Martini & ___ (brand of sparkling wine) 22 Rocks from side to side 23 “To be, ___ to be” 24 Photo of Marilyn Monroe, once 26 Last emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty 27 Not foul, as a baseball hit 29 Toxic part of cigarettes 32 Uncertainties 33 Licoricelike flavoring 34 Title character who never arrives in a Beckett play 35 Jesse of the Berlin Olympics 37 “___ good in the neighborhood” (restaurant slogan) 38 Volunteer’s words

39 Spongy toy material 40 First word of every “Friends” episode title 44 Declared 45 The first “S” in U.S.S.R. 46 Onetime alias of Sean Combs 47 ___ of Wight 48 Thin Russian pancakes 49 Places in order of preference 50 Desert stop for camels 52 ___ and proper 54 Prepares to shoot 56 Cousin in the Addams family 57 Arms-loving grp. 58 Little bite 59 Bug mostly seen in winter 60 Peculiar

The crossword solution is in the Classified section.

MONDAY March 11, 2019 The Daily Illini DailyIllini.com

LIFE & CULTURE

UI intern takes Washington, DC BY SARAH O’BEIRNE STAFF WRITER

Over the summer, Tommy Justison, senior in ACES, thought he would return to the University to complete his degree. That was, until he learned he had been accepted as a White House intern for the fall semester. As a White House intern, Justison was assigned to work for the National Economic Council, which advises the president on economic policy. Justison specifically worked on agriculture-related policy but also contributed to health care, infrastructure and environmental initiatives. The road to interning at the White House began with an application and a phone interview back in May, but Justison didn’t hear anything until July. There were 89 other students part of Justison’s intern class, divided into different departments. Although there is currently a Republican administration, Justison said there was a mixture of political beliefs among the interns. “No matter if you’re Republican, Democrat or Independent, they looked at everyone pretty equally,” Justison said. “It was interesting to see that aspect because they functioned pretty well as a team. You wouldn’t think that depending on where you stand on things.” Last August, the White House was criticized for a lack of diversity among its summer interns. However, Justison said the geographical diversity of his intern class was underscored for importance, especially for him given his agricultural background. “To give those opportunities to students who come from a small town, a rural area or even a bigger city that isn’t as accoladed academically as Ivy Leagues, I think was just as important because you got diversity in that experience,” Justison said. “It provided a rich experience.” During his time as an intern, Justison met President Donald Trump. “We did get to individually meet him, and he was in a few different meetings as we went throughout the process,” Justison said. “In all his interactions with interns, he was very cordial and nice.” For White House interns, dedication to public service is a top priority. Justison said although political polarization is alive in Washington, there are compromises made across party lines. “You both understand that you’re trying to do something better for the country, and that’s why you’re in public service. You just have different ways to get there,” Justison said. “One thing that I took away that was interest-

PHOTO COURTESY OF TOMMY JUSTISON

Tommy Justison, senior in ACES, stands in front of the White House, where he interned for the fall semester. The University connects students with a variety of programs which provide experience in the Washington political arena.

ing is there are a lot of these workings that go across lines that you don’t see based on media coverage.” As the only University student in his intern class, Justison encourages more students to apply. “No matter your background, political beliefs, this is the people’s house,” he said. “Going to the same places that presidents such as Lincoln, Obama and Reagan did is a truly remarkable experience. To be able to go there every day and be able to see that, it’s hard to believe. Only time you have to really pinch yourself is the last day, when you have to give up your credentials and leave for the last time.” While interning, Justison took the semester off from

“I know a lot of people that interned in D.C., and it changed their education.” JOSHUA HOLMES ILLINOIS IN WASHINGTON GRADUATE ASSISTANT

the University; however, students can participate in the Illinois in Washington program. IIW allows students to spend a semester or summer interning in Washington while earning credit through the University. During the fall and spring terms, the program requires students to take a minimum of 12 credit hours, including PS 491: Internship and PS 125: The Washington Experience. Summer term par-

It started here. Classes. Friendships. Lifetime memories.

ticipants are only required to complete the internship course. The program is offered through the political science department but is open to all majors. Andrea Mayer, director of IIW, said there are lots of opportunities for Illinois students to intern in the Washington political arena. “Every member of Congress with whom I work is interested in supporting the University of Illinois and really (wants) to hire Illinois stu-

dents to be their interns,” Mayer said. “If you want to work on Capitol Hill, there’s a lot of support.” Mayer also said while 50 percent of IIW participants are political science majors or minors, there are plenty of opportunities for STEM and pre-health students, especially at any of the 400 federal agencies. Joshua Holmes, graduate assistant for IIW, said this program is a great opportunity for students to test the waters and gain professional experience. “I know a lot of people that interned in D.C., and it changed their education,” Holmes said. “A lot of them found jobs through it. A lot came back and decided to change the focus of their

major, so it’s a really great opportunity for students.” Justison said he was surprised how different interning in Washington, D.C. was from other corporate internships he has completed. “Your name and integrity is very much valued in that city,” he said. “A lot of jobs in D.C. are not given because of qualifications, but they’re given because of who you know and who can vouch for you. That was very different for me from corporate. For the most part, your front line is having those qualities that made you successful or having a background that made you successful. But to get your foot in the door is a different story.” sarahjo2@dailyillini.com

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MONDAY March 11, 2019 The Daily Illini DailyIllini.com

SPORTS

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

MEN’S BASKETBALL

MEN’S GYMNASTICS

Illinois’ defeat wraps up season

Illini drop meet to top team Sooners

BY JJ KIM

BY NITHIN REDDY

STAFF WRITER

Following its firstround loss in the Big Ten tournament, the Illinois women’s basketball team finished the season with a 10-20 record including a 2-16 conference record. Another last place finish isn’t what the Illini looked to accomplish during the second season under head coach Nancy Fahey, but there were marked improvements compared to her inaugural season. “Last year, we were just trying to get our feet settled and get started. Now we have an expectation, we’re competing and we want to go out to win, so when we fall short it’s hurting more,” Fahey said. After losing every conference game last season, Illinois scored dramatic victories over Minnesota and Wisconsin this season, showing the incremental progress the team is making. “When you start losing is when you stop trying,” Fahey said. “I know we’ve been beat, but we’re not losing; (those are) two different things. So for us, when you’re in the process of trying to change (the culture), that’s your next day’s focus. Eventually, if you keep doing that, the scoreboard takes care of itself.” After starting the season 8-3 against nonconference opponents, the Illini struggled against other talented rosters in the conference. With players like Nebraska guard Taylor Kissinger shooting 46 percent from beyond the arc to Iowa’s Megan Gustafson averaging nearly 30 points per game and rebounds, it’s tough to ask for any team to win consistently. “We keep knowing that we’re getting better everyday, and we know we’re competitive in games, but we want to win,” Fahey said. During the first 11 games of the season, Illinois averaged 76 points per game, including its highest-scoring game (107) in a loss to Sacramento State. However, once conference play began, the team only averaged 63 points per game, showing the wide gap in SEE WRAPPING UP | 2B

mature,” Jordan said. “Not just being an offensive guy, being a defensive guy, too. Rebounding and things like that. In high school, I definitely wasn’t thinking about that. I told myself, ‘I’m going to stand in that corner, and when the ball comes, I’m going to shoot it.’ Nowadays, it’s doing all the little things, doing everything, making myself the best player I can be.” Jordan is trusted for his sharpshooting, of course, but also for his above-average rebounding production as a guard, his defense performance and his decision-making. He played in every game as a junior, earning six starts, and as he has come along in areas besides shooting — he still leads the Illini with a

The Illinois men’s gymnastics team went to Norman, Oklahoma, to face the No. 1 Sooners this weekend. While the No. 4 Illini were coming off two quality wins over the Golden Gophers and the Cardinals, the team could not continue their win streak and dropped the meet to the Sooners 415.7-425.7. Even though the deficit ended larger than previous meets, it was not a disappointing performance for the squad. The Illini scored a seasonhigh in points, and head coach Justin Spring was happy with the team’s overall performance. “We did well,” Spring said. “We’re going up against a historic team. They had really good night and we had a pretty good night.” The Illini were led by senior Alex Diab, who continues to show why the team values him meet after meet. Diab won his sixth event title in a row, putting up a 14.8 on the rings. The Illini needed every bit of it. The rest of the team struggled on rings, and the next five highest scores were all Sooners, with an averaged score of 14.35. For the Illini, the combination of Johnny Jacobson, Max Diab, Jacob Light and Joel Diaz produced an average of 13.15. Even with the disappointing output, Alex is not worried. “We came in, we did our job and this is where we are at,” Alex said. “We’re only going to get better from here and we are not too worried about the scores right now.” The Illini were also led by another impressive performance by junior Michael Paradise. He won another title on the pommel horse, and just like Alex, it was Paradise’s sixth straight event title. Paradise put up impressive numbers on one of the hardest events, and it may have helped result in the late-season success. “This year I have what it takes (to win a national championship),” Paradise said. “I’ve been proving that this first part of the season, and I’m just excit-

SEE JORDAN | 2B

SEE SOONERS | 2B

AUSTIN YATTONI THE DAILY ILLINI

Illinois senior Aaron Jordan waves to the crowd as he is recognized before the game against Indiana at the State Farm Center on Thursday. The Illini lost 92-74.

Loyalty defines Jordan’s legacy BY GAVIN GOOD STAFF WRITER

A lot has changed in the Illinois basketball program since Aaron Jordan committed in 2014. At that time, the Illini were fresh off an NCAA Tournament appearance. John Groce was in his second year as head coach, and the program was regarded as one that would be dancing perennially in March. Today, not much remains from Groce’s tenure, and the perception of the program regionally and nationally has fallen significantly. Even the State Farm Center has been renovated. But Jordan remains. Now a senior on secondyear head coach Brad Underwood’s squad, Jordan has ridden out a tough career in Champaign. In Groce’s final year, Jor-

dan saw his playing time drop to less than seven minutes per game, a frustrating development for a prospect who expected to be contributing more after averaging 11.4 minutes in his freshman campaign. After Groce was fired and Underwood was brought on, there was a mass exodus of players leaving Illinois, and a new crop of talent came to town. No one would have blinked, much less blamed him, if Jordan had decided to take his talents elsewhere. But, somewhat surprisingly, the 6-foot-5-inch wing elected to stay at Illinois and carve out a role in Underwood’s guardheavy system. “That was probably one of the best decisions in my life, other than coming here in the first place,” Jordan said. “That was a difficult time; it

was for a lot of people. But it was nothing I couldn’t get through.” Jordan played his last game as an Illini at the State Farm Center on Thursday. He went 4-of-10 from the field in a loss to Indiana, knocking down 3-of-7 threepoint attempts and scoring 11 points in his 27 minutes on the floor. It wasn’t a showstopper of a performance, but he did finish slightly above his 8.2 points-per-game season average. However, he couldn’t do much to thwart the Hoosiers, who won 92-74. But those are the contributions Illinois has come to expect and rely on from Jordan during a senior campaign in which the one-time catch-and-shoot-only guard has come into his own in other areas of the game. “I’m definitely more

WOMEN’S GYMNASTICS

Team drops 11-season winning streak, places second BY SUMEYA KALIB STAFF WRITER

The Illinois women’s gymnastics team competed in the State of Illinois Classic this past weekend against Northern Illinois, Illinois State and University of Illinois at Chicago. The Illini slipped under the Flames in a narrow loss of 196.075-196.150, breaking their 11-season winning streak at the meet. The Illini brought forth their best efforts, beating their previous season-high team score of 195.650, a season-high on floor of 49.250 and tied for their program’s second-highest beam score of 49.400 last achieved in 2016. Vault was led by sophomore Kasey Meeks with a 9.825 which tied her for second place in the event, while junior Lindsay Dwyer and redshirt Mary Jane Otto followed with 9.800’s. However, the team soon met its challenge on bars

when it began to trail behind UIC. Junior Morgan Bixler brought the lineup back up with a 9.775 while seniors Otto and Rachael Donovan finished the event with a 9.850 and 9.800 respectively. Producing the program’s second-highest beam score meant there were some career-high performances. According to head coach Nadalie Walsh, she could see the team’s confidence has “solidified” on the event. Newcomer Rachel Borden set the tone with a 9.875, beating her career high from last weekend against Denver. Freshman Shaylah Scott followed suit, edging out her Denver career high with a 9.925, and Otto produced the same score, beating her career high from back in 2017. Having trailed to third place after the rotation, it was up to the floor lineup to leave a strong impact for the Illini. Three 9.900’s from Scott,

junior Karen Howell and sophomore Kylie Noonan all tied them for second place on the event and helped beat out Northern Illinois for second place at the meet. A familiar face on the team, Otto won her eighth beam event and third all-around title. However, that did not stop newcomers like freshmen Erin Weisel and Torie Stotz from making their debut exhibitions on bars and floor respectively, with Weisel scoring a 9.725. Even veteran faces on the team made their appearances. Junior Brittany Jones managed to stand out in what was her first season competing with the team. Before this meet, she had only performed a beam exhibition at the meet against Penn State back in February. She was able to prove herself a contender for the Illini with a 9.650 on her

PHOTO COURTESY OF ILLINI ATHLETICS

Mary Jane Otto transitions on the bar event on Jan. 19. Illinois beat Maryland 195.075-194.950 SEE STREAK END | 2B at home.

2B Monday, March 11, 2019 FROM 1B

SOONERS ed for the rest of the regular season and postseason.” The Illini were neckand-neck with the Soon-

THE DAILY ILLINI | WWW.DAILYILLINI.COM

ers in most events, but they fell apart when the parallel bars and rings came up. In those two events, the Illini lost by a combined 7.35 points. Even though Illinois once again lost to defend-

ing champion Oklahoma, Spring is very optimistic about a potential rematch in April. “It’s going to be a very different matchup in April when they come into our house,” Spring said.

The Illini will next go up to University Park, Pennsylvania, on Saturday to face the Penn State Nittany Lions and the Michigan Wolverines. nithinr2@dailyillini.com

AUSTIN YATTONI THE DAILY ILLINI

Illinois forward Alex Wittinger high-fives her teammates as she is announced for the starting lineup before the game against Penn State at the State Farm Center on Feb. 24. The Illini lost 76-65.

FROM 1B

WRAPPING UP production the Big Ten has compared to the rest of the nation. Nonetheless, the Illini finished eighth in the Big Ten in scoring offense, averaging 67.8 points per game. The bigger concern seemed to be the scoring defense, a category where the Illini finished dead last in the Big Ten, allowing 70.7 points per game. In turn, this also meant Illinois finished last in the scoring margins category and second to last in field goal percent defense. With the tallest Illini being only 6 feet 3 inches tall, it was easy for the bigger players in the conference to take advantage of the team’s lack of size down low. Without a towering player monitoring the paint, the team also struggled to rebound consistently, finishing second to last

in both offensive and defensive rebounds per game. It wasn’t all thorns throughout the season though. The Illini had the third most three-point shots made in the Big Ten as well as the fifth most blocks per game in the conference. The two most reliable contributors throughout the season were secondteam All-Big Ten honoree Alex Wittinger and junior guard Brandi Beasley. Wittinger became the school’s all-time leader in blocked shots but also showed her skills on offense as well. She finished the season averaging 14.7 points per game, which ranked ninth in the Big Ten among all scorers. Wittinger also finished eighth in rebounding, fourth in blocked shots and fifth in field goal percentage. Her well-rounded abilities as a player could garner plenty of attention from scouts in the WNBA and overseas. Wittinger

has mentioned her interest in continuing to play basketball after she graduates from Illinois and hopes to play in Europe if the WNBA doesn’t work out. While the team will have to figure out how to replace the consistent offense Wittinger produced night in and night out, Beasley, the team’s best facilitator, will return for her senior season in Champaign. Beasley dished out a career-high 146 assists, good for the eighth most assists in a single season by a player in school history. The 146 assists averaged out to 4.9 per game which was the fourth most in the Big Ten. Beasley had the most steals on the team as well and was second on the team in scoring, averaging 11.6 points per game. She also had a presence on the boards, as Beasley was second on the team in rebounds and rebounds per game. The offseason comes a

wave of unfettered hope for what could be next season, and the Illini have no reason to believe those hopes can’t come true. With leaders like Beasley returning, as well as young talents like freshmen Ariel Scott and Mackenzie Blazek, the team has a young core to build on. Scott finished first on the team and eighth in the Big Ten in three-pointers made while Blazek showed continual signs of improvement each time she was on the floor. In the team’s final game, Blazek showed out and helped ease worries about Wittinger’s departure by scoring a career-high 15 points with her post game and added six rebounds. With Big Ten postseason cut short and no tournament bid headed their way, the Illini will now look toward another extended offseason under Fahey to figure out where the program lies. jjkim18@dailyillini.com

FROM 1B

JORDAN 40.6 percent three-point clip — he’s seen an increased role. The Plainfield East product has made 28 starts in 30 games, third behind only Giorgi Bezhanishvili (30 starts) and Ayo Dosunmu (29 starts). Underwood has never been hesitant to offer his thoughts on his players, whether he’s leveling praise or criticism. “(Jordan is) rebounding at an unbelievable clip; he’s driving the basketball at a much higher rate,” Underwood said. “He’s become more than just a shooter. He puts the ball on the floor, which, last year, he didn’t do very well. His passing has improved. I think every facet of his game has gotten better, and we haven’t been bashful in terms of asking him to do those things. Everybody knows he’s a great shooter. There’s a lot more to his game than that, and we’ve been able to see that and experience that.” Jordan’s contributions have gone beyond on-thecourt production though. He has emerged as a veteran leader on a very inexperienced roster. Unlike other programs, Illinois has relied heavily on younger players — Dosunmu, Bezhanishvili and sophomore Trent Frazier — to play big roles as not only producers but also leaders. Some players wouldn’t enjoy sharing leadership responsibilities with players who are two or three years younger than them. But Jordan seems to have embraced a sort of elder statesman role, while also allowing the bold per-

FROM 1B

STREAK END vault debut and a 9.725 on beam. “I am so grateful for Brittany (Jones),” Walsh said to Illinois Athletics. “She had a great mentality shift this year. I knew she was going to go out and hit vault, but getting the opportunity to go up on beam makes your heart feel warm for somebody that has trained years for this moment.” The Illini are beginning to wrap up their regular season with two quad meets in California. Their first is on Friday against UCDavis, Stanford and Washington, with this meet being the first time they face the UCD Aggies. On Sunday, they face No. 14 California, San Jose State, and Sacramento State, facing the California Bears for the first time in 26 years. Despite the loss, the score

sonalities and energy of his cohorts to thrive next to him. Bezhanishvili described Jordan’s leadership ability as a two-part thing based on his ability to lead by example and show the team’s other guys how they should lead but also based on him being an attuned listener. He hasn’t held back, Bezhanishvili notes. “He’s not like, ‘OK, these young guys don’t know anything, and I’m not going to let them say anything. I’m just gonna lead by myself,’” he said. “He didn’t do that. He’s been vulnerable.” Bezhanishvili, a vocal guy known for his odd antics and friendly persona, admires the way Jordan carries himself and his responsibilities. “When we have to say something, he listens,” Bezhanishvili said. “Obviously, we listen when he says something because he has been here so long. That’s really a powerful thing to have, especially as a basketball player, a dominant basketball player, to be vulnerable to other people. When we say something, when Ayo says something, Trent, me, he just listens. He absorbs it, and that’s a really powerful thing he has. I really appreciate it for him. Not just in basketball, just in general. That will be a great thing for him.” For his part, Jordan has embraced the daily grind and everything that has come with being a part of the Underwood rebuild, something he could never have foreseen when he committed to Illinois four years ago. To read the rest of the story, go to dailyillini.com @itsallG_O_O_D gavinrg2@dailyillini.com

“Getting the opportunity to go up on beam makes your heart feel warm for somebody that has trained years for this moment.” NADALIE WALSH WOMEN’S GYMNASTICS HEAD COACH

from the Classic proved to Walsh the team has an unstruck potential for these next meets. “For us to have our best team score with still counting mistakes just gives me a lot of hope and excitement to go to California and do even better,” Walsh said. skalib2@dailyillini.com

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Monday, March 11, 2019

HOCKEY

Illini finish regular season hot, prep for tourney BY JARED FARMER STAFF WRITER

It’s a Saturday night in January at the Big Pond, and the Illini are suited up for a second match against the Midland University Warriors. It’s hardly a game to stress over. The Illini comfortably won their first match against the Warriors, with a convincing score of 5-0 the previous night. The scores or outcomes of these two exhibition games don’t really matter in the long run, since the regular season officially ended a week ago. Rather, this game at the Big Pond is an opportunity for the Illini to stretch their legs before the upcoming ACHA Tournament. “I thought we closed the season really well,” said assistant coach Pierce Butler. “We had ups and downs along the way, and I think the gauntlet of our schedule being top teams along the rest of the way forced us to play good hockey. Even in the games we’ve lost most recently, the guys still answered the bell, and we played really good. The work ethic has always been there, but now the team is starting to find ways to win against high-end teams, so I’m really happy with the way we’ve been playing.” As the first quarter began, the Illini grabbed control over their opponents. After five scoreless minutes, Illinois’ pressure caused the Midland defense to collapse. A pass from Thomas Kolaz turned into an easy shot for Bobby Ernsting and put the Illini up 1-0. The crowd, as it has for every home goal of the season, gleefully chants “You suck!” toward the Warriors goalie. Nearly four minutes later, another goal by Ernsting came and improved the Illini’s lead, 2-0. Less than two minutes later, a small scuffle ensued between the Illini’s Healy and another Midland player but was quickly broken up. The Warriors, more pumped up, began to force the issue on offense, but the

MADELINE PIERCE THE DAILY ILLINI

Illinois forwards Bobby Ernsting (front) and Thomas Kolaz (back) face off with a Lindenwood player during the Illinois vs. Lindenwood game at the Ice Arena on Jan. 18. Illinois lost 2-1.

Illini defense held steady and shut them out during the first period. By the end of January, the Illini were in a tough spot. After dealing with countless roster turnover due to injuries, combined with a tough part of the schedule, Illinois dropped fourstraight against Lindenwood and Iowa State, respectively. During the month, the Illini struggled mightily, going 2-6 across their eight January games. The second period was nowhere near as explosive as the first was for Illinois. Nonetheless, Midland remained helpless, keeping the puck away from its side of the rink and struggling to get anything going on the offensive end. The Warriors nearly got their first goal of the

night, around the 5:13 mark of the second quarter, but the shot deflected and waved off. The Illini held their lead steady at 2-0 going into their final period. With the season in a downturn at the end of January, the Illini slowly started to get back to winning in February. Kicking off the month with a split weekend against Minot State and Ohio University, Illinois swung the momentum of its season with a shootout win against Ohio. This inspired a five-game win streak, one the Illini technically extended to six with their following win against the Warriors Friday night. “Any time that there’s a game with a bunch of penalties stitched into it, you have choppiness get into the play.

The second, we had some power plays that we didn’t get momentum off of,” Butler said. “I thought we fell back early in the third, but the guys came back and had some timely goals at the end. They stuck with it, sometimes it takes all period, but we got it done in the end.” Then it came to the third period. Off a power play opportunity, Midland scored its first goal of the evening, cutting Illinois’ lead 2-1 at the 15:34 mark. After sitting comfortably with a 2-0 lead, Midland went on another quick run that tied up the score at two apiece with 13:45 left to play. Suddenly, the game went from a controlled, steady victory into a frenzy. The ensuing 10 minutes were a backand-forth affair, but the Illini

quickly stole momentum as the game closed. With 2:22 left, Jack Healy scored a goal that put the Illini back up by one, and a second goal from Kacper Ryba just over a minute later erased everything the Warriors achieved. The Illini walked away from the Big Pond with a 4-2 victory. “It’s nice that you go into tournament playing on the right foot. You don’t want to go in there with a loss or playing the wrong way, so it’s huge,” Butler said. “In this game, we want to take it one step at a time, and I’m pretty sure everyone in the locker room is feeling pretty good.” The Illini now have seven straight wins. But after closing the regular season with five, Illinois finished 19-17. The resurgence netted the team the No. 11-seed and a

first-round matchup against the No. 6-seed Minot State. It’s a rematch of last season’s 2018 semifinals, where the Illini left the rink victorious. This season, the Illini went 1-1-1 in three heavily contested games against the Beavers. The battle is won now, but the real war starts in two weeks. “We’ve seen them four times now this year. They’re a big team. They’re heavy and they play smart,” Butler said. “So we’re looking to play some hard-nosed hockey. It’s going to be a battle. We’re excited to play them. We know what they have, and we know that we like our speed, and when we move off the puck, we’re a pretty dangerous team.” jaredef2@dailyillini.com

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